Céad Míle Fáilte
We visit Connemara
Traveling into Connemara’s seaside village of Spiddal, you pass the iconic Standún Department Store, which has been offering locals and tourists a cornucopia of sartorial delights for almost three-quarters of a century - most notably the Aran sweater.
Given the fact that rain is a constant presence in the west of Ireland - the price she has to pay for her verdant landscape today, when I visit, Standún is crowned by a rainbow, a feature that perfectly mirrors the store’s colorful apparel. And while fables and fairytales suggest that there are leprechauns guarding a glistening pot of gold at the bottom of this rainbow; in reality, the real treasure in Connemara is her people.
Running alongside the fishing boats and Insta-friendly thatch cottages is an army of custodians, and whether they’re television producers or sean-nós singers - or entrepreneurs like the Standún family they share one common goal: to ensure that the unique heritage and traditions of this magical region are kept alive, ready for future generations to enjoy and experience.
Seeing as Connemara is famed for folklore, it’s fitting that Standún’s origins are worthy of poetry and ballads. In the
early 1940s, Liverpudlian Martin Standún and Mullingar’s May Mulready fell in love - however, their eyes didn’t meet across a crowded room at the local dance hall: the lovebirds met while they were both imprisoned, having been viewed as sympathetic to the cause of a united
Ireland.
After being released, and while on a cycling holiday, the newlyweds stumbled across a modestly sized drapery shop on the outskirts of Spiddal, adorned with a For Sale sign. The rest, as they say, is history.
Today, the much-loved department store is run by their granddaughters, Clíona and Laragh, and is a shining light in Connacht’s thriving fashion scene. Not content with being the go-to place for local and international fashions and giftware, the sisters recently opened a second store in the picturesque Oughterard, some 30 kilometers away.
“Laragh and I feel very proud and protective of the business, especially because our grandparents started it from
“Rain is a constant presence in Ireland, it’s the price we pay for the verdant landscape”
nothing,” Clíona tells me as we three enjoy some freshly baked apple tarts in the store’s café. Her new-born baby, Cúnla, sleeps peacefully in his pram beside us, oblivious to the hustle and bustle of the shoppers around us who are eager to avail of the last few bargains on offer in the end-of-summer sale.
She adds: “On one hand, Laragh and I have embraced modernity and helped Standún evolve; on the other, we’re always striving to maintain the values that our grandparents had, which were passed on through our father, Dónal, and our mother, Raymonde.”
The sisters, who describe themselves as “best friends”, discuss the responsibility that comes along with being managing directors of the store - not just to their family but, more importantly, to the local community, many of whom have enjoyed employment here over the decades.
Laragh says: “We’re always trying to contribute to the community and give back as much as they’ve given to us over the years. It’s always so heart-warming to hear from some of our older customers that they got their communion outfit or christening robe here.
“We’ve even plenty of people returning home for Christmas, telling us that they once purchased new clothes in Standún before emigrating.”
As it happens, emigration is a word I encounter often over the coming days - and to learn more about the thousands of locals who were forced to relocate over the centuries, I only have to listen to traditional singing - or amhránaíocht ar an sean-nós.
“When many of the sean-nós songs were first composed, people had to leave their families, their countries,” actor and seannós teacher Máire Pheitir Uí Dhroighneáin explains to me that afternoon as we explore Spiddal’s candy-colored Ceardlannn - a bustling craft center that houses a myriad of practitioners from artists to basketmakers, handweavers to photographers. “Then, there was no work in the area. As such, the songs were largely about
emigration.”
Máire Pheitir, who grew up outside the neighboring village of Indrebhán, originally learned the songs from her late mother, Máire, who recently passed away just shy of her 99th birthday.
“When I was growing up, we weren’t familiar with television,” the singer remembers. “We’d have our own traditions - music, singing and dancing. We were immersed in it from the beginning. My mother would mainly sing ballads, which were very popular in Connemara at the time.”
In addition to themes of emigration, I Iearn that rebel songs or songs related to the sea were also very common - and they’d often be composed by the local people.
“In the community, those who were fortunate enough to stay were largely farmers and fishermen, but there were a lot of drownings,” Máire Pheitir recalls while also assuring me that there’s more to sean nós than just sad, lamentation songs.
