I’m in picturesque Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim, speaking with Sinead and Pascal Gillard. The sun is shining, Acres Lake is sparkling and Sliabh an Iarainn looms beautifully in the distance. We’re having coffee on the patio of their tearooms. I must admit: I have never been this deep into Leitrim. To reinforce the county slogan, it really is lovely.

Like many enterprising rural business owners, Pascal and Sinead don’t do “just one thing”. They have maintained Sinead’s family business, McGuire’s Cottages (eight beautifully appointed self-catering cottages – each one named for Sinead and her siblings) and the tearooms, where they supply their guests and the greater community with home-cooked dinners, baked goods and desserts. They also run Jinny’s Bakery, where, among other items, Pascal specialises in fresh breads – sourdough, baguettes and, if you’ve ever been to a place called Supermac’s, you may recognise his ciabatta rolls, which are used in their super subs.

Mother knows best

When Sinead’s mother, Moira, first opened in the mid-1970s, her aim was to bring tourism to Drumshanbo. The area is popular with anglers from mainland Europe, who come to catch pike on the lakes.

Although, originally a school teacher, by securing regular business from German and French angling groups in the 1980s, Moira, with the help of her husband James, was able to grow the business (a considerable feat in pre-internet, rural Connacht).

“She had a sign out front in both German and French – and some of these fishing groups had little or no English,” says Sinead. “My mother is one heck of a business woman. She wined them and dined them and that was it. They would rent the cottages, we’d do the food and they’d go fishing for the day. That really started in 1988, and we’re still working with [these groups] today – it’s built on over the years.”

Homecoming

In 1998, after spending a year in Australia, Sinead came home to Drumshanbo to help her parents “for the summer”. She had been working in banking but was unhappy; she knew she didn’t want to continue on that route. Instead, she found her happy place in the kitchen of the tearooms and never looked back.

“I gave Mum a hand and helped Dad in the office, and I just never left,” she says. “I especially loved the food. I did a cooking course in Dublin and another in Enniskillen and started doing desserts and breads in the restaurant.”

Because the cottage business is seasonal, Sinead started looking at ways to keep going during the off season. While having a chat with a close friend, she was encouraged to start selling her brown bread, which was proving popular with restaurant guests. She approached their local shop and asked if they would stock her bread.

“I started out in a little oven in Mum’s kitchen,” she says. “Four loaves an hour, wrapped in cling film, handwritten labels. I was so nervous; but they sold like that!

“I was working around the clock trying to stock them with the bread,” she continues. “Mum said, ‘Will we not invest in a bigger oven?’ Our kitchen was environmental health office (EHO) approved, so we got a loan and bought an oven that could do 35 loaves an hour. My parents started to help; they were delighted to see it going.”

Life and business partners

After this initial investment, Pascal, who hails from Enniscrone, Co Sligo, met Sinead and they married. With much discussion around how they could work together and grow the business, Sinead started teaching Pascal to bake. With a degree in agricultural science, a master’s in food science and a passion for organics, Pascal took to food production like a duck to water.

SInead and Pascal entered the SuperValu Food Academy with three new products: Irish Stout Bread Mix, Crunchy Sourdough Croutons and Grace’s Granola.

“There was no point in teaching Pascal how to make one batch of scones,” says Sinead. “He wanted to learn large-scale production from day one.”

“We had great ideas and were well able. Then, as we got busier we developed a better [business] structure,” Pascal adds.

Pascal’s innovative energy came at a crucial time. Sinead was pregnant with their first child and was tired – not just by pregnancy, but the full-on aspect of owning a small hospitality business. You don’t get days off during high season; this is an aspect of work the family continues to struggle with, despite their many successes.

“I was still working seven days a week and it was exhausting, but we had a loan to repay – which was good, in a way, because it kept us focused,” she says.

Throughout this process, support and mentoring from their Local Enterprise Office and Leader board was integral to the evolution from a small tourism-focused business to the larger commercial bakery we see today.

