The thing about Paddy Foyle, of Clifden's The Quay House, is that he does everything... wrong.
When he puts a set of plates, or a set of cloches to hang on a wall in The Quay House, for instance, he doesn’t aim for them to be symmetrically arranged, the way the rest of us would. He just fires them up there and when he’s finished they look... incredible. Amazing. Perfect. And yet, wrong.
Many years ago we described him as an “iconoclast”, but in retrospect we’re not certain that was correct. Iconoclasts destroy, but Mr Foyle doesn’t destroy: he just creates differently. And he's done it all his life, from the time he was a nipper growing up in the family hotel in town, to his years in Rosleague Manor, out in Letterfrack, where he ran one of the defining Irish country houses.
He still runs one of the defining houses, for Quay House has no peers when it comes to style. He can see one room as a surrealist would see it, and another room will be formal, yet undershot with humour and wit. Whether you reckon he’s an iconoclast or a maverick, let’s agree on one thing: Paddy Foyle is probably the greatest interior designer in Ireland, and he is certainly the most unique. “I remain in awe of the sheer exuberance and lightheartedness of these extraordinary interiors”, the blogger Pamela Peterson wrote. Exhuberance and lightheartedness: yes, that's it, that's how this great designer makes you feel when your enter upon any of his rooms. What will also leave you in awe is the hospitality of the Foyle family, the welcome and the generosity.
Oh, and he's one hell of a good restaurateur, too.