RTE airs documentary on hairdressers and barbers of Irish town

A recent documentary on RTE captured the heart of the Irish public through the 16 hairdressers and barbers in a small Irish town.

Abbeyfeale in Co Limerick, with a population of 2,000, has more hairdressers and barbers per head of population than any other town in Ireland.

The documentary, cleverly entitled Abbeyfealegood, explored the full spectrum of human experience via the businesses, which of course are now currently closed in the Covid-19 lockdown.

“Through economic struggles, depopulation, and a never-ending stream of traffic passing through Abbeyfeale, it has experienced much hardship in recent years,” said RTE. “As pubs, restaurants and shops have closed, hairdressers and barbers have sprung up in their place.

“Locals frequent them to look good and to feel good, and whether they be young or old, they also come to talk. There is a unique and intimate bond between customers and hairdressers and some of them have known each other for decades.

“Each business has their own type of customers and their own atmosphere. And, in the mirrors of these salons, stories unfold that elevate ordinary, everyday existence into something universal and extraordinary.”

According to one local salon owner, the closure of a host of social places to meet has seen the hairdressers and barbers taking on a new – and invaluable – role in the town.
“There are some of my customers who don’t see each other until they meet in here again,” she said.

Directed by Alex Fegan and produced by Denis Dwyer, Abbeyfealegood went down a treat with Irish viewers, no doubt because it showed the power and importance of human contact and interaction, something many people are craving during the current lockdown.