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Look for Local – Shop traditional craft cakes or have a bite to eat at Marguerite’s Newcastle West

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Marguerites – Pictured are employee Helen Pye, Mayor of Limerick City and County Daniel Butler, owner Richard Condon, chef Donie Sheehan and Richard Lynch, I Love Limerick at Marguerite’s in Newcastle West, which has been passed down through several generations of one local family, the Condon’s. Picture: Krzysztof Luszczki/ilovelimerick.

Look for Local – Shop traditional craft cakes or have a bite to eat at Marguerite’s Newcastle West

By I Love Limerick correspondent Rachel Petticrew


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Marguerites

Pictured are employee Luis Rafael, Richard Lynch, I Love Limerick, Mayor of Limerick City and County Daniel Butler, owner Richard Condon and employees Mary McCarthy and Kay O’Sullivan. Picture: Krzysztof Luszczki/ilovelimerick.

A new campaign run by I Love Limerick in conjunction with LEO Limerick and Daniel Butler, Mayor of Limerick City and County, asks Limerick consumers to look for local when shopping for products, services and experiences.

Located in the heart of Newcastle West, Marguerite’s bakery has been passed down through several generations of one local family, the Condon’s.

Current owner Richard Condon tells I Love Limerick of his family history in the West Limerick town.

“Going back to the early forties, my grandfather had a bakery on Maiden Street. That closed down, but my mother and father, Margaret and Richard Condon, started up again in the late ’60s,” explains Richard.  

“The business started off really small. We lived overhead the bakery on Maiden Street. We had a little cafe there too, but when we moved up here to the Square in 1988, we expanded into the restaurant side of things.”

From there, Marguerite’s flourished, thanks to the Condon’s old-style craft breads and cakes. Richard and his brothers have since opened a bakery in Abbeyfeale, a second restaurant in Killarney, as well as running a wholesale business, stocking Marguerite’s baked goods in shops across Limerick. 

“We are a traditional craft bakery,” explains Richard. “Nothing is made in massive batches, and we have no big machinery. Everything is handmade. We work very hard to keep our standards high.”

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, Marguerite’s has seen a slow return of customers to their flagship Newcastle West restaurant, No. 8.

Marguerites

Pictured are employee Helen Pye and owner Richard Condon. Picture: Krzysztof Luszczki/ilovelimerick.

“Our business is 90% local, repeat business. I think the pandemic has had an effect on people’s habits,” Richard admits. 

“However, we are following every Covid-19 guideline and protocol. Customers are happy to see that we are being diligent about this because it makes them feel safer.”

Despite the great success and expansion of the family business, Marguerite’s remains a focal point of the Newcastle West community. 

“We are a local family, so we support all the local clubs and societies. We are proud to be from Newcastle West and proud to see the town doing well. It is a challenging time for a lot of businesses, but if we support each other then we can survive,” believes Richard.

Newcastle West native and chef Donie Sheehan has been a member of the Marguerite’s team for a staggering 32 years. 

“Marguerite’s had only been open here on the Square for twelve months when I came on board,” Donie tells I Love Limerick. 

“I’ve been cooking in Newcastle West since the early ’70s, so I know what people like and what they don’t. Marguerite’s is a very friendly environment to work in, as it is a family-owned business.”

Speaking from Marguerite’s, Mayor of Limerick City and County Daniel Butler says, “We all have our local cafe or restaurant where we mark our key life events, and this is what Marguerite’s is all about. 

“The bakery is a key fabric in local lives here in Newcastle West. It is so important that we support these businesses to make sure that they stay around for another fifty or sixty years.”

For a baked treat or a good cup of coffee, visit Marguerites on The Square, Newcastle West, or have a bite to eat in the adjoining No. 8 restaurant. 

To find out more about Marguerites in Newcastle West and all other locations, go HERE

For more Look for Local stories, go HERE

#LookforLocalLimerick #LookforLocal #ShopLimerick

 

About LEO Limerick:

Limerick Local Enterprise Office (LEO) is a first stop shop to provide support and services to help start, grow and develop micro and small businesses. LEO Limerick offers a range of support for local businesses including training, trading online vouchers, financial support, mentoring and business advice. Limerick LEO provides a range of services directly to the small and microenterprise sector as well as helping to create a beneficial environment in which the sector can flourish. For more info go HERE

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Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.