A small cottage café on the Wild Atlantic Way has received international recognition thanks to a Facebook post by the Chief Operating Officer of social media giant Facebook.
Sheryl Sandberg posted about Moher Cottage Coffee and Craft Shop, Liscannor on her Facebook page and how owner Caitríona Considine has adapted to selling online since the onset of Covid-19.
Ms Sandberg has over 2.2 million followers and as a result of the post, TV and movie star Jennifer Anniston is now following Moher Cottage.
Moher Cottage is a family run, design-led destination gift store and coffee dock beside the Cliffs of Moher, with panoramic views over Liscannor Bay. They make and sell their our own fudge as well Irish made gifts online on www.mohercottage.com.
Ms Sandberg said: “The stunning Cliffs of Moher on Ireland’s west coast are more tranquil now than they’ve been for years. The breath-taking views have made it the most visited natural attraction on the Emerald Isle, welcoming one and half million visitors every year. Not this year. Closed to tourists due to the pandemic, the cliffs are calm. The stillness has helped local businesswoman Caitríona Considine find solace as her shop struggles to cope with the loss of tourist trade.
Caitriona runs Moher Cottage. With its great coffee – once voted the best in Ireland – and homemade fudge, it’s been a hit with visitors since it opened in 2017. However, as with so many other small businesses, especially those dependent on tourists, the shop has been badly hit. When it closed its doors, Caitríona was determined to keep the business afloat and posted on Facebook and Instagram that Moher Cottage was selling online. She was inundated with orders – her first batch of fudge sold out in two days – from the local community and elsewhere in Ireland, as well as from the other side of the Atlantic. As well as selling online, Caitríona uses Facebook and Instagram to share her walks along the cliffs, and inspiring messages from well-wishers who tell her of their plans to visit when the pandemic has passed.
Facebook is in the business of small business. 160 million businesses use our apps every month – nearly one business for every 55 people on the planet, all using Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or WhatsApp to reach customers. That’s why we recently launched Facebook Shops to make it easier for businesses to sell online, as well as creating new ways for customers to support them with gift cards and fundraising tools. Facebook’s Business Resource Hub contains advice and information – including from healthcare experts – to help businesses during the crisis. For Irish businesses like Moher Cottage, we’ve also been running weekly Boost with Facebook webinars.
Whatever happens in the wake of this crisis, we are committed to helping businesses like Caitríona’s survive and recover in the months ahead,” the post concluded.
Reacting to the post, Caitríona Considine said: “This is phenomenal for MoherCottage.com. It’s a challenging time for all tourism businesses in rural Ireland but in particular in Clare so to have the inspiring Sheryl Sandberg highlight the work we are going to survive this crisis has provided such a lift to us.
We are so energised not just by the new customers it has brought our way but also by all the comments and messages that people are sending saying they are looking forward to visiting ireland when we all travel again which gives us hope for the years to come too if we can survive this year. Sheryl has the globe to choose from in highlighting a business so while this is a great story for us it really is an amazing tourism story for Ireland but especially for Clare and we all need that,” Caitríóna added.
Find out more about Moher Cottage here.
