A Co Fermanagh woman who started to arrange flowers in order to help a grieving friend is still going strong 23 years later.
Irene Kavanagh, from Magheraveely, realised she had a knack for floristry after she brought a friend to a beginner’s class who had lost her husband and was struggling to cope.
Now 51-year-old Irene has had her own shop in Lisnaskea for more than 13 years, and is the go-to person in the town for any occasion.
“I was very friendly with a woman many years ago and her husband was killed in a freak accident, and after that she had a nervous breakdown and it was hard to get her to go anywhere,” Irene told MyFermanagh.
“I saw the classes advertised at Fermanagh College, and I thought there will only be about 12 or 15 people at that class and it all be women, so it will be an easy way of bringing her back into company.
“The two of us went to the class and it really just grew from that, she eventually went back to her work and felt a lot better, although she has sadly now passed away.
“It was a nice way of bringing her back because she could sit at the back of class and talk to nobody if she was having a bad day, and if she was fit and wanted to mix with people then she could do that too.”
Irene has since gone on to set up her own business, and said she never thought she would still be in floristry more than20 years later.
“Never in a million years did I think I would still be doing it since first starting those classes.
“I’m the single mother of two teenagers, so you don’t need more motivation than that.
“You meet some characters along the way - during the pandemic I was asked by a woman from Dublin to send some flowers to a woman in Derrylin who was struggling greatly.
“I went to her house and she was that thrilled to get flowers, she told me she had never been sent flowers in her life before.”
Irene added that she has had some nice jobs along the way, including arranging flowers for the Queen on a visit to Enniskillen
“We’ve made a lot of good friends along the way, and a lot of nice jobs.
“We did flowers for the Queen when she came to Enniskillen, and for Michael D Higgins when he came too.
“Then on the other side you have a man being buried this morning who used to come in here every Monday morning for stuff for his garden, so you have a bit of everything.”
