When Mary Kenny came to Galway in 2002, she had planned to stay for just the summer months. Six years later, she is still here, now running a very successful beauty business.

Originally from Cork, Mary moved to Galway in 2002 and immediately fell in love with the city. She then decided to settle here and continue her work as a beauty therapist. However, over the years she had developed an interest in baby therapies including baby massage and, in 2006, she set up her own business teaching massage to mothers all over Galway.

"I had been doing the beauty therapy since 2002 and then I started venturing into massage, such as reflexology and aromatherapy. I had always had an interest in doing something different and I love babies, so two years ago I started doing baby and pregnancy massage," she says.

"Then I decided to do the baby swim as well. Both of the classes are great for teaching mothers to bond and communicate with their children, and can also be very useful for mothers experiencing postnatal depression," she adds.

When Mary began teaching the baby classes, she says that very few people knew what it involved. However it quickly became popular because of its many benefits, including relief of colic, improved co-ordination, boosting the immune system, and improving the child’s social skills. As a result, Mary now sees many mothers coming back with their second and third babies.

"You get lots of different people coming to the classes. They are very good for mothers who might not have much of a family network in Galway. It gives them the chance to talk with other mothers and get some advice and support. You get some fathers coming to the class as well, not many Irish men though, they seem to just drop the women at the door!"

As well as doing the baby classes, Mary works as a beauty therapist at Health and Herbs on Sea Road. Despite her hectic schedule, she also finds time to do some charity work. Every year, Mary joins Irish charity Outreach Moldova and travels to Eastern Europe to visit orphanages and work with ill children. She has already visited the country four times and plans to go again this year.

"There are usually a group of about 25 of us going and we are just shown to a dorm and left to fend for ourselves! It is a great experience and really rewarding to work with the children."

In her spare time, Mary is a huge bellydancing fan and has been doing classes for over two years. She also enjoys walking, swimming and socialising and counts television and attending live music gigs as two of her favourite pastimes.

In the future, Mary hopes to go travelling as well as setting up her own salon where she can carry out all of her therapies on the same premises.

"Eventually I want every baby in Galway to be able to enjoy massage. That would be great!"

For more information on Baby Massage and Baby Swim, log on to www.edenmassagegalway.com.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment