In a way the story behind The Cottage, Loughmore, would draw tears from a stone. It’s a story of hope and community co-operation under the leadership of a woman who dared to re-imagine the future for a small village in rural Ireland.
Loughmore is located not much more than a kilometre off the main Thurles to Templemore road. Once a thriving little village, in recent years – and one by one – the businesses in the village closed and were never replaced.
Mary Fogarty would have been aware of this gradual decline as she grew up living over her parents’ grocery shop which was located in the village. But like so many others, Mary was to make her life outside the village, working for years as a financial adviser with a bank.
Then several years ago she developed cancer and while getting well at home it really hit her that there was nowhere in the village to go for a coffee or have a chat.
“I used make cakes for the cancer care staff and yet when it came to Loughmore there was nowhere to go for tea and a chat. You’d have to drive to Templemore or Thurles for even the smallest thing.
“I could remember when Loughmore was a busy little village with a great sense of community. That spirit was being driven out, leaving people more and more isolated. And it wasn’t just Loughmore where this was happening,” she says.
Did her homework
Mary thought hard about what she could do to change things and spent six months studying the co-operative movement before saying a word to anyone about the plan she and her co-founder were hatching. Their plan was to open a tearoom, essential grocery and scaled-back Post Office in the village.
Several years ago Mary developed cancer and while getting well at homeshe realised there was nowhere in the village to go for a coffee or have a chat. \ Claire Nash
What was extraordinary about the plan was that the business was to be a community owned, not for profit co-operative. Its mission was to combat rural isolation and promote social inclusion in the village of Loughmore. And what better way to achieve this than opening a tearoom? However, without community support the co-operative was going nowhere.
Community backing
To gauge reaction, Mary put her plan to a packed community hall and asked people to buy a €10 share in the co-operative. With fewer than 300 people in the village and surrounding area, €3,200 share capital was raised and Tipperary LEADER rowed in with a €54,000 grant. “We knew we couldn’t fail when we had that level of support from the community,” says Mary. And she was right.
The plan was to open a tearoom, essential grocery and scaled-back Post Office in the village. \ Claire Nash
In the intervening eight years The Cottage has outgrown its first premises and last year began a major extension and refurbishment of another cottage in the village. This building is almost double the size of the original premises and the doors opened for business last December. Business was so strong there’s already a need to extend the kitchen space.
The community co-operative has a 20-year lease on the building and have spent €250,000 on refurbishments, with 75% of the funding coming from Tipperary LEADER and a further 15% from Tipperary County Council.
Employment and volunteer opportunities have increased three fold since opening. Indeed many of those who started as volunteers are now employed in the business. Currently The Cottage employs six full-time staff and has 20 volunteers including special needs volunteers.
Even though they had to close down for a period due to COVID-19 the Cottage was back thriving like never before and Mary is positive they will be back as strong as ever when the current restrictions are relaxed. What’s more, since being established 16 couples have returned to live in Loughmore.
“Many are working remotely and we got in hot spot broadband to help improve coverage,” says Mary.
Inspiring others
Mary’s initiative to establish a community owner co-operative has been a source of inspiration to others and she has been directly involved in at least five similar start-ups across the country.
The Cottage is heavily integrated into the local community and most of their nine suppliers are within a four-mile radius providing fresh eggs, honey, jam, vegetables and confectionary. The Cottage has also partnered with the local primary school, teaching the children to grow vegetables with the surplus sold to the tea rooms.
Mary put her plan to a packed community hall and asked people to buy a €10 share in the co-operative. \ Mary Fogarty
And it’s not just in her own county that Mary Fogarty is recognised as one of the leading influencers in the modern cooperative movement. She has been invited by Tipperary County Council to showcase the initiative at events across Europe.
The Cottage is about the local community and has strong links to the farming community as it provides an outlet for the sale of farm produce. The menu lists the air miles of each dish and as the majority of the ingredients are sourced locally it’s not very far.
The Cottage has been voted ‘Tearooms’ of the year by the Irish Times and won Tipp FM’s ‘Best for Tourism and Hospitality’ award in 2018. It also won the national award for sustainable living. It has been described as the most important social enterprise to emanate out of Ireland in the last 20 years. And who can say better than that.
086-382 3467 | thecottageloughmore@gmail.com
In a way the story behind The Cottage, Loughmore, would draw tears from a stone. It’s a story of hope and community co-operation under the leadership of a woman who dared to re-imagine the future for a small village in rural Ireland.
Loughmore is located not much more than a kilometre off the main Thurles to Templemore road. Once a thriving little village, in recent years – and one by one – the businesses in the village closed and were never replaced.
Mary Fogarty would have been aware of this gradual decline as she grew up living over her parents’ grocery shop which was located in the village. But like so many others, Mary was to make her life outside the village, working for years as a financial adviser with a bank.
Then several years ago she developed cancer and while getting well at home it really hit her that there was nowhere in the village to go for a coffee or have a chat.
“I used make cakes for the cancer care staff and yet when it came to Loughmore there was nowhere to go for tea and a chat. You’d have to drive to Templemore or Thurles for even the smallest thing.
“I could remember when Loughmore was a busy little village with a great sense of community. That spirit was being driven out, leaving people more and more isolated. And it wasn’t just Loughmore where this was happening,” she says.
Did her homework
Mary thought hard about what she could do to change things and spent six months studying the co-operative movement before saying a word to anyone about the plan she and her co-founder were hatching. Their plan was to open a tearoom, essential grocery and scaled-back Post Office in the village.
Several years ago Mary developed cancer and while getting well at homeshe realised there was nowhere in the village to go for a coffee or have a chat. \ Claire Nash
What was extraordinary about the plan was that the business was to be a community owned, not for profit co-operative. Its mission was to combat rural isolation and promote social inclusion in the village of Loughmore. And what better way to achieve this than opening a tearoom? However, without community support the co-operative was going nowhere.
Community backing
To gauge reaction, Mary put her plan to a packed community hall and asked people to buy a €10 share in the co-operative. With fewer than 300 people in the village and surrounding area, €3,200 share capital was raised and Tipperary LEADER rowed in with a €54,000 grant. “We knew we couldn’t fail when we had that level of support from the community,” says Mary. And she was right.
The plan was to open a tearoom, essential grocery and scaled-back Post Office in the village. \ Claire Nash
In the intervening eight years The Cottage has outgrown its first premises and last year began a major extension and refurbishment of another cottage in the village. This building is almost double the size of the original premises and the doors opened for business last December. Business was so strong there’s already a need to extend the kitchen space.
The community co-operative has a 20-year lease on the building and have spent €250,000 on refurbishments, with 75% of the funding coming from Tipperary LEADER and a further 15% from Tipperary County Council.
Employment and volunteer opportunities have increased three fold since opening. Indeed many of those who started as volunteers are now employed in the business. Currently The Cottage employs six full-time staff and has 20 volunteers including special needs volunteers.
Even though they had to close down for a period due to COVID-19 the Cottage was back thriving like never before and Mary is positive they will be back as strong as ever when the current restrictions are relaxed. What’s more, since being established 16 couples have returned to live in Loughmore.
“Many are working remotely and we got in hot spot broadband to help improve coverage,” says Mary.
Inspiring others
Mary’s initiative to establish a community owner co-operative has been a source of inspiration to others and she has been directly involved in at least five similar start-ups across the country.
The Cottage is heavily integrated into the local community and most of their nine suppliers are within a four-mile radius providing fresh eggs, honey, jam, vegetables and confectionary. The Cottage has also partnered with the local primary school, teaching the children to grow vegetables with the surplus sold to the tea rooms.
Mary put her plan to a packed community hall and asked people to buy a €10 share in the co-operative. \ Mary Fogarty
And it’s not just in her own county that Mary Fogarty is recognised as one of the leading influencers in the modern cooperative movement. She has been invited by Tipperary County Council to showcase the initiative at events across Europe.
The Cottage is about the local community and has strong links to the farming community as it provides an outlet for the sale of farm produce. The menu lists the air miles of each dish and as the majority of the ingredients are sourced locally it’s not very far.
The Cottage has been voted ‘Tearooms’ of the year by the Irish Times and won Tipp FM’s ‘Best for Tourism and Hospitality’ award in 2018. It also won the national award for sustainable living. It has been described as the most important social enterprise to emanate out of Ireland in the last 20 years. And who can say better than that.
086-382 3467 | thecottageloughmore@gmail.com
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