Unique and special offerings at East Cork craft fair
Niamh Cosgrove of the Alternative Pudding Company, with her daughter Sadhbh.
The ever popular Ballymaloe Craft Fair, showcasing the best of Irish-made craft and design, is returning to Ballymaloe Grainstore this November.
Each weekend, from November 15 to 17 and November 22 to 24, more than 200 of Ireland’s finest artists, designers and food producers will display their products at the venue.
With different exhibitors each weekend, the Craft Fair will be open from 5-9pm each Friday, and Saturdays and Sundays from 10am-5.30pm, ensuring attendees will have ample opportunity to browse the stalls operated by the many talented crafters, artists and food producers.
Visitors will enjoy a mixture of textiles, glassware, sculptures, art, woodwork, jewellery and leather goods, all handmade by crafters and artists based both locally in Cork and across the country.
The fair provides the perfect day out for adults and little ones alike, with free entry for children under 12.
Children can express their creativity through Lego Workshops on the Saturdays and Sundays at €10 per child – parental supervision is required for under-fives - and older children can enjoy safe and educational play for one hour whilst parents enjoy the abundance of craft and food stalls.
Bree Allen, of Ballymaloe Grainstore, said: “We have a fantastic selection of stalls this year and I’m certain visitors looking for a perfect Christmas present will find what they are looking for.
Tickets can be purchased from the website, ballymaloegrainstore.com, as well as at the door during both weekends.
Here, we talk to three stall holders set to feature at the event...
Eadoin McCarthy has combined her skills as a web developer with her passion for biodiversity to branch out into a new business.
She is the powerhouse behind Erva Native Irish Wildflower Seeds which helps people restore native wildflower species in their gardens and local green spaces.
“Growing up in Rathpeacon, I was always surrounded by nature, and I’ve carried that love for the natural world with me into adulthood. I spend so much time just observing nature doing its thing and it gives me the greatest sense of joy. I’ve always believed in the importance of protecting and nurturing local ecosystems,” she said.
The business came about when she realised she was spending so much of her work time behind a computer screen.
“I’m a web developer and while I still love building websites, I did feel that I was missing out on addressing my passion for biodiversity. As concerns about biodiversity loss have grown, I realised there was an opportunity to make sowing native Irish wildflower seeds exciting and approachable.”
Through her website, she provides seeds for these plants, making it easier to contribute a little bit to the health of Ireland’s ecosystem.
"The key is actively participating in sowing the seeds, watching them grow and then observing the direct impact they have, calling all kinds of butterflies, beetles and other bugs to the area. By doing this we can appreciate that ecosystem in a more impactful way,” she said.
She now divides her time between Erva (which comes from a Portuguese word meaning ‘weed’, and a nod to her love of Portugal) and her successful web design studio.
“While running two small businesses has its challenges, the rewards far outweigh them. With Erva, helping people reconnect with nature through native wildflower planting and knowing its benefits to local pollinators is brilliant.
“The highs are definitely those moments when I hear from customers directly at markets or over Instagram who’ve created wildflower patches and improved their garden’s biodiversity. Knowing I’m helping people support nature and make a positive environmental impact is incredibly fulfilling. Another high is the creative freedom of being my own boss - deciding on new products, packaging ideas, or collaborations.”
Her advice to anyone looking to introduce biodiversity in their garden is to ‘start small’.
“Also, if possible, lay off the mowers. By letting part of your garden grow wild, you give space for plants and insects to thrive. It’s a simple yet effective way to support biodiversity.”
Events like the Ballymaloe Craft Fair are incredibly important for small businesses like hers, she says.
“They provide a fantastic platform to meet customers face-to-face, build relationships, and get immediate feedback on products. It’s also a chance to connect with a community of fellow makers and creators, which is really motivating.
“These fairs are a wonderful way to get the word out about our products and the mission behind them. Small businesses are so important to local economies, and by shopping with Erva, you’re helping to ensure that creativity, sustainability, and passion continue to thrive.”
A Cork woman who lost her sight in one eye overnight while pregnant with her second child was forced to abandon her successful career in event production.
But, undeterred, Niamh Cosgrove embarked on a second career making alternative Christmas puddings, and is enjoying huge success.
Niamh who works with her daughter Sadhbh, 26, will be part of the Dunnes Stores Simply Better range in 2025, and in response to demand has plans to expand with an Easter Egg range.
Originally from Old Chapel, near Bandon, and living in Ballyvolane with her family, Niamh worked on some of the city’s high profile events such as the Spiegeltent and the St Patrick’s Day festival, and had launched as a freelancer the year before she became visually impaired in 2013.
“I literally woke up one morning and felt like there was something in my eye. When I put my hand over my other eye, I realised I couldn’t see anything and I was rushed to hospital,” she remembers, adding that no cause was ever found for her sight loss.
