Mary Clissmannof Clissmann Horse Caravans
MY DAY STARTS at about 7.30am. I spend the first hour seeing off visitors who are catching early flights. In a family business you have to make a point of talking to all your customers.
Next year will be our 40th year doing this. When we started there were 35 horse- drawn-caravan operators. Now there are just four.
Most of our clients are from abroad - the UK, Germany, Switzerland and France. In some cases we are on our third generation of a family.
We have 45 horses and 30 caravans. Once I've said goodbye to everybody, the next task is to do a safety check on all the caravans that have been returned. We have a team of welders, carpenters and blacksmiths who run through a checklist of repairs.
The caravan then has to be cleaned. If the holidaymakers were Swiss, it'll come back as clean as it went out. UK visitors tend to eat out every night, and so don't use the cooking utensils. French people like to cook every night.
All bed linen and mattresses have to be taken out and cleaned and all nooks and crannies washed down.
Our original caravans were built by a Traveller in Monaghan, but since he passed on we have been building a luxury version of his, all on a Ford chassis. They sleep two adults and three children like sardines, though anyone who has camped thinks they're huge.
Good horses are hard to find. They have to be strong and quiet and to like people. Some of ours prefer women, some prefer men, and some don't like children, so I've always got to match each client with the right horse.
All the harnesses and saddles have to be washed and oiled as each caravan returns. Then, before each party goes out, I sit down with them and work out a route that suits their interests. Most of them live in apartments in places such as Stuttgart or Frankfurt, so it's a total thrill for them to be out in the Wicklow countryside.
All arrivals spend their first night on the farm, so we can teach them how to look after their horse and drive their caravan. Usually I'm still out doing this until 10pm. It's hard work but great fun.
Typically, our guests travel a 65-mile [ 105km] route, staying on farms where they can get meals and showers.
Two years ago, we introduced donkey holidays, so hikers could walk the mountains and have the donkey carry their packs in panniers. The first clients to do it, two doctors from Munich, met a man outside the first pub they stopped at who said: "Holy God. It's Joseph and Mary." Somehow the name spread, and everywhere they went they were greeted as Joseph and Mary. They loved it.