The Gloss July/August 2016

A WRITER’S GARDEN / STRAWBERRY SEASON / COUNTRY HOUSE PLAYBOOK / LUXURY LINERS / WEAVING MAGIC / GLOSSY WEEKENDS

MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2016

with THE IR

TURNING

UP THE Gorgeous retreats in sunny places

FRESH AIR Women breathe new life into family farms

POOLSIDE PEERAGE

WHO’S WHO ON HOLIDAY?

ISH TIMES

At home with perfection.

Created with simple, clear forms.

Realm Concepts Ltd. The Waterfront. Hanover Quay. Dublin 2 Tel. 01 480 44 00. hello@realm.ie Twitter, Pinterest. Instagram @bulthaupHQ www.bulthaup-hanoverquay.ie

JULY/AUGUST 2016 NEXT ISSUE

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3

INSIDE THIS ISSUE 12 MOODBOARD Susan Zelouf is feeling turquoise

14 SHOPPING What to pack for a destination wedding

16 LOWDOWN Summer need-to-knows

20 THOSE PEOPLE

BY THE POOL Settle back into your sun lounger and observe ...

24 THE RETREAT SQUAD How to turn your holiday into a wellness opportunity

26 LET’S DO LUNCH Anne Harris talks to obstetrics pioneer

34 BEAUTY BUFFET Eyeliner upgrades, antioxidant-rich SPF and travel saviours

35 EXPERTS IN THE CITY Sarah Halliwell on Dublin’s new beauty destinations

B E AU TY E DITO R

SA RA H H A L L I W E L L ART E DITO R

L AU RA K E N N Y

42 FOOD

ASS ISTANT E DITO R – FE ATU RE S

Strawberries as you've never tasted them, by Trish Deseine

SA RA H B R E E N ASS ISTANT E DITO R

H A N NA H P O P H A M

43 WINE

ASS ISTANT E DITO R

The 1980s favourite Muscadet is ripe for a renaissance, says Mary Dowey

SA RA H G E RAG H T Y ADVE RTIS ING SAL E S DIRE CTO R

T RAC Y O R M I STO N

45 THIS GLOSSY LIFE Meet the unstoppable women breathing life and vitality into farms all over Ireland

CO N TRIB UTIN G EDITO RS

ON THE COVER Photographed by Pamela Hanson Source: TRUNK ARCHIVE.

STAY IN TOUCH Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @theglossmag for around-the-clock glossy updates, or Like THE GLOSS Magazine on Facebook. Find daily updates on our new website, www.thegloss.ie, and visit www.lookthebusiness.ie for our latest business events, career and style advice.

out in Dalkey

30 FIRST PERSON Frances Crowe used her loom to

much-hyped $2m debut

AISLINN COFFEY

It's open season at Ireland's family-run country estates

Actress Tara Egan-Langley chills

Novelist Emma Cline on her

E DITO R

SA RA H M C D O N N E L L

40 COUNTRY HOUSE PARADE

28 MY GLOSSY WEEKEND

32 BOOKS

PU B L IS H E R

JA N E M C D O N N E L L

STY L E E DITO R

Dr Máire Casement

channel grief into art

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ST U G U A JULY/

The SLOANE RANGER style ...Victoria Beckham’s INTERIOR DESIGNER ... hanging out in GRAND GARDENS ... and a last call for TARDY TRAVELLERS ...

B

efore you ditch the piecrustcollared blouses and Alice bands in a Kondo-style summer wardrobe cleanse, think again.

Trend forecasters have predicted the return of Sloane Ranger chic this autumn – apparently it chimes with the librarian aesthetic doing the rounds.

GWYNETH PALTROW, JULIANNE MOORE and ALEXA CHUNG have all been spotted recently wearing frilly blouses unironically. Indeed, Arygle socks were on the catwalk at Prada as were twinsets at Miu Miu, so we can expect to see Fair Isle sweaters, taffeta skirts and velvet britches next. The look is reminiscent of French BCBG (Bon Chic, Bon Genre) and American Preppy, though its modern incarnation is less uptight.

PETER YORK, the co-author of The Sloane Ranger Handbook (1982) has said of the look’s renaissance, “After five years something is bad, after ten years it is ghastly but after 25 years it starts to look interesting again”.    What does “Hollywood Regency” style mean to you? If you draw a blank, stand by for Christie’s preview of the estate of NANCY AND RONALD REAGAN which is being auctioned in September. The sale encompasses furniture, decorative works of art, books, memorabilia, jewellery, paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints from their home in Los Angeles. The collection includes American, English, and Chinese furnishings selected for the home’s TED GRABER-designed interiors. The collection will be sold in a sequence of live and online auctions, with proceeds going to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.

One wonders whether any items from the presidential visit to Ireland (in 1984) and from his ancestral home in Ballyporeen, Co Tipperary will be among the memorabilia.

If you’re more highbrow and liked BRIAN SEWELL’s acerbic art critiques as well as his humour, you might be interested in the forthcoming sale of his estate at Christie’s too. One of the lots is a drawing by Irish artist JAMES BARRY (1741 – 1806).    Move over Glastonbury, those in the know believe the Lucca Summer Festival is where it’s at now. This year’s line-up is a mix of Earth, Wind & Fire, LIONEL RITCHIE, VAN MORRISON, Simply Red and ANASTASIA. Who said cheese or the 1980s were dead? In Chiantishire, they’re alive and seemingly kicking, though Tuscan resident STING is notably absent from the programme.    Landscape architect CATHERINE FITZGERALD, wife of actor DOMINIC WEST and daughter of the 29th Knight of Glin, has been involved in Hillsborough Castle’s

FRILLY SEASON: Sloane style is cool again. Rah!

spare, otherwise they will refused boarding. Elsewhere, sending a text to say you’re “on your way but delayed in traffic” is not cutting the mustard for business appointments. We all know that translates as “just setting off ”.    The July sales are underway (thought most shops now appear to be constantly in sales mode). What sort of sales shopper are you – a Lone Wolf, Social Shopper, Online Hermit or Impulse Buyer? These are four types as defined by Vogue, though it doesn’t quite cover the Desperate to Buy But Can’t Find Anything I Like category some of us subscribe to.   

landscaping. The Castle was often a “royal staycation” holiday spot for QUEEN ELIZABETH II and her sister MARGARET and is now flourishing as a site for weddings, archaeological digs and art tours.    Ballet fans will need no introduction to the strikingly beautiful ROBERTO BOLLE – principal dancer at the American Ballet and also La Scala – slated by some as the new NUREYEV. Bolle and friends, including Irish ballerina MELISSA HAMILTON, performed Romeo & Juliet in Parma recently – part of a tour of Italy this summer.

Catch them in Verona, Rome and Genova. Having taken a leave of absence as first soloist at the Royal Ballet in London for a year, Hamilton is now with Semperoper Ballet in Dresden, as their principal dancer.    What does VICTORIA BECKHAM look for when she goes shopping with her decorator ROSE UNIACKE? Both were among the first visitors at the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in Battersea. Favourite items for designers included mirrors of all periods and ornate antique furniture embellished with gilding, inlay, carved decoration or chinoiserie while Biba-inspired 20th-century furniture and crystal chandeliers garnered interest. Still popular are metallic accessories in bronze, brass and gilt. Bamboo and rattan furniture also made a return.    Are you reading this on a plane? Did you race to the departure gate? Punctuality is on the decrease so some airlines are putting their foot down. No longer can holidaymakers make a dash for it when final boarding is announced. Easyjetters will have to get to the airport, much less the gate, with a lot more than half an hour to

4 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

Not yet made up your mind on a summer getaway?

For the ultimate humble brag, think about Beirut. It’s a cool hunting destination, as shown by the pop-up Shop at the Bluebird on King’s Road which showcased Lebanese designers NATHALIE TRAD and SANDRA MANSOUR recently. If you’re going to the so-called Paris of the Middle East take some Berocca. It’s a party town with serious style. Stay at Le Gray or L’Albergo. No surprise to learn that FT writer and Monocle editor, TYLER BRÛLÉ, has a pied-a-terre in the hip Ashrafieh district.    KATE MOSS’s current beau NIKOLAI VON BISMARCK may not do much in the way of hard graft but he is partial to the wearing of gloves. According to a friend of THE GLOSS, who encountered the couple in a London antique shop, he makes an elegant accessory to her messy/boho/edgy look.    On a summery June evening in the fragrant gardens of Lismore Castle, sipping champagne from solid silver goblets was the preamble to a magical night. Lismore Opera Festival’s performance of Cosi Fan Tutte in the stable yard, with dinner served at long tables amid the roses, lupins and delphiniums, heralded a summer-long involvement

by Kildare Village in all things food, culture and design.

As official sponsor of the Opera, the luxury shopping destination demonstrated that unique events of superb quality are worthy of support. Watch this space for news of MICHAEL STEWART, first recipient of the ¤15,000 Fashion Bursary Programme established by Kildare Village.    Finally, another new definition to get your head around; the “Midult”. More important as consumers than Millennials, they are “successful, 35-55-year-old female, digitally literate Generation Xers who are obsessed with Instagram and have a large disposable income. Crucially, their motivations and desires are misunderstood or completely ignored by many of the brands they naturally gravitate to”. Is that you? ^

B O O D LES. CO M / C I RC U S

Why Don’t You...?

SOCIAL LIFE INSPIRATION

NIFTY NOTIONS FOR JULY DOINGS

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... FIND A MAD HATTER and ask them to help you choose a hat that’s perfect for you. As well as looking fabulous, and saving your skin from the sun, we like that we can skulk under a wide brim when we’re between blowdries, or just feeling anti-social. Parisian chapelier Anthony Peto makes Panamas, Trilbies and fedoras in his boutique on South Anne Street, while Laura Kinsella has just been appointed in-house milliner at the Westin.

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... GO WILD AND GET MOSSY

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in animal print, back with a bang for autumn – see Dries Van Noten’s AW16 show for a masterclass in how to wear it. One easy way is this Equipment silk shirt, part of a collaboration with Kate Moss: it looks cool yet elegant with jeans or over a camisole and silk trousers for evening. Expensive, but you’ll wear forever; at Seagreen and www.net-a-porter.com.

... DOWNGRADE YOUR JEANS Fashion insiders are getting wise to spending extortionate amounts on denim. A New York-based fashion PR tells us that the coolest city girls throw on Gap jeans with a Chanel jacket: yes, Gap is good again for basics. Try a pair of their 1969 Crop Kick jeans and save yourself a fortune. A new Gap Denim Addict service is available at Arnotts, where specialist Denim Addicts will assist with finding the perfect pair, and offer free hemming, distressing, patching and studding. ... PREDICT THE FUTURE of fashion, that is. At CREATE at Brown Thomas, the fashion exhibition reflecting “the most exciting and newest talent” in the words of Brown Thomas fashion director Shelly Corkery, the work of 19 designers of womenswear, millinery, knitwear, leather, jewellery and textiles, is on show. Ones to watch? Mayo-born Catherine Teatum and partner Rob Jones of Londonbased label Teatum Jones. This clever duo is known for bold, quality fabrics; their approach to the design process won them the coveted International Woolmark Prize at New York Fashion Week. Create, Level One, Brown Thomas Dublin.

... SHELVE IT Power down the Kindle and return to beautifully coloured hard covers – and not just for reading. Use books as a design statement, as demonstrated at the Sonia Rykiel London store, and along the walls of cool yet cosy Peruke & Periwig cocktail bar on Dawson Street. While some people are ordering literary tomes by the yard purely for aesthetic reasons, others are taking the advice of interior designer Ashley Hicks and arranging books by colour ...

... EAT BEAUTIFUL Step away from the endless celebrity takes on “clean eating” and consult someone who actually knows about skin: Eat Beautiful is a collection of advice and recipes from renowned make-up artist Wendy Rowe to encourage healthy skin. Some of the recipes are just too healthy for us – the dessert made with cacao and pearl barley, for one – but we love this vibrant sardine dish for summer (4). See the full recipe on www.thegloss.ie. Eat Beautiful by Wendy Rowe, Ebury Press, £20stg.

3 5

6

... LIVE A PARK LIFE where if you’re lucky, a new café will have opened.

As pop-ups and experimental spaces which started tentatively in recession take up permanent residence, we can look forward to prosecco in the evening sunshine at Lolly & Cooks in Herbert Park, breakfast at Olive’s Rooms in the Victorian Red Stables in St Anne’s Park in Raheny or lunch in the tearooms near St Patrick’s Cathedral, beautifully restored by TAKA Architects.

7

RE-READ MAEVE BRENNAN The stylish Ranelagh-born writer worked at The New Yorker in the 1950s. Her wonderful short stories and articles are gathered in a new paperback published by The Stinging Fly. Springs of Affection, ¤14.99, is out now. ^

8 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

9 8

1. The tearooms at St Patrick’s Park. 2. Gucci Cruise collection 2016. 3. Gap’s Best Girlfriend jeans. 4. Sardines from Eat Beautiful. 5. Hanley ribbed sweater and Florence skirt by Teatum Jones. 6. Bookshelves line the walls of Sonia Rykiel’s Tokyo store. 7. The Springs of Affection by Maeve Brennan.

8. Hat, ¤180, by Anthony Peto.

9. Lake leopard print silk pyjama shirt, Kate Moss for Equipment, from a selection at Seagreen, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 and Monskstown, Co Dublin.

AIDEEN GAYNOR

Celebrate the very best in Irish Design 05/07/2016 – 14/08/2016 #BTCREATE

STYLE

Spot the Trend

1 2

SUMMER STYLE ESSENTIALS

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5 6

7

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10

STAYCAT IO N

Draw on brilliant matte colour with this bendy, ergonomic eyeliner.

SUMMER BREEZY 1. Simply White OC-117 Aura paint, BENJAMIN MOORE, d32.99 per quart, at MRCB, 12-13 Cornmarket, Dublin 8. 2. Boja rattan pendant light, d60, at IKEA. 3. Mountain Flower scented candle, CLOON KEEN ATELIER, d40, at Brown Thomas. 4. Straw Panama hat, d160, at ANTHONY PETO, 14 Anne Street South, Dublin 2. 5. Chocolate brown suede shorts, FRAME DENIM, d640; www.net-a-porter.com.

6. Soleil Blanc Shimmering Body Oil, TOM FORD, d85, at Brown Thomas. 7. Sleep Mask Tan, JAMES READ, d47, at Meaghers Pharmacy. 8. Sons And Daughters Of Ease And Plenty by RAMONA AUSUBEL (Riverhead Books), £16.62stg, on www.amazon.co.uk. 9. Cabbage leaf ceramic salad bowl, d45, at ARTICLE, Powerscourt Centre, Dublin 2. 10. Grandiôse Eyeliner, LANCÔME, d29, at counters nationwide.

11. Coffee Phoebe canvas shoes, d135; WWW.CASTANER.COM. For stockists, www.thegloss.ie

10 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

11

Flore bra & brief in marine Exclusively available at Brown Thomas

Explore our extraordinary new Lingerie Room Now open on Level 3, Brown Thomas Dublin

MOODBOARD 3

I’m presenting the Oscar for best bold bib necklace to Tiffany & Co for the Blue Book piece worn by Cate Blanchett, featuring turquoise, aquamarines and diamonds.

I’m wearing mermaid jewelry inspired by Ireland’s wild Atlantic coastline, with sculpted silver shells, gemstone shards and clusters of seed pearls, each piece unique. www.bylaragh.com

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“WHEN I HAVEN’T ANY BLUE, I USE RED.” PABLO PICASSO

2

4

T H IS M O N T H T HE MOOD IS:

TURQUOISE

5

“THE DEEPER THE BLUE, THE MORE IT SUMMONS MAN INTO INFINITY.” VASILY KANDINSKY

SUSAN ZELOUF finds the blue in green Wandering through the warren of streets around St Stephen’s Green between appointments, I allow myself to nip in and out of shops as something in a window catches my eye: a marcasite cuff in Silver Trout, a bolt of Liberty Art Fabric in The Cloth Shop, a plate of superfood from Industry & Co’s salad bar followed by Climpson & Sons coffee at the Clement & Pekoe cafe tucked inside Indigo & Cloth (because one can never have too many ampersands) until I am stopped in my tracks outside Gollum’s Precious by something I never imagined I needed: a queenly necklace composed of polished turquoise, each cabochon a whopper the size and colour of an American robin’s egg, a breastplate of smooth blue boulders engrained with black spiderweb veining.

