press release
Barnahown B&B, Star Of RTÉ’s At Your Service, Seeks Support For Crowdfunding Campaign To Help Part-Finance Its Phase Two Regenerative Tourism Project
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| Ciara gazes at the nearby mountains. |
The luxurious low-Impact guesthouse in Mitchelstown, Co Cork aims to generate €50,000 via cash donations, gift voucher sales, and bookings for its bespoke ‘Run Your Own B&B’ and ‘Interiors Immersion’ experiences that will finance its Spring 2025 site preparations.
Acting on the expert advice given to her by the Brennan brothers on RTÉ’s At Your Service to press ahead with her phase two renovation project, Ciara O’Brien, owner of Barnahown B&B in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help part-finance the expansion. If successful, the works will increase the overall capacity to fourteen guests per night.
The Story So Far
In order to open Barnahown - a luxurious new low-impact guesthouse that can currently accommodate up to eight guests per night - in July 2024 and pursue her dream of running her own regenerative B&B accommodation, solo businesswoman, Ciara, lived at home with her parents for four years before bravely supplementing a mortgage with her entire life savings.
Making the decision to leave her high-flying corporate career behind and take a leap of faith provided Ciara with enough money to sensitively renovate and lovingly restore an1800's farmhouse in her hometown that she, and so many local residents, held a great affection for.
Barnahown, where Ciara lives on-site in an adjacent stylish studio apartment, now provides the ideal base from which visitors can discover Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, and a platform from which Ciara can showcase local tour providers, craftspeople, food and drink producers, and many more.
Every detail has been carefully considered. The twenty years that Ciara spent working at home and abroad for large multinationals meant that she experienced her fair share of hotels, guesthouses, and Airbnb’s. This invaluable knowledge of a guest's particular requirements and the little quirks and luxuries that make their stay as memorable as possible has helped inform every creature comfort she offers at Barnahown.
A Change of Lifestyle
Ciara’s change of career has brought about a much-changed lifestyle. Gone are the days of expensive international holidays, luxury shopping trips, and dinners in fancy restaurants financed by her corporate salary.
She now lives a lot more frugally and as self-sufficient as possible, including starting to grow chemically-free what produce she can in her own kitchen garden and relying on her brood of hens for freshly laid eggs to feed her and her guests for breakfast each morning.
Low-impact Ethos
As part of phase one, Ciara invested in a sustainably focused ethos and has been delighted with the feedback she’s received from guests on this particular aspect.
Barnahown is powered by PV (photovoltaic) panels and is insulated to an A-rated level of energy efficiency. The establishment of wildlife-friendly hedging on-site, mindful water usage, the avoidance of single use packaging, on-site composting, and the minimising of food waste are other key areas the Ciara plays close attention to actively reduce Barnahown’s impact on the environment.
A Whirlwind First 100 Day In Business
It may only be a little over four months since she opened the doors to the first of her paying guests, but with the help and support of friends and family locally, Ciara, and Barnahown have already enjoyed a whirlwind first 100 days in business.
As well as starring in episode two of RTÉ’s At Your Service, which aired on October 6th 2024, Barnahown has also picked up its first accolade. The guesthouse was named the winner of the ‘Best Small Stay (B&B)’ category at the highly regarded 2024 Georgina Campbell Irish Food & Hospitality Awards on October 15th 2024.
The fast-track introduction into the world of hospitality that Ciara received form the Brennan brothers has certainly stood her in good stead, with their tricks of trade quickly put into practice as she experienced a busier than expected opening period.
Over half of the visitors to Barnahown have been international, with Ciara taking great pride in helping her guests to explore Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, and her bespoke concierge service enabling solo travellers and groups alike to book and enjoy a number of diverse daily excursions.
These include the likes of forest bathing, Ballyhoura mountain biking, tours of Mitchelstown Cave, River Blackwater fishing, and River Suir kayaking.
Barnahown’s dog friendly policy has also proven to be particularly popular with domestic and international guests, so much so that Ciara plans to incorporate leading-edge doggie friendly features into her new phase two luxury accommodation. Another new addition will be integrated access that allows guests with disabilities or reduced mobility to enjoy stays at Barnahown too.
As well as providing visitors to Mitchelstown with a luxurious base full of creature comforts such as a solar-powered hot tub and EV charger for their electric cars, Barnahown has also evolved into something much more than a B&B, especially for local residents of the North Cork town.
Since opening, Barnahown has established itself as a vibrant community hub, hosting a jam-packed calendar of events including yoga and pilates classes, photography exhibitions, afternoon tea collaborations, pop-up restaurant nights, and charity fundraisers.
Phase Two Expansion Plans
Heartened by the industry recognition, the groundswell of support Barnahown has received since starring on the hit TV show, guest reviews, and projected bookings for 2025, Ciara, spurred on by the Brennan brothers, has decided to press ahead with her phase two expansion sooner than planned.
With the hospitality gurus’ advice of “if you don’t do it now, then you’ll never do it” still ringing in her ears, Ciara, who has reinvested every Euro generated so far back into the business, has put plans in place that will see her adjoining farm shed transformed into additional guest accommodation - increasing Barnahown’s overall capacity from eight, to fourteen guests per night.
