DAY IN THE LIFE

Sheelyn Browne of the Westport House and Pirate Adventure Park discusses her working day with Niamh Hennessy

MORNING:

I get up at about 7.15 am at this time of year, when the schools are back. I have two little girls, Grace is 10 and Eve is 8, so I get them up and out the door in a flurry of school bags and lunchboxes.

My parents Jeremy and Jennifer Altamont are the 11th Marquess and Marchioness of Sligo, so people might assume that I live a life of aristocratic grandeur but, in fact, my morning begins the same as most, with all the usual domestic jobs that any parent will relate to. I then drive to work, my other home, Westport House and Pirate Adventure Park. As time has passed, the cost of keeping a property such as Westport House meant that our family decided to turn it into a business. Westport House offers access to the historic house, guided tours, exhibitions and picturesque gardens as well as to our wonderful camping park and child friendly pirate adventure park. Some 90% of our annual revenue is made in July and August, so to try and offset this we offer the grounds as a film set location. We also do a number of events throughout the year, including Halloween Fest and Winter Wonderland.

AFTERNOON:

I spend my afternoons working hard to attract tourists to Westport House, by holding exhibitions and re-branding our child-friendly attractions as the Pirate Adventure Park, which my sister Karen and I did in honour of one of our ancestors, the 16th century Pirate Queen of Connaught, Grace O’Malley.

Every day we cater to a range of markets, hosting everything from school tours to high end events such as the exclusive weddings and private parties that we host each year. In fact, Westport House was recently awarded Best Exclusive Wedding Venue in Ireland by WeddingsOnline.ie.

This afternoon I am finalising plans for Halloween Fest at Westport House which will run during the mid-term break, October 29- November 6 and will see the house transformed into a haunted house complete with a range of added activities as well as our Pirate Adventure Park. We are also in the planning stage for Christmas, which is a truly magical time here with as many as eight Christmas trees in the house, Mrs Claus reading stories by the fire in the library and Santa’s Grotto in the drawing room.

Otherwise I spend my time liaising with staff, interviewing or recruiting, meeting with clients and taking care of anything that crops up unexpectedly.

EVENING:

To be truly honest there isn’t really an average day.

I usually would meet with my sister Karen and we would brief each other on everything that’s gone on with our particular area of the house and gardens. Once I get home from work it is family time, but when the girls are gone to bed I often take the time to catch up on emails.