We Are Barden
Founded by people passionate about recruitment and its impact on people’s lives, we have grown into a thriving firm who think about recruitment in a very different way.
Partner with Potential
Barden is a partner led expert recruitment firm consumed with supporting companies that really know the value of their people. Our expertise covers Accounting & Tax, Financial Services, IT and Legal recruitment. Our people are trained/qualified in their specialist areas. Our approach is consultative not transactional. In Barden we really know the value of people; work with us to uncover yours.

Seán Coffey
Associate | Part-Qualified Accountants and Operational Finance | Dublin

Sarah Griffin
Associate | Part Qualified Accountants & AP/AR/Payroll | Dublin

Bernardo Pina LLM
Partner | Legal | Ireland
Bernardo Pina is a Partner with Barden’s Legal Practice. He is an expert in recruitment within the legal, company secretarial and data protection markets. He partners with and supports a variety of companies and clients across all industries, both in the private and public sector, with a particular focus on in-house legal roles. Bernardo is a qualified lawyer, having qualified in Portugal through a top tier law firm in the country. Before joining the world of recruitment he practiced in-house for 4 years with IBM and Parexel, two of the leading multinational companies within the technology and healthcare sectors.

Lorraine O'Leary
Senior Associate | Infrastructure & Analytics | Ireland
I am working closely with Killian O'Leary to bring Barden to the IT community in Ireland. Common jobs that Killian and I work on include: • IT Infrastructure • Cyber Security • Privacy • Compliance • Software Dev • QA • SDET • DevOps • PMO • Business Analyst • AI • BI

Killian O'Leary
Partner | Cyber Security & Senior IT Appointments | Ireland
Having worked and trained with a number of international businesses, Killian moved into recruitment in 2011 and has held a number of leadership roles, both locally and nationally, since. Killian is a founding member of Barden's tech recruitment practice, is a subject matter expert in Cyber Security (Cloud, Network, Infra, O/t) & Senior Tech careers, is a qualified and active career coach and advises CIOs and tech leadership teams on attracting and retaining world class talent.

Sarah Murphy
Director | Mid-Senior Accounting | Dublin
Trained in tax through a leading accounting practice, Sarah moved into recruitment in 2012 and has held a number of leadership roles, both locally and internationally, since. Sarah is a founding member of Barden's tax and accounting recruitment practice in Dublin, is a subject matter expert in accounting careers and plays an active role in the leadership and stewardship of Barden. Sarah is also an active member of the HR community in Ireland and is a qualified CIPD member.

Sandra Quinn ACA
Partner | Executive Search | Dublin
Trained through Big 4, Sandra qualified as an accountant in 2004 and held a number of leadership roles in industry before moving to recruitment in 2010. Sandra is a founding partner of Barden’s accounting recruitment practice in Dublin, an active contributor and regular panelist on all things Diversity & Inclusion and advises Boards on how to build world class leadership teams.

Cole Carroll
Team Lead | Part Qualified Accountants & Operational Finance | Dublin

Kiara Daly BCL
Managing Partner | Legal | Ireland
Kiara has an undergrad in law from UCC, qualified as a solicitor in 2010 and worked with leading legal firms in Dublin before moving into recruitment in 2015. Kiara is a founding partner of Barden’s legal recruitment practice, is a subject matter expert in legal careers, regularly contributes to thought leadership on the future of the legal profession and advises CEOs and Legal leadership teams in Ireland on attracting and retaining world class legal teams.

Kate Flanagan AITI CTA
Partner | Tax, Treasury & Practice | Dublin
Trained through Big 4, Kate qualified in tax in 2006 and spent a number of years, post qualification, in both practice and industry before moving to recruitment in 2010. Kate is a founding member of Barden’s tax and accounting recruitment practice in Dublin, is a subject matter expert in tax careers, regularly contributes to publications on the tax profession, and advises CFOs and tax leadership teams in Leinster on attracting and retaining world class teams.

Jonathan Olden BCL
Managing Partner | Munster
Jonathan has an undergrad in law from UCC and qualified as a solicitor in 2006. Jonathan moved into recruitment in 2010 and has worked in leadership roles both locally and nationally since then. As a founding partner of Barden, Jonathan advises leadership teams across Munster on their talent attraction and retention strategy.

Fionnán O'Sullivan
Managing Partner | Financial Services | Ireland
Following an under grad in mathematics and business with UCC, Fionnán joined a global asset management business in 2006 where he held a number of leadership roles across fund accounting and related activities. Fionnán moved into recruitment in 2013 and founded Barden’s financial services recruitment practice in 2019. Fionnán is a subject matter expert in financial services careers, regularly contributes to related forms and advises leadership teams across the FS spectrum nationally.

Elaine Brady
Managing Partner | Leinster
Following an undergrad in business with Trinity, Elaine joined the recruitment profession in 2004 and held a number of leadership roles with key recruitment firms before founding Barden in 2014. Elaine advises leadership teams across Leinster on their talent attraction and retention strategy and is a regular speaker at institute events.

Ed Heffernan
Managing Partner | Ireland
Ed has over 20 years’ experience in recruitment both locally and internationally. Ed is CIPD Qualified with an undergrad in Neuroscience from UCC, an MBA from Trinity and has worked in recruitment, both locally and internationally, since 2001. As a founding partner Ed is a regular contributor to institute publications on market trends, the future of work and all things related to hiring, retaining and developing great teams.

Cliodhna O'Brien
Senior Associate | Part Qualified Accountants & AP/AR/Payroll | Cork

Brian O'Connor ACA
Senior Associate | Recently Qualified Accountants | Dublin

Aideen Murphy ACA CTA
Partner | Tax & Practice | Cork
Trained through Big 4, Aideen qualified in accounting and in tax in 2012 and spent a number of years post qualification in both practice and industry before moving to recruitment in 2015. Aideen is a founding member of Barden’s tax and accounting firm recruitment practice in Cork, is a subject matter expert in tax careers, is an active member of the Women in Tax committee, regularly contributes to publications on the tax profession and advises CFOs and Tax leadership teams in Munster on attracting and retaining world class teams.
Why Barden?
For decades we have advised professionals at all levels and worked with CEOs to create world class teams. We have catered to the needs of many and it is their stories that have informed our insights, enlightened our thinking and made us the expert recruitment team we are today. We put people first, transactions second. We believe this approach paves the way for more informed decisions and happier, more fulfilled lives. That is why we do what we do. That is why we are Barden.