It’s funny,” pauses Jean Carroll. “People always imagine that it’s easy for women to meet, but in real life it’s not. If you’re not very good at putting yourself out there, it’s very easy to become isolated. Once you’re in that place, it’s very difficult to come out of it.

“But having somewhere like this is just... it’s an absolute Godsend.”

Every Tuesday morning, Jean drives from her home in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, to Puddleducks craft café in Ardee, Co Louth, where the click-clack of knitting needles and the hum of the coffee machine provide a soundtrack for the morning chatter. The mother-of-three worked as a nurse until five years ago when she gave up work to care for her youngest son, Finian, who has autism.

“He is an absolute little pet,” she smiles, “but he is a ‘bolter’, so it means we have to keep our house locked down. Windows are locked, doors are locked, gates are locked. So as well as keeping him in and keeping him safe, it keeps everybody else out.”

Jean admits the isolation took its toll, especially as she had no outlet for herself. That was until last year, when her sister Kay told her about Puddleducks.

Getting out and about

“You very much lose your confidence with going out and meeting people. By far the hardest thing is getting out the door. It’s so much easier to say: ‘I’m closing the doors and windows, I don’t want to see anybody.’ But this is a very easy place to come to,” says Jean.

“I would never have the courage to go up to a stranger and say: ‘Hi, I’m Jean.’ But when you say: ‘How did you do this stitch?’ it’s a real barrier breaker. And I think that social contact makes you feel human. I’m not just ‘mammy’.

“It is just gorgeous here. And there is something special about Clare.”

The “Clare” in question is Clare Hamill, who is channelling her inner Kirstie Allsopp in peach and polka dots when Irish Country Living calls. Just like her customers, she has a story to tell too.

Originally from the UK, she moved to Castleblaney at 19 with her parents and met her future husband, Declan, while working in a local hotel. After having her two eldest sons, Liam (now six) and James (four), she decided to stay at home and make preserves to sell at local farmers’ markets, while Declan remained the main breadwinner, working in construction.

Surprise baby

Before long, her “Puddleduck Produce” brand caught the attention of Avoca at the Honest to Goodness market in Dublin. However, while getting a big Christmas order ready, Clare was admitted to hospital after feeling unwell – and was surprised to discover that she was pregnant with Michael (now two).

A less pleasant shock followed soon after when Declan was made redundant.

“All of a sudden there was another child in the house and I had a small business that was not paying me a wage. It was all panic,” she recalls. “But then you just say: ‘This has to work.’”

The Avoca contract led to a listing with Brown Thomas, while working with distributor, Taste The View, introduced the Puddleduck brand to Kilkenny Design, Meadows & Byrne, Blarney Woollen Mills and other independent stores nationwide.

Expanding

However, Clare realised that to fully support her growing family, she would still have to expand – or diversify.

“I didn’t want to go down the whole supermarket chain route,” she says. “To do that, you have to upscale, so I just thought: ‘Can we afford it?’ ‘Are we ready for it?’ ‘Will we lose a bit of our loveliness?’

“So instead, I said: ‘Let’s try to create the type of shop that we would like to sell our jam in.’”

And so the concept of Puddleducks craft café was born, a yarn and haberdashery shop with a café, which opened in Ardee in June 2013 with just a €6,000 bank loan and a bit of sacrifice.

“We sold our camper van,” smiles Clare. “If you’re living the dream, you’ve got one dream or the other. We had great holidays and great memories, but this is what we are doing now.”

While Puddleducks stocks brands like Debbie Bliss yarn and serves fresh-baked treats to tempt even non-crafters, the main draw are the classes.

“I could fill the whole week with people wanting to crochet,” says Clare, though lessons also include sewing for beginners, as well as one-off workshops in everything from silk painting and bag making to quilting and Carrickmacross lace.

Sense of community

A real sense of community has grown around the more relaxed “drop-in” craft circles, where participants pay €3 to come together for two hours to share ideas (and tea).

While Clare says there is no “stereotypical customer”, a common thread has emerged, with many women crediting the café for forming friendships and ending their isolation.

Amanda Shields moved from Drogheda to Ardee six years ago, but didn’t feel at home until Puddleducks opened.

“If I hadn’t started coming in here, I’d know nobody in this town,” says the mum-of-two, who is currently working on a ripple-effect scarf in soft pastels.

“I’m at home with the kids and, as much as you love them, you just need some adult company as well. I’d be very quiet in myself –and still am – but once you come in here, you can just be yourself.”

Another regular is Marianne Quinn, who moved to Ardee from Dublin four years ago to live near her son after the death of her father.

“I totally reclused for the first year,” she says. “I didn’t go outside the door.”

However, after joining a local knitting group in the library, she heard about Puddleducks.

“We decided to come up for a cup of coffee – and we haven’t left the place,” she laughs. “You can go to other cafés and it’s like: ‘Next – we need the table.’ Whereas here you can sit all day. It’s just like a home from home. You can even come to a knitting group and not knit.”

Clare leads many of the classes herself, but also has guest teachers, while her husband Declan also works in the business – blessed among women behind the coffee counter. Between the craft café and Puddleduck Produce, Clare is aiming for a turnover of €100,000 by the end of 2014, proving that necessity is the mother of invention. But it’s clear that there is more to this than just business.

“There’s something very special,” smiles Jean Carroll, “that keeps you coming back.” CL