In this month’s instalment of our series “People of West Cork”, Grainne O’Keeffe - Chief Executive The Ludgate Hub, takes us on a round-the-world tour. From Skibbereen to New York, London to Tokyo…and all the way back to West Cork. Find out why her adventures lead her all the way back to our shores and learn more about the exciting future for rural Ireland and West Cork.
We asked Grainne:
“What does West Cork mean to you and what influence does it have on your work?”
Find out in her guest post that follows.
Grainne O’Keeffe, CEO Ludgate Hub - People of West Cork
So you’ve had Caragh Bell, Steven Hayes, Aidan O’Regan in your earlier blogs and now it's my turn...yikes. That's a bit of a u-turn from creativity bursting through their pores to someone like me who can neither write, draw, sing, paint or imagine without causing my nearest and dearest to wince in pain!
What strikes me is the one key thing that connects all of us is our love of west cork, our sense of being tied to this special region through spiritual strands where it permeates our pores and becomes part of our identity. Like your blog predecessors I was also born and bred here, a Skibb girl now living in Clon. Those who subscribe to intertown rivalry would nod and nudge each other, a hidden message passed between them acknowledging my act of treason or a triumphant nod depending on where they came from! I’ve always been a people pleaser though so despite my new hometown I work in the fabulous Ludgate in Skibbereen and thus can assure anyone who was ever interested in my movements that all is well and my loyalties are evenly split and distributed fairly across the region of west cork.
I haven’t always been here. In fact, I left at 17 and returned when I was 40. I was overseas for 17 years. The pining and yearning continued whilst away. I was predominantly in NYC, the Big Apple and also spent a ½ dozen years in London and 1 (Y2K!) in Tokyo. So I’ve been away awhile but like a magnetic force, I was drawn back, compelled to return. The spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline that greets you on your way into the city from JFK airport has nothing on the view from the Beacon over to Cape, out to the Fastnet and yonder to Mount Gabriel….and I suspect many of your readers would concur!
My plan wasn’t to leave Ireland at all. I was a very proud Skibb girl. But my first job was with Bank of Ireland in Jersey and when you make the 1st baby step away it's very easy to stay away. West Cork was always part of me though, humming away in my subconscious. I was fortunate to be able to return multiple times a year. The burning need for a blast of West Cork would be all consuming after a few months. Being a proud West Cork girl I felt compelled to share my pride of place with others. In fact I have been known to brainwash a few souls on the merits and joys of skibb, west cork, baltimore. I was working in NYC, had a team of around 15, all fresh out of uni. As part of the christmas festivities we did Secret Santa. You had to answer a series of questions to guess who had you. One of my questions was ‘what’s my favourite place?’, the answer for me being Baltimore. Of course, my young team had never heard of Baltimore West Cork and assumed it was Baltimore Maryland of The Wire…..eh no, nothing like it lads. From there on I felt compelled to educate them and so I used to give them weekly quizzes on West Cork. Bord Failte should have hired me when they had the chance. My sister in law from up the country was treated to a similar education. She was given a book on Heir Island, ‘Heir Island: Its History and People’ and a week to digest it prior to a verbal exam....Go! The ‘Test’ was scheduled for Friday…. Thankfully she aced it, came through with flying colours and went on to marry into the region!!
I returned to Ireland when the country was still recovering from the financial crisis. People thought I was mad to return at such a challenging time leaving the safety and security of a permanent well paying job to return to who knows what. Whatever about a touch of madness there was certainly a risk. We are now living through another crisis, the covid-19 pandemic. All I can say is that if I had had to endure this past year in an apartment in Brooklyn with 3 kids who knows how we would have coped, most likely not very well. Living in West Cork has offered all of us a safe haven. I feel very fortunate to be here. Now that the future of work has arrived via digital connectivity our kids don’t have to head to the Big Apple or the Big Smoke to find work opportunities. Digital Hubs like the Ludgate (and we do know it is the best one, right?!) will afford this generation and future generations opportunities never before available to rural Ireland. I am very encouraged for the future of rural Ireland and places like West Cork and I for one am #HereToStay.