Inside the Mind of Ciarán Shannon: The Brand Maverick Steering Boatyard Distillery’s Next Big Wave
Ever wondered how a top Irish business leader unwinds after a week of juggling brands and boardrooms? Well, Ciarán Shannon, brand development manager at the Boatyard Distillery, pulls back the curtain on his Saturday—a blend of early wake-ups, tiny tornadoes named Liam and Cian, and a soundtrack of country tunes. It’s not the typical power-ballroom dance or luxury spa day; instead, it’s a delightful chaos of coffee, porridge, swim lessons, and a very strategic approach to pizza nights with a splash of Bambino hot honey. If you think downtime for business leaders means lavish escapades, think again—sometimes it’s just about surviving the mayhem and sneaking in a game of hurling on the telly. Ready to dive into the real-life Saturday grind that balances family chaos with small moments of bliss? Let’s take a stroll through Ciarán’s day. LEARN MORE
How do Irish business leaders spend their downtime? This week Ciarán Shannon, brand development manager at the Boatyard Distillery, takes us through his Saturday
“We have a lazier Saturday and we just cook a Goodfella’s oven pizza with Bambino hot honey”
6am I get out of bed. I have two young boys, Liam (two) and Cian (one). That’s our alarm clock — they normally get up between 5:30am and 6am. It’s a tag-team partnership, so once one of them is up, they are both up.
I bring them downstairs and put on a wee bit of country music such as Keith Urban, Zack Bryan and Morgan Wallen and let them run wild. They jump between toys and tractors.
7am I take the boys upstairs and wake up my wife, Niamh, just to wind her up. She gets up and picks out their outfits — I am never trusted with that. We get them dressed.
8am I go downstairs and make some porridge for the boys
and a strong cup of coffee for myself. Niamh is heading away to a camogie tournament. She plays for the Loughgiel Shamrocks. The plan is to take Liam to the swimming pool and drop Cian to my parents’ house in Ballymena.
10am It’s a short drive from Loughgiel to Ballymena. I top up on some coffee beans, run a few errands around town and drop Cian off.
12pm Me and Liam head to the swimming pool in the town. I’m trying to get him used to swimming. He used to love the pool, but he fell out of love with it.
We head back into town to grab some lunch for my mum, dad and sister. It’s sandwiches, pasta salad and nibbles from Marks & Spencer.
2:30pm I rush back home and try to put the boys to sleep so I can watch some hurling on television. I end up half-watching it as the boys don’t want to sleep.
4:30pm Niamh arrives home. It’s rare for her to be out of the house for so long. We go to see her sister’s family, who live on the same lane as us. It’s very handy for childminding. We head to visit Niamh’s mum and dad afterwards.
5:30pm It’s dinner time for the boys. Niamh is very good at dinner prep. She defrosts some home-cooked meals, which the boys love. It’s cod, potatoes and peas today.
We have a lazy Saturday and we cook a Goodfella’s pepperoni oven pizza with Bambino hot honey.
6:30pm It’s time to get the boys bathed, dressed and ready for bed. It’s the same routine every night. The boys love the bath.
The one-year-old can sit up in it now and they love splashing each other.
7:15pm Nana and Grandad pop in to read them bedtime stories — it’s a nightly routine.
They are enjoying an Old McDonald’s Farm book, but we’re trying to get them into bigger stories like The Gingerbread Man and Jack and the Beanstalk.
8pm It’s a rare Saturday where Niamh goes out with her camogie team. I put the boys up to bed and sit down with a tin of Harp and a bag of Walkers Chili Sensations just in time to watch some football on television.
11pm Niamh comes back and after a quick catch-up, we both head to bed. I check on the boys and we go straight to sleep.
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