STORY.

Reilly remembers vividly the first time he’d visited Harveys Point in the early 90s. He’d done a planning session with Magees in the morning and the then General Manager, Philip Carder, took him out for lunch ‘to a small wee place that had just opened on the shores of Lough Eske.’

Reillys first impression was being enthusiastically greeted by geese and ducks busily snooping around looking for scraps. And the horsey whiff of the two giant Clydesdales in the stables. And the scent of a fresh timber fire. 

And Deirdre McGlone, of course, on reception.

Thirty five years later Reilly had the privilege of bringing thirty Smácht members to Harvey’s Point on Thursday. He also got the pleasure of introducing them to Deirdre.

Reilly asked her to recount her first experience of Harvey’s Point.

‘I came here as a youngster for an interview for a summer job. Coming in the avenue I saw this other young fellow and I said to my sister ‘He’s a bit of all right!’

She went on to describe the intervening years.

‘There ended up basically three of us working there.

‘Jody Gysling, the founder and owner. While on holidays in Donegal, he had occasion to visit Lough Eske. Here he found a little piece of Switzerland hidden away in the Hills of Donegal. The attraction of the snow capped Blue Stack Mountains was complimented by the friendly people and soon Jody was to make this wee corner of Ireland his home.

‘He acquired an old cottage and 27 acres of marsh land from two elderly brothers called Harvey. He spent the next four years painstakingly lugging stone by tractor from a local quarry ten miles away as filler for the foundations. During this time he honed his vision of creating a space where people could visit and enjoy.

‘And then there was Marc, Jody’s younger brother. He was happily managing horses in England when Jody propositioned to him that he become a professional chef.‘And then there’s me. I’m receptionist, bartender, ‘director of first impressions!’

As Reilly went for his swim in the waters of Lough Eske on Friday morning last he couldn’t help noticing a simple plaque on the shore commemorating 30 years of Harveys Point. The achievement was surrounded by three names. ‘Jody. Deirdre. Marc.’

Deirdre and Marc got married in 1996. Jody sadly passed on in 2021.

When Deirdre and Marc and Jody sold Harveys Point in 2019 it had been Trip Advisors Number 1 Hotel in Ireland for six of the previous seven years.

You can read the unadulterated version by Deirdre called ‘Our Story – Harveys Point. Thirty years of happy hotel-keeping at Harvey’s Point; of starting, scaling and selling our business’ on https://www.lemoulinsurcele.com/diary/harveyspoint/

It’s a must for any business owner intent on starting, scaling and selling a business.

INSIGHTS.

• Vision is still the starting point of greatness. Vision without execution is like fishing without a hook. Jody Gysling had a big hairy audacious vision but he also had the fanatical discipline and persistence to haul stone by tractor for four years to lay a solid foundation on what was formerly marsh.
• We often talk in Smácht about mastering the basics. The three basics that the Gyslings focused on back in the early 90s were a world class location; fanatical customer service; and great food.
• It was once said of Herb Kelliher,the legendary American entrepreneur.  ‘What people don’t understand is that Herb has the crazy creativity of the Irishman and the relentless discipline of the Prussian. You just don’t get that combination very often.’ The learning is to combine relentless discipline with fanatical customer service and, you too, could someday build a business like Harveys Point. As Deirdre book-ended it on Thursday. ‘Swiss precision made in Ireland.’
• Reflecting on the success of the business some years ago Deirdre noted that ‘Jody says he’s the boss. I think I’m the boss. Marc actually is the boss.’ It reflects very powerfully the three types of people required to run a successful business. A visionary – someone to dream up something wonderful that once didn’t exist. A ‘director of first impressions’ – someone who loves and is brilliant with people. A do-er – someone who does the work. 

QUOTE

‘It’s amazing just how many things work if you unplug them for awhile and then plug them back in. Come to think of it, the same is true of ourselves.’

—Reilly, after two nights in Harveys.

QUESTION

1. If you were given a wish to master three basics in your business what would you master?

POSTSCRIPT

On Friday, Reilly and the members of Smácht joined Deirdre to walk a leg of the Donegal Camino up to Breesy Mountain. It’s a tribute to Deirdre and her team that they have raised €600,000 for Cancer Care West over the past few years. But, then again, that’s what leaders do.

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