“Many were love songs composed about couples getting together or couples getting married. As children, we’d adore those songs - the upbeat, jovial ones - and we’d always get our mother to sing them.”
In terms of the singing itself, she explains there are no instruments used in sean-nós and that it’s the singer’s responsibility to make songs as musical as possible by their voice alone, by ornamentation.
“If you tried to teach someone those melodies on the piano, say, they’d be looking for notes that aren’t there!”
The singer’s daughter, Sally, joins us. Being a lecturer in Irish Studies in Maynooth University makes her the perfect person to quiz about the Irish language, which is spoken daily in Ireland by close to 80,000 people - largely in Gaeltacht regions like Connemara where up to three-quarters of her population are native Irish speakers.
Sally lights up when discussing the benefits of bilingualism and explains that an ability to speak Gaeilge gives us a link to
“When I was growing up, we weren’t familiar with television, we’d have our own traditions - music, singing and dancing”
our culture and heritage, “which is priceless.”
As she’s gotten older, the lecturer acknowledges that she’s become keenly aware of the importance of keeping the language alive. She praises annual events like the Oireachtas and Fleadh Ceoil for encouraging younger generations to engage in the many traditions of the area such as poetry, drama and sean nós.
“My aim is that the Irish language doesn’t die,” Sally reveals. “That’s my biggest hope: that it continues to remain the biggest means of communicating in Gaeltachts like Connemara.
“And that the region will be provided with employment opportunities, allowing the younger generations to stay at home and raise their families here.”
The more people I meet, the more I’m reminded of the fact that family is at the heart this community - and the next stop on my itinerary perfectly illustrates this. That night, I temporarily leave Connemara and pop into Micil Distillery, located at the back of Salthill’s Oslo bar where the precursor to modern-day whiskey is made: poitín.
Officially launched just three years ago by Pádraic Ó Griallais, Micil Distillery’s roots can be traced back to 1848 when his great-great-great-grandfather, Micil Mac Chearra, covertly produced the infamous tipple in Connemara - an illegal practise until 1997.
“The word ‘poitín’ comes from the Irish word for a pot, commonly used by distillers,” the former school teacher mentions while giving me a tour of the effortlessly trendy premises. “While every single bottle of spirit is produced in the distillery here in Salthill, it’s crafted using six generations of experience acquired in Connemara.”
Pádraic explains that he learned the process from his own grandfather, 92-yearold Jimmí Chearra, whose image graces the bottles’ labels.
“He’s very proud to see the craft being passed on to new generations as it could easily have been lost. We give him the title of quality controller, tasting every week to ensure that we’re up to standard!”
Many erroneously believe that poitín is made from potatoes, when, in fact, Micil uses Irish malted barley along with a local Connemara botanical called bogbean, which grows in lakes around Indreabhán.
In three short years, Micil Poitín has gone
“Many erroneously believe that poitin is made from potatoes, when in fact, Micil uses Irish malted barley along with a local Connemara botanical”
from strength to strength - and I’m not talking about the tipple’s alcoholic volume, which currently stands at a palatable 44 per cent, a stark contrast to yesteryear when that number often reached the dizzying heights of 90 per cent!
“I’d see ourselves as ambassadors of poitín,” Pádraic asserts as he prepares me a ‘Micil Mule’ - a combination of poitín, ginger beer and a squeeze of lime. (It’s a good job I’m not driving tonight!)
“The drink is entangled in so much myth and misinformation that it’s important that we emphasize the drink’s quality and get the true story out.”
Well, if there’s one thing that the people of Connemara can do well, it’s telling stories - and not just when it comes to alcoholic libations. The next day, I discover that her vibrant television, theatre, and animation industries are the envy of the world.
“I’ve worked on lots of international projects and when our collaborators arrive here, they say, ‘Wow! This is where you are - in a little village!” two-time Emmy-winner Siobhán Ní Ghadhra recounts as we meet in her Spiddal office.“I think they thought we were in Downtown LA because they were in Downtown LA.”
