Cloisters Café opening on Longtower Church grounds.
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00:00I'm Pat Kennedy, I took over at Clusters Cafe this week just.
00:15Can you tell me what's happening today, is this the grand opening?
00:18It's the grand opening today, it's about a week they open it, it's the week that Sister
00:22Clare's retreat, so we're opening today, we're going to be opening every Tuesday to Saturday
00:25going forward.
00:27And you've got a cute group of people here today, what's that like?
00:30It's a wee bit overwhelming at the start but we'll get on with it and see how we get on
00:34but it's a great week to open, it's to get that word out that it's on the chapel grounds
00:39and hopefully everybody returns later in the week and next week as well, doing and going
00:43forward.
00:44What is your cafe offer, what would you say to bring people in here?
00:47The cafe offer is it's going to be, hopefully we can get a community sort of area for everyone
00:53in the community, they come and gather and the menu is quite reasonable priced for people
01:00in the area so we'd hope they keep them in there and don't have to go into the town and
01:03such and keep after class and they can come in and stay and have a chat and whatever,
01:07so I'd say there's a lot of people in the area that's really eager, that's looking for
01:11this.
01:12Are you proud to see it open today?
01:13I'm actually over the moon to have it open today to be honest, it's a wee long few weeks
01:18trying to get it off the ground and even a long day already and we're only at, it's only
01:2212 o'clock, I didn't wait so, but we'll get there.
01:26Have you always wanted to open a cafe, is this your first or?
01:28To be honest, I'm involved with two takeaways in the town but I always wanted to have a
01:33wee cafe to be honest and it just sort of came out of nowhere and I'm over the moon that
01:37Farm Ongans, we came to an agreement to open it together sort of with the church, so I'm
01:42buzzing, so there's a lot of help behind the scenes, we're doing a boil and stuff to help
01:47get it off the ground, but as I say, it's time to slap it here, we'll see how the day
01:51goes.
01:52If we open the bar and get the harmony to go.
01:54What does it mean to you to have it open on the church grounds here?
01:58It means a lot to me, my local parish were growing up, my wife's over the moon to be,
02:04I actually didn't know the cafe was here until Farm Ongans said to me and I came and looked
02:08at it, it was a sign that it was unused to be honest, so I'm really grateful that we
02:14opened it on the chapel grounds and I think it really could really offer a lot for this
02:18community to be honest.
02:30My name's Doreena Boyle and I'm the manager of Arras Column Kill St Columbus Heritage
02:34Centre.
02:35And there's quite a lot of people here to go and open the cafe, what's that like?
02:38It's great, we knew it would be well supported by the parish and local people, but I suppose
02:43we're reaching out to people everywhere, tourists, visitors, pilgrims, there's a great
02:48tradition of pilgrimage and hospitality on this site that goes back to our monastic roots
02:55and it speaks to really the foundation of the city and of this holy ground, this whole
03:00precinct really from the ruins of the round tower in Lumen Christi now to this site and
03:06incorporating the church is really the medieval heart of the city.
03:11This church is offering a lot, they've got a cafe and what else, what's going on here?
03:16So we have a museum over two floors, we're the only dedicated St Columbus museum in the
03:22city and we also have a gift shop upstairs and now the cafe, the cafe's a great addition,
03:28Pat and Louise have put their heart and soul into it and it's just a great asset to the
03:33site and to the precinct, we always had the church and it is genuinely one of the most
03:39ornate churches and certainly in Ireland if not in Western Europe and the grounds,
03:46the kneeling stone, just the atmosphere and the support of the people, there's always
03:51been a great, I suppose, sense of spirituality on this site.
03:57Sister Clare has added a whole new dimension to that and the retreat's on this week.
04:04What would Sister Clare mean to you personally?
04:08The truth is I see it as really 1,000, 1,500 years of continuous Christian activity on
04:16this site, from Columbus' birth in 521 and he founds his first monastery somewhere in
04:22this vicinity, most likely the hill of Derry.
04:25But I really see Clare, these two great holy people, bookending 1,500 years of continuous
04:32Christian activity on this site.
04:47Introduce yourself please.
04:48Father Gerard Mongan, ADM of Long Tower Parish, Derry.
04:52And what do you feel about the grand opening of the cafe here in Church Grounds today Father?
04:56It's very exciting.
04:57It all started when I was walking up Bishop Street and I happened to look into Pat's
05:02chip shop, the City Chipper I think it's called, down on Bishop Street there.
05:06I just suddenly was prompted that this man would be great to run a cafe down, because
05:11we were looking for someone who might run a cafe for us.
05:16It happened in the past, fell through, and I was just hoping that it might take off again.
05:21And just a sudden, maybe divine inspiration, walking up Bishop Street, seeing Pat in the
05:26shop and just going in and asking him would he be interested.
05:29And he said right away he would be.
05:31So I just want to thank Pat for his enthusiasm, for overseeing this today, and for organising
05:36it and getting it opened.
05:38And as you can see there's a great crowd has come for the first breakfast.
05:43And it'll be open from 10 to 6 each day of the retreat here for Sister Clare, and then
05:48from Tuesday to Saturday.