Today, after our weeks of prep, we had the chance to visit Carrigart, and surrounding areas! We started our day up at Milroy Meadows Farm, where we got an amazing farm tour. We saw a young couple of farmers that have dedicated themselves to producing completely organic farming, as well as humanely raising the livestock on the farm. In Ireland this type of farming is not a common style of farming, and apparently while there are more acres of land being used, there are less and less farmers in Ireland; so, we heard about the struggles that they face being a smaller farm, as well as how they continue to thrive. It is interesting, at Milroy Meadows Farm, they are less affected by the seasonality of Ireland in certain ways, but more so in others- for example, they have steady revenue from eggs and during the peak season there are more tourists, whereas they must endure the time that it takes for the plants and animals to mature.

We also had a wonderful opportunity to meet Annette, the owner of the Gift Shop in Carrigart. It was lovely to speak with her and look around her shop while she shared with us some of her strategies for keeping her shop up and running, but we also heard about some of the major inconveniences for the town as a whole. All in all, the town is very close knit, and they support each other by promoting one another’s businesses, and Annette shared that their marketing is done by word-of-mouth or through Facebook- which is similar to many of the restaurants and businesses in the town. Another inconvenience that we learned today that our group had not considered before, was the lack of a parking lot- there is a lot of through traffic as tourists make their way to their final destination or one of their stops- and while there are many who would likely stop to look around, there is no place that tourists can really safely park their car so that they can look around. Additionally, another inconvenience that the town is facing is the fact that the Cafe in town has recently closed, which used to draw travelers into the town where they would then likely shop around, but without the shop there is little to do and for many not an ideal place to stop. Today we also had a chance to meet Majella in-person for the first time! It was great to meet her and Mary in Gteic, and it was a wonderful opportunity to discuss further what they are looking for as we consult with them and the rest of the town. After meeting with Majella and Mary, and asking many questions about their co-working space, my group has a better idea on how we can develop the future of the co-working space in the town- and I am looking forward to continuing to grow these relationships and help grow the businesses in the town while working with my team!