Sorcha Molloy

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Some people have the eye. They know exactly how to put the right object in the right place, to create the right effect. They know how to make the quotidian feel special, they have the skill and patience to make the everyday into something distinct.
Sorcha Molloy, who runs the Heron's Rest B&B in the centre of Galway, is one of those people. What Elizabeth Field, of the McKennas' Guides remembered most about staying at Heron’s Rest was not just the unique breakfasts, or Sorcha’s skills as a hostess. No, the bit that stuck indelibly in Liz’s mind, the effect that mesmerised her, was of “a golden Thai bedspread glowing in the evening sunlight.”
Ah! Can’t you just see it: the sun setting over to the west of the Corrib River that flows just outside the house, the Galway day drawing to a close, and you are going to be tucked up under a golden Thai bedspread. It doesn’t get any better than that.
For John McKenna, the everyday made extra delightful was: beans and a fried egg. The trucker's all-day breakfast, the curse of the motorway caff. But not in Heron's Rest. In Heron's Rest what you get is Boston baked beans, tricked out with lardons of bacon and a fresh Galway egg on top, cooked just right, with a trickle of balsamic, and a hint of pesto. Magic.
But then, mesmerising people is kind of what Sorcha Molly does, and we are sure she is just as mesmerising when she is wearing her other hat – that of a nutritionist – for she is persuasive, and talks common sense. She has astounding energy, allied to an incredible sense of foresight: she knows what you would like even before you know what you would like. And she knows beauty, she understands feng shui, she knows how to create an effect you will never forget. That golden Thai bedspread glowing in the evening sunlight – you will never, ever forget it. Egg and beans: you won't ever forget it.
Of course, she also has a heron, called Jack, who likes to parlay up to the front door.

The Heron's Rest, 16a The Longwalk, Galway
+ 353 991 539574
www.theheronsrest.com