Sin Scéal Eile

I stumbled upon a really interesting cafe in the woods a while back and approached the woman behind the wooden till to find out more. When I say stumbled, I really do mean it. You wouldn’t notice it was there, it blends so wonderfully into its environment in the Moore Abbey woods in Monasterevin.

Woodstack cafe is the result of an amazing amount of effort by Dee Ryan, her husband Dave and their teenage kids, a true family business in its infancy. 

I first thought the name Woodstack was a nod to how the place is designed, with stacks of wood all around making up the furniture and a massive archway that you pass under to enter, but the more I chat to Dee, the more I think it may also be a wee nod to the festival Woodstock, as it’s got a proper festival spirit to it. 

Dee and Dave were childhood sweethearts who met in secondary school. It’s out the back of his parent’s house that they’ve created this eco-friendly, festival spirited, community focused cafe. “Dave grew up in this forest, adventuring, climbing trees and I grew up just out the road. We were very conscious about what we were going to put here. We didn’t want to just put a horsebox trailer that would kind of stick out. We needed it to blend in with the land, and to feel like it’s always been here.”

The entire space is made from reclaimed wood, glass, tables and chairs. Everything is upcycled and given a second life. The Glasshouse is the little circular shack that complements the cafe. It was added on when Dee recognised the need for a community space. Somewhere people can shelter from the rain and cold in the winter after their walks, but also a place where they can program movie nights for kids and families, and every Sunday host gigs by local buskers. Dee is very community minded. Yes, she needs to make a living from this business venture but she does it without compromising the ethos of the space. 

“You can’t be afraid of a bit of hard work and you have to be open to chopping and changing where you need to, to fit with your customer's needs and their wants. We get involved with so many different groups within the community and a lot of the local clubs would come here to meet. We try to tailor what we do specifically to what is needed in the area, that comes before all else.”

Like anyone you talk to who runs a hospitality business these days, Dee doesn’t downplay the hard work element. It’s tough to break even, but entering into their third year now, things seem to have settled for Dee and Dave, and they’re still focused on doing things the right way. 

“We started from scratch. We needed to do it cheaply, but still make it nice and inviting. We also were aware that the coffee industry isn’t exactly eco-friendly and that we wanted to offset that and make it as ethical as we could, usually by using as much locally sourced material as possible. We use Woodland coffee, and they plant a tree for every box of coffee sold. It’s not some abstract tree in a far away land, it’s on a plantation down in Limerick and that matters.”

What’s glaringly obvious at Woodstack is that what Dee has created is an extremely unique family business, full of passion, good vibes, quirky ideas and true community spirit. Dee’s teenage children can usually be found working away at the cafe when they’re not at school, either behind the till, or dressed up in costume for the Halloween, Christmas and Easter events she hosts. Their presence is absent from the cafe today as they prepare for their leaving cert exams. She says that “they're both hoping to study furniture design and wood technology.” It seems that they didn’t lick it off the stones.              

Rx

Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan Lally. The podcast is produced by Dee Reddy at Poddle Audio with original music by Elaine Mai.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was Johno’s daughter who nominated him to be in this project. She describes her dad with great affection and admires his passion for life. 

Johno is many things, he owns the Laois Angling Club, he’s an avid hunter and farmer (though he says his 200 sheep is nothing to the thousands he used to keep when the industry was in a better place). Faced with the decline in farming, Johno and his wife Edna decided to open an angling centre on their land. 

At the bottom of the hill behind their house you’ll find 4 lakes that they stock regularly with fish. People come from all over Ireland to cast their lines and take home their catch of the day!

Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan Lally. The podcast is produced by Dee Reddy at Poddle Audio with original music by Elaine Mai.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kasandra wants to remind us just how common bowel cancer is, but also how disruptive to your life it can be. Guided by a gut instinct, she knew the doctor was going to give her that particular diagnosis. It’s been her gut that has guided her throughout her entire life. 

She’s in the middle of an amazing career as an archivist (dream job!) and was head of the Irish Film Archive in Temple Bar until her illness made her pause for a bit. 

Her house is her very own archive of delights. She has surrounded herself with eclectic trinkets and beautifully unique pieces of art, and of course, her 3 gorgeous pups. 

Rx

Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan Lally. The podcast is produced by Dee Reddy at Poddle Audio with original music by Elaine Mai.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Debbie answers the door of her studio she’s flustered, wearing a paint encrusted apron and brandishing a painting tool around. She says “I just need to finish one more bit” and scurries back upstairs to layer on more paint. Debbie is a very successful and well established painter. We could talk about anything, but what she wants to chat most about is her Mother, Ruby. It’s Ruby’s tools and paints that she’s using today. 

Ruby introduced Debbie to painting on a whim when she was a teenager. Since then, the paintbrush has rarely left her hand. It’s a beautiful story of what can happen when you encourage talent and expression in young people. 

Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan Lally. The podcast is produced by Dee Reddy at Poddle Audio with original music by Elaine Mai.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suad is a dote. She’s welcoming, warm and so so friendly. She’s originally from Syria but has been living in Ireland for many years, and if you’ve read her multi-award winning book “I Don't Want To Talk About Home” you’ll know her life story. 

You’ll know the arduous path she took to leave Syria, and if you follow her online, you’ll know the joy she felt when she could finally return home too. When I sit and chat with Suad, discussing our similarities in life (we’re both 40 with ADHD) I feel like she could be my sister, or maybe she’s the version of me who has gotten their life together! 

Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan Lally. The podcast is produced by Dee Reddy at Poddle Audio with original music by Elaine Mai.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Naomi had a high-powered career in finance at a young age. She felt it was destined for her, since it was the path that most educated Indian people took. She worked across the globe, from London to Hong Kong, but the lifestyle wasn’t to last. She burnt out in a big way but took the opportunity to completely reset her career. 

She now practices, studies and lives by Ayurveda, a 5000 year old Indian holistic, medical science. It may sound complex, and on many accounts is, but it can also be as simple as walking her dog (Fred).

Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan Lally. The podcast is produced by Dee Reddy at Poddle Audio with original music by Elaine Mai.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This project is amazing for lots of reasons, my favourite being human connection. We’re all hearing little snapshots of other people’s lives and it brings us all closer. I love nothing more when people reach out to me, asking if I can put them in touch with a podcast guest after being moved by their story. 

Imagine my delight when a name I hadn’t heard in 25 years popped up in my inbox. Colum McNamee and I were friends when we were teens and then sadly lost touch. He saw my project online and decided to volunteer. 

I’m thrilled to see he still has music in his life. He was an avid piano player back when we were kids, and now he teaches music in the absolutely stunning Castleknock college. Like everyone's, his life has ebbed and flowed. From representing Cambridge in poker tournaments, to coming back to teach in the school where he was once a student.

Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan Lally. The podcast is produced by Dee Reddy at Poddle Audio with original music by Elaine Mai.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some people are just sound. Happy, buzzy, salt of the earth, good people. Like Nuala. 

She grew up in the caves, literally. Her parents opened the famous show caves 50 years ago to draw tourists to the area when she was just a small girl. Nuala’s parents, their business partners and local residents all formed a community group and together made a plan to bring life back to the Burren and make it the tourist destination it is today. What’s most apparent from talking to Nuala is that the caves are a community endeavour. So many locals have worked there over the years, whether it’s for one season as a teenager, or for most of their adult lives. 

Nuala knows every inch of these caves, she remembers all the work that happened to excavate the caves and make them passable. As well as all the subsequent work that made the event space, the tea room, the farm shop even the very opportunistic addition of a cheese factory to the newer addition of the bird of prey arena. 

Rx

Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan Lally. The podcast is produced by Dee Reddy at Poddle Audio with original music by Elaine Mai.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rowan is brave, resilient and strong. Even though he says he felt much stronger when he was 8 years old.

When he was 8 he was sexually abused by three teachers. The abuse continued until he was 11. “The days that I used to get abused in the morning, first thing, they were the best because it was done for the day. So I think back to how strong that little guy was.”

It’s difficult for me to even type those words, I can’t fathom how hard it’s been for him to say them. He’s 49 now, and it was only just 5 years ago he found the tools he needed to unburden himself. After many years of anguish and pain.

His life was not an easy one. He kept the abuse a secret. His parents wondered what had changed to make their young boy start to act out. They sought help from doctors and the school, but yet the abuse continued in secrecy. “I remember going to doctors when I was ten or eleven, but not saying what was going on. My parents knew there was something, but I just couldn’t say it.”

Rowan wanted to share his story with me as part of the Sin Scéal Eile project because talking about it helps him. Bringing it out into the light makes it less scary, it allows him to process all that happened to him. Not just the abuse, but the life he lead afterwards. 

His life was troubled to say the least. He turned to drugs and alcohol to quiet his mind. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and lived a very ‘rock n roll’ life in the music industry. It was a life where he could soak up the adrenaline of a live show, and just as easily hide the drug use. “Addiction affects everyone. It ripples out to every part of your life. It pollutes everything and I got into bad patterns, for decades restarting my life every three or four years.”

He would constantly crash and burn and then he’d seek help and try to reset his life. It wasn’t until five years ago a therapist suggested he write down his troubles. It was then, for the first time, he found the format he needed to tell the story of the awful things that happened to him as a child.

“I just sat down and wrote all about the abuse, you know, just pages and pages and pages and just sent it to the therapist and she was like, okay, finally we know.”

“I literally could not physically talk about it. But then with some psychology, eventually I became able to talk about it. When I was able to interact with others, I went on to do a trauma course in St Pats and talk with even more psychologists.”

Rowan’s recovery since then has been remarkable. He has left the music industry and swapped his once hedonistic lifestyle for a sober life in rural Clare. He has been clean for 5 years now. He spends his days rescuing abandoned dogs and intends to set up a kennel business near his cottage. All because he found his voice, told his story, and eventually he found his peace. 

“It’s just peaceful here and I’ve found peace within myself. I know it sounds really cliche, but if I’m feeling crap, I just look out the window or take the dogs for a walk on the beach. It won’t fix everything, but it’s a start. It’s a tool to help me cope, one that doesn’t hurt others and that doesn’t hurt myself.”

This episode contains a story which might be distressing to some listeners, so please take care when listening.

Rx

Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan Lally. The podcast is produced by Dee Reddy at Poddle Audio with original music by Elaine Mai.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aindrias sits in the back of a pub with us in Ennistymon, drinking herbal tea and holding court. He seems to be the most famous man in Clare today with all types of people come up to him for chats. Some went to school with his Dad, others spoke fluently with him in French and Spanish. I asked where he learned so many languages, but I should know better than to expect a straight answer and he returns with just a wink and a smile. 

He’s the character of all characters. Destined from birth to be a bardic storyteller and when he talks he carries you on epic journeys around Ireland and beyond. 

Sin Scéal Eile - That's Another Story was hosted and created by Ruth Medjber, with sound by Ronan Lally. The podcast is produced by Dee Reddy at Poddle Audio with original music by Elaine Mai.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.