Lifestyle
Bakery business is a piece of cake for Eileen
Eileen Shiels is proof that it is never too late to follow your dreams – and from a mother of seven, that’s saying something.
The woman behind Bacús Bearna bakery has no notions of stopping either, and plans to add new products to the successful brand before the end of the year.
Originally from Moycullen, Eileen was one of thirteen children born to Martin and Bridget Barrett, and it was through her early home life that the love of baking first took hold.
“As a child, I was always watching my mother baking,” she recalls.
“All the girls were great cooks – the girls did everything for boys then – but there was no money to put people through college. I hadn’t a clue what I wanted to do, and my mother thought this would be ideal, because I liked baking.”
Her mother was a friend of Kathleen Barrett (mother of Gerry), who ran a successful wedding cake business on Abbeygate Street. When she was 14, Eileen’s family moved into the city centre, across the road from Mrs Barrett, and the young teenager had a new lease of life.
“Coming in from the country was the greatest experience, we were near everything – and everything was so safe then, we walked to Seapoint and walked home,” Eileen says.
More significantly though, Eileen began training with Mrs Barrett. But, by the tender age of 16, the latter advised her to travel further afield.
So, Eileen moved to Skerries where she trained to be a confectioner. In those days, she needed to have five years of experience under her belt to be considered qualified.
But, once that period was over, she came home to Galway, and got a job in Silke’s Bakery in ‘The West’ area of the city.
One of the biggest businesses of their kind at the time, they had many products, and Eileen spent seven years learning every aspect of the trade. She then moved to Griffin’s Bakery, where she worked until shortly after getting married to Sean Shiels in 1970.
A Cavan man, working as a bricklayer on the Great Southern Hotel, they met at a dance in Seapoint Ballroom in August 1969. They were engaged by Christmas, and married the following July.
Seven children followed – Carolyn, Finola, Ronan, Shane, Aoife, Grainne, Rory – but Eileen never gave up on her dream.
“I’ve always baked, every Saturday morning I made bread and tarts for the weekend… Rory was just six when I started up (the business),” Eileen says.
“Sean said I was always talking about it, and then Lydon’s closed in Westside, and I went looking for a grant. But the attitude of the bank was: ‘bakeries are two a penny – open today and closed tomorrow’. I had been looking for €10,000, and then Údaras Na Gaeltachta gave me €5,000, and they suggested the name.”
In her converted garage, Eileen started up Bacús Bearna in 1993, assisted by her daughter, Finola, who gave up her job in Dunnes Stores. Carolyn looked after the younger children while her mother built-up her business. The recipes were her own, crafted over the many years she had spent working in the industry.
Her first customer was Peggy Deacy’s vegetable shop on Cooke’s Corner, from where demand quickly ballooned.
“She was always asking why didn’t I do it, that I could do the scones and apple tarts for them. She was taking about it, but in my head I thought it would never happen.
“But then, didn’t the lady giving them the stuff let them down, and she rang me. She asked would I make scones, tarts, and brown bread, and that she would need it for the following week.”
Another of her first stockists was the butcher, James Davoren, in Shantalla.
“His counter was filled every Saturday – they were flying off the shelves, it was marvellous,” she says.
“Then the phone started going all the time. I would deliver to the shops when I was bringing the kids to school, then I got a van and a driver, my nephew Gerard Murphy, for five or six years.
“There was such demand, we worked morning, noon, and night. And, after all the years, we’ve never changed any of the recipes, and have never cut back on the product. We haven’t touched the prices since 2007, even though everything else has gone up.”
Now firmly-established in shops and supermarkets throughout the city and county, and in parts of Clare and Mayo, Bacús Bearna’s appeal has always been its quality and homemade taste.
Eileen now employs eleven people (including her sons) and has three vans on the road, but corners are never cut – up to 100 boxes of apples have to be peeled every week, the pastry is homemade, and there are still no preservatives used.
Despite the fact that Bacús Bearna already supplies apple tarts, brown soda bread, wheaten bread, raisin bread, fruit loaf, rock buns, queen cakes, spelt bread, carrot cake, rhubarb tarts, and mince pies, the grandmother of six has plans to introduce more products before the end of 2014.
Incidentally, Eileen’s daughter, Finola, has followed in her mother’s footsteps and set up a success story of her own. ‘Manor Hill Home Bakery’ is based in Longford, but has a very wide client base, with stockists in Dublin, Monaghan, Westmeath, and Roscommon.
Health, Beauty and Lifestyle with Denise McNamara
A native of Ballinasloe has expanded his baby clothing business and created a range of unique tableware and cutlery – all made from bamboo. Entrepreneur Enda Barton, who set up BambooBaby during the lockdown when he lost his job, has recently taken the huge leap of leaving his job in a computer company to work full-time in the business.
While there are some companies that sell baby tableware made from bamboo, this is the first Irish company to produce tableware themselves.
“I started BambooBaby with clothing, and the idea of having a tableware range made from 100% bamboo came to me when I was thinking about what our customers would want,” explains Enda.
“This makes it particular attractive for those who are gifting because now they can order a bundle of clothes, and add a beautiful sustainable feeding set to go in with the clothes which makes a really unique gift.”
Each item has smooth edges that are gentle on little gums and easy for babies to hold, facilitating their seamless transition from liquids to solids. The plates are divided into sections to encouraging them to eat varied foods and develop healthy eating habits from an early age.
