Plans for autumn follow-up after successful wine and style night
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Wines Direct team members, Audrey Leahy, Jenny Cadwaladr, Leah Daly and Piotr Miśkowicz.Image 2 of 19
Showing clothes from Female Boutique during the evening.Image 3 of 19
Marguerite Buckley and Judy McGowan.Image 4 of 19
Rebecca Enright and Kelly O’Farrell enjoying the night.Image 5 of 19
Danielle Giblin and Carol Cleary relaxing with a glass of wine.Image 6 of 19
Anita Walsh, Kathy Keenan and Caroline O’Donoghue.Image 7 of 19
Phil Regan, Theresa Nea, Sinead McMahon and Olive Murphy.Image 8 of 19
Susan Reynolds, Lindsey O’Callaghan and Caoilfhinn Níchoiligh.Image 9 of 19
Mary Gillen, Barbara Gill Martin, Patricia Smyth, Jackie Mills, Margaret Claffey and Kathy Whelan.Image 10 of 19
As well as wine, fashion and the chance to socialise, there was a raffle for these great prizes.Image 11 of 19
Doreen O’Driscoll, Eileen Loughlin, Mary Dunne and Evelyn Ronan.Image 12 of 19
Mary Lynam Dunne, Niamh Dunne, Maureen O’Hare and Gavin Keogh.Image 13 of 19
Liz Armstrong, Helen Moorhead, Ann Fagan and Julie Delahunty-Moore.Image 14 of 19
Karen Farrington, Angela Wall and Louise McGonigle.Image 15 of 19
Lauren Dolan modelling clothes from The Fashion Shop.Image 16 of 19
Michelle Moore, Deirdre Geraghty and Anna French.Image 17 of 19
Bernie O’Farrell and Geraldine McCormack.Image 18 of 19
Dervla Conlon, Sharon Foy, Ursula Keenan, Johanna Daly, Helen Hassett and Yvette Keogh.Image 19 of 19
Lauren Dolan (top) and Jenny Cadwaladr modelling for The Fashion Shop.It was definitely a night of wine and wardrobes for the fashionistas who attended a fun fashion event at the premises of Wines Direct in Mullingar last week.
And strangely enough, it is partly the introduction of the new town bus service that made the event feasible, organiser Jenny Cadwaladr of Wines Direct has revealed.
“Just for where we are in Wines Direct at Lough Sheever Corporate Park, the bus service actually stops right outside,” says Jenny, pointing out that attendees had the freedom of attending and knowing they would be able to have a drink as they did not have to drive home.
There was a great reaction to the evening, and a great buy-in from local fashion shops, whose offerings provided a real sense of the season ahead, while participants also got the chance to acquaint their tastebuds with some of the exciting wines available from Wines Direct.
Jenny has for the last year been in charge of sales and events for both the Mullingar and Athlone branches of Wines Direct, but her relationship with the firm began as a customer, soon after she moved to Mullingar after making Ireland her home some 26 years ago.
“Probably one of the first places I went to buy anything in Mullingar was Wines Direct,” she recalls.
The founder and original owner, the late Paddy Keogh, recommended a specialty champagne: “That was the first champagne I bought from him and I’ve been buying it ever since – for 26 years!”
Paddy, unfortunately, died in 2014, and the business is now run by his sons, Gareth and Gavin.
Jenny loves Mullingar: “I just think it’s a great town,” she says, describing it as particularly good for those who enjoy a bit of style and who love shopping.
“I’ve been supporting all the boutiques around town and so I just wanted to create more events for Mullingar that support Mullingar businesses.”
Out of that desire was born the idea for the fusion of wine and fashion that culminated in last week’s event.
“The whole idea for the event is to get more recognition for the local family businesses and the businesses that make Mullingar what it is, so I just wanted to have an event that celebrated all of that,” says Jenny.
“We haven’t had an event like this before: it’s the first time we’ve done an event like this in Wines Direct and there was great feedback from it.
The recent introduction of the new bus service made it feasible to have the event at the Wines Direct premises. “We have wine events in Wines Direct quite often, but this was slightly different because it was the fashion and wine, but you can just hop on a bus, hop off a bus, go back into town there and not worry about driving and all the rest of it, and it’s just, I want to kind of help promote Mullingar, because we need all the support we can get and all the businesses to just support each other.”
Local clothing shops were really enthusiastic about getting involved, and already there is resolve among them to hold a similar event later this year: “We’re going to have another one in the autumn and then we’ll also have different events more regularly as time goes on.
“I’m a year into the job; love it, love wine. And I’m just mad keen to get more events just for the locals and for the town that I’ve adopted as home.”
The shops that took part in the evening were Anne Dolan’s The Fashion Shop on Austin Friars Street – an incredible 52 years in business; Donna Butler’s ‘Female Boutique’, providing fashion choices on Pearse Street for 30 years; Vila, also on Pearse Street, managed by Lindsay O’Callaghan; and the Dominick Street store Venezuela, an Irish-owned operation with three outlets nationally.