The family behind an open farm in Midleton, east Cork, is in expansion mode as it responds to customer demand for glamping pods.
Leahy’s open farm in Condonstown, Dungourney, Midleton, is investing over €300,000 in the new glamping site and is also opening a new ice cream parlour.
“We have been talking about glamping pods for years, but we never had the time to go and do them, as the open farm is just getting busier and busier,” Teresa Leahy told Agriland.
Teresa and her husband Donal took over the running of the 25ac farm from his parents, Eddie and Eileen.
They transformed their small pig and dairy farm into an open farm in 1996 which was initially just displaying the plethora of vintage machinery and antiques Eddie has collected over his lifetime.
Guests are predominantly Irish families but they also get overseas visitors who are staying locally, including people from the UK and the US.
Donal and Teresa have been working to meet the demand for accommodation pods for many years.
“Then Covid hit and that put a stop to us. We have been inundated with customers asking for places to stay near us, or better again if they could stay on the farm,” Teresa explained.
“This is something we have been considering for a long time. We do have campers who park up in our carpark and that has been happening for years, but we had no facilities in the carpark to cater for campers, so it is not ideal,” she added.
“We went ahead this year and secured a fantastic local builder Brian Rodgers and his team in Woodview building. We are constructing the pods on-site in Midleton.
“We will have eight pods and they will sleep up to six people. They will be cosy with all the necessities for a short getaway. They will have a kitchenette, couch, dining area, bunk beds, double bed and en-suite bathroom,” Teresa explained.
Guests will be able to avail of the open farm during their stay in the glamping pods.
“We have not finalised all the details yet for bookings but we are looking at a two night minimum stay per pod,” she said.
We hope to have construction complete in the next two months and then it will need landscaping so we don’t have an official opening date yet, but we are hopeful that it will be late summer 2023 when we open these fabulous pods.”
The pods will be located beside the open farm and Cnoc Ceo Woods also, with walks and a holy well and lake to explore, on foot or on bikes. A chocolate factory on-site adds to the appeal.
“We have been lucky enough to avail of grants from LEADER and other government initiatives. However, we are investing over €300,000 on this project,” Teresa continued.
“We have not received any funding for this project so it was a big leap for us. We cannot wait to open the the pods to customers later this year.”
On the thorny issue of insurance costs for such facilities, Teresa said they have a great relationship with their insurer but unfortunately paying extortionate premiums has become part of the business.
The Leahys are also constructing a new ice cream factory on-site. “We have outgrown our current building so this is also going ahead this year. Our ice cream is sold in Cork, Waterford and South Tipperary.
“On the farm, we have revamped one of the museums which is now looking amazing. We have a lovely new cow for our milking demonstrations. Our new fairy trail is open in the little forest and we are full swing at the moment with school tours, so it’s a busy, busy time.”
Christmas, Easter and Halloween are also hectic times for the Leahys who work to constantly update their facilities and activities. The Midleton facility currently employs approximately 10 people full-time.
Agri-tourism
The changeover from traditional farming to agri-tourism was easy enough, according to Teresa. “It was something we were enthusiastic and energised about, and we put 100% of our energy into developing the open farm idea.
`’Yes, it came with its fair share of stress and worry, but we wouldn’t look back now. The future is very bright for our farm, the local employment created, and the vibrancy of an ever developing tourism economy in the east Cork area is very exciting, we are happy to be part of it,” she said.
“We’ve always had people asking us for recommendations of where to stay when visiting the farm.
“We get families from Galway and Sligo who come to see Santa every year. Family friendly accommodation can be hard for families to find and we are always looking for new ways to diversify the business. We’ve gone glamping with our family and loved it, so we went for it.”