Gaeilgeoir Entrepreneurs Feature
“ÚDARÁS NA GAELTACHTA IS THERE TO SUPPORT AND DEVELOP BUSINESSES IN ALL THE GAELTACHTS, AND HAS SUCCEEDED ADMIRABLY HERE IN MÚSCRAÍ IN THE PAST 50 YEARS.”
Mairin O’Lionaird, Co-Director, Folláin
MAIRIN O’LIONAIRD CO-DIRECTOR, FOLLÁIN
Folláin is a Cork-based jam-making business founded in 1983 by Mairin O’Lionaird and Eithne Uí Shiadhail. The company’s first product was a grapefruit marmalade based on a recipe passed down to Eithne from her grandmother. The operation started small and was mainly conducted in Mairin and her husband Peadar’s kitchen in west Cork. In 1985, Peadar joined the business, contributing his engineering skills to develop cookers and workbenches, as well as selling the products throughout the country. Peadar often used the Irish language with the company’s customers as a point of uniqueness – ‘folláin’ is the Irish word for ‘wholesome’. While the founders were determined to generate a company name that incapsulated the products it developed, using an Irish language one was not always the most advisable course of action to take, as Mairin O’Lionaird recalls. “In 1985, I undertook a start-your-own-business course, which was quite useful,” she says. “One thing the marketing advisor
on this course objected to was the name ‘Folláin’. He strongly advised changing the name to something in English.” The company stuck to its guns and continued to operate as Gaeilge wherever possible, and Folláin has gone from strength to strength. It now produces a wide range of traditional fruit preserves, relishes, chutneys and no-addedsugar products, which it develops on an ongoing basis. Folláin always uses home-style recipes and natural ingredients in all of its products. The company has long since expanded beyond Mairin and Peadar’s kitchen, and is now based in a much larger facility in Ballyvourney, Co Cork, employing a team of 37 staff to get the product to market. Mairin believes that the company has not been held back by its commitment to the Irish language, and indeed that it provides the company with a “stand-out quality” to compete in the marketplace. Moreover, they are not left entirely to their own devices, and there are supports for Irish-speaking businesses available. “Údarás na Gaeltachta is there to support and develop businesses in all the Gaeltachts, and has succeeded admirably here in Múscraí in the past 50 years,” says Mairin.
SFA | BETTER BUSINESS 15
014_BB 2018_Q2_Gaeilgeoir Entrepreneurs_V1.indd 15
13/07/2018 10:02