“With event production, you work a lot back stage, which was hazardous for me with cables and other equipment. I loved my job but I had no option but to give that up,” she said.
She was also told there was a 40% chance she would lose the sight in her other eye in five years, which was a big fear hanging over her initially.
“It could still happen at any stage but it’s not something I think about too much now,” said Niamh with her trademark optimism.
At the time she was in her early 40s, and while at home with her new-born child Delilah - now 11 - she started to think about what else she could do.
“My husband’s mother, Su, had given me her recipe for an alternative Christmas pudding, made from chocolate biscuit cake. It was always a big hit when I made it so to occupy myself I decided to make some to sell at the Christmas market in the Unitarian church.
“They sold well but I forgot about it until the following year when I did it again. In the meantime, I also got my home kitchen approved by the HSE, but at that stage it was still just making pocket money for me,” said Niamh.
When Covid hit, Sadhbh was finishing up her third level course in social science and cultural innovation and saw the potential in the business.
“She took it online and then ultimately came on board full time and is currently part of the New Frontiers entrepreneur development programme in MTU. She’s really helped bring the business to where it is today,” she said proudly.
The mum and daughter duo now work out of an incubator kitchen in Carrigaline where they handmake five types of pudding lookalikes: Brandy and Cinnamon, Irish Cream Liqueur and Arancello and Cardamon. This year, they’ve also added a gluten free and vegan option.
Niamh feels that traditional puddings have ‘fallen out of flavour’ for lots of people.
“When I was a kid, pudding was such a treat because you didn’t get sweet things all year like now. But I still like a big Christmas spread with a yule log and trifle so I love that what we make still looks like a traditional pudding, and that it’s part of other people’s day as well.
The business is still a start-up, this is just year two, but already it has a bronze Blas na hÉireann award to its name. It’s stocked in Scally’s SuperValu, Clonakilty and other independent retailers around the country, as well as hamper suppliers.
“We also won small producer of the year at this year’s Irish Quality Food and Drink awards, which means we will be part of the Dunnes Stores Simply Better range next year,” said Niamh.
That will mean scaling-up operations and potentially moving to a new premises, all of which they’ll work on in January.
Sustainability, including work/life balance, is important to the mum and daughter.
“Our goal for 2024 was to ensure all our chocolate is sustainably sourced, which we did; and also to make sure our shift hours (10-2pm and 3-7pm) work for part-time employees, people who would otherwise be excluded from the workforce, including mothers,” said Niamh.
She describes herself as an “annoyingly upbeat” person and doesn’t see her sight loss as something negative.
“Life is like a river – you can be carried along in it and enjoy the ride or swim against it. I’m going to enjoy the ride,” she said.
Su, from Surrey in the UK, passed away a few years ago, but Niamh said she’d be beyond proud of what they’ve achieved.
“She would be beside herself!”
Events like the Ballymaloe Craft Fair are, she says, ‘crucial’ to businesses like them as they give people a chance to taste the products, and raise their profile.
We have to ask... how many puddings will they make this year?
“How long is a piece of string?” she laughs. “Thousands of them!”
Simone O’Shaughnessy’s children’s clothes business has stood the test of time, weathering recessions and Brexit since it was launched in 1998.
And just like Ba-Goose has proved its durability, so too have her unique handmade kids clothes, which always stand out in a crowd, and are treasured pieces which are fondly handed down.
Originally from Limerick, Simone studied fashion design in the Limerick College of Art and Design in the 1980s. She started out making patterns in the design room of golf labels Green Lamb and EuroStyle, in Cork city.
But as a mum of two young girls, she decided to try her hand at something she could do from home. That something was Ba-Goose which she launched from her kitchen table.
"I was selling fleece hats, and at the time fleece was still a very new fabric so they got a lot of attention. I got a start-up grant from the Enterprise Board South Cork, which was a huge help in getting established,” she said.
As well as selling at craft fairs, she also wholesaled to many shops around Cork, however, covid and Brexit made things more expensive and complicated, and Simone took the business online.
“It worked out well and I decided to stick with that as well as supplying Cork Craft and Design Shop and Passage West Create,” she said.
This is Simone’s busiest time of the year, but she stockpiles over the summer months.
“I’d be making fleeces in June and July when it’s the last thing on anyone’s mind!” she said.
She’s a regular at Ballymaloe Craft Fair and said it’s always great exposure for a business like hers without a shop front.
“Shopping local is so important, and it often means you get something unique and special. And when you shop from a small business, you know there’s a person behind the business, and someone at the end of the phone which is invaluable.”
Two decades later, Simone still enjoys what she does.
“The best part of all is seeing a child wearing one of my pieces – that’s a really special feeling.”
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