AOIBHIN GARRIHY

Aoibhin Garrihy, who runs Beo, a wellness and self-care events business with partner Sharon Connellan, was locked down at home outside Ennis, Co Clare, with her husband, Armada Hotel owner John Burke, and their two daughters, Hanorah (23 months) and Liobhan (six months)

PRACTICAL

The hotel has never really been closed before. Even when it closes at Christmas, it’s prepping for opening again, but this is the first time for John’s family to really shut the doors, and it’s unnerving. John goes down there to work, but Spanish Point is dead. He comes home with these amazing photos and there are basking sharks now around the Point, but there’s no one to see it. I’m not getting to see it; we’re more than 5km away.

I started to record poetry recitations in the wardrobe with my little mic and put them up through our Beo website, beowellness.com, and on podcast platforms, partly because I was finding words healing myself. All our Beo wellness events through spring had to be cancelled, and I started to wonder what might bring people comfort.

Poetry has always been something I have been very much into, but when you get caught up in life and you get busy, I suppose it falls aside. My drama teacher of old, Maeve O’Donoghue, instilled the appreciation, but it wasn’t until college that I got into my love of it. Reading and reciting, not writing.

I started with 14 poems, everything from Seamus Heaney to James Beer, and the response was so incredible that I’ve kept going. Like a nurse off a 14-hour shift who can’t switch off, but listens to the words to get herself to sleep. The messages were amazing, so I’ve continued recording and uploading.

Brother Richard Hendrick’s poem, Lockdown, is really special.

Just doing it has given me headspace, I suppose. The words are comforting, but I’m also interested in the voice and what that can do and I’ve always been interested in the power of recitation. You see people painting now and going back to old hobbies, and it’s like that. It’s a form of escapism and you’re painting pictures with your voice.

PERSONAL

I knew before all of this that I’d wanted to remove myself from the temptation to buy; from the fast-fashion world and the need to buy the next beauty product or whatever, but what this has taught me is how little I really need. It also showed me how easy it is to change our ways and not be tempted.

I’ve learnt how to be happy with my lot. That’s not to say I’ll never shop again, but we’re going to need to shop Irish and shop local and support local business. I’ll be going to my favourite restaurant and boutique again, but all this has shown me that less is enough.

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