2015 - Not a Good Year

No,  2015 wasn't a good year here at Nell's Farmhouse...it was the best year we've had in business to date!  Its great to be able to sit down and write that after what seems like the fastest year in the history of fast years.

On the 2nd of January last year we sat down and had a chat about the year ahead.  We decided to make a conscious effort to use social media to connect with existing and prospective customers.  The plan was to do one blog post per month.  So far we have only missed one.  We really appreciate everyone who takes the time to read what we write and hope you find it interesting.

This year we delved into the world of Twitter with the help of the Tweeting Goddess, Samantha Kelly.  We have built our twitter followers up to almost 500 followers in a short space of time. Twitter is great fun.  We have found the #Irishbizparty on Wednesday nights very beneficial for connecting with people all around the country.  This networking has definitely benefited our business in a positive way and in turn our occupancy has increased.

We had a lot of fun in 2015, we brought some local school kids on a journey back in time and showed them how people lived long ago.  We get a great kick out of the school visits.  The questions they the kids ask are fantastic.  They find it all fascinating that people had to go to a well to bring back water and that all the cooking was done over a fire.

In April we were invited to Dublin Castle to a training day for people who hold Heritage Week events.  After that we went on to Merrion Square to speak with the Irish Walled Towns Society about our award winning heritage event in 2014.  Subsequently we were invited to meet our President Michael D Higgins in the Heritage Councils head office in Kilkenny.  It was such an honour to meet President Higgins and listen to him speak at the event in June.

Our favorite week of the year rolled around very quickly, Heritage Week.  As a follow on from our award winning Traditional Irish Wake re-enactment in 2014 we decided to hold a Traditional Wedding set in 1950's Ireland.  We had so much fun putting this together with some fantastic people from our community getting involved.  Everybody went to great efforts to make sure that the event was a success.  All the guests came turned out in costumes appropriate to the 1950's.  The Bride and Groom were brought from the church in Clonea Power by horse and cart.  This attracted a lot of attention with people stopping to take pictures along the way.  There was the traditional fare of cold ham and hard boiled eggs, followed by trifle and wedding cake, There were some fine speeches from the bridal party.  Live Irish music was played in the kitchen by members of the local Comhaltas Ceolteoiri until the early hours with a few songs and stories thrown in along the way.  Everything went off really well as people got into the spirit of the occasion.  It was so good we are unsure how we will top it next year.

Now were only six hours away from 2016 we would like to thank everyone for all their custom during the year and we look forward to welcoming you back in 2016.  A huge thanks must be said to our family, friends and neighbours throughout our community.  There really is a great community spirit in this area and we are very lucky to live around such great people.  Thanks you all!

Wishing you all a very healthy and Happy New Year.
Roll on 2016

Mary & Ger

Nells Farmhouse Achievements 2014

2014 has been another eventful year here at Nell's Farmhouse.  We held a number of events throughout the year but the one we are most proud of this year is our "Traditional Irish Wake Re-enactment".  In 2013 we held our first wake re-enactment as part of Heritage Week.  On the back of the success of that event we decided to expand on it for 2014 to include the reading of the will.  The 2013 crew were rounded up again with a few extras, the script was written and plot was set.  

So on the 31st of August at 8pm it was show time.  Poor Pattie Murphy was laid out in the parlour for the wake.  The crowds came to give him a good send off.  They came from far and wide, Carrick, Dublin, Kilkenny and even Australia to pay their respects.  After everybody paid their respects to the chief mourners - Patties wife Hannah, his brothers TJ and John Joe and the workman Jimmy (who was like a son to him...) Fr. O'Shea said the prayers then everybody gathered in the kitchen for the reading of the will.  Solicitor Michael Prendergast officiated over proceedings.  There was great speculation as to who would inherit the extensive farm owned by Pattie.  Things took an interesting twist when it came down to the big business of the evening resulting in Jimmy the workman being the heir to Patties throne.  Following this big shock to all drinks were had and stories were told with a few songs thrown in for good measure around the open fire.  

Last years event was a runner up in the most innovative event award category in the Heritage Week awards.  This year Irish TV decided to come along and film our event to be broadcast on their Waterford Matters show.  We were over joyed when we discovered that our event won the Best Interactive Event award nominated by The Heritage Council.  On the 5th of December we went to the Heritage Council Offices in Kilkenny to accept the award.  This was a great honour.  We would not have been able to achieve this without the help of our wonderful friends and family.  We would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody that was involved.  We look forward to next years event.