My Tipperary Life with Aileen Hogan of Shabby.ie

Aileen Hogan is the founder of Shabby.ie, Ireland's leading upcycling supply specialist. Aileen took a hobby and turned it into a viable business winning the prestigious Upcycler of the Year Award in 2019 & All Star Design Leader in Upcycling two years in a row.

Now with her own furniture paint collection for Fleetwood Paints, ‘The Shabby Collection’, Aileen’s business is thriving. She travels the country every month, giving free masterclasses in the art of upcycling and offers free online courses on her website www.shabby.ie

What's your idea of a perfect day, or perfect weekend in Tipperary?

Myself and my family live in a village near Lough Derg and although I travelled the world as cabin crew for BA for 20 years, I never tire of the beautiful scenery around us. At this time of year it is very quiet. A perfect day has to include a walk around the marina with the dogs, feeding the ducks with the kids, followed by an ice cream from the little village shop.
The perfect weekend would have to include one of my workshops where people travel from around the country to attend. These days are so creative and uplifting and everyone leaves with not only a new skill, but totally revived and full of energy.

Who has made the greatest contribution to Tipperary in your lifetime - and why?

I am not a Tipperary native and I didn’t grow up following hurling. My first introduction to it was when I met my husband (a former Tipp hurler) and very quickly found myself in the middle of it, at every match, both local and further afield.
The passion I saw from the people of Tipperary towards their team and more importantly the banter with each other, left a huge impression on me. Also the fact that young children are brought to these huge matches and there is never any concern for their safety because there is no social unrest with the GAA, which can happen at other large sporting events.
So I would have to say the GAA has made the greatest contribution to Tipperary in my lifetime and now I have children of my own, they still do.

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Some garden inspiration to cheer us all up on this lovely sunny day . This storage shed was given a new lick of paint and is now SO pretty . Swipe to see more . All Paints were mised into Advanced Satinwood from @fleetwood_paints . . If your outdoor area is small, good idea is to paint your garden furniture white in order to create lightness and brightness in this area. . . There is 20% off all tester pots on fleetwood.ie with delivery to your home. Let's get colourful. . #homesweethome #homedecor #myinterior #myhousebeautiful #houseandhomemagazine #rusticdecor #cottagedecor #rusticfarmhouse #vintagefarmhouse #shabbychicdecor #magnoliamarket #cottageliving #frenchcottage #cottagekitchen #farmhousekitchen #interiordecor #irishinteriors #irishdiyers

A post shared by Aileen Hogan of Shabby.ie (@shabby.ie) on Mar 25, 2020 at 4:36am PDT

What's your first Tipperary memory?

I was born in Dublin but spent all my summers here in Tipperary.
As I child coming from a city, playing in a hay barn with all my cousins at my grandparents house is a memory I will cherish forever.

Watching my grandfather pulp turnips for the pigs and pick vegetables from the garden, is something I would never have seen where I lived. My mother was born in Tipperary and is from a large family, which gave me a lot cousins around my own age and made every summer a lot of fun.

What's your favourite part of the county - and why?

My favourite part of Tipperary is of course the beautiful village of Terryglass on the river Shannon. It offers everything myself and my family love, a strong GAA community that ensures the children grow up with a sense of belonging, a mix of quiet country side in the winter and with an influx of tourists in spring and summer, a lively bustling village with restaurants and pubs that become a hive of activity.

What do you think gives Tipperary its unique identity?

What makes Tipperary unique is the fact that it is the biggest inland county, with easy reach to four cities. Galway to the north, Limerick to the west, Cork to the south and Dublin to the east, our capital city, is only two hours on the motorway. This offers many opportunities to commute for work but also for family days out. We will often do a day trip to Salthill in Galway, walk along the pier, play mini golf and get fish and chips for lunch.

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#happyfriday folks . Looks like we are in for another bad one this weekend guys . I have the shopping in ( so at least we wont go hungry ) and dont have an Upcycling Demonstration this weekend thank god. Hope the weather is better before @smyths_homevalue_ie Upcycling afternoon next weekend . There are a lot of people booked in already ! . . . Instead I will be planting myself on the couch in front of the fire tomorrow . I was planning a Netflix box set day but then remembered ...Disney released the new Zombies musical today didnt they...?! Oh god ... Alex has it recorded ready for tomorrow. Zombies 1 and 2 ..guess that's my box set out the window . The Joy's.... #upcycledfurniture #diyhomedecor #howihome #upcyclingfurniture #creativebiz #upcycleroftheyear #teamshabby #fleetwoodpaints #fleetwoodforfurniture #diycrafts #homedecor #doityourself #homedecorcommunity #paintedfurniture #furniturepaint #furniturepainting #handpaintedfurniture #restyledfurniture #irishupcyclers #irishdiyers #irishinteriors #irishhomes #irishhome #eclecticdecor #colourfulinteriors #shabbypaintcollection #shabbychicladies

A post shared by Aileen Hogan of Shabby.ie (@shabby.ie) on Feb 28, 2020 at 10:10am PST

Do you have a favourite local writer or author?

I wouldn’t be an avid reader. In fact I listen to music more often so I would have to say my favourite local writer would have to be Shane Mc Gowan. The first house I bought in Tipperary after returning from the UK, was actually only a few hundred yards from his home place as a child. The story telling in his song writing has global appeal.

What's the biggest challenge facing the county today?

Rural decline has to be the biggest challenge facing Tipperary and other counties. 80 percent of young people that leave rural Ireland never return. I work from home when not travelling giving upcycling workshops and demonstrations and this was only made possible with expensive satellite broadband. The national broadband rollout is essential to allow people to work from home. Also if the government could offer incentives to big companies to set up in some of our bigger towns, this would create local employment.

If you had the power to change one thing in, or about Tipperary, what would it be?

I would love to see more houses being built in villages and small towns which are slowly dying. Having more families actually in the village, would create greater social interaction and community spirit. I believe local shops would thrive, because when we have to actually get in our car to go to a shop, we tend to bypass the local shops and go to bigger towns and shopping centres.

For more information visit website www.shabby.ie or see shabby.ie on Facebook and Instagram.