Characters of Cork: Margaret loves the craic at Café Chico

A MOTHER, a grandmother, an entrepreneur, a cancer survivor and a kindhearted soul. Margaret Long, aka the brains behind at Ballincollig Park’s longest resident, Café Chico, is a force to be reckoned with.

Originally from Toons Bridge, Margaret has made Ballincollig her home for the past 41 years.

“Ballincollig still has a small-town feel, it is very compact and everyone knows each other and still call it the village.”

There is not much the woman has not tried her hand at over six decades, but two kids, two careers, four grandchildren and one marriage later, something she never forgot is the power of a soft word, a light joke and a love of the outdoors.

“I love being out in all kinds of weather. I go for walks every day”

Margaret married her childhood sweetheart Martin, after they started dating at 16, and 40 plus years later, Margaret and Martin are enjoying their lives in Ballincollig, immersed in the local community and involved in many avenues of ‘village’ life.

Margaret loves her business at Café Chico, the well-known orange coffee van that keeps all those who frequent the Regional Park in Ballincollig caffeinated and full of cake.

“The craic that is had, the banter that goes on, it’s great,” Margaret said.

Café Chico was named after Margaret’s rescue dog Chico, who passed away two years ago.

“Chico passed away two years ago, now we have Alfie, who is a rescue as well. I take him for a walk every morning with my friends Jeff and Liz, they are a retired American couple who have a dog who is best friends with Alfie.”

Of course, for Margaret, who is in her 60s, life has not been without its ups and down. She was struck down with Guilian Barre Syndrome in her 20s, when she had two young children.

Margaret was badly affected and had to spend 4-6 months in physiotherapy regaining control of her limbs and muscles.

“Within hours I was struck down with it and in a semi vegetative state. I could talk, but I couldn’t hold cutlery, no use of my fingers or feet. Regaining my health gave me a renewed sense of appreciation for everything.”

After more than 30 years working in the banking sector, Margaret took a redundancy package and set up her own business.

“Working in the bank was all about the customer and looking after the customer and having good relationships, and then it all changed to the hard sell. I used to love dealing with the elderly people coming in and often just for a bit of company.”

As the eldest of six girls growing up, Margaret has a keen interest in becoming a home economics teacher, but didn’t follow this lure, as the course for the qualification was too far from home.

“I’m the eldest of six girls, so I always tended to stay in the house and help with the cooking and cleaning, so I suppose that is what gave me the love of cooking and food.

“I wanted to be a home economics teacher, but you had to go very far away. I had a love of food and cooking, but it was too far away to even contemplate, so I went to UCC for a year and at the end of the first year, I got a job in the bank and I went with that.”

Just over 10 years ago, Margaret also had to deal with breast cancer, having two surgeries before finally getting the all clear.

“It was the first year I was in the park, I was called in for a routine mammogram. It was shocking, people don’t ever expect it to happen to you. I had radium therapy but I kept the show on the road. Sometimes I think going through things like that makes you more resilient.”

Throughout her varied and versatile life and careers Margaret said seeing her two children happy and doing well in life is something she considers her greatest and proudest achievement

“I suppose our children, Suzanne and David, seeing them do really well in life and very happy and seeing the grandkids, they range in age from three to six, so they are still very young and it’s lovely to enjoy the innocence at that age.”

Offering advice from her own experiences, Margaret said the secret to a long and happy life lies with three things; Eating well, exercising often and being outdoors as much as possible.

“That is a mantra I stick too,” Margaret said.