An FDA approved silicone suction base is attached to secure the tableware in place, minimising spills and messes. Though silicone is a synthetic material, it outshines its plastic counterparts in terms of durability, temperature tolerance, and environmental impact. Unlike plastic, silicone does not degrade into harmful microplastics, which means it’s better for the environment.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Positivity, empowerment, encouragement and hope will be the focus in schools this Thursday, when children will get to celebrate National Confidence Day in classrooms right across the country.
A host of Irish celebrities have come together to participate in an inspirational and motivational half hour show, produced by STARCAMP with Gala Retail for the children of Ireland, with contributions from An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, Alisha Weir (Matilda in the movie by the same name), Rory’s Stories and Cillian O’ Connor, an Irish favourite in this year’s Britain’s Got Talent. “If children watch only one thing this year, let it be this”, stated Principal Sean Cummins.
Earlier this week, ahead of National Confidence Day on Thursday, STARCAMP with Gala Retail carried out a national survey about confidence and children’s well-being in children. Just under 2,000 parents from all 26 counties across Ireland with primary school aged children took part. The research uncovered that:
- 66% of parents said that they would like their children to be more confident.
- 97% believe that it is very important that life skills such as handshakes, resilience and the importance of losing be taught to children.
- When asked if parents would like the school environment to be changed in any way, (they were allowed to choose up to 2 options), only 6% believe that the it is fine as is. 64% believing more life skills should be taught in school. 52% would like to see more creativity, 32% would like to see more emphasis on their holistic development, 10% would like to see more sport.
- 75% of those whose children use devices believe that it has a negative effect on their confidence.
- 42% of parents admit that they problem solve for their children too much.
- Out of 7 traits that were listed that parents would wish for their child going forward, including academic excellence, sociability, creativity, confidence, resilience, sporting ability and street smartness, 40% chose resilience, 35% chose confidence, 13% chose being sociable, 5% chose street smart, 3% rated creativity as the most important trait, 2% chose academic excellence and 1% chose being sporty.
- Further analysis from the survey showed a concern that the majority of parents share for their children. When asked about their children’s anxieties and worries, a concerning 13% of parents said that their primary school child suffered from anxiety. A further 38% said that their child worries too much, with less than half, 46%, stating that their child had normal worries in life and a further 2% that don’t seem to worry about anything.
- 43% would like if their child’s social skills were better.
- 85% believe that group activities (such as performance and sport) are extremely important in their child’s development, a further 14% find it important. Less than 1% state that it is of no importance.
Commenting on the findings, Aideen O’Grady, Founder of Starcamp says:
“Research clearly shows that parents across all 32 counties of Ireland desire a more holistic lifestyle for their children. An overwhelming 97% would like to see more emphasis on life skills, with a strong desire for more balance in the classroom and not for the main emphasis to be on academia. As always, excessive technology is playing a negative role in our children’s lives and sadly, the majority of parents feel that their child is not confident enough. The fact that the majority are genuinely concerned with their children’s anxiety and stress levels is quite disturbing, particularly with a group of children so young and innocent. I always appreciate these findings, whatever the outcome, because it gives us the opportunity to make changes.”
STARCAMP recently decided to take baby steps towards encouraging positivity, confidence and growth in children outside of their camp environment. This Thursday, for National Confidence Day, they have produced a special half hour show which will be available to watch in all classrooms and homes across Ireland. Over 300,000 are expected to tune in on Thursday. Over 270 STARCAMP with Gala Retail camps will take place this summer across Ireland, with almost 30,000 children attending. The theme is resilience and there is a new section on life skills. “From small acorns grow mighty oaks. If we can start with a positive little seedling like this show in the classroom or home, and build on it little by little, focus on the positive and laugh, dance and rejoice more – just imagine how our children could feel about themselves. And then, just imagine what they could achieve!”
The “I BELIEVE IN ME” Confidence Show for Children will be available for all to watch and can be streamed on Thursday, May 25th, from the Starcamp website www.starcamp.ie for a limited time.
Country Living with Francis Farragher
Sometimes, I’m taken aback a bit, by some of the younger acquaintances that I enjoy a few scoops with. They’re kind of surprised that I’m not a fan of Donald Trump; that I’ve no problem with gay rights; and that I have sympathy for the plight of the Ukrainians who have come to Ireland to avoid being slaughtered by the Russians.
There is, I feel, some lingering gene from famine times which clicks in with me – and a lot of other Irish people too – where a little alarm bell of the mind rings and transports me back to a time of only a few generations back when the Great Hunger ravished our land, killing around one million people with at least as many more, taking the emigrant boats, mainly to America, to try and survive.
At times, it’s worthwhile to have a little historical reflection, on the greatest catastrophe to have ever hit our island when we were a colony of the United Kingdom following the 1801 Act of Union. We were a largely tenant population – the poorest of the poor – relying almost exclusively on the potato crop to feed the general masses.
Although the penal laws had largely been repealed during the Daniel O’Connell era, there were only two classes of people in Ireland during those days of the 1800s: the English and Anglo-Irish families and landlords who owned practically all of the land and then at the other end of the ladder, the far greater majority of the population, the native Irish, who had to pay rent and eke out a living from two or three acres of often poor quality land.
As bad as things were up until 1845, at least the potato crop managed to keep the people fed. Potatoes ironically had been introduced by the landed gentry about a century before that as a garden crop, with one main variety grown, known as the Irish Lumper. Disaster though was to strike through 1845 in the form of potato disease with the name of Phytophrthora infestans, which in simple wordage translated into a word that’s now part of the Irish psyche – the blight.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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