Turquoise is a shade that falls somewhere between blue and green, between sea and sky. In her Pulitzer Prize-nominated book The Anthropology of Turquoise, writer and naturalist Ellen Meloy describes turquoise as “the stone of the desert, the colour of yearning”. Crayola issued a Turquoise Blue crayon in 1934, perfect for today’s bored adults buying mid-century modern coloring books from design museums; wealthy ancient Egyptian women wore bracelets of tiny turquoise pyramids linked with delicately carved hawks to guide them through the hereafter. Tibetan scribes crushed the opaque gemstones into paste, adding gold, silver and lapis to make ink fit for writing sacred prayers on pale blue palmyra paper. The Persian word for turquoise, ferozah, means victorious. It was said turquoise could cure cataracts when applied to the eyes, its medicinal properties purported to ease pain, banish bad dreams, protect against drowning, lightning strikes, scorpion stings and snake bites. Greek physicians prescribed it for intestinal troubles; wearing it in battle apparently worked like Kevlar, but when it didn’t, being buried with it ensured a fabulous afterlife, with a private turquoise infinity pool (70 per cent blue, 30 per cent green) as sumptuous as the ones in each of

12 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

the 45 villas in Cheval Blanc Randheli, Maldives.

If people with synesthesia are able to feel, smell, taste and hear colour, then perhaps Ireland is a nation of synesthetes, hungering for cloudless cerulean skies, thirsting for crystalline ultramarine pools, getting sloshed during brunch of a dirty Irish Sunday on newsprint cocktails of azure horizons plastered across travel supplements. Trapped beneath a Tupperware vault, any hint of turquoise and we tilt heavenwards like a helianthus tracking the sun. How terribly ironic that the inhabitants of another island, the vividly tropical equatorial Micronesia (with bragging rights to fifty shades of blue) suffer from achromatopsia, as observed by the late neurologist Oliver Sacks in his book The Island of the Colourblind.

French painter Yves Klein (1928-1962) characterised blue as “the deep empty”, which may be where we long to go when we swan-dive into Bradley Cooper’s unreal baby blues or book our holidays based on lickable brochure spreads. British artist David Hockney used a modern acrylic turquoise palette to pull the plug on the iconic California swimming pool in his 1960s series of million dollar Splash paintings, as full of promise as they are empty California dreams. When Hockney first flew over San Bernardino, he was struck by blinding blocks of blue. Even the most basic backyard pools in the California suburbs shimmer like sapphires, thanks to an industrial paint called Pacific Pool Supplies Blue.

While the sea appears blue from a distance, becoming green as we approach it, water in our cupped hands looks colourless. In her meditation on turquoise, Ellen Meloy wonders at the impossibility of language to adequately represent colour: “Everywhere I look, the blues assert themselves ... I can say aquamarine or ultramarine, turquoise or cerulean, yet words soon run thin and deficient.” This July and August, when words fail you, heed Virgil’s advice to “Steep thyself in a bowl of summertime”. A turquoise bowl, preferably. ^ @SusanZelouf

THIS MONTH’S MOODBOARD I’M SPOTIFYING Bill Evans’ modal gem “Blue in Green” (1), contentiously credited to Miles Davis on “Kind of Blue”, both essential listening.

I’M BUCKETLISTING Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock (2), one of the oldest works of Islamic architecture, built on sacred ground.

I’M SPLASHING OUT on a London jaunt to see the Hockney retrospective. (3) Advance bookings www.tate.org.uk

I’M SPRAY PAINTING metal stools cheerful turquoise (4), inspired by ww.w. younghouselove.com, one couple’s addictive blog detailing 3,000 DIY projects that actually got done!

I’M GETTING FESTIVAL-READY with MAC Vibe Tribe’s Wild Horses palette (5). Shop before you fly at Dublin Airport.

ALL-NEW JAGUAR F-PACE

ABOVE ALL, IT’S A JAGUAR. FROM €44,100

Welcome to Jaguar as you’ve never seen it before. Now you can enjoy the dramatic drive and beauty Jaguar is renowned for, with added practicality.

Inspired by F-TYPE, its powerful, muscular looks give the All-New F-PACE a head-turning road presence. And it delivers the connected steering feel and sharp, responsive handling of a sports car too, thanks to its aluminium double wishbone front and Integral Link rear suspension.

A master of sporting performance and everyday practicality, F-PACE raises the game. jaguar.ie

Official fuel consumption figures for the F-PACE in l/100km: Urban 5.7 – 12.2, Extra urban 4.5 – 7.1, Combined 4.9 – 8.9. CO2 emissions g/km: 129 – 209.

Drive responsibly on and off-road. Price quoted is the for the F-PACE 2.0 i4 Diesel RWD Pure model.

SHOPPING Petite Malle Cristal clutch bag, LOUIS VUITTON, d6,000, at Brown Thomas Dublin.

NINA RICCI

Pearl multistrand necklace, CHANEL, from a selection, at Brown Thomas Dublin.

Chandelier earrings, d12.95, at ZARA.

Multicoloured MULBERRY silk

camisole, d60; matching MULBERRY silk lounge pants, d120; www. theethicalsilkco.com.

JASON LLOYD-EVANS

Orange Simple sheath dress, PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE, d306; www.liberty.co.uk.

Olive green pleated sheath dress, NINA RICCI, d2,064; www.farfetch.com.

GUEST LIST An out-of-town summer wedding in the diary?

Avoid carting around excess baggage: keep it simple and timeless. A block-coloured sheath dress — paired with a statement clutch, a great hat and shoes works a treat. Be comfortable, it’s going to be a long night. Don’t forget to pack your PJs. Sleep mask is optional.

Black suede sandals, d39.99, at H&M.

Arenal straw hat, FILÙ HATS, d369; www.matches fashion.com

Silver and ceramic Tiffany T Cutout cuff, TIFFANY & CO, d3,150, at Brown Thomas.

14 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

Burnt orange Le Pliage large overnight bag , LONGCHAMP, d75, at Arnotts.

The hair dryer re-thought.

Exclusively instore at

Online at Dyson.ie

UPDATE

The Lowdown WHAT’S TRENDING IN JULY?

SUN SCREENING Fabulous films you won’t want to miss

MAGGIE’S PLAN Written and directed by Rebecca Miller, Greta Gerwig plays the title role in the story of a young New York woman who decides to have a baby with an old friend before complications arise. Julianne Moore, Ethan Hawke and Travis Fimmel co-star. July 8

Clocwise from left: Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot. See this dress and more at Newbridge MOSI. Roller at Forbes Street, Dublin 2. Song of the Sea. Boucheron sunglasses, ¤635, at Brown Thomas.

WE’RE BEING BLOWN AWAY BY:

WE’RE BOOKING TICKETS FOR: THE SPINNING HEART, Donal Ryan’s devastating depiction of a west Tipperary village torn apart by economic ruin and its consequent savage austerity, dramatised and brought to the stage at Smock Alley. The multi awardwinning novel is adapted by Articulate Anatomy, and performed by graduates from the Gaiety School of Acting.

From July 11; tickets c15, from www.smockalley.com. THE NEWBRIDGE SILVERWARE MUSEUM OF STYLE ICONS where items from the largest auction ever devoted to actress Marilyn Monroe will be exhibited. The auction will take place in Los Angeles in November. Including “career costumes” (such as the black sequined dress she wore in Some Like It Hot) and items from her personal wardrobe, as well as letters, address books and even pretty sketches and

16 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

THE BFG

poems, it’s an insight into Hollywood’s most fascinating actress that we certainly don’t want to miss. Until July 25; www.newbridgesilverware.com

WE’RE BRINGING THE KIDS TO:

Steven Spielberg is reimagining the tale of precocious ten-year-old Sophie and her encounter with the Big Friendly Giant (played by Mark Rylance). Roald Dahl’s personal favourite, it’s also the only book of his that hasn’t been adapted for the screen yet. July 22

SONG OF THE SEA: THE EXHIBITION at the Ark, which offers a glimpse into the making of the Oscar-nominated animated film. The interactive exhibition features original drawings, prints and storyboards and the chance for visitors to hear behind-the-scenes secrets from Cartoon Saloon’s Rory Conway. Until August 31; www.ark.ie

WE’RE SEEING: WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? at Trinity College Dublin’s Science Gallery, which attempts to deconstruct the complex experience of vision, understanding and perception by examining human, animal and technological sight. Set your sights on artificial eyes, explore the subjectivity of vision and how our other senses shape our view of the world, all curated by ophthalmologist Kate Coleman. Until September 18; www.dublin.sciencegallery.com

WE’RE TREATING OURSELVES TO: A chic new pair of sunglasses from BROWN THOMAS, where beautiful frames from Boucheron, Dior, Tom Ford, Dolce & Gabbana and Tiffany have just landed. ^

THE FIRST MONDAY IN MAY Director Andrew Rossi (of Page One: Inside the New York Times) follows Vogue editor Anna Wintour as she plans one of the most exclusive parties in the world: the Met Gala.

Featuring interviews with Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier and John Galliano. September 2

COMPILED BY HANNAH POPHAM

ROLLER, the chic new blow dry bar from Orna Holland and Sonia Anne Flynn of tech companies Stripe and Soundcloud respectively (who in former lives ran Facebook’s staffing and European operations). The salon, in Dublin’s Hanover Quay, features furniture by Philippe Starck, Flos and Mutto, artwork from The Cross Gallery, and, of course, personal iPads for each customer, and caters to those popping in before and after work. www.roller.ie; 23 Forbes Street, Dublin 2. Also on our radar this month is BLOW SALON, open weekdays from 6.45am (www.blow.ie; 42A Richmond Street, Dublin 2 and 144 Upper Leeson Street, Dublin 2) and HOT AIR, the blow dry bar due to open underneath Amy Huberman’s stylish salon venture, Oslo. www.inoslo.ie; 67 Mespil Road, Dublin 4

WITH ROB KEARNEY

FOR WHEN YOU’RE FEELING BLUE

W W W. N E W B R I D G E S I LV E R W A R E . C O M #NSBlueBox

HOLIDAYS

Those

PEOPLE

BY THE POOL

THE VILLA MONSTER “What’s the wifi code?” shouts Marjorie as soon as she alights at the villa. Kelly, the resident Girl Friday, recognises immediately the high-maintenance guest. And sure enough she is kept busy sourcing travel adaptors, hairdryers, sparkling water, a request of figs for breakfast and an assortment of cosmetic items every time she goes shopping.

At no point is a tip or a thank you forthcoming. Marjorie also provides her with a list of dietary requirements – she’s been following James Duigan’s “Eat Fat Get Slim” diet in The Daily Mail and wants to maintain her protein quota. Kelly rolls her eyes and makes a note to source more avocados as well as some cinnamon to sprinkle over dishes “to reduce sugar cravings” apparently.

As for the hostess, Joan, she bends Kelly’s ear every night about the rudeness of her guests. “Not even a scented candle,” she laments, “and they forgot to bring out the new glossies!”

Since her rich husband died, Joan’s idyllic home outside Grasse has received a steady stream of visitors who laze around the pool all day and then expect to be fed, watered, wined and dined to all hours of the morning. Kelly is kept busy whipping up quiches and an endless variety of salads

as well as a running bar of chilled rosé wine, Aperol spritzers and assorted appetisers for sundowners. Villanistas assume they’re staying at a boutique hotel and act accordingly. Her Avoca recipe books have come in handy, though this year she’s gone more Ottolenghi, sprinkling sumac on just about everything. Joan meanwhile both loves and loathes the company and has decided to lay down some new ground rules. “Breakfast is until 11am, lunch is served at 2pm and you can take me out for dinner,” she declares to the new group.

Her guests look crestfallen, particularly Marjorie who had hoped for a relatively cheap week away. The latter ruthlessly itemises each restaurant bill spoiling the al fresco enjoyment of the other guests. Rather than dividing by six she points out she just had a main course not the prix fixe three course menu. Meanwhile Kelly secretly high fives. With all her free evenings, she can finally arrange a few dates with Jean-Pierre from the village …

THE INSTAQUEEN Fran and James have fought the whole way to the wedding.

The hire car that was supposed to be a saloon turned out to be a miniature Alto which baulked at Fran’s luggage. A sore point. James wonders what she’s brought for the three-day

20 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

wedding in Marrakech? Then the GPS got stuck so they arrived late for the aperitivo and rehearsal dinner. Fran had no time to iron her Self Portrait dress so feels particularly dishevelled compared to the other guests. James gets stuck into the local plonk which means, come the next morning, he is in decidedly squiffy form. Fran has been dying to show off her Lisa Marie Fernandez one piece and more importantly post a selfie on Instagram – backlit, of course, #nofilter.

She follows Marie Chantal of Greece, Aerin Lauder, Tory Burch et al and considers herself a bit of a style maven. She matches her holiday wardrobe to destination. Last year they went to Sardinia and she worked a mash-up of raffia, regatta stripes and citrus prints, this year she’s gone more boho and is heavily into the current pom-pom trend. Accepting an invitation to the wedding was just an excuse to get to the souks. She’s been dying to find an authentic Moroccan wedding blanket to mount in Perspex above their bed. Not that her home says global nomad per se, though a few funky pouffes would not go amiss. Sipping some mint tea, she reads a few chapters of the latest Tasmina Perry before looking over Poppy Delevingne’s shopping recommendations; she makes a note to go to Atelier Moro for some babouches and

TRUNK ARHIVE

People-watching is the best fun you can have on holiday. Settle into your sun lounger and observe holiday types at play, says PENNY MC CORMICK

Photo Michel Gibert, used as a reference only. Special Thanks: www.marierancillac.fr / TASCHEN.

Pluriel large 3-seat sofa, designed by Roberto Tapinassi and Maurizio Manzoni.

UNIT D1 - Beacon South Quarter, Dublin 18. Tel: 01-653-1650

www.roche-bobois.com

HOLIDAYS reapplies some more Charlotte Tilbury’s Supermodel Body illuminator. Even on holiday, her online persona is her most important priority these days …

dining hours; they upset her digestive system. Give her “vorsprung durch technik” any day; she’s loving the German efficiency and at least Seán has not embarrassed her too much. The evening entertainment is not mandatory so she can slip off and read the latest Aga saga she’s packed. Off ship, she’s managed to get a cutting of Centaurea cyanus (Bachelor’s Button) the national flower of Germany, for her garden. The tea and coffee making facilities in their Grand Balcony suite are the icing on the cake. Thank goodness she packed some Barry’s teabags and her homemade shortbread.

Holiday heaven!

HAPPY FAMILIES Since discovering Colour Wow is stocked at the local chemist, Áine has been able to forego the monthly hair appointments and do her own roots. Just as well, as she hasn’t had time for a proper touch-up before the holidays and they’re also trying to save on unnecessary expenditure.

Moving house was exhausting enough but now they’ve had to vacate for two weeks while the builders sort out the new kitchen. Organising a last minute Eurocamp holiday, as well as rehoming Kitty the Irish Terrier at the in-laws was a double whammy too far. She couldn’t locate the summer clothes boxes until the last minute and had no time to refresh them with a wash so she fears the kids will smell a bit musty.

She, Ben, Emma and Harry are in an assortment of stripey tops, Converse All Stars and colourful sweatshirts. Bretons to Brittany. They are far from her Boden family ideal. Harry was sick on the ferry from Rosslare to Roscoff and Emma has been sulking; so it’s been a shaky start.

She and Ben have issued a fatwa on iPad and iPhone usage and packed a variety of games to play in the evening.

Monopoly is the surprising hit of the holiday. As for the camp; it’s a tad tired but in an ideal location for the beach and of course the weather is a bonus. Áine is glad the communal shower blocks are spotless; she can’t wait to post a review to fellow Mumsnetters. Ben hates sunbathing so they’ve hired bicycles for exploratory tours in the early morning and late afternoon. Áine has already found the markets and stocks up each day on fresh fruit and salad vegetables. Lunch is baguette, cold cuts and cheese while dinner is poulet et frites from the campsite bistro or savoury crêpes. They discover their neighbours are from Wicklow and have organised a joint night out to Trinité-sur-Mer. They have a girl the same age as Emma so the pouting has subsided, while Harry has befriended some French boys at the waterslides and they have been playing le foot non-stop.

Just as they open some wine and are beginning to unwind on Day 3, the builder sends Ben a text to say the cost has gone up again. The roof has collapsed, it’s raining, further delays are anticipated. By Ben’s calculations they’ll be paying off the holiday and the kitchen until kingdom come. Áine tries to remember the mindfulness techniques she’s been practising, while taking a large glug of Côtes de Provence. She tweets a picture of her half-empty glass to her school PTA group with the caption #pluscachange!

