How I met my partner: Kindred spirits start new life in Cork — and their own distillery

“Robert is a Cork man, but I met him in 2015 in Limerick, when I was working in Dell as an IT programme manager,” said Bhagya.

After talking online, they went for their first date in Tom Collins’ pub, where she says they instantly clicked, bonding over shared interests in history and politics.

“When Rob sent me a text saying he would like to meet, I was doubtful — I had never dated outside my own community before, but I discussed it with my brother who encouraged me to be open minded, to go and see what happens and I am so glad I went on that date now,” she said.

They celebrated Christmas together that year; Bhagya’s first Christmas. As Christmas isn’t celebrated in India, she explained, that “it was a lot of new things for me, but I also introduced him to our festivals”.

In 2016, the couple visited India, so Robert could meet her parents.

“They were worried about whether they would like him, because sometimes with interracial relationships, the fear of the unknown makes people scared.”

Bhagya explained that sometimes in India there can be apprehension about dating people from different cultures.

“My parents were worried that he was someone from outside the country, he didn’t know the language and they don’t speak English.”

Despite their initial trepidation “they clicked instantly” she said, adding: “It’s very hard to dislike Rob, and they seemed to have a good understanding of each other even without a common language.

“Humans are just humans, regardless of where they’re from or which colour they are, that was an unlearning even for me.”

A three-day wedding

They married in August 2017 in Bhagya’s hometown

“We had about 15 people from Ireland, and some from other countries, Italy, Argentina, Canada — it was a big thing in my village — the first time we had that many people from different countries!

“The wedding began on August 17, and I was on day five of chicken pox,” she said. “I was flying from Ireland to India on the 14th — on day three of chickenpox, I was so worried that they wouldn’t let me board the flight!”

Luckily, she made it, and they had a three-day wedding with over 300 guests.

Starting a business 

Two years later, when they had settled in Turner’s Cross, they started their spirits business.

“I come from an IT background, I never even drank alcohol before I moved from India in 2013,” Bhagya explained. “I didn’t even know the different types of spirits, I have to thank Rob for that — he always had a passion for it, and did a masters in biochemistry and a masters in brewing and distilling.”

She explained that she had always wanted to start a business, but “would have ended up making some boring software”.

Rebel City Distillery was born in 2020, just before the pandemic.

“Covid was very tough for us. We already had the space and had invested a lot in it, so we went ahead and launched our project in stores, but we had to re-strategise the whole thing,” she said.

“I was here, my parents were in India and I was so worried that if something happened, I would not be able to see them, I would wake up thinking, ‘What is going to happen?’

“Rob was very supportive, but his mother was also undergoing health problems at the time and we couldn’t visit her, but we supported each other and got through it, walking 5km left to right to stay sane.”

Now, she says: “We work together, we live in the same place, it would be a lie to say we don’t ever fight, but we have learned to navigate it — we don’t talk about work when we are at home.”

They plan to open a spirit school in May 2024, teaching people how to make their own spirits, she said.

“There’s nothing like that in the city, so we’re really looking forward to getting it over the line.”