Local milliners turn heads at Fairyhouse

TWO North Galway milliners turned heads at the big Easter meet at Fairyhouse over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Athenry’s Fiona Mangan was walking in the Burren on Monday afternoon when she discovered that one of her stunning creations was worn by the winner of the Best Dressed competition, Catherine Lundon from Mullingar.

There were surprises in store also for Corofin milliner Caithriona King, who always takes a keen interest in who makes it to the Best Dressed enclosure, when she was delighted to among them herself.

Fiona told The Herald that when she realised Catherine was wearing the eye-catching Michael Jackson gold metallic jacket, she knew she would be a serious contender for the top prize.

'Catherine has bought a number of hats from me over the years. She’s a regular at race meets and she has previously won a Best Dressed competition also wearing another hat of mine a year or two ago,' said Fiona.

The busy milliner and mum says the exposure this week has been fantastic. 'It’s a great start to the racing season. Having a winning hat in Fairyhouse is a real boost to the business,' she added. Guest judge Rosanna Davison was also wearing one of Fiona’s hats, so it was a real double for the bubbly milliner.

Meanwhile, Caithriona King admits that she nearly didn’t turn up for the race meet.

'I really wasn’t going to go but then my friend rang and said it was going to be a nice day, so off we went and it was brilliant.

'It really was a wonderful day. I was surprised and thrilled to be chosen by judge Brendan Courtney as a finalist.

People thought my head must have hurt but although the hat is quite large, it’s very light. It’s actually my feet that were in pain at the end of the day,' laughed Caithriona.