West Enterprise Case Studies

This state of the art studio is not situated in the middle of a large city; it is situated – literally - on the shores of Drumharlow Lake near Boyle in Co. Roscommon.

“I was a professional musician myself for 20 years before I decided to set up the recording studio in 1990”, says Liam Cunningham, Sound Engineer and Managing Director of Lake Recording Studio.

“I am originally from Drogheda in Co Louth and have no family connections with Roscommon, but often came to the West of Ireland to relax and take breaks when I was touring as a traditional musician and the slower pace of life here was the main attraction in my decision to make it my home”, adds Liam.

When the business was set up initially, Liam received some funding from Roscommon County Enterprise Board and Roscommon Leader and both of those organisations were helpful in the early stages of the business.

“Being in the West hasn’t hampered the business in any way in terms of infrastructure – for example we have very good broadband access here and there have been major improvements in road access in recent years.  I record people from all over Ireland, the UK, the USA and Europe. A lot of them like the relaxed atmosphere here and the chance to wander down to the lake whenever they need to take an inspirational break whereas if the studio were in Dublin, we would have to rigidly stick to a tight schedule.”

The only negative that Liam reports is that business has slowed down somewhat in the past six months – “but that is because of the general economic downturn, which I imagine would be the case for us no matter where we were located” he adds.

Rural living in Cootehall provides Liam with a number of advantages including less commuting time to and from work, cheaper house prices and cheaper living costs in general, more family time and overall a less stressful life.

Liam highly recommends life in the West of Ireland.  “I am into outdoor adventure and love to go mountaineering and rock climbing– the West of Ireland has it all; it gives me everything I need” he concludes.