Another day, another adventure!
We started with a visit to the Mulroy Meadows Farm, where we learned the ins and outs of their business. The farm itself was beautiful and the landscape was intriguing! What I learnt was that they are fully organic, which is interesting as the farm’s mission is to stay chemical free and practice high animal welfare. What is intriguing is that they rely on word-of-mouth and local networking to get their business and practices out there. The farm itself was acres large, with farmland set aside specifically for pigs, chickens, and cows. There were also two dogs at the farm, which was adorable in my opinion as they had the most amount of fun chasing each other around and enjoying the presence of all of us there.
We then ventured down to a local gift shop, called Galánta Gifts, which is run by Annette. She discussed her responsibilities and what goes into running her business in Carrigart. Due to the town’s seasonal tourism and fluctuating foot traffic, she has to get creative and adapt in order to keep her store running.
Later on, after a lunch of traditional soup and sandwiches, we made our way to the town of Carrigart, where we were met with a new challenge. A Scavenger Hunt.
It was honestly really fun getting the opportunity to run around the town and get to see sights I wouldn’t typically have seen. My team was the first team to finish, as we (or at least two of us) ran through the entire scavenger hunt, trying our hardest to finish the tasks first. And believe it or not, we did finish first, gaining an extra point for our team. While we did not win, it was still a fun run! We got the opportunity to converse with local waitresses and ask questions regarding their favorite parts of the town. I especially enjoyed the garden, which was full of vibrant flowers and plants, with an amazing overlook. Engaging with the local community, in quite a unique fashion, was riveting and I really enjoyed it.
After the eventful scavenger hunt, we headed to the G-teic building where we met with Majella and Mary, who run the the business. We discussed the ongoings of the business as they informed us of the culture of Carrigart and local life. I enjoyed the session as I took some notes on what we could do to help better the businesses in Carrigart. Mary mentioned that G-teic Carrigart has the cheapest day rates in the region, compared to their other co-working spaces. What is interesting, however, is that they choose not to advertise that advantage as they do not want to offend the neighboring communities. It shows just how prevalent community is in this part of Ireland, and while, yes, they stand to lose profits, it highlights how town businesses prioritize relationships and close-networking.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant at the boardwalk, where I enjoyed a delicious shrimp salad and fries. What was the peak of that dinner, however, was when I ordered a cappuccino and apparently, that was the establishment’s first ever hot cappuccino ever made. While I did not receive an actual coffee the first time, I thoroughly enjoyed the hot latte I got next to power me through the next few hours, which included Irish dancing.
Irish dancing was utterly eventful. With most of our lack of coordination and skill levels, the chaos of the dancing lessons wound up being really fun. At the end, we managed to nail down a few routines, and my group of (new) dancers even managed to win the small competition we held in the spirit of an Irish dance off. I believe I would definitely pull out these moves again given the time and occasion!
Today was, all in all, an eventful and very hectic day. I can’t wait to tackle the 5k run tomorrow morning (wish me luck)!