Here in Westport, many of our local stores and enterprises have an online presence, allowing you to have a browse or pick up a thoughtful pressie for special someone in your life. Or maybe you’d just like to treat yourself (we’re all for that). Others are doing what they can to help you get the stuff you want, helping everyone feel a little more normal in these strange times.

Here are some of our local businesses that you can support right now, while making your own life a little easier at the same time.

Chocolate

At the risk of sounding like a less-threatening Game Of Thrones tagline, Easter is coming! And that means lots and lots of lovely chocolate. Here in Westport we’re lucky to have our very own chocolatier, Marlene’s Chocolate Haven. All Marlene’s huge variety of chocolates are made from the finest Belgian chocolate, and often incorporating local produce, such as Moylurg Honey, West Mayo Beer and Achill Island Sea Salt.

Call in your orders for Easter eggs on 098 24564, and visit www.marleneschochaven.com to order sweet treats. You can even get chocolate Mayo jerseys!

Beer

The pubs might be closed for now, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on a delicious beer. Treat yourself or someone you care about to a selection of Mescan Brewery’s range of scrumptious beers.

This now-famous Westport brewery is still offering home deliveries within Ireland, as well as ‘safe collections’ the brewery gate for close-by customers – and they’re going one step further by arranging a ‘Post-Corona Party’! Yep, they’re planning ‘an almighty hooley’ for when this  coronavirus crisis passes, and anyone who orders Mescan beer from their online shop during the crisis will get on the guestlist!

Books

There’s never been a better time to escape into a good book! Tertulia – A Bookshop Like No Other’s physical store at Westport Quay is closed for now, but the lovely people at Tertulia are now delivering locally to book lovers in the Louisburgh and Westport areas, and they’re also posting orders. Call 085 862 0158 or 087 9091193, or email tertuliabookshop@gmail.com with your choice and they will arrange delivery and payment. Check out their Facebook Page for their favourite book suggestions each day!

Bread

Got a hankering for some doughy delights? Cornrue Bakery at The Demesne, Westport, is still open for business, although the restaurant is temporarily closed. Get your baked goods from 8am to 1pm, Tuesday to Saturday, with pre-orders taken on 087 9348975.

Believe us when we say you have not lived until you’ve tasted Patrick’s award-winning sourdough.

Grains & groceries

Kirstin McDonagh and Mckinley Neal pictured at their PAX Shop at Market Lane, Westport.

Westport’s sustainable grocery store, PAX Whole Foods and Eco Goods, is still receiving, packing and processing payments for orders, much to the relief of its legion of fans. The doors might be closed to the public, but business continues!

Simply email your orders to paxshopwestport@gmail.com or call them on 098 44606, or bring your containers to the door between 10am and 3pm, and they will fill them for you. They will take payments via phone using a credit card, or on collection. No need to go without nutritious whole foods, sustainable cleaning products and personal-care items and fabulous goods grown and crafted in Ireland. Phew!

Something To Look Forward To

Senses Spa Hotel Westport

How about giving someone the gift of something to look forward to, for when the crisis blows over? Give a loved a voucher for a few nights’ stay at one of Westport’s famously welcoming hotels – let them choose the dates of their own holiday. Or get them a spa-treatment voucher to help them unwind after the crisis passes. All of our wonderful hotels and spas offer fantastic voucher schemes, and all would be only too delighted tailor make a package that to suit.

And don’t forget about the multiple delights of Westport House! You can get vouchers for the fun park, vouchers for the historic house itself… you can even get buy books about the house as gifts! Check out their ‘gift ideas’ section here.

Restaurant Deliveries

Fancy a slap-up meal from one of Westport’s restaurants or take-aways? Well Westport Deliveries is here to help. Contact this home delivery service on 087 3828898, from 5pm to 10.45pm seven days a week. Have fun recreating the restaurant atmosphere at home – some candles, a table cloth, a little muzak and you’re all set. They also do deliveries from local filling stations, supermarkets, shops too!

Fitness

You can’t get to the gym right now, but how about hiring some fitness equipment and turning your home into a personal fitness facility? Cool, eh?

Multisport Westport are now hiring out their fitness equipment, offering home delivery of their Concept 2 rowers, Bike Ergs, Ski Ergs, Wahoo Snap Turbos, Row Ergs for just €20 per week (minimum two-week hires). The cost includes delivery, set up and two session plans per week. Now you have no excuse! Text 087 4500802 for bookings.

Body & Soul

The Yoga Root is an embodied health and fitness studio based in Westport. The studio was due to launch on March 14, but due to the Covid-19 crisis, its doors have not yet opened. But that’s not stopping them from keeping us limber and grounded in a crisis.

Through their virtual studio, studio founder Derrick Dark (pictured) will keep the spirit of traditional classes alive by hosting a series of live yoga sessions! He is offering four free types of sessions  – Gentle Flow, Kids’ Yoga, Power Flow and Restorative Flow. More information and timetable available on the website www.theyogaroot.org

News

Where would we be without our award-winning local paper, The Mayo News? The paper is still being printed, and is on shop shelves as usual. However, if you can’t get to the shops, don’t despair! The Mayo News digital edition is available online for just €1.50 for a single edition, €6 for a month’s subscription, or €60 for a year’s subscription.

While The Mayo News carries a certain number of articles online at mayonews.ie, readers will know that there are many, many more stories and features in the printed paper. So if you can’t get your hands on the physical paper, then the digital edition is there for you. Basically, it’s the entire print edition on your screen for you to leaf through at your leisure! To get one paper or subscribe to more, click here.

Retail therapy

Women’s clothing boutique Kaleidoscope, on Westport’s Bridge Street, has a great online store. Have a browse through their fashion, accessories and jewellery, order a treat for yourself or someone special, and wait for the postman. Couldn’t be simpler!

And to help their customers fight cabin fever, the Kaleidoscope crew post regularly on their Facebook page, which is worth checking out too.

If hats are your thing be sure to check out locak milliner Lina Stein’s beautiful website where you can browse through her collection of hats and courses. There is even a COVID-19 relief gift voucher so you can email a gift to someone special.

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