However, the former Accountant for global giant, Google, fully recognises that the overall cost to complete phase two, estimated at €260,000, is far too large for her to shoulder on her own.
Crowdfunding Campaign
And so Ciara is reaching out to her local community and admirers of her business from afar to seek their support for her phase two crowdfunding campaign, through which she aims to raise the initial €50,000 required to safely remove the asbestos roof, clear the site, and complete the groundworks.
The crowdfunding campaign is set to run until Monday January 6th 2025, and Ciara has the option of extending this by an extra 60 days (to Thursday March 6th 2025) if she chooses to.
If successful, work on-site will commence in Spring 2025, ahead of a planned Summer 2025 opening. Once the initial groundworks have been completed, it’s then onto the construction and renovation of the shed structure. As part of this, Ciara plans to invest in additional solar panels for the property in order to bring her closer to achieving her goal of operating Barnahown as one of Ireland's first net zero B&Bs.
Ways In Which You Can Show Your Support
Cash Donations:
The simplest way to show your support is by making a generous cash donation online via Ciara’s campaign listing on crowdfunding website, Indiegogo, through which she is able to accept amounts of any size, small, or large. Those wishing to make a donation can do so by visiting Barnahown’s website, www.barnahown.com/crowdfunding
Give The Gift of Barnahown:
As part of the crowdfunding campaign, anyone purchasing a €150.00 gift voucher and treating either themselves, friends, or family to a one night B&B stay in a Deluxe Double Room at Barnahown in 2025 will automatically receive a free upgrade to a Mountain View Room (subject to availability). Gift vouchers can be purchased online at www.barnahown.com.
‘Run Your Own B&B’ Experience:
After a fast-track hospitality course with the Brennan brothers, Ciara is now eager to share her learnings with other eager guesthouse owners. She believes the Irish hospitality landscape is changing, with domestic and international visitors seeking out authentic, rural, local stays, which can only be well executed by those fully integrated within their local community.
Barnahown’s ‘Run Your Own B&B’ Experience will help those aspiring to change careers; from setting a brand vision to sourcing suppliers, running cleaning and laundry operations, marketing/pricing, and seasonal capacity management.
Priced at €750.00, the ‘Run Your Own B&B’ experience includes a two night B&B stay at Barnahown for up to two people sharing, plus four hours of classroom sessions, hands-on work experience on-site, and a personalised execution template for you to take away and action.
In sharing her recipe for success, Ciara will give the confidence and skills needed to turn a sideline business into a viable way of life, and those making a booking online at www.barnahown.com/crowdfunding will help support Barnahown’s crowdfunding efforts.
Barnahown will offer several ‘Run Your Own B&B’ Experiences throughout Spring 2025 to suit the availability of those wishing to attend (subject to availability).
‘Interiors Immersion’ Experience:
Something Ciara wasn’t expecting when opening her own B&B is the huge interest that has been shown by TV viewers and her followers online in Barnahown’s carefully curated aesthetic and the key design decisions that she made as part of her phase one renovation works. Some locals have even joked that she’s brought a little Melbourne-cool to Mitchelstown.
Despite social media proving plenty of inspiration, Ciara knows from experience that nothing beats seeing an idea executed in person, especially for those investing tens of thousands of Euros.
So, she has created a three-hour long ‘Interiors Immersion’ workshop that will give those planning to build or renovate their own property the opportunity to experience interior finishes first-hand prior to making a significant investment - helping you to make great interiors choices and avoid expensive mistakes.
Featuring aluclad windows, polished concrete floors, Farrow & Ball colour-wash painted walls, cost-effective lighting plans, LVT flooring, steel crittal-style doors, hardwood sprayed reclaimed kitchens and more. All of this, plus access to Ciara’s little black book of recommendations and suppliers means that you’ll head for home brimming with interiors inspiration and the know-how needed to confidently tackle your own design project.
Barnahown will be running a series of one-off ‘Interiors Immersion’ workshops throughout Spring 2025 (final dates TBC) that are priced at €100.00 for up to two people. Those wishing to book a place can do so online by visiting their website, www.barnahown.com/crowdfunding
Providing Employment & Boosting The Local Economy
As with phase one, the phase two renovation works scheduled for Spring 2025 will be carried out by skilled local craftspeople, and once complete, the subsequent increase in room capacity will enable Ciara to proudly provide part-time employment at Barnahown to another two members of staff.
In turn, greater guest numbers will provide a further boost to the local economy, with increased footfall for Mitchelstown’s many food and drink producers, cafés, and tour providers.
Commenting on the launch of Barnahown’s crowdfunding campaign and her planned phase two expansion, owner, Ciara O’Brien, said: “I've been overwhelmed by support from my own community here in Mitchelstown and across Ireland since opening Barnahown in July, and again following my appearance on At Your Service.
Without this support I would never have had the courage to start phase two and expand the business further as the Brennans had originally recommended. It's still quite a daunting challenge but with the support of all those following the Barnahown journey, I hope we can make this next step of the journey a reality.
From immersive experiences in interiors and running your own B&B to gift vouchers with an upgrade and simple donations, I hope there is something for everyone who would like to get involved in supporting this project.”
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