The Cavan-based woman behind the agile Crafts of Ireland venture is in expansion mode, nearing completion on an extension on the family beef farm.

Sandra Coote started Crafts of Ireland as a combination of all the things that she loves, from teaching traditional crafts to hosting afternoon tea and craft events. However, the enterprise has proven to be very agile over the years.

“After a successful 2019 we realised that we required more space to meet the needs of our customers and when Covid-19 struck in March 2020, it became more apparent that space was essential with the need for social distancing and reduced capacity,” said Sandra.

“Both myself and my husband, Alan, love all things vintage and heritage related so the type of building we wanted was easy to decide on.

“We opted for a traditional 4-bay barrel roof hay barn structure. We wanted a building that was in keeping with the vernacular of its rural location and that blended into into its surroundings.

“Our main objective was to create a building with a low visual impact on the landscape. The interior of the building is designed to retain the agricultural integrity of the structure.

“The steel trusses are made to a traditional design and will be a focal point. The walls will be painted with whitewash mixed with pigment extracted from iron oxide a traditional environmentally friendly option. We are nearing completion with just some minor work to be carried out,” said the Crafts of Ireland founder.

The couple did a lot of the work themselves.

“Alan dug out the site and did the groundwork and we both laboured to the block layers. I am painting the interior now and we will do all the finishing ground works and landscaping ourselves,” Sandra continued.

“With the increase in the cost of building materials and the business being closed, it made sense to roll up our sleeves and do as much of the work as we could.

“When the building is complete we will be furnishing it with a beautiful collection of original pieces of antique furniture pictures and mirrors that we have amassed. The furniture dates from the Georgian to Edwardian period.

“Apart from the beauty of the pieces and quality of the workmanship, it also has a 16 times lower impact on the environment than purchasing new furniture. We have been lucky to source vintage table linen and china to complement the furniture and this will be used to serve our guests.”

The new Crafts of Ireland space will accommodate a large seating area for guests to enjoy food while the existing building will revert to its original purpose as a craft workshop space. Included in the new building will be a full kitchen that can be used to accommodate cookery workshops.

“As the building is quite large, we will be putting some the space to use displaying part of Alan’s interesting Ford car collection. Initially the space will accommodate three different models of cars from a 1906 Model N to a 1930 Model A,” said Sandra.

“These cars will also be part of seasonal themed events that we plan to hold,” she said.

Future plans

Further plans of this agile farm business include providing additional space to accommodate more of Alan’s collection of cars and tractors.

The agile venture has embraced a huge amount of change.

“Covid-19 has seen us change and adapt in ways we never initially anticipated. We made live videos of life on the farm, baking in our kitchen and videos of crafting,” Sandra said.

“Following on from them, we produced two cookery books and in 2021 when we could not reopen for craft workshops we changed to hospitality and retail.

“When we were sourcing the antiques to furnish our extension we realised that there was a opportunity to sell some of the pieces to our customers who we joining us for afternoon tea. This has been quite successful and is something that we will definitely continue to do going forward,” she said.

“Unfortunately 2022 has had a rough start and we did not get to reopen as planned but this time is not being wasted.

“Since producing the cookbooks I have wanted to explore more of our old recipes, the ones handed down through generations that are handwritten into copies or on scraps of paper.

“Since launching the idea on our social media the response has been amazing. People are taking out the old recipes and sending us pictures of them but more importantly we are learning about the people who baked them,” Sandra added.

“The social history behind the recipes is equally as important as the recipe itself. Some of the recipes reflect rationing of food and one recipe for Irish soda bread includes oatmeal flour, not a common ingredient in bread now.

“Each recipe is reproduced carefully using the exact quantities and instructions then shared on our social media. If we can collect enough recipes it would be lovely to compile them into a book to keep them safe for further generations,” she concluded.

Reporting: Agriland