SINGLE SUPPLEMENT Knowledge is power, believes Sharon, who has spent the last three months planning her two-week trip to Spain. This year she’s doing the Santiago de Compostela route starting at Bilbao. At wine o’clock each evening after work she’s crossreferenced every online site for information and sourced the best prices for budget hotels. Booking.com is the most reliable and she’s learned to decode the reviews on TripAdvisor. In fact, she’s thinking of retraining to be a hotel inspector and is particularly vociferous on the additional single supplement charges. To counteract these, she’s got packing down to a fine art and only ever carries hand luggage and an Orla Kiely cross-body bag. Her wardrobe includes a well-worn black maxi dress and multiple Land’s End T-shirts. She wouldn’t be without her waterfall cardi or Birkenstocks.

Having enrolled in an Spanish class this winter she can’t wait to practice her idiomatic phrases on unsuspecting natives. They immediately reply in English (much to her

THE BEAUTY ADDICT

Karen just knows Steve will PROPOSE in Kenya.

Should she get a course of FACIALS to make sure she looks RADIANT? consternation) to her many random queries. Once she’s investigated every nook and cranny of a new location, she can be spotted dining while taking notes on the tapas; and whipping out her iPhone to send photos on Viber to friends.

She can’t seem to get enough of the patatas bravas. Keeping all her receipts carefully, Sharon is pleased she has stuck to her holiday budget of ¤30 a day. She’s already planning to invite her conversation class round for drinks and a full debrief come September. By that stage she will have created a collage of photographs and mastered the bollos de cuajad (cheese balls) and tortilla de verduras (vegetable tortilla) recipes.

Donnybrook Fair do a great jamón, so she’ll serve that, a few olives and some rioja. Sorted.

THE SILVER CRUISERS Seán’s chinos have seen better days, but come out every summer as does an old Panama hat and an assortment of short-sleeved shirts. “Old faithfuls” he calls them. The children have bought him new Bermudas and some lightweight Ecco shoes; they secretly hope he won’t pair either with mismatched socks. Seán hates any sartorial suggestions. He’s complained bitterly to Kathleen who’s made him bring a suit, tie and navy jacket for the more formal dinners on the River Cruise down the Rhine – a gift from the children for their ruby wedding anniversary. In fact, his inner Victor Meldrew is never far from the surface. If Seán doesn’t have elevenses on time he gets irritable and now that they’re installed on board, he can’t decide if he actually likes a nondriving holiday. Weather, traffic and commenting thereon, as well as route planning, are his specialist subjects. As he falls asleep on deck most afternoons after over-indulging in the all-inclusive lunch buffet, he’s missed seeing Koblenz and Cologne; though hopefully he’ll wake up in time for Mannheim. Meanwhile, Kathleen couldn’t be more content.

She doesn’t have to worry about shopping or cooking for a week and the early dinners suit her. She’s not used to Latin

22 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

Karen’s Kenyan countdown began in earnest just after Easter. There are just so many treatments to book before the ten-day safari with Steve. Highlights are the first to schedule, along with a trim six weeks before departure. Eyelash dyeing is next on the list, alongside a teeth-whitening course. It’s Karen’s first proper holiday with Steve and she wants to appear as low-maintenance as possible, though she has been forced to take out a loan just to cover the beauty basics.

She’s been using St Tropez Gradual Tan shower gel which is working nicely and will have a light “top-up” spray tan the day before she leaves, after a Shellac mani-pedi. Karen ticks off the to-do list with gusto. She’s debating the merits of a Keratin treatment and Brazilian blow-dry pre-departure as she’s not entirely sure of the facilities on the trip. They’re glamping on the Laikipia plains. Does that mean there will be plugs for her GHD straightening irons? She’s not really an outdoorsy sort, having read I Dreamed of Africa by Kuki Gallman. Too many snakes and creepy crawlies for Karen’s liking; not the sort of nightlife she’s used to. Karen just knows Steve will propose in Kenya. Should she get a course of facials to make sure she looks radiant? As for her nail colour; she’s trying to decide between Essie’s Vanity Fairest or Starter Wedding. Steve has no idea, of course, that’s she doing all this for him. It will all be worth it though when she updates her status (engaged!) on Facebook. The first person she’ll call is Mandy, her beauty therapist.

MR IMPORTANT Sitting in his usual seat, 1A, Robert raises the divider screen between seats as soon as the champagne is served, so as to avoid talking to his neighbour. Like his business persona, holidays are a further chance to show off his superiority.

He has loyalty cards with all of the major hotel groups, his Hartmann luggage is always first off the conveyor belt and he is whisked to his destination by a driver who knows not to engage in any banter. As he taxis to take-off he reviews the itinerary his executive assistant has proposed. Restaurants have been booked, as has a preview of an art exhibition, and a private visit to a vineyard. He must ask her why she thinks he needs a cranio-sacral massage. He’s already had her check if the hotel has Technogym equipment, so as not to disrupt his routine. Post-workout he can be spotted with his iPad and International Herald Tribune in a quiet corner of the terrace sporting the latest Vilbrequin shorts, Ralph Lauren polo shirt and Tod’s gomminos; his default holiday uniform.

This is his first solo holiday since his divorce and he’s still smarting from the alimony demands, though truth be told, he does miss Jennifer’s company at dinner. They managed 15 years before she went off to “find herself ”, whatever that means. Although his “out of office” email states he is away for a week, he loves nothing more than firing off a few queries to keep the management team on their toes. While the boss is away and all that ... ^

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WELLNESS

JASON LLOYD-EVANS

Turn your summer holiday into a wellness opportunity at one of these luxury health and fitness destinations, writes SARAH BREEN

THE RESTORATIVE RETREAT WHAT TO PACK Shapely separates

Lunar crop top (back detail), d54; www.catalyst-activewear.com.

THE ANTI-AGEING RETREAT WHERE: The Sayanna Anti-Ageing programme at Epic Sana, Portugal.

PERFECT IF: you want to come home looking ten years younger.

Based at a luxury resort overlooking Falésia beach in Albufeira, this targeted programme includes group fitness classes, personal training sessions, daily massages and bespoke anti-ageing treatments (think multiple facials) using products by Spanish medical cosmetics brand MCCM. “The programme is suitable from the age of 25 as it’s for prevention as well as maintenance,” says spa supervisor, Renata Domingos. “The benefits are visible after eight days; our clients say it takes years off them.”

From: U2,110 for seven nights.

Terracotta bikini, d29.98, at H&M.

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WHERE: The Rebalancing Programme at Clinique La Prairie, Switzerland.

PERFECT IF: you’ve been burning the candle at both ends and it’s starting to show.

With a distinctly medical emphasis, this six-night full-board retreat is designed to restore harmony to both body and mind and includes a check-up, full nursing care for the duration and even a psychological consultation. Multiple facials, body treatments and massages are all part of the package too. “Patients might be suffering from stress, anxiety, depression, extreme fatigue, traumas or loss of vital energy,” says Fatima Santos, La Prairie’s resident psychotherapist, hypnotherapist and sophrologist (that’s someone who studies the consciousness in harmony, natch). “We listen to their symptoms before defining an individualised response, which usually implies a whole set of tools such as hypnosis, sophrology and cardiac coherence.”

From: ¤16,000 per person.

WHAT TO PACK Glamorous gear

Blush wrap top, d105; www,pepper anmayne.com.

Blush cocoon quilted bed jacket, d160, at Susan Hunter, Westbury Mall, Dublin 2.

Relax eye mask, d62, Aromatherapy Associates; www.net-a-porter.com.

Blush Cat Nap satin slippers, d495 (part of set); www.charlotteolympia.com.

WELLNESS WHAT TO PACK

THE YOGA RETREAT WHERE: Daois Cove, Crete.

PERFECT IF: you want to improve your yoga against a breathtaking backdrop.

Suitable for seasoned yogis as well as improvers, this week-long retreat is designed to invigorate and inspire, all while taking in views of the pristine Aegean Sea. Comprising twice daily 90-minute yoga sessions (outdoors, naturally), and free access to the spa, the half-board programme is relaxed enough to allow plenty of free time to unwind. “The retreat offers an excellent opportunity to really immerse oneself in yoga, to build up stamina and skill in a way that is not really possible in the hustle and bustle of daily life,” says instructor Annette Böhmer. “The secluded bay makes it an especially tranquil experience.”

From: ¤1,745 per person sharing.

WHAT TO PACK Technical fabrics

Purple Flowy lightweight tank, d45; www.underarmour.eu.

Metallic yoga shoes, d17.99, at New Look.

Normcore workout wear

Black Active underwired bra top, Freya, d60, at Brown Thomas.

THE FAT-MELTING WEEKEND WHERE: Real Boot Camp, Spain.

PERFECT IF: you want to shed pounds – and fast.

It’s not for the faint-hearted, but the benefits include “weight loss, an improvement in fitness, better muscle tone, a boost to confidence and an overall improvement in wellbeing,” says retreat director Julie Slade. Over four nights and five days, the intensive programme includes daily yoga, circuit training on the beach, stunning hikes and unlimited use of the spa and its facilities, plus full board. “Our guests tell us that they feel rested, revived and have a great sense of achievement by the time they leave us,” adds Slade.

From: £698stg per person.

Grey off-the-shoulder T-shirt, Bodyism, d90, at Seagreen, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 and Monkstown, Co Dublin.

Black Octavia leggings, Bodyism, d175, at Seagreen, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 and Monkstown, Co Dublin.

Purple anti-slip yoga towel, d19.99, at TK Maxx.

THE BESPOKE RETREAT WHAT TO PACK Functional staples

THE GRUELLING RETREAT WHERE: Pure Results Bootcamp, Parknasilla Resort and Spa, Co Kerry and The Temple Lodge and Spa, Co Westmeath.

PERFECT IF: you want an LA-approach to fitness without the transatlantic flight.

With two packages available – three nights or seven – television presenter Kathryn Thomas and her sister Linda have created a bootcamp guaranteed to increase your fitness whatever your age. A typical day starts at 6am with a jog and continues with team classes, high intensity cardio, swimming and evening activities to nourish the body and mind. “Our average weight loss is anything from five to ten pounds in seven days,” says Thomas. “A big focus for us is overall health and wellbeing so we offer life coaching, yoga and mindfulness classes too.”

From U549 for three nights.

Metallic windcheater, d24.99, at H&M.

WHERE: Pop-Up Fitness, France or Ibiza.

PERFECT IF: you like to combine working out with working on your tan.

Whether you prefer the rolling hills of the south of France or a private villa in Ibiza, Pop-Up Fitness has it covered in a choice of retreats that combine a completely organic cleansing menu with daily yoga and Pilates classes, high intensity interval training and pampering. “We always choose glamorous locations,” says founder Olivia Cooney who has trained Laura Whitmore and Made in Chelsea’s Millie Mackintosh. But you don’t have to be a dedicated athlete to partake. “If you feel like only participating in one session per day, and want to spend the rest of your time by the pool we say: would you like a manicure with that?” she adds.

From: £1,020stg per person sharing.

WHAT TO PACK Sport-meets-fashion kit Navy Endurance+ Medalist swimsuit, Speedo, d27, at 53 Degrees North, The Park, Carrickmines, Dublin 18.

Fitbit Blaze, d229.95; www.fitbit.com

Knot stretch-jersey sports bra, Olympia Activewear, d119; www.net-aporter.com.

Burgundy Atani Bounce mesh sneakers, Adidas Stella McCartney, d195; www.adidas.ie.

Kore stretch-jersey leggings, Olympia Activewear, d130; www. net-a-porter. com.

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | July/August 2016 | 25

INTERVIEW

by Anne Harris

Retired obstetrician Dr Máire Casement explains how her skills are helping women in Liberia deliver

S

ince the beginning of this year, Máire Casement, a senior obstetrician from Belfast, has climbed Kilimanjaro, skied, started rehearsals in the chorus of The Belfast Opera and upped her efforts with her personal trainer. All of which tells you one thing. She belongs to that new generation for whom Life begins at Retirement. The Baby Boomers. She agrees wholeheartedly. But that list is merely the periphery. A troubled spot on the Ivory Coast was her passion project: Liberia.

Logistics dictated that we find a restaurant north of the Liffey on a Monday. As I bemoaned the number of restaurants which were closed and worried about the homely fare on offer at the Harbourmaster in the IFSC, she pulled out her phone and pointed to a photo. She was sitting at table with seven other people, each holding a spoon.

On the table was a washing-up-sized basin filled with food, “usually rice with chicken or fish heads. We all just dipped in. And you know what? It was surprisingly tasty.”

This was lunch in Liberia.

Not surprisingly she found her smoked salmon starter and beef stew very satisfactory. Truly everything is relative.

Food was undoubtedly one of the least important relativities of her experiences in Liberia. Ever wondered what happens to a woman in obstructed labour in a wartorn country? Or what happens to foetal distress in famine?

When Máire Casement retired earlier this year she decided to find out. “When I was signing up for Kilimanjaro I thought I would quite like to do some work in Africa. I wanted to give something back. Trouble is, you can go out and do good work but when you leave nothing changes.”

Liberia is an African country in extremis. It recently added the insult of Ebola (184 health workers died) to the injury of years of armed conflict. “Comprehensive emergency and neonatal care is limited by the small number of doctors,” says an official WHO document in what has to be the understatement of the century. “There are three obstetricians and 117 doctors for over four million people,” says Casement. The consequences for mothers and babies can only be imagined.

Twenty years ago a paediatrician called David Southall had an idea. Like all genius ideas, it had the merit of being obvious: train health workers to manage maternal and paediatric emergencies in troubled countries. “It’s called Task Shifting,” she explains. “You pick nurses and

26 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

ILLUSTRATION BY LAUREN O’NEILL

LET’S DO LUNCH

midwives who can upskill. So that once you leave, it doesn’t all revert to as before. “The idea Born in Belfast, of teaching people how to do a Casement is a caesarean section appealed to former president me,” says Casement. But then it of the Ulster Obstetrical Society always had. “When I was a senior who is passionate registrar I always got the juniors about bringing to do at least one caesarean change to obstetric care in Africa. section.” Her preternatural confidence probably came from her father, also an obstetrician. It was in her blood. Which turns out to be an apposite analogy.

“The hospital in Liberia had a blood bank. It’s a government hospital and there’s a rule that for small procedures a relative must come and give a unit of their blood. A woman was bleeding very badly. They gave her one unit but her haemoglobin dropped to three. She needed four units and the relative hadn’t turned up. I gave her my blood.”

What do they know of obstetrics who only obstetrics know (to paraphrase the cricket writer CLR James)?

To practise any great discipline, you have to have lived.

Casement has had her share: her husband died eight years ago, aged just 55, leaving her with four children coming into adulthood. That was when she took up choir singing, which led to The Belfast Opera, the epic arts project conducted by David Brophy and performed by an international cast and a chorus of citizens last month.

“On my first Sunday in Liberia I went to church. The minister announced: ‘We have a doctor here’ and told anyone with gynaecological problems to visit me. They came in droves because they all want babies – a man won’t marry them unless they have a baby.”

Her purpose had been “to teach one intern and three midwives to do caesarean sections”. Now she found herself on call. How could she not respond?

“They had no pain relief in labour, no screens, no oxygen, no privacy. There was a lot of obstructed labour. The only anaesthesia is spinal. Post caesarian section, they just have Voltarol for the pain. Nurses shout and roar at their patients.

There is no tradition of the caring nurse. Midwifery skills are not great. On one emergency the anaesthetist went off to church. I said: ‘You’re talking to God, but the patient could die.’”

She has that uniquely Belfast characteristic – a lack of sentimentality. So acclimatising to the blood and the sweat (“you always have to wear the Ebola gear”) in Liberia might be expected. But tears? Infant mortality clearly upset her.

“Why can you not monitor a baby continuously?” she found herself demanding. “Is a Third World baby of less value?” It was a cri de coeur.

The great medical writer Theodore Dalrymple wrote that compared with western civilisation Africans lead intolerable lives, but that does not mean Africans do not experience daily happiness. Just because maternal and infant mortality rates are intolerable does not mean that Africans are stoic about it. And Máire Casement will never be indifferent to it.

At the time of doing lunch, she is nervous about The Belfast Opera: “David Brophy is a perfectionist.” She won’t be doing Kilimanjaro again. “In a few months I will go back to Africa. Even though I was lonely and lost a stone.

