Nine writers from Ireland, the UK, and Australia found their way to County Clare on the May Bank Holiday Weekend. It’s a bit like finding Brigadoon. No road signs only landmarks. The small shed with the red tin roof, the fork in the road, the long slow upward hill… Three full on days of workshopping their writing with Niall and lunches back here in Kiltumper each day. We’ve yet to host a workshop without everyone not wanting the weekend to end, but going away happy after that final cup of tea and brownies and short bread and some biscuits called Tim Toms which the Australian writer brought with her.

Workshops are a thing we do twice a year, in late spring and in autumn. Niall is not only a natural born storyteller but also a wonderful teacher, and the workshops give him an opportunity to share what he has learned after nine novels. (I’m head chef, sous chef, chief bottle washer, and organiser. And answer any questions about my own experience with the publishing world. )

We meet writers from around the world and for three days they share in the life that Niall and I have created here. Now that everyone has gone, taking the bank holiday’s stunning sunshine with them, it’s back to writing (we’re working on a screen play for a television series) and back to the garden… If we hold another workshop it will be around Halloween 2019. Meanwhile Niall has a new novel out in September: This Is Happiness