Fran Fogarty is ainm dom agus tá sé de phribhléid agam a bheith in ann an trí rud is mó a bhfuil dúil agam iontu - Faisean, an Comhshaol, agus Gaeltacht Chorca Dhuibhne - a thabhairt le chéile i mo ghnó, LilyMais.

 

My name is Fran Fogarty and I am privileged to be able to incorporate the three things I am most passionate about – Fashion, the Environment, and the West Kerry Gaeltacht – into my business venture, LilyMais.

 

When at school, I wanted to study Fashion Design but at the time it was not seen as a sensible choice for a young lady from rural Tipperary! Instead, I trained as a chef and then studied hotel management – and spent the next 25-years working 80-hour weeks on my second passion - food (culminating in me owning and running a fine dining restaurant and two 200-seat cafés). When the opportunity was presented to me in early 2019 to quit the food business, I jumped at the chance and enrolled in Fashion & Textile Design at Limerick’s College of Further Education. This was followed by a year at the Mallow College of Design & Tailoring, during which time I upped sticks and moved permanently from Tipperary to my second home, Baile na nGall on the Dingle Peninsula. It was here, and inspired by my daily sea-swim with my local swimming group - the Baile Bathers - that the idea hatched to make swimrobes from repurposed towels. With the help of my long suffering husband 😉, I converted my shed into a studio and haven't looked back since!

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Tá beagáinín Gaeilge agam féin ach tá Gaeilge líofa ag m’fhear céile Feargal. Is breá linn a bheith inár gcónaí agus i mbun gnó sa Ghaeltacht.

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