You need to be fit.” Clearly there is no mountain as high as obstetrics in Liberia. ^ A dozen countries now benefit from MCAI, the charity founded by Professor David Southall. www.mcai.org.

DR MÁIRE CASEMENT:

an everyday masterpiece the beauty of art; the quality of caeserstone

Miller Brothers Stone, Charvey Lane, Rathnew, Co. Wicklow

T: 0404 32222 sales@millerbros.ie www.millerbros.ie

SOCIAL LIFE

My GLOSSY

London-born EganLangley moved to Co Wicklow at three and began a singing career, as Tara Blaise, at 16. She started acting in 2006 and is currently playing Constance Middleton in The Constant Wife at The Gate.

WEEKEND Actress TARA EGAN-LANGLEY spends her weekends with her young family in Dalkey, Co Dublin

W

e live right in the centre of Dalkey, which is a very small and friendly village, in a quirky house with a little yard. My weekends used to involve a lot of going out but now they’re all about having an adventure with my two sons [aged five and two]. And when they’re small you can frame anything as an adventure, you just have to make up stories as you go.

SATURDAY As I’m currently appearing in The Constant Wife, with two shows on a Saturday, my weekend is short. First thing in the morning I take a Pilates class in town with Katie Holmes at FORM SCHOOL (www.formschool. ie.). I find Pilates a real challenge as it concentrates on the core but it’s great for my stiff back. Once your core is strong everything else falls into place.

My sons are like puppies: if they’re inside too long you can see them going stir crazy. I can see the sea from one of our bedrooms and I love the sense of freedom. We like going to the nearby beach or visiting KILRUDDERY HOUSE (www.kilruddery.com) in Bray which has lovely animals and beautiful gardens that are perfect for summer picnics. In the winter I live in wellies and raincoats but now it’s flip-flops every day.

If we’re close to home, we’ll have lunch in DEVILLE’S (www.devilles.ie) on Castle Street as the food is so

PHOTOGRAPH BY DOREEN KILFEATHER

Clockwise from below: DeVille’s, 25 Castle Street, Dalkey. Black and gold Kitty flip-flops, Charlotte Olympia X Havianas, from a selection at Brown Thomas. Fallon & Byrne, The People’s Park, Dun Laoghaire. Form School, 24A Grattan Street, Dublin 2. Kilruddery House, Co Wicklow.

TARA EGANLANGLEY

“I can see the SEA from one of our BEDROOMS and I love the sense of FREEDOM.” consistently good it doesn’t matter what I order.

Although when you’re out with small kids your time is limited. We like to catch up with family too, either somewhere close to my sister’s house, like DUBLIN ZOO (www.dublinzoo.ie), or on a walk.

Before the matinee I do a warm-up in my dressing room and afterwards I have some time to myself as the evening performance doesn’t start until 7.30pm.

It’s not long enough to go home, but I try to get out for some fresh air. One of my castmates, Ruth McGill who plays Barbara Fawcett, is just about to qualify as a yoga instructor so I nab her for a quick session. After the show there’s an adrenaline buzz but I know if I stay out I will regret it in the morning. If I go for a drink, it will be at SMYTH’S OF HADDINGTON ROAD. We used to live in the area so it was our local and it’s kind of stuck. It’s also where a lot of actors tend to congregate.

28 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

SUNDAY On Sunday I get up and make pancakes for the kids as a treat while I read the papers. Then we go to MUGS CAFÉ (www.facebook.com/mugscafedalkey) for a coffee on the way to meet friends at the market in Dun Laoghaire’s PEOPLE’S

PARK. If the

weather is nice we’ll hang out for the day, grabbing lunch at the various food stalls. We then walk the pier and stop for an ice cream at TEDDY’S (www.teddys.ie) if the children have been good, before wandering home.

We like to have people over for dinner on Sunday evening because it means we don’t have to get a babysitter. We’re lucky because we’re on the Dart line so friends can easily come from town. I really enjoy having a big table of food and wine and chatting until late into the night. My partner likes cooking so he will do a really good roast lamb while I put the boys to bed. I don’t have another show until Monday night but I still have to get up early and pack lunches and get the boys ready in the morning. Any mother will tell you that having a regular job feels like a holiday from parenting. ^ In conversation with Sarah Breen. The Constant Wife is at The Gate until the end of August. Tickets from U20.

County Wicklow +353(0)404 6454 8 www.noeldempsey.c om

FIRST PERSON

FRUIT OF THE LOOM Frances Crowe always loved art but when tragedy struck at the heart of her family, she had to dig deep and find something within her to keep her sane. Art came to the rescue …

A

rt was always my thing, I was offered a place in NCAD to study Fine Art Painting after doing my Leaving Cert but it was only after I graduated that I discovered the art of woven tapestries, and I was hooked. I had found my medium. But “real life” demanded that I get a job, earn money, pay the bills. I married young, barely 22, and my husband Jack and I yearned for The Good Life, though we were not sure how to make it happen. On a whim we moved to a tiny two-roomed cottage in the deep countryside of Roscommon. One evening, as my husband Jack and I sat in our kitchen on two old car seats with a cardboard box as our table, a knock came on the door. There, to our bafflement, were two nuns. They had been driving around the back roads of Roscommon trying to find me.

They’d heard there was an art teacher living out this way and they were here to offer me a job. I went in on the Monday for a week’s work and left 30 years later.

Although I loved it there with the nuns I still yearned to be creating my own work and spent my evenings weaving in the freezing cold shed. By now I had my two children and my husband Jack looked after them while I taught by day and did my weaving by night. I got two large commissions. Jack had to dig down six feet into the shed floor because I weave upright. He built an enormous loom with scaffolding bars, so I could see it progress, as I wove from underground to high up in the loft. Sometimes people have an image of weavers as little old ladies stitching a nice pattern onto cloth, whereas in reality it is a very physical process.

Years passed in a blur of teaching, school runs, small commissions, house extensions, a new studio – with heating this time. With Jack growing our own fruit and veg and tending our hens, “The Good Life” was becoming a reality but I never seemed to have enough time to make the art I wanted to make. The creative impulse was so strong I wondered could I stop teaching and give myself over to my own art.

In the end the choice was taken out of my hands. One evening I got a phone call from abroad – a call that would change everything. My brother, who had been working on a farm in Malaysia, had been attacked by dogs and died. I could not believe what I was hearing. My beautiful, gentle brother Maurice? Dead? His partner had witnessed it all

lost my way. I wandered the back roads and lanes of Roscommon for hours, days on end, empty and untethered. I couldn’t relate to anyone, couldn’t work, couldn’t function.

Then a weaver friend invited me to do a workshop with an amazing Scottish tapestry weaver called Joan Baxter and something happened there. It was like a fog lifted. I got up very early one morning and went for a walk. On my return I glanced in the kitchen window and saw my face reflected there, the hollow cheeks, the hollow eyes. I took a photo; a photo of me looking at a reflection of what was behind me. And then I wove myself into this image. Wove myself back into being, submitted to the steadying, familiar draw of wool and wood. I sat at my loom and wove from the heart, with no drawings, no sketches, choosing my yarn from her palette of hand-dyed wools. I wove about me, about Maurice my brother and the hole his death had left in my soul. But this very act, weaving him into my work, brought healing, brought joy, and soon I was back on track, weaving constantly, a fire in my belly. Reinvigorated I Thread Softly, by channelled all my passion, all my Frances Crowe.

Below: Crowe in sorrows and joys into my work. My action at her loom. art drew me back from the brink, and in answering the call, I am now right where I want to be, plying my trade, creating great works of art. I feel like I’m on a mission; to educate, to reach out, to show the healing power of Art. The Craft Council asked me to give workshops in schools, at festivals, in communities and this year in May I brought together ten Irish and five Scottish tapestry weavers for an exhibition in Roscommon called “Interconnections”, the biggest and most successful tapestry venture in Ireland to date. and relayed the horrific details; the dogs attacking him I have just been invited by the photographer Keith in an unprovoked, bloodthirsty frenzy, the terrible Nolan to exhibit in his studio in Carrick-On-Shannon struggle, his final moments, his body lying in the hot, during the Water Music Festival in July. For that I will dusty yard. A lengthy court case followed, surrounding go back to my roots. Jack will build me a huge upright the fate of the dogs, after which his partner and his ashes loom and I will weave on the spot for the week, educating returned to my house, where everyone gathered, reliving visitors about the strength and vitality, creativity and hard the trauma and grief. I couldn’t graft that is involved in producing a get away from it, the images of work of art. I want them to witness the his last moments going round process and not just the final product. and round in my head. My I want them to see how I transmit mother passed away soon after. the vision from my heart onto the So much loss in so little time. loom, how I choose the colours, the Stress and grief haunted my image, the sensitivity that I want, then days. I could focus on little else, transform them through warp and weft into a living piece of art. ^ could find no joy. To be honest, In conversation with Justine Carbery.

I became a little unhinged. I

“One evening I got a phone call from ABROAD – a CALL that would change EVERYTHING.”

30 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

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BOOKS “My younger SISTER read many VERSIONS of the novel. Her response is a good GAUGE for me.”

The Girls of

SUMMER Emma Cline's debut novel sparked a bidding war that resulted in a $2 million advance. She tells SARAH BREEN what inspired this summer's most hyped book

L

ast October, Random House saw off eleven other bidders to acquire the literary rights to 25-year-old Emma Cline’s first three novels, beginning with The Girls. Set in California during the summer of 1969, the story centres on 14-yearold Evie, who, after becoming infatuated with an older girl, is absorbed into a hippie commune led by a manipulative drifter named Russell. It’s an evocative, coming-of-age tale that culminates in several murders, much like the real life events surrounding the Manson Family cult. Deservedly, it’s one of the summer’s most hyped releases although Cline, who won The Paris Review’s Plimpton Prize in 2013 for her essay Marion, remains reassuringly grounded.

“My younger sister Hilary read many versions of the novel,” says the Columbia graduate who writes in a renovated garden shed in Brooklyn. “One nice thing about sisters is their endless patience with terrible drafts. She is in many ways my ideal reader, so her response is a good gauge for me about what’s working and what’s not.”

Growing up in a large family, Cline spent much of her childhood engrossed in books and her appetite for fiction was wide and varied. “I was a big reader and I think a lot of that came from being one of seven children – reading and writing was something I could do on my own, and was a way to carve out a private space amongst all those kids,” she

says. “I read a lot of Sherlock Holmes and Anne of Green Gables.

As a teenager, I was lucky enough to have a writing teacher who gave me books of contemporary short stories. It was helpful to realise that people were still writing books, that it wasn’t just novels written a long time ago. In high school, I loved Lorrie Moore and Stephen Millhauser – very different writers, but similar in that they each have a very recognisable mood and tone: almost theatrical.”

Like the book’s protagonist, Cline hails from northern California. Although unlike Evie, her upbringing was comfortable, thanks to her family’s farms and vineyards, including the 350-acre winery, Cline Cellars. (Her paternal grandfather was Valeriano Jacuzzi – yes, he of the hot tub fame.) “The landscape in Sonoma is beautiful – rolling hills and oak trees and vineyards,” she says. “There’s a mix of winemakers, foodies, dairy farmers, old hippies, and tourists.

Because I was part of such a large family, things were chaotic but interesting – life was never boring.”

According to Cline, the inspiration for The Girls was borne from her desire to see life in the swinging sixties from a female perspective. “The leftovers of the 1960s are still so much a part of the collective consciousness of California, especially where I’m from,” she says. “I noticed that women and girls of that era were often relegated to bit players in narratives with men at their centre. I wanted a way to engage with those western myths in a way that wasn’t familiar, and to do so through the lens of girlhood.”

In researching the book, she was able to find plenty of source material close to home. “It’s such a fascinating moment, and there are so many great books and movies and interviews from that era,” she says. “A lot of it was also just proximity and family history: my parents were around the same age as Evie in 1969, and I grew up hearing about California, and their memories and touchstones. Having so many younger sisters definitely influenced the way I write about teenage girls, but nothing is directly taken from my own life.”

Naturally, the film rights for The Girls have already been snapped up. Producer Scott Rudin (Angela’s Ashes, Steve Jobs, The Social Network) will be at the helm and Cline is fine taking a back seat: “I’m very happy ceding control of the whole realm of the film project to other people.”

So what about the difficult follow-up to one of this year’s most anticipated debuts? “I’m in the early days of a new novel, and have been working on a handful of short stories,” is all Cline will say for now. She’s probably one of the very few people who won’t be reading The Girls on the beach this summer. In its place, her personal recommendations are Homegoing – “an amazing and important novel by Yaa Gyasi” and Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler – “a lush, intense book set in a New York restaurant”.

Or you could just read The Girls like everyone else. ^ The Girls (Random House, ¤17.99) is out now.

32 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

BEDSIDE TABLE

What is WENDY WALKER reading?

Former family law attorney Wendy Walker’s latest psychological thriller, All Is Not Forgotten, is about a young woman who is attacked and given a memory-erasing drug. Film rights to the novel have already been sold to Warner Brothers, with Reese Witherspoon set to produce the film. HarperCollins, 017 ME BEFORE YOU

by Jojo Moyes I was told I had to read this book after discussing the complexities that lie within each of us. The good and the bad, the secrets we keep and the lies we tell ourselves to avoid the painful aspects of life, are what make us human. It’s a brilliant dissection of this concept, forcing us to examine what it is about life that provides meaning and creates joy. It reminds us of the power we have to give those gifts to others, which I found the most compelling. Michael Joseph, 012.65 LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE

by Jessica Knoll I’m late coming to the party, but I’m so glad I finally read this. It’s brilliant how the juxtaposition of Ani’s sarcastic, flip voice with the darkness of her past mirrors her conflicted life. She has everything and yet she has nothing because of the shadow cast upon her. There are so many lessons in this story – from the emotional impact of sexual assault to the pervasiveness of school violence. But what I found so relatable was how guilt, fear and shame cannot be swept into the corners and be forgotten. Pan Books, 09 ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE

by Anthony Doerr This reminded me that suspense can be drawn simply from the decisions characters make in the face of external forces. Beautifully written with a complex narrative, it takes the reader on a journey of exploration into the basic human quest for self-determination and freedom. What does it mean to be true to oneself? Where is the line between pragmatic self-preservation and destructive self-betrayal? Other poignant themes leap from the pages as well, like the love we have for our children, and the resilience of the human spirit. Fourth Estate, 013.50

BOOKS Left: Rosa ‘Belvedere’ cascades outside Virginia’s bedroom window at Monk’s House.

Below: The Italian Garden, with its urns and statues, was Virginia’s contribution to the garden. Bottom: Virginia’s writing hut, known as The Lodge, is away from the main house and offered her a measure of peace.

THE WRITER’S GARDEN The garden can provide both inspiration and refuge.

A delightful new book by JACKIE BENNETT invites us into the gardens of several writers, including Virginia Woolf

V

irginia and Leonard Woolf bought Monk’s House in Lewes, in Sussex in 1919, bidding £700 for the simple weather-boarded house and garden, which stand next to the village church. At first, Virginia was not impressed by the house, but all her objections “were forced to yield place to a profound pleasure at the size and shape and fertility and wildness of the garden.” When Virginia and Leonard arrived, the garden had just fruit trees and a vegetable patch. They were always meticulous about recording who paid for what, and, because Virginia had just published her novel The Voyage Out, she paid for one of the first areas to be built at Monk’s House – the Italian Garden. At first, Virginia worked in an outbuilding above the laundry, but by 1921 she was telling her sister, Vanessa Bell, who lived at nearby Charleston, about the new garden room that was being made out of an old tool house. The cost of building the hut, with its woodenclad sides and shingle roof, was £157, which Virginia thought was well worth it. She often slept there on warm summer nights.

On the new land, too, a level bowling green was made, where weekend visitors would play bowls and croquet. The Woolfs also named two elm trees on the boundary – one ‘Virginia’ and the other ‘Leonard’ – and asked for their ashes to be sprinkled under them when they died.

large Trachycarpus fortunei near the house and interesting shrubs including laburnum, magnolia, campsis, chimonanthus and three Ginkgo biloba. He was a passionate collector of cacti and tropical plants, and the boilers for the greenhouses had to be continually stoked by the gardener when the Woolfs were away.

A GARDENER’S GARDEN

A MOMENT IN TIME

Both Virginia and Leonard loved the garden. Although her diaries record helping with the weeding and seed sowing, it was Leonard who did most of the planning, pruning, planting and building of terraces and ponds. In 1926 he took on a full-time gardener, Percy Bartholomew, who would stay with Leonard until 1945.

