Killruddery Farm Shop
Killruddery Estate Southern Cross, Killruddery Demesne East, Bray, Co. Wicklow, USA
- Fresh produce, cut flowers, free-range meats and baked goods.
- The Grain Store, Pizza Shed, Coffee Shop, Saturday Farm Market.
- Walled Garden, formal gardens and Killruddery House tours.
WHAT WE LOVE
Killruddery Yard at the 400-year-old Killruddery Estate is home to Lord and Lady Ardee’s Farm Shop as well as The Grain Store, Pizza Shed, Coffee Shop and Saturday Farm Market. Killruddery’s bio-diverse Farm and Walled Garden supply the Farm Shop with chemical-free produce, cut flowers, free-range meats, pantry items, homewares, gifts, seeds and books.
"As a crafts and then fine art student I nurtured the idea of making work to sell."
THE SHOPKEEPER
Fionnuala Brabazon, Lady Ardee, Co-owner of Killruddery
What inspired you to open the Farm Shop? Our love of good food and passion for direct food and cut flowers from our farm and local producers to local kitchens. We also felt inspired to offer handmade or low packaged, carefully considered household items.
Our farm and my parents' garden and focus on homegrown as I grew up also inspired us. Optimism towards sustainable living and our planet...and of course it being part of Killruddery's financial development.
What was your journey to becoming a shopkeeper? I first opened with my sisters, a stall selling local crafts and woven items made by a friend, Noirin Pye - The Weavers Shed, when I was 11! As a crafts and then fine art student I nurtured the idea of making work to sell. Our visitors are interested in the farm and stalls of our products did well at our weekly Farm Market - it somehow was always in our vision to help develop Killruddery Yard!
What do you love about having a shop? It gives you the opportunity to be curious about how things are made and why people make them, while allowing us to offer an environment that makes the daily provision a pleasant experience to our visitors.
How has the pandemic changed people's view of local/small shops? ? We met a lot of people and found new customers joined us during the pandemic, as people more than ever seem to want local, and know what is local and prioritise this.
ON THE FUTURE OF RETAIL
"Small producers selling directly or locally seems sensible and rewarding for society. - one type of retail offering... of course there are macro issues / competition with this too..."