'Achill is much more than a holiday destination'

Sarah Lavelle had not envisaged herself working and living on her native Achill Island. But she is doing just that, as she runs the Achill Island Kitchen in Dooagh and immerses herself in local community projects.

As often happens, life circumstances led to Sarah coming home and once she did, she found it hard to leave again. A dietician by trade, she turned her knowledge of good food into a business, while also providing people with a local shop.

Sarah lights up when you talk about Achill and why she believes it is so much more than just a beautiful tourist destination.

We sit down to chat while having a coffee in Achill Island Kitchen.

Angelina: Sarah, thanks for talking to me. Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Sarah: I'm 38 years old. I was born in Keel, and went to school here in Dugort until Leaving Certificate, then I went to McHale College, and then I studied in the UK. I went to Australia, and was back working in the UK when my mum got sick and I came back home to help her at the end of her journey and haven't left since.

Angelina: What did you study in the UK?

Sarah: I studied dietetics in Leeds. I worked as a dietitian and that was interesting. I love food, and I'm kind of science-minded, so it paired nicely.

Angelina: What took you on that particular path, Sarah?

Sarah: I suppose personally I have eczema, so I know first-hand how sensitive my body is to certain types of food. I followed that path because it was something I was interested in, how food could have effects on the body - good or bad.

Angelina: Did you always feel a pull back to Achill?

Sarah: I think so. When I was in Liverpool, I was home for every Bank Holiday weekend. Liverpool to Ireland West Airport - in and out. I could time it on a Friday to be back by Monday morning. I think Achill people went to Cleveland, to Preston, to London, to Scotland, but there was always a draw home.

Angelina: You came home when your mum was sick - had you planned to stay here at that point?

Sarah: I came home for a weekend, first and foremost, and no, I don't think so. I don't think I ever saw myself living at home - I wouldn't have seen a path for me. But when time came to make a step to go away again, I found I couldn't do it. I went to Dublin to help my brother out in his office for a couple of weeks, and I just couldn't get my head into a city environment.

Angelina: So what happened when you did go to Dublin and decide that wasn't for you?

Sarah: Because Covid-19 hit around that time, there was a couple of years where I just really just chilled. I did a CE scheme with Mayo Northeast in Community Development, and I started getting involved in a lot of things locally. I'm on the committee for Keel Hall, Achill Tourism, lots of bits like that and that occupied me, and it was great - it was sort of an excuse to meet people during that time of Covid. 

I would have baked a lot during Covid and put it up online, and everyone would be like, 'Oh, why don't you do something with it?' Around November 2021, we were talking in the house, and my brother said, 'Why don't you just go for some location to do it?' He asked me what I would like in a location for a business and I said there's nowhere I can get random tomato sauces here or quirky bits like that. We were looking around, and we were chatting about it and then we said, "What about the shop in Dooagh?' Over Christmas, we approached the people who owned the building, and just after Christmas, we got access to it. There was a lot of work to be done but we got stuck it and it just snowballed from that.

Angelina: You've created a space here that is a shop but you can also get your coffee and snacks?

Sarah: We like to stock local and Irish products where we can. We have lovely chocolates from Ballina - Noo Chocolates owed by Mary Corrigan. We've nachos made in Tipperary. There's random bits in here. A lot of what I stock comes from Irish businesses led by women too. We started off doing just takeaway coffee and food because there's no bathroom in here. We're governed by not having those facilities. It's not a coffee shop, it's a shop that sells coffee. The seats kind of happened by accident, and then they were only meant to be for winter when everything closes, but they stayed around.

Angelina: What does a typical day look like for you?

Sarah: I probably come in here for any time between 8am and 9am. I get the scones on, I see what cakes we need and do that. It takes me to around 9am or 10am, depending on the morning. The girls will start coming in and setting up. If it's a weekend, and we've breakfast on, we get ready for that, and then it's all go until around 1pm, and it's a big clean down and see what we need again for the day ahead. That would take you to around 4pm, and then it's clean down time and see what food orders, stock orders we need. 

There's a lot of stuff you can prep ahead of time. For the scones, I'd have the butter and the flour rubbed in. When I come in the morning, I just need to add the fruit and the eggs and the milk. If it's a Friday, the wages have to be paid, see what bills need to be paid. I often bring that home to bed because I'm not very good at doing admin when I should be. Then it's home and eat and sleep and do it all over again.

Angelina: There are challenges for small business owners, aren't there Sarah?

Sarah: Yes, definitely. I suppose one of the hardest things I found was to remain an independent shop, not going with an umbrella brand like a chain. Because I am independent, you have no support, there's no one at the back end in an office saying, 'Okay, we'll sort that for you,' or 'this is how this should be'. From the price of something right the way through to ordering it, have we got it in stock, I have to sort that here. Then I deal with a lot of individual suppliers, the smaller Irish brands, and so there's lots of individual points of contact which takes time too. It's not one thing in here, it's very hard. It's a café, maybe. It's a shop, maybe. Juggling them to get at least them half right is tough at times.

Angelina: You're very much a focal point of the community here too.

Sarah: It's lovely here. I've gotten to know so many more people than I would have because I grew up in Keel, which I know is only two kilometres over the road, but it's a different area. My granny was from this village, so they're claiming me! It's nice to see the young kids in the village and to get to know them. They're in and out, and you get to know their personalities and the older people too, who will come in for their bread or their milk that you might not normally have had interaction with. On a Thursday here in the middle of winter, there would be great craic! One of my customers, Tony, calls it the new high stool.

Angelina: Tell us more about some of the community initiatives you're involved with Sarah.

Sarah: I think people forget that Achill is a vibrant community 12 months of the year. It's not just during the two months of the summer. Services are needed all year round. 

I'm involved in Keel Hall. We renovated the building through lockdown with help from Connected Hubs Funding. That hall went from something that wasn't used to something that we actually have to turn people away from. It's used seven days of the week, most days, twice a day. It's great to see because it's not just one age group. There's yoga, there's kids doing cadets, there's bridge, there's knitting, there's a pipe band. 

I think we sometimes needs to remind people that Achill has a community - a diverse community in terms of age groups and that we're here, and we need help from bigger funding sources or government bodies. 

There's so much for kids now compared to when I grew up. When I grew up, if you were into music, you played music. If you were into football, you played football. If you were good at both, you did both. But now there's Foróige, there's art, there's so much for kids to do, but again, there's no proper place for them to do it.

We need strong people and we do have people who have come home to live, who do want things to improve for everyone and will work to do that. We're so far away from everywhere else. If you want Achill to close and just be a tourist destination and lose all sense of personality with it, then, yes, don't invest in Achill. But if you want to attract people home, to live 12 months of the year, you have to have the services.

Angelina: What would you say to someone thinking about setting up their own business?

Sarah: Think about it, and think about it again! I'd tell them to make sure that they love what they're putting out because if it's just something to pay the bills or to keep you occupied, it's not sustainable. It is challenging. But it's worthwhile too.

Angelina: And you love Achill and everything it has to offer?

Sarah: I had a couple in from Germany this morning. They were in their 20s, they were backpacking, and I asked them why they were in Achill, and they said, Heinrich Böll, he was a German writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. They were talking about how he inspired them to come to Ireland and Achill. I said, 'Oh, he used to go fishing with my granddad.' They couldn't believe it! So we have so much to offer here on the island and I am delighted to be a part of it.