Cork’s first Sister Shed celebrates its first birthday

A FORMER Cork teacher and business- woman, Marian O’Sullivan, has set up Cork’s first Sister Shed, which aims to provide support and a safe space for women of all ages to meet for a cuppa and chats, as well taking part in activities.

Based at the SMA Parish Hall in Wilton, the Sister Shed, which celebrated its first birthday in November, is under the umbrella of Sister Sheds CLG, a company formed in Dublin. (There are 22 Sister Sheds in Dublin.)

Marian, who taught Irish and history at Colaiste an Phiarsaigh before switching to running a prefab business with her husband, is now retired. She wanted to do something constructive with her time.

“I thought about the Men’s Sheds and said to myself, why can’t there be a women’s shed? I started to do some research and came across a radio broadcast of two women in Dublin who are cousins and set up the first Sister Shed there.

“The women empower each other and have some fun, and maybe learn something and do different activities.”

Once she secured the premises, Marian went about advertising the Sister Shed. Maria O’Kelly, from Wilton, came on board.

“We put up posters and people got to hear about what we were doing through word-of-mouth.”

To their pleasant surprise, 40 women turned up at the first meeting. The Cork Sister Shed now has 87 members. About half of the membership turns up at the weekly Wednesday gathering.

This voluntary not-for-profit organisation is applying for charitable status which will enable it to apply for funding. Membership costs €36.50 a year and the Cork ‘sisters’ donate a fiver at each gathering to cover running costs, which include facilitators that come and teach the women everything from craft work to pilates. They also go on an annual trip. They went to Killarney this year and plan to go to Dublin in 2024 where they may visit the Dáil.

The average age of the Cork Sister Shed membership is around 60, says Marian. It includes some retired women.

It helps combat loneliness and isolation.

Asked what she gets out of the group, Marian, the chairwoman of the Cork Sister Shed, says it has given her confidence.

I had never done public speaking before. Also, it gives me a great lift when I see the women enjoying themselves. It inspires me to go on and do more.

Maria O’Kelly, vice-chair of the Cork Sister Shed, says it is “unbelievable that so many turned up on the first day. Marian’s daughter and my daughter are friends and they said I might like to get involved. So I spent two Fridays putting up posters in shops and post offices.

“We didn’t realise that there was such a need for a group of women to get together and support each other. It sounds great in theory and on paper, but to actually see the ladies physically come in was amazing. Women can be shy initially but we like to talk.”

Members are mainly from the Wilton and Bishopstown areas but there are also women from Tower, Rochestown and Carrigaline and a few other places.

Maria, a former resource teacher who now works in marketing, says the Sister Shed has allowed her to speak to people again.

“During the last few years, I was slow to get into conversations in case people didn’t want to speak because of Covid. You had to respect each person’s space.”

Being involved in Sister Sheds has broadened Maria’s network.

“My husband knows so many people. If we were out walking, he’d say ‘7-Nil’ referring to the amount of people he met and none for me. But now I’m catching up!”

Rose O’Sullivan, from Bishopstown, says the Sister Shed “is something to get out of bed for”. She thinks more should be done for retired people and points out that they have plenty of experience and wisdom to pass on. A former supervisor in Christ King Secondary School, Rose had to retire because of her age and vulnerability to Covid.

Retirement “takes away your confidence. You feel alone. My job meant a lot to me.”

Sister Shed is something she enjoys. It fills a gap.

Thirty years ago, on Christmas Day, Rose’s husband died, leaving her with three children to provide for.

“It was very hard, to be honest. In those days, you just got on with it. I had one son in college in Dublin and I had to pay for his digs. There was very little left after burying my husband. 

I had to go out and do paid housework the week he died because a bill came in the door and I hadn’t enough to pay for it.

“I was doing school runs. I had two jobs a day, going to clean one house, coming home to get the dinner ready and go out to another house.

“I was also making up curtains with another woman. I had no choice.”

Life became easier when Rose got the job in the school; “I loved the work and every student there. I miss them all. I still can’t get used to being idle.”

While chatting to me, Rose gave a demonstration of ‘The Slosh’ – a kind of line dancing that you can do on your own. It’s an apt metaphor for the single life – with a good sense of fun.

Breda Quinlan, from Blackpool, reckons she is the only northsider in the Sister Shed.

“I’m after making great friends with everybody. Seven of us went on holidays together to Torremolinos to ‘Stars in the Sun’ which was all the showbands. It was brilliant. I wouldn’t have known about it only for the club.”

Breda’s niece, Maria O’Kelly, suggested that her aunt, who is single and lives alone, join the Sister Shed.

“I love coming over here every Wednesday morning. It’s great to get out. I leave home at 10.15 to get here for 11am. Sometimes the traffic is busy but I don’t care.

You never know what’s going to happen. It’s always a surprise which makes it better. We do dancing, singing, we go on trips. On St Patrick’s Day, we had a party and everyone dressed in green.

“There’s a lady that comes to us to do knitting and crochet. Last week, we did chair pilates. We had a fellow in doing relaxation exercises with us. It’s so calming.”

Asked if she feels isolated, Breda says: “No. I have loads of friends. I’ve become great friends with Rose O’Sullivan.”

The Sister Shed has made Breda more confident. And it’s a reason to cross Cork’s north/south divide.

The Sister Shed marked their first anniversary recently with a party. A massive lemon-flavoured birthday cake was shared by the women, with tea and coffee. And there was a trip down memory lane courtesy of Linda Kenny and Alf McCarthy singing well known songs such as Que Sera, Sera and Oh What a Beautiful Morning, with Maurice Healy on keyboards.

Everyone joined in the singing, forgot any worries they had, and celebrated a positive initiative that has brightened up the lives of the women attending Cork’s Sister Shed.