Danú Media, the production company Siobhán runs with her husband, John
Brady, recently acquired Irish-language soap, Ros na Rún, which has been the flagship show for broadcaster TG4 since the station first launched in 1996. Currently in its twenty-fourth year - an extraordinary achievement in the fickle world of television - Ros na Rún enjoys a robust weekly viewership in excess of 150,000.
“We’ve also viewers in America, Europe, Canada,” Siobhán, who originally hails from Furbo, proudly reports. “We’d someone watching in Honolulu once!”
Equally impressive, the award-winning series, which films north of 80 episodes over a six-month period on their purposebuilt set in Spiddal, is one of the biggest employers in the region with over 200 people on their annual payroll.
“It’s about giving people from Gaeltacht areas opportunities. We aim to provide them with not just a job but a career.”
In Baile na hAbhann, close to TG4, I chat to the multi-talented Gráinne Bleasdale who echoes these sentiments. I learn that in addition to being an actor and musician, this charming 29-year-old is currently a judge on the broadcaster’s hit singing series, Junior Eurovision.
“There’s an impression that all the work in television and media is centered around Dublin - which is why I initially moved there from Connemara. But then I found that I was driving back to Galway a lot for work!”
Gráinne eventually made the decision to save on petrol, returning home permanently.
“Connemara has always been associated with the arts. From an early age, we’re being immersed in it - without us even realising it! There are so many opportunities for people if they’ve any interest.”
As the sunset transforms the evening sky into a fusion of pink, apricot and gold, that night, I leave the world of television behind and meet Joan Kilfeather who, along with her husband, Sam, founded Spiddal River Brewery in 2012. Having grown up in Galway city, Joan spent her childhood exploring the beautiful beaches, coves and
landscape of Connemara. Her love was so strong that she decided to uproot and raise her family here, determined that her children got the chance to experience “the wild, rugged beauty of the area”.
“Our main brands are the Bogman and Mild Atlantic,” she explains as we drive towards Casla where Spiddal River Brewery has its own research & development center. Here, they also develop a range of beers specifically for pub owners, hoteliers, and restaurateurs.
In addition to their branding logo, which sports a Spiddal River Salmon, Joan informs me that the region is constantly informing their products - for instance, they enjoy experimenting with local ingredients, including bog myrtle and heathers - a process they intend on continuing into the future.
“We’ve received lots of positive support from the community with numerous bars and shops stocking our beers, which is then bought by locals and visitors alike. We’re also active in giving back - we love supporting local activities such as the TraidPhicnic, GAA, Ros na Run and the sailing club.”
The final stop on my itinerary is arguably Connemara’s crown jewel, Kylemore Abbey, seemingly located a million miles from civilization - and the perfect antidote to groggy heads, the result of overindulging on Spiddal River’s delicious beverages the night before.
Given that so many of my conversations over the past few days have been familial in nature, it’s fitting that I get to experience the Abbey’s recently opened ‘From Generation to Generation’ exhibition, which charts the history of the stunning gothic premises - from original owners, politician Mitchell Henry and his wife, Margaret. to the arrival of the Benedictine nuns in the 1920s.
A new wing of authentically refurbished rooms - complete with multimedia presentations and archives - allows me to discover the Abbey’s history of romance, innovation, politics, tragedy, and spirituality.
Other highlights include the Gothic Church, supposedly a miniature replica of Norwich Cathedral, the yummy Mitchell’s Café and, in particular, the Victorian Walled Garden - an oasis of ordered splendour, which perfectly contrasts with the
“There are few people in this world more capable of conversing and celebrating the past than the people of Connemara”
surrounding wild Connemara landscape. (Oh, and there’s only one word to describe the handmade chocolate that I nibble on, which comes courtesy of the nuns: heavenly!)
“I’ve got a plan to create ‘Conversation Trees’ areas where strangers can sit and talk to each other,” Philip Lee, the new Head of Tourism and Hospitality tells me, pointing to an oak, which looms large over a crescent-shaped row of chairs.
“We spend so much time on our phones nowadays; if we’re not careful, the art of conversation will be lost.”
And, as I learned throughout my exploration of this enchanting region, there are few people in this world more capable of conversing and celebrating the past than the magnificent people of Connemara.