We live in the hills on the West Coast of beautiful County Mayo in Ireland. We moved here from the North Coast of Cornwall in 2017. Our life in Cornwall revolved around our respective passions for gardening, surfing and sustainable living. All we had was tiny 1 bed flat and an allotment, our long-held dream was to live and work on our very own piece of land.

Throughout our time together Steve and I have visited Ireland many, many times including our honeymoon at Easkey, we swore we would one day live in the emerald isle. When my niece researched our family tree I was thrilled to learn that I have Irish ancestry in our DNA, I feel this explains why I feel such a deep affinity here in Curramailley. Part of me has come home.

It was in 2015 that we came across the 2-acre plot. Steve was totally bewildered by my insistence that the almost derelict house and ravaged patch of land could become our dream however I sensed on a very deep level that this was to be our forever home.

We have planted trees and wildflowers, encouraging wildlife and pollinators. Rewilding parts of the land as we learned more about native species. Then we set about producing as much of our own organic herbs and vegetables as we could.  And there is so much more we still would like to achieve.

We also delight in the myths and legends that form part of rural life in this part of the world. We are proud to be accepted by this strong local community. Our friends and neighbours join us each year for a bonfire to celebrate St Johns Eve.

In 2020, when the Covid pandemic changed so many lives, the concept of ‘Woo in the Willows’ was born. I was using commercial moisturisers on my skin when it dawned on us both that some of the ingredients were potentially harmful, particularly to a cancer survivor like myself. Over the lockdown days and nights, we researched organic vegan body products and formulated the recipes that have become the basis for our body products, which we are proud to have passed their safety certification.

We made the hard decision to temporarily give over the majority of our existing vegetable garden to make space for our wonderful varieties of lavenders until new beds could be established. These along with organic herbs and flowers are used widely in our body products and more recently in culinary oils, and salts.

With sustainability in mind our aim is to use as many of our home-grown botanicals and herbs for all our ‘Woo in the Willows’ products as is possible.

We are grateful to all our customers, local outlets and loyal followers on social media for their custom and feedback as we work toward the realization of our dreams.