Ruth Murray
Reflections, Inchicore
“My sister was a hairdresser and that’s how I got into it,” says Lucan-born Ruth. “I always loved an audience. I always loved people, and a salon is perfect for me. I love stories. I don’t read much, but I love to hear stories, and this way, they are so personal.”
Over nearly 40 years as a hairdresser, Ruth has now followed the stories of her clients across generations. “I can see the same person, week after week, for years, and hear the ongoing story of their lives,” she says. “I have four generations of the one family coming to me. Last year, someone rang me to see if a client, who had died recently, had a will made. I knew she had, and I knew where it was, and her own sister and brother didn’t know. I know things I will bring to my grave.”
It is a constantly evolving process. “I never get bored,” says Ruth. “Each week is another instalment, a new chapter. Sometimes their lives are going well and they’re happy, other times they come in and life is hard.”
But she is adamant that the hard times are better shared. “It’s better out than in,” she says. “Sometimes, these people can’t tell their partners, or their kids, so they confide in us. And I always make sure anyone who comes into my salon, they leave with a smile on their face.”
That said, she points out that “you can’t get too involved with someone else’s life. You might offer a suggestion, even from the experience of another client, but you have to keep a bit of distance too.” And you have to be discreet. “If someone comes in to me, and tells me something, that’s important. I would be very private, so I would always respect that with clients. Everybody calls the hairdressers a gossip shop. It’s not.”
Through her decades in the business, Ruth has seen plenty of change. “When I was training, back in auld God’s time, we were told never to talk about religion, politics or sex. These were taboos. You never spoke about them. Now, well, I wouldn’t say I’m prudish, but I would say people are a lot more open! Sometimes I nearly have to ask what they are talking about — I don’t live in a bubble, but I haven’t come across some of this stuff before!”