Percy had to tend a large vegetable garden, which grew produce for the house, and the surplus was given away to villagers or sold at Lewes market. There were five hives for honey, an extensive collection of soft fruit – strawberries, raspberries and currants – and an orchard of apples, pears, quince and medlars. In autumn, Leonard would collect the windfall apples from their orchard and take a basket to the village school just over the wall. The place that Virginia loved perhaps best of all was the orchard. Her short story The Orchard is about a girl who wakes to find herself in an apple orchard very much like the one at Monk’s House. The girl hears the sound of children playing, which you can still do today.

Leonard liked the garden to be wild, with everything fighting for space, but his taste was for bold colours – kniphofias and dahlias.

He became a plantsman through interest and study, and planted a

After Virginia’s death in 1941, Leonard continued to live at Monk’s House until his death in 1969. His companion in later years was the American painter Trekkie Ritchie Parsons, and he built on an extension as a studio for her. When Leonard died, Trekkie became the custodian of Monk’s House, and in 1980 it was taken on by The National Trust. The house and gardens are now open to visitors. Some of the original trees are still there, but many others have been added over the years. The elms are sadly no longer there – the one known as “Virginia” blew down in a gale in 1943, and “Leonard” succumbed to Dutch elm disease in 1985.

Mainly, though, the garden is as Leonard and Virginia intended it. On a summer’s day, the paths are overhung with plants in that semi-wild state that Virginia loved. The Italian Garden is a cool, green space out of the heat, the bowling lawn still welcomes those who want to play games and The Vegetable Garden is cultivated, part of its land given to local people for use as allotments. ^ Extracted from The Writer’s Garden by Jackie Bennett (Frances Lincoln, around ¤22). Images © Richard Hanson 2014.

A WRITER’S GARDEN After their London flat was bombed, the Woolfs moved all their possessions to Monk’s House in 1940, and Sussex became their permanent home. While Leonard threw himself into the practical running of the garden, for Virginia it was a backdrop, a landscape, for her thoughts and her writing. She loved to walk through the flower gardens and pick flowers for the house, but mostly she wandered or sat and read in this peaceful place. She wrote in her diary: “Never has the garden been so lovely – all ablaze even now; dazzling one’s eyes with reds & pinks & purples & mauves; the carnations in great bunches, the roses lit like lamps.” Very often, the house was full of witty and interesting people, mainly members of the Bloomsbury Circle – her sister Vanessa, Vanessa’s husband Clive Bell and the children Julian, Quentin and Angelica, the painter Duncan Grant, John Maynard Keynes and Lytton Strachey – along with friends TS Eliot, EM Forster and Vita Sackville-West.

W RI T T E N I N RE S I DE NC E Mrs Dalloway To the Lighthouse Orlando: A Biography A Room of One’s Own The Waves The Years

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | July/August 2016 | 33

BEAUTY

Buffet

BY SARAH HALLIWELL

THIS MO N TH

WE’RE WEARING ...

MONIQUE LHUILLIER

We wouldn’t normally head to SOAP & GLORY for a lipstick: they’ve always been about fun body products. But their new collection of lip colours is nothing short of inspired, from matte orange-red Fired Up through to creamy toffee nude – and they’re a bargain at ¤12.50. At Boots nationwide.

MEMO PARIS’ new scent Marfa is centred on tuberose, enhanced with lasting double musk and orange blossom absolute. Memo celebrates perfume being special again: while we can now buy scent at every airport and high street store, this is a luxury to save for and treasure. ¤190, at Brown Thomas; www.memoparis.com.

The measure of a frequent flyer? The speed with which she transits airport security, travelsized products neatly packed in one small clear bag. This tiny CODE VLM Mini Mascara ticks size and performance boxes, lengthening and strengthening as it creates fuller lashes. A holiday essential. ¤15 at Harvey Nichols; Meaghers and Cara pharmacies.

Find quirky gift ideas such as this Black Jasmine Hand Balm (¤16.50) and Pomegranate Bath Salts (¤38), and elegant ceramics, at SEVENWOOD pop-up shop, 119 Ranelagh, Dublin 6, until July 31, or at www.sevenwood.ie.

A FINE LINE

I

TAKE THREE Double up on defence with antioxidant-rich SPFs

Upgrade your eyeliner

’ve always loved eyeliner, from Chrissie Hynde-inspired black kohl to brilliantly coloured liquid liners. The problem is, as the skin around the eyes becomes less firm, it becomes a challenge to find a liner that stays in place without smudging off into the crease of your eye. I try dozens all year to find The One. The fact is, all the primers and fixers in the world won’t keep liner in place unless it’s an excellent formula. Rather than give up on the wonders of winged liner, or making a beeline to Dr Coleman for some divine intervention, I’ve found a handful of formulas that actually last, even beneath a lowering brow.

The traditional pencil has been outclassed by stylish slim long-stay stylos, and some have brilliantly rich pigments. Try pushing colour right down into the lashline for a more lasting effect. Liner is an easier and modern way of introducing brilliant bright colour, rather than eyeshadow: a streak of bronze or emerald, for example. At the Anya Hindmarch AW16 show, MAC Chromalines in shades like Hi Def Cyan were zipped across eyelids to great effect. We’re delighted to have come across By Terry Line Designer (¤32), which works like an inkpen for your eyelids: it’s super long-stay even on the saggiest eyelids, and the Mediterranean-blue is stunning. For vivid shades from green to bronze and violet, go for YSL Dessin du Regard Waterproof Stylo (¤20), a beautifully inky crayon. If you prefer something smudgeable yet long-stay, Tom Ford High Definition Eye Liner (¤37) – try chic Slate or bright Azure – is a thing of wonder.

DIARY DATE: A new Charlotte Tilbury counter opens in Brown Thomas Cork in August.

THIS MO N TH

I’LL USE

1. ELIZABETH ARDEN Prevage City Smart SPF50 Hydrating Shield is a robust protector combining mineral broadspectrum sunscreen with powerful antioxidants to defend against both pollution and UV rays.

It’s incredibly sheer for this level of defence. An essential. ¤65, from July 15.

International make-up artist WENDY ROWE “My beauty philosophy is all about eating natural and organic and making your own food, exercise of any shape or form and lots of laughs. I use a mixture of products but I always use Joelle Cïocco to cleanse; I only cleanse my skin at night and just use water in the morning. Other favourite skincare brands include Sarah Chapman and Darphin, and I drink Skinade for a natural collagen boost. I think it’s bad for the skin to overload it with product, and I’m always very aware of the environment and weather conditions as that has an impact on skin. If ever I do get bad skin, I use raw coconut oil, one of my desert island essentials – you can do so much with it. I love Susanne Kaufmann’s Leg and Vein Spray – it’s amazing! And Organic Pharmacy’s Bath Soak, and their vitamin supplements. I also love Sarah Chapman’s Beauty Sleep tablets – they really work – and Burberry’s Full Kisses Lipstick is always in my handbag.

For perfume, I have a few different signatures: for day, I like Byredo Gypsy Water and Anya Rubik’s Original [at www.

Liberty.co.uk]. In warmer weather I like Santa Maria Novella [at Parfumarija] or Acqua di Parma [at Brown Thomas]. If it’s cold, or for evening, I like Byredo 1996 Inez & Vinoodh [www. byredo.eu].” See Wendy’s travel must-haves, and a recipe from her new book Eat Beautiful (Ebury Press, £20stg), at www.thegloss.ie.

34 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

2. LA PRAIRIE Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Transforming Cream SPF30 is a deep-breath purchase at ¤174, but since it’s tinted moisturiser, SPF and skin booster in one, it replaces several other tubes, comes with a brush and works gloriously well.

In four adapting shades.

3. We wore SKINCEUTICALS Mineral Matte UV SPF50 for a long tennis match and can swear by its ability to protect without making you shiny: oil-absorbing powders blur your skin. Use with antioxidant CE Ferulic to prevent and protect at the same time. ¤41, at www. skinceuticals.co.uk.

BEAUTY TAKE THREE The brow names to know

EXPERTS IN THE CITY SARAH HALLIWELL on the new beauty destinations putting us in touch with the pros

W

e all hit a wall with make-up at some stage, whether it’s middle age, when we need to adapt what we use to suit our changing face, or later when we’re still using old favourites that no longer flatter. But throwing money at new creams or fancy highlighters is pointless if you don’t know how to use them properly. One-stop luxury salons created by some of Ireland’s top beauty experts cater for every beauty dilemma.

FOR: A NEW LOOK ZOE CLARK is one of the best-known names in make-up in Ireland, and for good reason. She’s worked on every magazine and variety of celebrity, from the Spice Girls and Mariah Carey to Dallas stars Larry Hagman and Linda Gray. Clark started a make-up school back in 2005, and has been based in Dun Laoghaire. Now the time feels right to be in a salon, though she is often out on shoots and weddings, for which she is in great demand – lucky the bride who has Clark booked for her big day.

The new studio upstairs at Kazumi Hair Salon celebrates the personal approach combined with expertise: Clark is resolutely un-flashy and wears her experience and skill lightly, with a firm commitment to making her clients feel utterly relaxed, whether they’re 16 or 60. Kazumi has always mastered that friendly, nonintimidating feel so it’s a perfect fit. “I don’t think make-up should be a serious thing – it’s only temporary, it gives you a boost for that particular day,” says Clark. She’d be my first choice for a teenager who’s starting off with make-up and piling on the foundation. “It’s all about the skin, for me,” she says. A skincare lesson would be an excellent way to swerve that YouTube-inspired blanket coverage.

“Often teens come in with all these great products but it’s about knowing how to suit yourself and complement your features, without looking caked. You can still do your contouring and strobing or whatever, but in subtle ways, using bronzer for example.”

Clark uses a mix of brands, from MAC, where she began her career, to Bobbi Brown, and will talk through colour theory, suss your perfect foundation and then send you off to invest in makeup that really suits you: the key is that she’s not trying to sell anything, so can overhaul your make-up bag without a hint of bias.

“I try to explain the ‘why’ as well as the ‘how to’ as I think it helps people,” she notes.

Teens aren’t the only beneficiaries: Clark is keen to cater for an older customer who might want just a subtle update: “I feel like there’s a whole generation and age bracket that doesn’t take time for themselves, and I want to appeal to them.” She explains how our skin changes as we get older, and ways we need to adapt. “For

Callan & Co. Above: Oslo.

example, you need to know the right place to put blusher: as we get older our face starts to drop, and so you put blusher higher to give you that natural lift.” It’s a question of giving yourself a bit of time to learn a few new tricks. Prices start from ¤30 for eye makeup application, and ¤50 for make-up (not including lashes), which usually takes around an hour. An individual three-hour make-up lesson (or two sessions) could be the best beauty investment you ever make, or a lifelong gift.

Zoë Clark Make Up Art @ Kazumi Hair Salon, 36 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2; 01 678 5004; www.zoeclark.com.

FOR: A GLAM EVENING OUT A glam beauty destination has landed on St Mary’s Road, just off Haddington Road. Paula Callan’s new salon has a smart, greywalled interior designed by Kari Rocca and an upmarket but relaxed feel. Callan was the first senior artist for MAC Ireland, and has since worked on every magazine and well-known face in Ireland, plus a good many further afield. Callan and longtime associate Michelle Field will be using Stila and Kevyn Aucoin make-up plus favourite bits from MAC and Nars. But CALLAN & CO’s remit goes well beyond make-overs and lessons: there’s also a sizeable hair salon, where the esteemed Michael Leong is creative director, overseeing a hand-picked team. There’s Essie manicures, Décleor facials and James Read tans, including a specialised “massage tan” which includes full body exfoliation. Read’s tanning products are second to none.

With everything from massage and facials to mani/pedis and HD Brows in one place, it’s an ideal option for brides: there are plans for a colour salon and brides’ make-up room on the first floor. Or plan a full-day beauty indulgence day, coupled with tea at The Dylan Hotel opposite, perhaps ...

Callan & Co, 1 St Mary’s Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, 01 668 0060; www.callanandco.ie.

FOR: A CITY SLICKER OSLO on Mespil Road opened a few months ago, offering the complete beauty package, from facials to Vita Liberata tans. And its Hot Air blowdry bar is set to open this autumn. Oslo combines a luxe setting with convenience; it’s open from 7am WednesdayFriday. There’s plenty here for guys, too, who will feel comfortable in the discreet upstairs location for medi-pedis and expert deep-tissue massages. Our tip: en route for an Essie manicure or Alpha-H skin brightening peel, pop in to Coffee2Go for an excellent flat white and some gratuitous star-spotting: Aidan Gillen and Gabriel Byrne are regulars. Oslo opens a second salon in Ranelagh this autumn.

Oslo, 67 Mespil Road, Dublin 4; 01 563 8300; www.inoslo.ie. ^

Set up by the Farrelly sisters from Cork, THE BROW ARTIST is known as the place for brows.

I was lucky to be taken under Liz Farrelly’s wing as her client list is already incredibly full. She discussed brow symmetry, hair growth and type. The experts here really look at what suits your face: Farrelly explained how everyone has one brow higher than the other, usually on the side you write with – and that most people also have a weaker eye, which can make you look a little sleepy, especially in photos.

She corrected this symmetry and coloured my lashes with a black/violet colour she blended specially to complement my eye colour. I’m delighted with the results and will be returning in the next four-six weeks. Book via thebrowartist@gmail.com; there’s no phone, to ensure that clients aren’t disturbed. A patch test is required. Appointments last from 45-75 minutes; from c35. 124 Ranelagh, Dublin 6. TO Waxing experts BRAZILIA now offer brow treatments, too: book for a bespoke session tailored to suit your face and natural brow shape and including tint (c30; patch test required). Lycon is used for any waxing, and threading helps create a defined look. 50 South William Street, Dublin 2, 01 675 000; www.brazilia.ie.

CLAUDINE KING Brows & Beauty is the latest addition to Dublin’s most beautifying street. Every aspect of lashes and brows is catered for, from shaping and threading to tinting and extensions.

Manicures, waxing and facials are also on offer. Brow shape, c22. 22 South William Street, Dublin 2; www.claudine kingbrows.ie.

BENEFIT BrowZings, 035; Grooming Tweezer & Brush, 021, at counters nationwide.

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | July/August 2016 | 35

SHORT STORY

PARTNERS

What happens when a ruthless lawyer is so blinded by ambition that he can’t see what’s staring him in the face? Find out in this enthralling short story by JOHN O’DONNELL

I

n the darkened hallway Roland could smell the roses. The firm had sent them, last Monday; it was a little personal touch they prided themselves on, sending bouquets to the wives of the partners who’d been forced to work the whole weekend in the office. Again. They lay on the hall table, still in their cellophane, along with the accompanying card. “To Nikki,” it said, “compliments of Sweeney Fletcher Anderson & Co.” She’d torn the card in two. It’s their way of saying sorry, he’d tried to explain the first time they’d sent them; that, and the bonus. Especially the bonus. “A couple of years, that’s all.” Already Roland was the youngest partner ever; if he kept going he’d soon be Managing Partner, and then … “Just, no more roses, okay?” Nikki had said. “Of course,” he’d soothed. But still the flowers arrived, even though he thought he’d told them not to. Or maybe he’d just forgotten.

He headed out the front door and sat into the car. As he gunned the engine he felt a small dart of pain in his foot.

Really, he thought, this business with the flowers was her problem, not his. All those tears and broken crockery were because her career had … well, stalled. “Resting,” wasn’t that what actors called it when they couldn’t get

any work? Maybe this new play would make something happen for her; and then again, maybe it wouldn’t. ¤urobola was about a deadly virus which is spread by handling money. “It’s a, a, a … searing indictment of the world wuh, wuh, wuh … we live in,” Reggie had stammered over the white tablecloth in the restaurant where Nikki had dragged Roland along to meet the proud author-director. “Do you think Sweet FA might wuh, wuh, wuh … want to sponsor?” “Dweeb,” Roland had wanted to scream, but didn’t as he looked across at Reggie’s earnest face, his ridiculous sideburns, his cheap school swot glasses and expensive shoes (what kind of anarchist wore Tutty’s, anyway?). “Sweeney Fletcher Anderson,” he’d replied, ignoring Reggie’s casual deployment of his firm’s nickname, “has always been committed to the arts”.

Maybe the firm would throw a few quid in; he might even ask – after he’d seen off Cronin. Cronin was Roland’s one remaining rival for Managing Partner; fair-haired, plump, old-school, first in the car park, last in the office.

