Cork friends create social hub as alternative to the pub scene

When friends Megan O’Shea and Clare Hurley returned to Cork after a period abroad, they struggled to find a place for themselves in their home city.

Megan had moved back to do a Masters after two years living in Brussels, and Clare had just come back to Ireland after a period of traveling in Asia.

They found that a lot of their friends had moved away and they were looking for a new way to connect with like-minded people.

Now in their mid-twenties, the two friends felt out of place in the social scene they had left behind.

“We were both kind of like, ‘Oh, I’m wobbling around here. I feel really old in Cork. It feels like there’s no one our age around, it feels like there’s very little to do other than going to the pub and drinking’,” says Clare.

Together, they came up with the idea of creating a community space for people with shared interests, as a way of reconnecting with old friends and meeting new people.

They both love reading and decided to use this as a foundation for their new group, The Chit Chat Collective.

“We would love if there was a space where we could all share in this communal feeling, and also meet new people as well and with similar interests,” says Clare.

“Also, we wanted to read more, which is a huge reason. We wanted to be able, which is a major thing for me, because I find it so hard to just sit down and read now.”

The group aims to meet monthly on a Sunday afternoon in Cork Lotus Yoga Studio in the city centre.

They agree on a book and anyone is welcome to .

“We do a poll, and we pick the books on Instagram and let our followers pick which book they want to read, and then we try to give people about a month to read the book and get it read for the meeting,” says Megan.

When the group meets, the discussion starts around the chosen book, and then flows into more general conversation.

The meet-ups were initially free, but they have recently introduced a small €6 charge. 

Tea and nibbles are provided.

Talking about their first meeting, Clare says: “It started out with talking about the book, but then we were talking about how we all feel about the book or about the themes that came from the book. So the book is just like the icebreaker, and then everything else kind of leads from there.”

Megan and Clare first met as teenagers through their mums, who are good friends and went to school together.

The close friendship of their mums partly inspired them to create this group.

“We are all kind of interested in the same thing, both our moms and us.

“We all love yoga, we all love food, we all love chit-chat, so it’s kind of inspired by them as well,” says Clare.

One of their aims was to create a social space that didn’t revolve around alcohol, explains Megan.

“We were trying to make it a space where it would allow everyone to feel comfortable to come to something. Because if you were hosting a book club in a pub, then people would feel obliged to buy a drink. And I think that’s what we’re kind of trying to avoid a little bit.”

Turning the idea into a reality meant bringing their different skills to the table.

“Megan and I work really well as a team, because we both bring different elements to things together. Like, I think Megan is extremely well organised and well versed in the marketing area and knowing what to say on social media, and how to work all of these applications,” says Clare.

“Then I had a separate area because I’m a mental health nurse, so then I had a different background again.”

Although the group has started as a book club, Megan and Clare see potential for it to develop into other areas, according to the interests of the .

“People can come to us if they wanted to bring an element of something they’re interested in into the book club,” says Clare.

“There’s people who are really creative, a lot of people will be interested in Pranayama or breath work, but they’d be so nervous in a different setting.

“So, last time we closed it with some simple breathing, and one of the other group got the chance to actually facilitate it.”

The future is bright for The Chit Chat Collective, and there are opportunities to take it beyond the regular monthly meet-ups, says Clare.

“I think we’d be interested in doing sea swims, group swimming, hikes, and different kinds of movie nights, you know, just opportunities for everyone to get together.”