Podcast Ep 220: Leaving the relentless pace of corporate life to become an entrepreneur, Caitriona Considine says her vision for Moher Cottage is drive sustainable growth in her community.
If you’re driving north towards the Cliffs of Moher in Clare, around 2km before the cliffs you will observe what look like a cluster of farm buildings very tastily decorated with signs for coffee, ice-cream and gifts.
The very fact that the buildings were repurposed from farm buildings into a beautiful and vibrant coffee and gift shop speaks to the sustainable ambition that Caitriona Considine has for Moher Cottage.
“When I first came here I was taken in by the view and the panoramic coastline and I realised there was no where near that was offering a place where you could enjoy a coffee with that view”
Moher Cottage is a labour of love for Considine and her husband Kevin, a local farmer.
Considine, having met and married Kevin, decided after a number of senior-level C-suite roles with large organsiations and the pressures that came with them, that it was time for a different adventure in business.
“I loved my work, I loved the sector I was in and I loved my Dublin life too. But after commuting for eight years and trying to work remotely, it takes its toll. I spent a lot of hours in the car. I came to the realisation that I wasn’t really living. You’re not living at home, you’re on the move all the time. It was unsettling.”
An ocean of opportunity
“ I love it. I’m energised by it and I’m passionate about it. There are lots of options and ideas to grow the business and sustain it into the future”
She began to cast her net locally in Clare to see if she could find something similar to what she was working at in Dublin and considered reverting to her original field in project management.
“But County Clare is very entrepreneurial and I got to see why. It’s often hard to get the work so you have to create the job for yourself. And that’s how it all really started.” 
The inspiration for Moher Cottage was the cluster of former farm buildings that straddled the road leading to the Cliffs of Moher. What has followed is a thriving gift and coffee shop as well as a fudge kitchen.
Considine takes considerable pride from the fact that the gift shop sells the work of local artists and craft makers and also provides local employment. This she says, lends itself to the sustainability vision she has for her enterprise.
“Kevin had this 150-year-old Liscannor stone cow cabin and pigsty attached to it. It was cute. But it also had this view across Liscannor Bay and you can see all the way to the Kerry mountains on a clear day. I noticed people were driving to the cliffs and stopping to take pictures of the cabin and then getting back into their car to drive to the cliffs.
“When I first came here I was taken in by the view and the panoramic coastline and I realised there was no where near that was offering a place where you could enjoy a coffee with that view.
“I saw an opening in the market for a contemporary coffee shop with gifts for the visitor that would also be local.”
She decided the gifts shouldn’t tourist tat like leprechauns and shillelaghs, but an actual celebration of quality Irish design from Irish makers.
“There’s lots of lovely design from Irish makers. Tourists driving the Atlantic Way are actually very discerning and appreciate good design and we have some amazing talent here. I decided to combine good coffee with incredible Irish design and create a job that pays a wage and I could stay at home.”
As well as taking the plunge to start a business, Considine had to overcome challenges such as planning permission to convert an agricultural building into a commercial building.
The next challenge was capital. She combined life savings with a business loan from Bank of Ireland. “Our branch manager in Ennistymon Sheila Halloran totally got the concept and backed us.”
With the support of local craftsmen and carpenters the 150-year old cattle cabin was converted into an atmospheric, welcoming coffee shop and gift store on Ireland’s edge. Considine opened the doors of the business to the public in March 2017.
“We were fortunate in that we hired good people; neighbours who live locally and are still with us today. We gave ourselves a good week with the coffee machine before we opened our doors to make sure we were good at this. We had set a goal for opening on St Patrick’s Day but actually opened on 15 March. You need deadlines to push you.”
As well as upskilling herself on how to run a business, Considine benefited from a cookery course at Ballymaloe with Darina Allen. “She emphasised keeping things simple and high quality. Do it local and do it fresh and keep your standards high. Don’t overcomplicate things, just do what you do and do it well.”
She found that despite her time in the C-suite, nothing could prepare her for being her a business owner in her own right. “You have a lot more responsibility in terms of ‘you’. You have to keep the doors open, not just for yourself, but for your team. We’re all paying mortgages and there is a responsibility that you take very seriously. They’re your neighbours, they’re your friends and that’s important to us. It creates a greater emotional connection to the whole thing.
“We got ourselves a really good accountant in Gaffney & Murphy in Ennis. We got all the supports from experts that we could find. And after that you just have to make that you’re doing everything right and keeping all of those balls in the air.”
A sustainable future
Caitriona and Kevin
The sustainability aspect of re-purposing existing farm buildings but also creating local employment were top of Considine’s agenda.
“It was really important to us. We intend to be hear for the long-term. We didn’t necessarily want to be adding more footprint to it when there were existing footprints here. So repurposing the building, adding more value to the local area and ensuring that it was something for the locals as well as the visitors was important. And it’s improving the landscape on the road.
“For visitors an old cow shed with steel doors can be an eyesore. Now it’s not.”
“It’s all about supporting our local community. For example, we sponsor the jerseys for the local ladies’ Liscannor Club, which are a fantastic group of women, and we try to support local charities as a small business.
“We’re trying our best as well to be sustainable for the environment and supporting local by buying from local suppliers and makers – we’ve been very conscious in that regard and interms of our impact on the environment as well. We’re members of the Burren Ecotourism Network, which is a fantastic group of more than 60 businesses in North Clare.
“We all have a shared interest in really contributing sustainably to our environment, because we all live and work here.”
In other respects, the story if Moher Cottage is also one of diversification. Her husband Kevin operates a beef and suckler farm. “We get lots of couples coming in to have conversations about how we did it. It’s about using what you have. We have the cabin in the right spot. Other businesses like St Tola had the goat’s cheese. Others like Burren Farm Experiences have something to offer because of their setting and farm. So it’s really looking at what you have and seeing if there are options there.”
Considine, a graduate of the ACORNS programme for rural entrepreneurs backed by the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, said the programme is of enormous benefit to women entrepreneurs looking to diversify farms.
“It’s a mentoring programme. It allows you to flesh out ideas and work through business plans and have them challenged, tested and mentored by successful women entrepreneurs in rural Ireland. It gives me a network of people I can talk to who are like-minded and trying to achieve similar things.”
Reflecting on her decision, Considine has no regrets about leaving the corporate fast lane for the world of rural entrepreneurship. “It’s never dull. Every day is interesting in terms of the people you meet from all over the world and it’s exciting.
“The cost of doing business has gone up. So it can be challenging and you need to have your porridge in the morning for a day at work. But listen, I love it. I’m energised by it and I’m passionate about it. There are lots of options and ideas to grow the business and sustain it into the future.”
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