Kay and Shane thank loyal customers following closure of their Clonmel town centre café

Clonmel suffered another business casualty recently when the doors of the popular Mai’s Café were closed last Friday.
Kay and Shane McGonigle, who ran the business in Market Place for the last six years, decided it was time to move on to another chapter in their lives and careers.

The couple took the decision to move on for family reasons.
They also took into consideration having been asked to renew a lease on the premises for five years and the rising costs of food products and electricity.

“We put our heart and soul into the business and we did everything there to make it a success,” said Kay McGonigle.
“We were asked to take out a five-year lease on the premises and with the rising costs as well we just said it was best to move on and do something else,” said Kay.

Uppermost in their minds when making the decision was their own family circumstances and they felt that now the time was right to go in a different direction.
They opened the business six years ago at a time when their daughter Katie May, who was four-years-old, was diagnosed with leukaemia.

CRUMLIN
“Thankfully she has made a very good recovery and she is due to ring the cancer bell in Crumlin in January. We are just happier now as a family to move on and do something else. Our daughter is better now and we are all looking forward to a new chapter in our lives,” said Kay.

Kay, who lives in the Bansha area with her husband Shane and their three children, said they would miss their staff and their customers.

“We were very busy for breakfast and lunch. The people of Clonmel were wonderful and we made so many fabulous friends. Our customers were very loyal,” said Kay.

LOYAL CUSTOMERS

“The county council staff, the guards, were very good customers and we will miss them all. We will certainly miss all of those customers, all of our friends that came in and all of the groups that used the café as a meeting place,” said Kay.
She said they were happy with the location in Clonmel and it was very central.
“We had always hoped that more people would come in and open up in Market Place and that would have been very good for the area,” said Kay.

Clonmel Craft Circle annual exhibition is now open

FARMERS’ MARKET

Kay and Shane have set up another business and have taken up residence at the Cahir Farmers’ Market every Saturday morning.
“I bought an old horsebox and renovated it during Covid and we are up and running with it now,” said Kay.

They are now set up in the market with the horsebox running another food business called Mai’s and Kay’s.
“We are in Cahir for the farmers’ market every Saturday morning. We do teas and coffee and wheat free desserts and we are enjoying it,” said Kay.

VOUCHERS
She pointed out if anybody had vouchers for Mai’s Café, they would be honoured at their new venture at the Cahir Farmers’ Market.