Daily bread

Sinead and Pascal say French angler groups still make up a large portion of their annual occupancy and some guests have been coming for as long as 40 years.

Sinead says it was French palates that helped Pascal perfect his bread making.

“We used to buy in frozen baguettes,” she admits. “In the 80s, Mum used to make sandwiches for the French with brutal bread; I think most of it got fed to the fishes. I thought the frozen baguettes would be an improvement. We’d notice, though, there would be a lump of dough left in the middle of the table – they’d only eat the crust. So Pascal started to work on yeast breads and baguettes. We had the best critics in the house [with the French] – sometimes too many!”

“Initially, I thought I was making a really good baguette,” Pascal says. “But it was still with normal flour and yeast. Then I started working with sourdough and the ears [of our French guests] started pricking up when I would come in with the bread. One day, I walked in with my breads and they all started clapping! I knew I had finally done it.”

“They said, ‘Now you are a French baker’,” Sinead laughs.

A team effort

As Pascal developed the bakery, they were able to take on food service business in addition to supplying local shops and SuperValus. Their line initially included breads, cakes, tarts and scones and, in 2019, they entered the SuperValu Food Academy with three new products: Irish Stout Bread Mix, Crunchy Sourdough Croutons and Grace’s Granola (named after their daughter).

“As a result of the Food Academy, we decided to invest some money into a packaging design,” Pascal says. “It was money well spent and, in fact, the designer won an award for our granola label. They sent us a branded Jinny’s Bakery bottle of champagne as a thank you.”

They had also invested in updating their holiday cottages when the pandemic hit. Food service dried up, as did tourism. They made the decision to provide takeaway meals for the community, which proved so popular they decided to keep the service going post-lockdown. They say they couldn’t have gone back to running a normal business without their staff (Jinny’s Bakery and Tearooms are considered a major employer in Drumshanbo).

“We wouldn’t be where we are without the staff,” Pascal says. “[The business] is too labour intensive to do it on our own.”

Success and support

Though the food service business was gone, they were still able to provide shops with product and had been accepted into the 2020 Grow with Aldi programme. Their product – Irish stout brown bread mix – didn’t make the top five selling products, but Aldi’s buyers were happy with the product and decided to bring it back, nationwide, in September, for a limited time offer.

This can be added to the growing roster of successes for Jinny’s Bakery and Tearooms, including the business and food awards they’ve won over the years (they recently won an Irish Quality Food Award for their Irish stout brown bread – the same bread that can now be purchased as a mix).

“We wouldn’t be where we are without the support of the country enterprise board and LEADER,” Sinead says. “Once they saw we were serious and could employ locals – that all helped.”

It’s a family thing

During our chat out on the patio, it’s easy to see the genuine love Pascal and Sinead have for their family and community. In normal times, Sinead’s mother enjoys spending time in the tearooms, visiting with friends and chatting with guests. Their children (Grace, 13, Aimee, 11, Sophie, eight and Scott, seven) all help out when needed. Sinead and Pascal would love for the business to continue to grow but are happy, for now, to maintain their successes and prioritise enjoying life.

They have lost their French angling groups for 2020, but the fishing tour organiser with whom they liaise is hopeful for a busier 2021 season. In the meantime, they were able to reopen their cottages for the remainder of the summer and have been doing well with Irish “holistayers”.

“If we can just hold our own and keep the doors open, then we can start planning for the future,” Sinead says. “[My parents] got through the 80s, when a lot of businesses shut their doors, but it’s a case of constantly thinking: how can we keep going?”

“We had big discussions as to whether we open up again as a full restaurant as our takeaways were doing so well,” Pascal adds. “The kids are growing up and with our personal lives, it’s hard to manage everything. But when you can sit down and have a drink with a guest who’s been coming for 40 years, you see what’s in it.”

Follow Jinny’s Bakery on Instagram (@jinnysbakery.tearooms), Facebook (@JinnysBakery) or visit www.jinnys.ie to visit their online shop.

Read more

In pictures: it's silage but not as we know it

Listen: ‘The tug is the drug’