And no fool; Cronin had very nearly caught Roland out a couple of years back, when Roland’s draft of a merger agreement failed to take account of a recent change in M & A legislation. Roland had managed to blame his trainee, a girl named Andrea Harper who’d later the

36 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

same day been escorted red-eyed from the building, but it had been a narrow escape.

The city glittered in the violet pre-dawn. A red traffic light briefly halted his progress. He nodded amiably at the driver of the sleek new car beside him: white shirt, vivid tie, a dark suit jacket hung in the back. How prosperous this city had once again become, with more and more men like him – and even some women too, he thought – rising and dressing in the dark, on the road before daybreak, determined to make their mark, to take what was rightfully theirs. After the bleakness of the last five years it was like landing on the shores of a new world, a world in which he and those like him were the new conquistadors, while old-timers like Cronin were left for dead. Conquistador: he liked the sound of that.

Might be a good name for a yacht.

His car glided through the junction and up onto the bridge past the sleeping forms huddled under blankets against the railings. The great galleon of the building came into view. Around the shimmering lake waters of the entrance plaza, artfully-placed bronze ducks maintained their Zen stillness. The firm’s title hung above the main doorway, in letters of block gold; how might the names be reconfigured, he wondered, so

SHORT STORY as to accommodate his own? As he descended the ramp into the underground car park he noticed once again the little stabbing pain, in both feet now; was it some sort of gout perhaps, or even something worse?

He was young and fit, but maybe he should visit the firm’s surgery for a check-up, just in case. Three of the partners had had heart attacks in the last 18 months, including Quinn, the Managing Partner, now about to retire, whose job and corner office would surely soon be his. And anyway, thought Roland, as he eased the car into its usual spot, he’d need to be in the whole of his health from here on in, now that he was going to be a father.

He undid his belt and sat for a moment smiling ruefully to himself. Nikki hadn’t told him her secret, but he knew. They’d had the children/no children conversation two years ago, soon after they’d married, Nikki agreeing then there was no room for a baby. But lately he’d known something was up; she really was a pretty hopeless actor. He’d found the box for the testing kit while he’d been putting out the rubbish bins two days ago. At first he’d been furious, although he’d managed to restrain himself from confronting her. At least this explained her curiously unsettled mood, and her lack of enthusiasm between the sheets in recent weeks, which she’d claimed were down to the intensity of rehearsals with bloody Reggie. He had begun then to imagine how it might be: the swaddled bundle of life in the crook of

He could feel his heartbeat RACING now, his face suddenly HEATING as the BLOOD rushed to his cheeks. his elbow, women simpering around him. Someone (a boy, Roland was certain) to … do things with. His own father had been remote, austere; but he, Roland, would be different; he and Nikki. Thank God she hadn’t developed a sudden craving for toothpaste, or kiwi fruit, or coal. Even this morning, as he’d dressed as usual in the dark, groping beneath the bed for his shoes, he’d almost said it to her; he’d almost leaned over to kiss her on the forehead as she slept, and whispered I know. But in the end he hadn’t bothered.

He exited at the seventh floor and hurried down the hushed corridor. Outside it was still dark, but he could see out over the river a seam of light breaking in the east. He loved the way the city came alive in the mornings, a jewelled beast awaking from its slumber, although the view was not as good from his office as from Quinn’s. Briefly he allowed himself to dream of how his appointment would happen: the farewell party for Quinn, the stirring applause as his name was announced, and the frozen silence which would greet Cronin’s “retirement on health grounds”. As he stood at the window, he became aware of how uncomfortable his feet were; maybe if he gave them room to breathe whatever swelling there was might go down. He perched on the swivel chair and lifted his left heel onto his right knee. Undoing the lace of the black leather brogue, he noticed a small scratch he’d never seen before. The shoe did not come away easily. He undid the other shoe: a scuff mark on the toe was definitely new. Again an extra effort was required to prise the shoe off, although the

pain disappeared almost immediately. Maybe it wasn’t gout after all. He picked up the left shoe and looked at it. The eyeholes, the thin laces, the elaborate stitch patterns, these were all familiar, but there was something not quite right. He peered inside; there on the underside of the tongue in gold lettering was the manufacturer’s name, faded in parts, although the “T” and “y” were still visible. The dark luxurious interior of the shoe made it difficult to see in further where his size – 9½, always and forever – was also inscribed. He opened the laces and lifted up the tongue.

A gust of rain rattled the window, as if someone had thrown pebbles against the glass. The early morning sun was beginning to leak onto the streets, and in the slanting rain the high glass and shining steel of the offices across the river were burnished in a melancholy copper light. Roland sank back in his chair, his mouth slightly open. He could feel his heartbeat racing now, his face suddenly heating as the blood rushed to his cheeks.

Something was wrong here, something was terribly wrong. He stared into the shoe once more, as if by staring hard he could will the number he could see, the holed comma of the number 9 – alone – to disappear. Where in God’s name was the ½, he asked himself: the glass ½ full, the second ½, the other ½ – ah yes, indeed, his “other half ” – and what the fuck was going on? Slowly he lifted the other shoe, widening the sides so as to inspect its ox-coloured interior. Again he saw gold letters, the “Tutt” still visible – and again as well he saw the single digit, the one dialled in emergencies, a balloon adrift trailing its string, the tiny foetal embryo that was – and only was – the number 9. Now he held them up together, side by side, the shoes he’d dug out in the darkness from under his own bed that morning. If not mine, he thought, then whose, although in truth he already knew. In disbelief he gazed into them, the 9s in either hand morphing into a pair of immaculately-trimmed sideburns on a stammering, bespectacled, would-be theatre impresario. In his bed. With his – “Everything alright, Roland?” said Quinn, who’d exercised the Managing Partner’s prerogative of entering without knocking. He looked disdainfully at Roland’s stockinged feet. “Boardroom in fifteen,” he continued briskly, “it’ll be official then, but I can tell you now, of course. I’m sure you’ve guessed anyway. May I present our new Managing Partner!” Roland nodded glumly as Dympna Cronin appeared over Quinn’s shoulder, smiling wanly. “A great choice, no doubt you’ll agree,” said Quinn. Cronin glanced demurely at the carpet.

“Anyway, I’ll leave you two to it. See you in the boardroom.” Cronin remained just inside the door. “Well … congratulations, Dympna”, said Roland, extending his hand. “Thank you,” said Cronin. She turned a polished heel and was about to leave when she stopped.

“By the way,” she said, waving a piece of paper she was holding, “we might have a word about this. Andrea Harper: she’s suing us. Well, you, really.” She tapped the piece of paper. “Not great reading, to be honest.

Maybe you should take time off while we see if we can sort it out. We’ll get you lawyered up, of course.” Unable to speak, Roland was aware of a small flesh-coloured hole in the toe of his left sock. “All the same”, said Cronin, shaking her head, “I wouldn’t like to be in your shoes.” ^ John O’Donnell’s poetry and short fiction have been published widely. A senior counsel, he lives and works in Dublin.

GLOSSY INSPIRATION

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THEGLOSS.IE • Fashion and beauty news from style editor AISLINN COFFEY and beauty editor SARAH HALLIWELL • Brand new recipes from food writer TRISH DESEINE • Wine recommendations from wine expert MARY DOWEY • Weekly interviews with some of Ireland’s most talented writers • All the BEST FEATURES from previous issues you may have missed ...

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | July/August 2016 | 37

BUSINESS WISDOM HIGHLIGHTS DURING YOUR TENURE? We have made great strides in developing closer links with the hospital, patients and staff; awareness of our work is growing. Things tend to move much more slowly than I would hope, so it is important to be persistent but patient.

DID ANYTHING IN YOUR FAMILY BACKGROUND INFLUENCE YOUR JOURNEY TO YOUR CURRENT ROLE? My parents had a strong sense of social responsibility, instilled in all of our family from a young age. I was always driven to working in a field where I believed I could make a difference to the lives of others.

THE ACCOMPLISHMENT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF? My children. The professional accomplishment? My tenure at the UL Foundation, when we raised over ¤120m to help develop University of Limerick into a world-class university.

My goal would be to see the NMH Foundation grow on a similar scale.

HOW YOU APPROACH DIFFICULT SITUATIONS? I try to be objective and always avoid responding too quickly. I like to keep an open mind to all possible solutions.

FROM THE DESK OF ...

Christine Flanagan DIRECTOR OF FUNDRAISING, NMH FOUNDATION/HELPING HOLLES STREET WHAT KEEPS YOU AWAKE AT NIGHT?

PHOTOGRAPHED BY DOREEN KILFEATHER

Donald Trump? I have always been a solid sleeper so very little disrupts me.

THE CV Christine Flanagan completed a BA degree in Political Science at Rutgers University (New Jersey, USA) and an MA in Modern Irish History at UCD. With over 25 years’ fundraising experience, Flanagan has held various roles in both Ireland and the US. Prior to joining the NMH Foundation/Helping Holles Street in December 2015, she worked in a variety of sectors across education, environmental conservation and politics.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO GET READY IN THE MORNING? About half an hour – it’s getting three children out the door that takes a bit longer.

A CHARACTERISTIC YOU BELIEVE A BUSINESS LEADER SHOULD POSSESS? Fairness.

DESCRIBE YOUR ROLE: I am responsible for managing and developing the fundraising activities of the NMH Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street. Led by Dr Rhona Mahony, the Foundation was established in 2012. Our focus is to establish a sustained giving model through raising funds from a wide variety of sources. I also work closely with our board, the donors and the hospital to manage all aspects of donations and gift stewardship.

WHICH IS THE MOST USEFUL WAY TO ENGAGE DONORS? It is vital that donors feel connected with the work that we do and see it firsthand. The best way to connect people to the NMH Foundation is with a visit to our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to see the incredible work that takes place there.

ADVICE TO WOMEN WHO ASPIRE TO BE IN LEADERSHIP ROLES? If you love what you do, it will come naturally to you. Never think you are above any job and remember the old cliché, “Do onto others ...” ^

HOW LONG IN THE ROLE? Eighteen months.

BUSINESS PRIORITIES FOR 2016?

In addition to developing a greater awareness of the NMH Foundation across the country, we are building our Holles Street Family Fund annual giving programme. I am also working to grow our community fundraising activities and developing new events such as the Rock ‘n’ Roll Lisbon Marathon Series. The biggest and most popular is the Annual NMH Fashion Show. Save the date – Friday, November 18!

MY WORKING LIFE:

THE WAY I DO BUSINESS 1. STRONG POINTS: Integrity, compassion and the ability to stay calm under pressure. 2. WEAKNESSES: I could certainly be more patient; a little perseverance goes a long way. 3. WORK/LIFE BALANCE I make sure I am involved in all aspects of my children’s lives and try to never miss any important events. I am fortunate that my job does not involve much travel so I am rarely away. 4.

LOOKING THE BUSINESS I am

not a very flamboyant person so I prefer understated and classic clothes.

5. PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE Now that we have moved from the US to put down roots in Ireland, it’s the right time to do some serious financial forward planning.

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TRAVEL

S

MAN in A SUITCASE

o, Wilfred the Hairy was made Count of Barcelona

by Charles the Bald. Charles was a Frankfurter and also, brilliantly, the King of the Franks. The King of the Franks got on well with his brother, Louis the German, a good thing as he seems to be the only real contender for a Holy Roman Hot Dog Empire. Charles the Bald’s eldest son, Louis the Stammerer, eventually got the throne from his brother Charles the Child (I’m not making this up). Later Louis gave Wilfred the Hairy the counties of Barcelona and Girona, nice, and was succeeded by his son Charles the Simple, who hadn’t taken the throne for years because his cousin Charles the Fat had it.

Maybe the titles were a light note to make the Dark Ages brighter but these events happened while Europe was scarified because the Vikings were coming. Eventually they would come, and who could blame them? I can see why Hardhorn the Wolfeater and son of Thor’s Hammer and Tongs wouldn’t be deterred by the hilarity of the monarchs’ monikers that stood in his way.

But back to the Count of Barcelona. According to legend Charles the Bald visited the Hairy in his tent where he lay bleeding while defending the King’s honour (possibly from name calling), Charles dipped his fingers in Wilfred’s blood and traced bloody lines across his injured subject’s golden shield creating … a period performance art piece, Wilfred’s coat of (hairy) arms, and the basis for La Senyera, the official flag of Catalonia and in turn L’Estelada, the unofficial standard for Catalonia’s independence that you see hanging from balconies all over Catalonia. Don’t judge their story – our national holiday celebrates a Welshman famous for driving snakes off an island that didn’t have any in the first place.

The Estelada is hanging from more balconies than ever now. The last unofficial poll and official election have shown the Catalan independent movement has real momentum and could take the country’s richest region away from Spain. I wish them all the best of luck but sometimes I feel that what twill come after is independence from tourists.

I wanted to write an homage to Catalonia’s capital but I have a problem with Barcelona. Because I feel Barcelona has a problem with me. Not just me but most tourists.

The foreign invasion spearhead this time is wrapped in a

agency, but staff couldn’t be nicer. And as nice as they were they couldn’t be nicer than the rice and shellfish dishes that didn’t have far to fall from heaven to my plate.

I paid just north of a couple of hundred euros a night for my room in the Miramar.

Not cheap but staff are as sharp as they are sweet, and the pool has to be the best in the city (the Trump-ish W is not for me) although dangerously close to the sun or I was dangerously stupid, because after an hour feeling smug for myself poolside I was Timmy the Sunburnt. The view from my balcony was like a royal box overlooking the cruise ships and their daily pirouettes and universe-popping klaxons, the Columbus monument, la Sagrada Família and the beaches and hills beyond.

I had some of the best room service food anywhere, and a god-like taxi at my feet with the iconic Montjuïc cable car that zip-lined me from my front door on Mount Zeus and over the traffic and mortals to the lovely warren of Barceloneta and Cal Chusco where they are still friendly, and give you decent tapas with your drinks.

The Miramar means I can look forward to going back to Barcelona for what it could and should be, the Mediterranean Berlin. Funky and edgy but not sharp edgy. The next time I might do a hat trick of the local culinary gods, the Adrià brothers’ casual restaurants BODEGA 1900, PAKTA and NINO VIEJO, the heart of the city’s hottest food scene in Poble Sec at the foot of Montjuïc. I could start the next trip with a dry martini in DRY MARTINI, the brilliant Javier de las Muelas’ international HQ of silver shakers and white jackets just off the Diagonal, or make like the locals and slow it down and “fer vermut” – “do vermouth” – in BAR SECO. If I went this month I could go to the performing arts festival EL GREC, celebrating its big 4-0, or womble between the tiny streets and shops of the Gothic Quarter, or do my regular pilgrimages to some of the dozens of food markets.

I may go mad and tackle some high street shopping on Barcelona’s 5th avenue, GRÀCIA, in to one of PASSEIG DE GRÀCIA the big names like Loewe or Uterqüe, or the little shops on Carrer de Verdi. Or I might just stick to my five star eyrie, my M&M of Miramar and Martinez and fly my own flag over this independent state of happiness. ^ @manandasuitcase

In a sea of day trippers and aloof locals, TIM MAGEE is feeling somewhat disenchanted in Barcelona Pac-a-Mac and has its beachhead at the port. The cruise capital of the Med is a bottleneck of ships that make the Titanic look like a pleasure yacht and disgorge thousands into a handful of pressure points in a small city each day, a few million happy lemmings a year.

Some locals are not so happy and live in fear of being overrun with these day-tripping tourists, and there can be a pervading mood locally that makes you feel like a gatecrasher at a very private party. Barcelona is one of the most dynamic cities anywhere, stuffed with culture and incredible food, and real people actually live there. It isn’t Venice. I want to love it and keep trying, every other year for one reason or another.

I don’t need to be loved back, or even welcomed, as Barcelona is a big name city and like other big name cities it should just be going about its business. You should be able to slip into the crowd without being noticed. But more often than not there’s an aloofness that would startle a Parisian, increasing tourist taxes, and it remains top of the pops for pick-pockets.

Anyway, complaining without a solution is just moaning.

I’ve finally found my own solution and a way to get over myself and rise above the disenchantment, rise all the way up to Montjuïc to the MIRAMAR HOTEL, a refurbished 1920s palace on one of the top shelves of the city’s historic mountain. MONTJUÏC is a museum-studded history lesson and and a whole holiday in itself.

