Georgina Campbell's Book Review

Ballymaloe - A Day in the Life, 24th June 2015, by Daphne Spillane; photography by Joleen Cronin and Leila Aldous (Trijar Publishing, hardback, 96pp; €25)

The idea of making a photographic record of one working day at Ireland’s most famous country house probably seemed simple to former Ballymaloe House staff member, Daphne Spillane (nee Beamish), and it was a long-held ambition - but putting it into action, after she came back to work at Ballymaloe again in 2015, must have been like mobilising an army.

Not that the reader will be conscious of the work involved, as the orderly progression through the day is seamless - and, although they were in the lap of the gods weather-wise once the date had been set, it turned out to be fine so the house, gardens and farm are looking their magnificent high summer best.

Daphne’s main intention was to acknowledge the loyalty, dedication and longterm service of the staff - many of whom have worked at Ballymaloe for 40 or 50 years - and, together with photographers Joleen Cronin and Leila Aldous, she does that brilliantly. And by doing so, of course she also pays tribute to the Allen family, especially Myrtle Allen, “a woman of great foresight”.

What comes across on every page of this delightful book is a tremendous sense of an organically developing community working happily together. As Daphne points out, “The Allen family, as employers, have embraced every member of staff, considering each as an extended family member, always there in support through good times and offering a caring hand when most needed.”

So this is the community that we are invited to join, from 6.30am on a typical working day.

The camera follows staff and family members through the various tasks and highlights that punctuate the day: breakfast preparation, housekeeping, children helping to feed pigs and chickens, staff meal times, working on the wine list and menus, tending the gardens and harvesting flowers and produce, preparing for lunch and afternoon tea, work at the shop and café, dinner preparations, winding down for the night...

There is a natural ebb and flow to the activities of the day, and the picture painted is of a very happy ship. So many vivid portraits are painted - a double page group shot gives a sense of the scale (Ballymaloe currently employs about 70 people, and the family is constantly growing) and many of the photos capture the vital contribution that each individual makes.

This is not a book commissioned by an international publisher, but a labour of love created by a local team - including the design, production and printing, which were all done in Cork - and, in turn, everyone who loves Ballymaloe will want to have a copy.