The hotel shares its perch with the public gardens of Montjuïc and COSTA I LLOBERA, a gorgeous stone garden platform that would could grace a Roman governor’s gaff, and more importantly a buzzy restaurant called TERRAZA MARTINEZ, a cracker that seems to be staffed exclusively by a modelling

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TRAVEL

Country House

PARADE

The season is in full swing and that means many of Ireland’s elegant family-run estates are throwing their doors open.

What's happening where, asks SARAH GERAGHTY VIEWS TO THRILL Pack a blanket for outdoor theatre in an 18th-century family home “With our continental inspired gardens, you might think you were in the South of France on a sunny day,” says Sophie Shelswell White (above) whose family, descendants of the Earls of Bantry, own and manage 18th-century Bantry House on the southerly point of the Wild Atlantic Way. No sun? No matter if you’re a lover of music and the arts. The Chamber Music Festival takes place in the stately home until July 7, followed by the week-long Literary Festival from July 17.

Pack your picnic basket on August 8 for a performance of The Mask of Zorro by Off The Ground Theatre on the front lawn and don't miss Masters of Tradition, a lively celebration of traditional music, from August 17-21. www.bantryhouse.com

CREATIVITY AT A CASTLE Oils, pastels and Saturday Stories Owned by the Duke of Devonshire’s family since 1773, medieval Lismore Castle, Co Waterford has a visitors' book that has been signed by the likes of Lucien Freud and the Mitford sisters. On the banks of the Blackwater, the privately-owned castle offers luxury accommodation for exclusive hire. The gardens, however, are open to the public throughout the summer and over in the west wing, the new generation is promoting Lismore Castle Arts for all ages. Every Sunday morning until September 30, budding artists are invited to take easels outside and unleash their creativity while younger visitors can express themselves at Stories at the Castle on the first Saturdays of July, August and September. www.lismorecastlearts.ie

INTO THE WILD Roaming deer, barn owls and buzzards on 250-year-old woodlands Simon O’Hara is the seventh generation to look after Coopershill Estate in Co Sligo, the 500-acre estate that he and his family share with 250 deer. Over the summer, these grass-fed animals roam the fields and during National Heritage Week (August 20-28) tours of the estate are led by O’Hara and his mother. The house, built in 1774, is a mile from the nearest public road. Red squirrels, pine martens, hares, wild deer, badgers, barn owls, jays and buzzards all share the 250-year-old woodland. “When you cross a river inside the property over an ancient hump-backed bridge, you’re transported to another world, from another time,” says O’Hara. Bespoke tours can be arranged on request. www.coopershill.com

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A STYLISH SUPPER CLUB Indulge in cocktails in the library and supper from the walled garden Pairing country house grandeur with artful Irish cuisine, the tenth generation of the Bunbury family runs a monthly Supper Club at Lisnavagh House in Co Carlow. Stylish menus, created by Emily Bunbury, use locally grown organic ingredients and produce from the Lisnavagh walled garden. On arrival you’ll be welcomed with a cocktail (or mocktail) in the library overlooking 14 acres of gardens, before gathering for a three-course supper with wine pairings, in the recently converted Garden Wing, with a sweet dessert wine to savour at the finish. For a little further indulgence, spend the night in the main house or the Stable Courtyard and wake up to a delicious breakfast. www.lisnavagh.com

TRAVEL

AWAY WITH THE FAERIES Sheep shearing, falconry, opera and plenty for little ones Summer at Kilruddery House and Gardens in Co Wicklow, owned by the Brabazons since 1618, offers everything from sheep shearing to falconry, opera in the Orangery, al fresco dining and Tea Room treats.

On Sunday July 31, little ones are invited to don tutus and wellies for Faerie Bush Day, when the forests are transformed into an enchanted playground, or bid farewell to summer on Sunday August 28 with The Last of the Summer Fling, a day of games and barbecue, with Kilruddery’s own pork, beef and lamb, in the Formal Gardens. www.kilruddery.com

A LAKESIDE ESCAPE An elegant hideaway with slow food and croquet on the front lawn Nestled amid 600 acres of oaks and beeches, Hilton Park House in Co Monaghan has been home to the Madden family for over 300 years. Fred, with wife Joanna, now runs what they describe as the “tremendously romantic” six-bedroom hotel. Row across a secluded lake with a homemade picnic, play croquet on the lawn, wander into the garden for a cooking lesson from renowned matriarch, Lucy Madden, or while away an afternoon in a hidden hammock.

“We offer guests the very best of slow food, our own fruit and vegetables and sourdough bread that’s ten days in the making,” says Joanna. www.hiltonparkestate.ie

A SOPHISTICATED PARTY DESTINATION A cookery class, a glass of bubbly and a night in a cowshed The Bakers have lived at Cloughjordan House for over a century and now Ballymaloe-trained Sarah and her husband Peter are offering a fresh approach to the hen party scene with cookery classes, followed by dinner and wine. Expect dogs, hens, pigs and ponies, fires in old wheelbarrows, candles and twinkly lights, before crashing in the recently renovated Cowshed and Milking Shed. www.cloughjordanhouse.com

FROM GARDEN TO PLATE Perfect for a leisurely lunch or your own private dinner ADVENTURE AND OPERA Zip through 160 metres and follow a mystery path Loughcrew Estate and Gardens might be renowned for the opera festival in early summer but for a different type of day out, Emily Naper and her team opened an adventure centre on the tranquil Co Meath grounds five years ago. The brand new zip line, open daily throughout July and August, starts at a huge silver pine. After climbing twelve metres to a platform in the canopy, you’ll have a moment to enjoy the views before flying 160 metres along the ancient Yew Avenue to a leafy lime tree. When you’ve got your breath back, challenge yourself with the Forest Crystal Maze or follow a muddy, mystery route while blindfolded.

Opening times are 1pm to 5pm daily in July and August. www.loughcrew.com

The Fennells, welcoming visitors to Burtown House in Co Kildare since 1710, have just opened The Green Barn, a new space incorporating a restaurant, artisan food shop, art galleries and retail area selling antique French and Dutch furniture in conjunction with Josephine Ryan Antiques. The ethos remains the same as that of the Gallery Café which has featured a Friday evening dinner menu since May. “Two hours from ground to plate where possible. Honest, unpretentious food that reflects what is happening in our garden.” Fancy an extended stay? The new Stable Yard House, surrounded by ten acres of gardens, accommodates six guests who are treated to an honesty bar of organic wines and champagne and can, by prior arrangement, organise private catered dinners. www. burtownhouse.ie ^

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FOOD

FRUITS OF THE SUMMER VINE Whether you simply add a dollop of cream or blend them into a soup, fresh strawberries make a tasty addition to any summer menu, writes TRISH DESEINE

A

FOR 4 (10 minutes preparation) 400/500g strawberries, not too ripe, rinsed, hulled and sliced thinly • 4 tbsp granulated sugar • Piece of lime zest around 3cm x 2cm • 3 or 4 basil leaves 1. Arrange the strawberries on a large flat plate.

2. Put the sugar, lime zest and basil into a mini bender and whizz until the sugar is flecked with green – not too long or it will become too damp.

3. Sprinkle the sugar over the sliced strawberries and serve immediately. The sugar will dissolve into the strawberry juices making a gorgeous aromatic syrup.

4. You could also sprinkle half the sugar on the fruit 20 minutes or so before serving and then the rest just before to give a variety of texture.

STRAWBERRY AND LEMONGRASS SOUP WITH VANILLA MASCARPONE CREAM FOR 4 (15 minutes preparation) 500g strawberries • 1 stalk lemongrass • A squeeze of lime juice • 200ml double or whipping cream • 1 good tbsp mascarpone • 1 vanilla pod • 1 or 2 tbsp icing sugar 1. Rinse, hull and roughly chop the strawberries.

Blitz them in a blender with the lemongrass, then push the puree through a sieve to get rid of pips and woody pieces of stalk.

2. Stir through a squeeze of lime juice and leave to chill.

3. Split the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape out the seeds and stir them through the double cream.

4. Just before serving, loosely whip the cream with the mascarpone until it is foamy and just holding its shape.

5. Pour the strawberry purée into glasses, top with folds of cream and serve.

I’m in Ireland the cream is usually double cream (or even better, clotted from Glenilen). But the beauty of strawberries is how easily they let themselves be sliced, poached and roasted into so many dishes, desserts or not. I love how they stand up to spice, how their flavour intensifies with a dash of balsamic vinegar, or how they release their sweet ruby juices when cut up into still hot, poached rhubarb or swamped in hot spicy wine. Nowadays I roast them alongside peppers, courgettes and onions and serve with good mozzarella or goats’ cheese with olive oil and basil for a cold summer starter. They give a wonderful tart, fruity note in a salad, mixed through spinach or rocket with almonds, tomatoes and feta or tossed through hot green beans with black pepper and fleur de sel.

Raw, they often find themselves in my Nutribullet alongside tomatoes, ice cubes and a touch of garlic for a great gazpacho, or with a stalk of lemongrass (then sieved) and a little sugar in a sweet summer soup, topped with softly whipped cream with mascarpone and vanilla. But perhaps my favourite recipe is the one I’ve given you here, strawberries sliced thinly and arranged in one layer, sprinkled with lime and basil sugar and left to rest for a while. It looks as wonderful as it tastes. Have a lovely summer and see you in September. ^ @TrishDeseine

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GRILLED VEGETABLES WITH MOZZARELLA, STRAWBERRIES, THYME AND OREGANO FOR 4/6 (50/55 minutes preparation and grilling) 6 or 8 medium strawberries, rinsed, hulled and sliced in two • 2 courgettes, sliced thinly • 1 aubergine, sliced thinly • 1 red onion peeled and sliced thinly • 2 peppers (mix up the colours) sliced thinly • Fresh thyme and oregano • A pinch of sugar • Salt and pepper • Olive oil • 2 or 3 balls of mozzarella 1. Pre heat the oven to 200˚C. 2. Toss the aubergines, peppers and onions in the herbs and olive oil and season with sugar, salt and pepper.

3. On a baking tray lined with parchment spread the aubergines, peppers and onion out and roast or grill for 30 minutes.

4. Remove the baking tray, add the courgettes and the strawberries and cook for a further 10 to 15 minutes.

5. Leave to cool. To serve, pile up the slices of vegetables, top with mozzarella torn into pieces, drizzle with a little olive oil and season again if needed.

PHOTOGRAPH BY DEIRDRE ROONEY

friend remarked recently how ominous it was that increasingly frequent “hottest day/week/month in living memory” type headlines always seemed to be accompanied by images of happy people enjoying life on beach.

Rarely are they illustrated with more appropriate pictures of climate change causes or consequences – we tend to skip straight to what we think are the good bits.

Faced with the looming apocalypse, each to his own coping mechanism, I guess.

(I tend to watch a lot of zombie movies.)

The way we produce our food, and especially the food we can grow ourselves, has been forever transformed by our warming planet, and it’s not all bad. Only a few years ago, Wimbledon organisers were in meltdown at the prospect of shortages come the start of the tournament. Twentythree thousand tonnes of strawberries, with 7,000 litres of cream, are consumed there every year, and happily, the search for climate resistant varieties and adapted ways of growing them was successful enough to keep up the tradition.

But, at Wimbledon and elsewhere, at what price the taste? Growing up, strawberries were a precious, summer Sunday treat, eaten with oblong slabs of vanilla ice cream from cardboard wrapping, and punnets were small. These days strawberries are often the size of small plums, resembling bloated, stumpy, clenched fists. Their disproportionately small hulls seem ready to be ejected off the top by the swelling fruit at any moment, where before, little green leaves used to curve enticingly around small, round or heart-shaped, intenselyflavoured berries.

In the 1990s, plastic-wrapped 500g barquettes from Spain started arriving in my local French supermarket from around the end of March, and of course I fell into the trap of buying them to fool myself that summer was just around the corner.

With texture like a waterlogged sponge, acidic and tasteless, my lesson was soon learned, and after that I would always wait for the French-grown varieties of Gariguette and the highly prized, bubble-gum flavoured Mara des Bois to arrive a little later.

My mother-in-law served them whole, shaken dry in a colander after a quick splash of cold water, with little piles of thick, putty-coloured crème fraîche crue from the market and caster sugar on flat side plates, and I followed suit. We would use the stalks to pick them up, dip them in the cream and then the sugar and eat them up in two bites, leaving little green piles of hulls on our plates after the feast.

This is still my preferred way to serve a precious, good tasting, full season batch from a local market, though when

STRAWBERRIES WITH BASIL AND LIME SUGAR

WINE

JEWEL OF THE LOIRE

THIS WONDERFUL LITTLE PLACE

It may have peaked in the 1980s but Muscadet is ripe for a renaissance, writes MARY DOWEY

… R IO DE JA N E IR O, BRAZ I L

Model Georgia May Jagger is the daughter of Jerry Hall and Mick Jagger, and is an ambassador for jewellery brand, Thomas Sabo

I

have such a big family that my memories of going on holiday as a child mostly involve my siblings.

We definitely went to the beach a lot, and we used to go to Ireland every summer to stay at Leixlip Castle.

I spent a lot of time there doing good country stuff like feeding chickens and looking after the ponies. Of course the weather was never great but it was nice when it wasn’t bucketing down.

I love to travel and my friends and I recently all went to Berlin together. Afterwards I gave each of them an engraved Thomas Sabo Love Bridge bracelet as a memento; they make lovely personalised gifts.

I’ve always been a beach holiday kind of girl until I recently discovered everything Japan has to offer. I spent time in Tokyo and travelled on the bullet train to Kyoto where I stayed in a traditional inn. I’m not that tall but in Japan I did stick out a bit.

For me, holidays are about indulging so I’ll never pass up an opportunity to eat dessert or stop for an ice cream. I like to combine lots of relaxing by the pool with some more adventurous activities – I love exploring, hiking and finding hidden waterfalls.

Porcao is an amazing barbecue restaurant I stumbled across in Rio de Janeiro when I was in Brazil for a shoot. They give you a little card and you turn it over when you want more food. They just keep serving! The barbecued meats are amazing, as are the caipirinhas. It’s not a super-glamorous place but it’s comfortable and homely – quite a big room where families all eat together at long tables.

Even though I travel quite a bit I still haven’t mastered the art of packing. I try not to over-pack, but I’ll always bring comfortable shoes and a warm sweater. Sometimes I don’t know where I will end up so I sort of have to pack for every eventuality. In the airport I grab National Geographic and World of Interiors – they’re my favourite magazines.

It’s vital to be comfortable when you’re flying and I have dry skin so I’m forever grilling beauty professionals for tips. I always take off my make-up once I’m settled on the plane and then I slather on lots of moisturiser. It’s also really important to drink plenty of water for the duration of the flight.

I visited Cuba on tour with my dad recently and I’m already planning to return for a proper holiday. There are plenty of other places on my bucket list – I’ve been to Shanghai but I really want to see more of China. And I want to go to Madagascar and New Zealand, and explore Southeast Asia too.

I haven’t been to Ireland in about seven years and I’m desperate to take my boyfriend [model Josh McLellan] as he’s never been. The countryside is so beautiful, he needs to see it. ^ SARAH BREEN Porcao, R. Barão da Torre, 218 Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro; www.porcao.com.br

B

y golly, fashions were extreme in the 1980s.

Massive shoulder pads, big hair, enormous earrings, giant glasses … Everybody went around looking like a hugely inflated version of themselves.

And everybody who wanted to reinforce that modish aura drank Muscadet – strangely enough, not a pumped-up wine at all but one that came across as a rather vapid white.

So popular was this native of the Atlantic end of the Loire valley that vast oceans of it were pumped out for a decade. Then demand slumped so severely that it almost disappeared from view. To be honest, Muscadet deserved its fall from grace. The 1980s boom had encouraged producers to focus on quantity rather than quality. Vines were planted in places better suited to lettuces. Chemical fertilisers were applied liberally to boost crop yields. And more often than not, the stuff in the bottle was dilute, sharp-edged plonk.

Shoddy Muscadet still exists at the cheap end of the spectrum because the region is still dotted with big, high-volume companies. But their influence is waning because, over the past few years, a dozen or so talented producers have begun to prove just how fantastic well-made Muscadet can be.

Many follow organic or biodynamic principles. They know the best terroirs of granite, schist and gneiss. (Three – Gorges, Clisson and Le Pallet – have been officially recognised as superior since 2011). They value riper fruit from old vines which coax more flavour out of the Melon de Bourgogne grape which has been king here since the 1600s. (The Muscat grape plays no part

2.

3.

1. LA PERDRIX DE L’ANNÉE DES BÊTES CURIEUSES MUSCADET SUR GRANIT 2014. Vines grown organically on Clisson granite by two keen young producers yield this pure, juicy beauty. Alcohol: 12%.

From Green Man, Dublin 6W; Jus de Vine, Portmarnock; Wine shop @ No 1 Pery Square, Limerick, about d15.50.

in Muscadet.) Also for added richness, they leave their wines sur lie – in contact with the yeast lees generated by fermentation – for many months.

Wines made by the wizards who adopt this serious approach taste worlds better than the watery efforts that have given Muscadet a bad name. They are bold and assertive – properly infused with 1980s style, you might even say – combining lovely ripe apple and lemon notes with the yeasty freshness and zesty, salty edge that are so characteristic of this dry Loire white. In spite of all that oomph, alcohol levels rarely rise about twelve per cent, making this a perfect choice for summer.

Besides being brilliantly oyster-friendly, good Muscadet goes well with other shellfish and white fish dishes with

2. DOMAINE PIERRE LUNEAU-PAPIN LA GRANGE VIEILLES VIGNES MUSCADET SÈVRE ET MAINE TIRÉ SUR LIE 2014.

“Fab!” One word from my notes sums up this aromatic, magnificently concentrated Muscadet from a very old family estate. Alcohol: 12%.

From Whelehans, Loughlinstown, d15.95.

delicate flavours; even if you add nothing more than a squeeze of lemon to a panfried fillet you’ll have a marvellous match. It’s also delicious with light salads and soft, not-toopotent cheeses.

Dishes like these will go best with the 2014s and 2015s that are currently on the Irish market. But high-quality Muscadet ages surprisingly well so, should you decide to stash a few bottles away in a cool, dark place, you’ll find that you can enjoy them in five years or so with slightly richer food: fish with a creamy, buttery sauce; onion tart or even roast chicken.

The most exciting news is that the best wines from a region slowly working its way back into the limelight offer

Clockwise from Left: Love Bridge bracelet in rose gold, ¤179, at Thomas Sabo. The interior of Porcao, Rio de Janeiro. Love Cuff engravable bracelets, from ¤139 each, Thomas Sabo. www.thomassabo.com.

1.

spectacularly good value. You’ll have generous change from b20. Can outstanding bottles from anywhere else in the world rival that? ^

@MaryDowey

3. DOMAINE DE LA PÉPIÈRE MUSCADET SÈVRE ET MAINE SUR LIE 2015. This organic star from THE GLOSS Magazine’s Essence of Summer wine dinner is both creamy and zesty.

Alcohol: 12%. From Hole in the Wall, Dublin 7; Michael’s Wines, Mount Merrion; O’Learys, Cootehill, Co Cavan; J J O’Driscoll, Ballinlough, Co Cork; www. quintessentialwinens.ie, about d16.50.

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | July/August 2016 | 43

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This Glossy Life On The Farm From blogging to bottling, lambing to leading change ...

TRISH DESEINE meets the women bringing flair and freshness to farms all over Ireland

PASTURES NEW IMEN MC DONNELL, DUNMOYLAN FARM, LIMERICK

MODERN FAMILY: McDonnell with her husband Richard and son Geoffrey on their farm in Co Limerick.

Imen McDonnell, food stylist, cookbook author and an award-winning lifestyle blogger, moved from America, where she worked in television and cinema production in New York and LA, to her husband Richard’s farm near Foynes, Co Limerick in 2007. Dunmoylan is a modern grass-fed dairy and free-range poultry farm with a focus on sustainability and renewable energy. The farm is split into two sections: the traditional farmyard, managed by Richard and Imen, houses the dairy and poultry activity and the other half, run by Richard’s brother David, handles wind power, anaerobic digestion, and the development of other renewable energy projects. McDonnell says she wouldn’t really call herself a farming woman. “I feed calves and rear some animals for food and grow a massive kitchen garden for us, but professionally, I write about and photograph food.” That’s an understatement if ever there was one. McDonnell's massively successful blog "Modern Farmette" became an international trailblazer in food writing, styling and photography when she started it in 2010. McDonnell is also the author of the beautiful, whimsical The Farmette Cookbook, which recounts her life in rural Ireland. At the moment, she is developing "Lens and Larder", a series of luxury food photography and styling workshops where she and fellow blogger and chef Cliodhna Prendergast invite the world’s best food and lifestyle photographers and stylists to Ireland to mentor lucky enthusiasts.

McDonnell, her husband and son Geoffrey travel back to the US regularly. When in New York, they stay at the Standard High Line or The Bowery but for the launch of The Farmette Cookbook, they stayed at the new Renwick Hotel, fashioned out of the restored studios of F Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck. During a whirlwind transatlantic book tour, the family ate at an old favourite of McDonnell's, Raoul’s on Prince Street.

Her beauty routine of Peter Thomas Roth anti-ageing cleansing gel and Creme De La Mer moisturiser serves her well for Irish farm life and she stays fit by, “farming, training in the gym, two-three days a week, HIIT classes and weights. I do miss my core power yoga, Vinyasa yoga, weights and loud music from the States.”

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | July/August 2016 | 45

STRAP

FARM TO TABLE: Kane produces award-winning Broighter Gold Rapeseed Oil.

THE CITY SLICKER NATASHA SHERLING, FORDSTOWN, MEATH

THE BOTTLER LEONA KANE, BROGLASCO FARM, DERRY Leona Kane grew up in the country and moved to her husband’s Broglasco Farm near Limavady in Derry, in 2005. Never did she think that she would end up creating and managing the runaway success that is Broighter Gold Rapeseed Oil. As her new kitchen was still being finished, and there was nothing in the cupboard for cooking, her husband brought in some of the cold pressed rapeseed oil that he had been using to make biodiesel and they fried their steaks in it. They found it tasted good, didn’t burn and was much lighter than olive oil. Richard joked that it was the Broighter Gold – Limavady’s most famous Iron Age treasure hoard, discovered in a field by ploughmen in 1896 – and the business was born. “Once I got it in a bottle, we won so many awards and accolades for branding, quality and marketing, things really took off.” Kane doesn’t miss her old day job in financial services. “If anything, I sometimes wonder how I spent every day doing the same thing. Now every day is so different, from helping to clean the pressing room, bottling, speaking with buyers, meetings, to actually going to meet HRHs Charles and Camilla for a royal visit.”

“But I can’t switch off! I think anyone who runs their own business will find it hard to switch off, you have to keep the ball rolling all the time. We are lucky enough when we do get time off, we really do enjoy ourselves.

We go to a lot of awards parties and the races usually twice a year and love getting dressed up for them. We also attended the Queen’s Garden Party last year at Hillsborough and were invited recently to Ballywalter Estate to stay in Lord and Lady Dunleath’s fabulous house.

In Belfast, restaurants Ox and James St South are our favourites. When I get the chance, I love Galgorm Manor in Co Antrim for a special spa weekend. It’s a little break that gives you the energy and relaxation you need.”

46 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

Jewellery designer Natasha Sherling met her farmer husband Tom Dillon through mutual friends at Trinity College. Born and raised in Dublin, she’d previously never had much reason to venture beyond the Pale. “It’s unusual in Ireland, but I have no connection to the country whatsoever,” she says. “But Tom’s farm has been in his family for hundreds of years.”

Sherling vividly remembers her first time on the farm, which Tom runs with his parents: “Tom’s family goes to the opera festival every year at Loughcrew.

I was meeting them for the first time and wanted to make a good impression so of course I wore heels. As soon as I got out of the car at the farm I knew it wasn’t a good idea.”

The couple, who were married in May at Richard Corrigan’s Virginia Park Lodge, live in Portobello in Dublin, with Tom commuting to the countryside every day. “The farm is only about an hour from Dublin, 45 minutes on a good day,” says Sherling. “If Tom has to be up at the crack of dawn, he might stay there the night MATRIMONY before, but on a normal day it works. That’s why I’ve PONY: Jewellery designer Sherling told him he can never be a dairy farmer – those 4am on a pony, the day starts! At the moment they grow grain and raise sheep after her wedding and cattle. In October they open a pumpkin to Tom Dillon. patch to the public and I help with that.”

Being self-employed allows Sherling the freedom to spend plenty of time on the land.

She relocated there full-time last summer when their house was being renovated. Used to living in the city, she found certain aspects challenging. “The shops close so early, there’s only a small window to pick up something for dinner,” she says. “But I love the slower pace of life and the sense of community, and that they sit down and talk to each other over breakfast.”

Could she ever live on the land permanently?

"I could, because the farm is so close to Dublin," she says. "But I think I'd have to keep the house in Portobello too."

THIS GLOSSY LIFE A COUNTRY PURSUIT BECKY COLE, BROUGHGAMMON FARM, ANTRIM Set up in 2011 by Becky’s husband Charlie and his family, Broughgammon Farm is a forward-thinking family business with ethics and sustainability at its core. They rear "surplus" male kids and calves from the dairy industry for meat and are passionately committed to reducing their environmental impact. Now with an artisan on-site butchery, seasonal cookery, wild game classes and a farm shop selling their cabrito and rose veal, they also deliver their meat boxes all over Ireland and the UK. Previously a fashion and lifestyle blogger, stylist and a manager for Dubarry in Dublin, Becky Gray moved full time to the farm about two years ago. She grew up in the countryside in Avoca, Co Wicklow, studied fashion at NCAD and launched a very popular fashion blog, (“Terriers & Tweeds”) before meeting future husband Charlie, falling in love and getting back to her country roots.

Now Cole's days include tagging animals, butchering, working at markets and running all the marketing for the business. She is also hoping to start a "seasonal living" course later this summer, which will address eating what is in season and embracing natural beauty products. Balancing hard physical farm work with a beauty, fitness and fashion routine is important. “I have a few non-negotiables that keep me sane such as getting my hair done at Brown Sugar in Dublin and taking weekly ballet lessons for fitness and flexibility.”

But Cole's glossy life away from the farm is nonetheless mostly linked to outdoors and nature: “When I do get a chance, I love going to Ascot and Burghley Horse Trials. I visit new exhibitions in London. I also have to have my regular Wicklow fix and I particularly love having a catch-up over good coffee in The Pigeon House Café in Delgany, The Happy Pear in Greystones or the Zozimus Bookshop in Gorey – all favourite haunts of mine. I’m really close to my mum, [artist Lucy Doyle], and often work with her on art-related projects – I use that as an excuse to get home too.”

WEST LIFE: Gill has been making Durrus cheese since 1979.

HOT SHOT: Cole has fully embraced country living. Above: Kidding around on the farm with her husband Charlie.

THE CHEESE WHIZZ JEFFA GILL, SHEEP'S HEAD PENINSULA, WEST CORK Jeffa Gill is a cheesemaker and the creator of Durrus and Dunmanus cheeses. Her family were farmers in Worcestershire but as a young girl her interests were fashion, design and rock and roll. She studied at Birmingham Art College and worked in fashion in Dublin until she moved to West Cork, buying a “ruin” on 40 acres in the townland of Coomkeen on the Sheep’s Head Peninsula. However, it now has "a road, electricity, and a roof ”. It’s a beautiful home in an impossibly idyllic spot. The dairy began with just a few wheels of cheese made in the kitchen. Today it is considered the best washed-rind Irish cheese and this year was listed as one of the nine best cheeses in the world by Condé Nast Traveler.

“The temperate, humid climate of the western part of Co Cork drives the flavour of moss and greenery into the cream and makes it lightly herbaceous,” the magazine gushed, and Gill’s determination to retain Durrus’s artisanal roots has certainly paid off in terms of the sheer excellence of her produce, largely made by hand. “Everything I made has gone back into the business. It started from nothing and now the cheese is sold in New York. I am hoping the next generation will develop the food tourism side of the business as we are in a beautiful place on the famous Sheep’s Head Way Walk.”

Like many people who choose the hard life all year round in West Cork, Gill believes her greatest luxury is simply having her home there. “I love to travel with my partner to Italy in autumn and Portugal at the tail end of a long winter and I love going to New York for the buzz. But I never travel in the summer as it is our reward in West Cork for the long winter and besides, we are too busy. Sometimes in West Cork it’s hard to keep up, there’s always some art exhibition to see and the line between business and social life is often blurred. I like to sit outside Arundel’s in Ahakista sipping a glass of wine with maybe a bite to eat. Our treat is being where we are.”

T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E | July/August 2016 | 47

STRAP THIS GLOSSY LIFE THE OIL BARONESS

PHOTOGRAPH BY BARRY MCCALL

KITTY COLCHESTER, DRUMEEN FARM, KILKENNY

LIQUID GOLD: Colchester and Second Nature Oil were featured in Chapter One An Irish Food Story

by Ross Lewis.

Kitty Colchester’s parents, Ben and Charlotte, were pioneers of the Irish organic movement. She was born in Co Kilkenny, on one of Ireland's oldest existing certified organic farms, and grew up immersed in the sustainable farming and organic ethos. “As children we worked and played on the farm. As a teenager, I was keen to travel and see the world and to try lots of different things.

After almost 15 years of travelling and turning my hand to everything and anything, I found myself working in Ethiopia in the food camps and refugee camps where the importance of sustainable food production really struck me. It was there that I decided to come home to the farm.”

In 2006 Colchester's parents bought a cold press specifically designed to yield a high quality culinary oil, but it was Colchester herself who developed the freshly cold pressed rapeseed oil as a gourmet product. “It turned into a full-blown business pretty quickly." Soon they were winning awards and when the Queen came to visit Ireland, Second Nature oil was on the menu.

“When I started, Ireland was importing 100 per cent of its culinary oil, now we sell our oil to the Arabs. We also export to Europe and as far as Japan. We produce infused oils and organic flaxseed oil too.”

Colchester loves her job so much she says she rarely feels like she needs a holiday. When she does get away it’s to Barcelona or Bath to see her brothers. She loves yoga and dance and likes to eat out in restaurants where her produce is used, such as Ballymaloe, Country Choice and Sage. This year she is hoping to get to Ballyfin Demesne and Mews Restaurant in Baltimore.

Colchester doesn't feel operating a combine harvester should be an impedient to looking glamorous. “My father laughs when he sees me combining the rapeseed in long earrings and open-toed shoes! I enjoy a bit of farm glam. I might have my Dublin River Wellies on, but I won't have forgotten my mascara!”

A HUNTER GATHERER JANE SHACKLETON, LAKEVIEW FARM, CAVAN Almost 30 years ago, Jane Shackleton and her family moved to Lakeview Organic Farm on the shores of Mullagh Lake in Cavan. The farm has been in their family since the 1600s and she had always had an interest in the land, “probably encouraged by days as a child hacking around the fields on a pony. It gives you an awareness of the landscape and farmland which you wouldn't get otherwise.” Shackleton now farms in partnership with her mother, Daphne. The farm is certified organic – her mother was one of the early farmers to convert to organics in Ireland. Since returning to the farm, Shackleton purchased a flock of sheep and “survived” her first lambing season this year.

Now they are diversifying into tourism, with the old harness room being converted into a cottage for rent through Airbnb and the gate lodge with a private boathouse ready soon also.

“In the past year there has been a huge increase in farmers converting to organics which is encouraging. However, I don't think that the organic sector is marketed abroad enough. It seems obvious to me that Irish and organic should go hand in hand.” With taking on the farm, Shackleton hasn't had the chance to do much travel recently but her dream holiday would be Sri

Lanka,where she lived just after finishing school.

“My father works in Antarctica several times a year and I was lucky to visit for the millennium. It is like nowhere on earth, vast and beautiful. This year marks the centenary of an expedition led there by my relation Sir Ernest Shackleton.” Now she and her partner stay closer to home. “We try to go to Paris once a year in October for the Prix de L'Arc horse race. We love a restaurant in the Bastille area called Chez Paul. In Ireland, you can't beat West Cork. School friends opened Mews Restaurant in Baltimore and the food is the best I have had.”

Shackleton hunts with the Meath Hunt on Finnegan, a pure bred Irish Draught horse. Other thrills come courtesy of a successfully delivered lamb, and the privilege of working outside. “These days a treat is a new pair of wellies or buying a new bull! But it is important to take time away from the farm. There is a quote that goes something along the lines of 'leave the farm every day, the parish every week and the county every month' which is really good advice.” ^

48 | July/August 2016 | T H E G L O S S M A G A Z I N E

IN EVERY WEATHER: Shackleton at the Meath Hunt. Left: With a new arrival at the farm earlier this year.

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