Our story begins in Milltown Malbay, West Clare, where my father Paul Sexton was born in 1931, the youngest of five children. His family owned a 30-acre mixed-use farm that grew cereals and vegetables and raised cattle, turkeys, geese, pigs, and hens. It was what we would now term a “regenerative farm” i.e. using no fertilizer, pesticides or antibiotics.

He left school at 14 to work on the family farm and was given one acre to cultivate as his own. He grew vegetables and sold them to local hotels and fertilised his acre with seaweed gathered by donkey and cart from Spanish Point beach.

At 19, when his older brother inherited the family farm, he cycled to Ennis, took the train to Kildare, and began work as a farm labourer in Celbridge. Soon after, he joined Dardis & Dunne, Dublin-based seed merchants, travelling the length and breadth of Ireland selling seeds to farmers. It was the beginning of a lifelong journey in horticulture and enterprise.

In 1952, he decided to strike out on his own, selling seeds to farmers and building cow sheds. The cow shed business didn’t last, but the seed business flourished. With the support of a prudent and trusting bank manager, my father bought a warehouse off Gardiner Street in Dublin’s north city centre which he later sold. Shortly afterwards he purchased an old abattoir on the quays which he sold again within nine months. By 1968, he had acquired a site at Cornelscourt, South Dublin, a dilapidated Famine-era building with thick stone walls that had once been a local trading mart where coal, groceries and meat were delivered to local families. From this, he began to build something extraordinary.

Image: Paul with friends – Paul is second from the right

At Cornelscourt, he poured his energy, creativity, and optimism into what became one of Ireland’s first successful retailand wholesale garden centres. Operating under tight budgets he supplied major supermarkets such as Dunnes Stores, Quinnsworth, and Woolworths along with smaller local shops with his own packed fertilisers, lawn seed, roses, and shrubs. He even exported shamrock seeds to the United States packed by hand in recycled Avonmore butter cartons. Until then, horticulture in Ireland had been something belonging to the privileged - expensive, exclusive, and out of reachfor most. Through determination and hard work, he democratised gardening, bringing plants, seeds, and garden products within reach of ordinary families and became a household name in South Dublin.

People could take pride in their gardens and discover the joy of growing. Paul also believed business should serve the community. Long before inclusivity was spoken of, he contracted out packaging work to institutions for people with disabilities, paying them the same wages as his other staff. He encouraged those institutions to take on airline packaging contracts, advice that helped spark the Rehab movement in Ireland. My father organised vegetable growing competitions in local schools, encouraging children to get their hands dirty and learn where their food came from.

As his business grew, he sought more space which he found in the Glen of the Downs, Co. Wicklow - a beautiful, wild landscape that became his new challenge. He worked relentlessly to make it succeed, even as he faced constant burglaries, market changes, and the pressures of running two busy sites. When EU regulations made small packagers unviable and the arrival of supermarket and DIY store garden centres undercut him, he adapted as best he could, staying true to his values and love for the trade. He was a natural salesman with an instinctive warmth. If a customer came in for a plant, they’d often leave with compost, fertiliser, and a new set of garden furniture too. Fond of running a good sale to drive footfall, weekends were always manic. I would often run through the garden centre to find him for a price, all of which he kept memorised in his head.

My father traded until 2011 when sales collapsed due to the Global Financial Crisis. He leased the Glen of the Downs Garden Centre to Horkans Garden Centres; being a small part of the overall site. OutdoorLiving.ie subsequently took over from Horkans.

In January 2021, my father passed away after contracting Covid-19 in St. Vincent’s Hospital following a stroke. My mother passed just three weeks later having contracted Covid-19 from him; another tragedy amid a global pandemic.

The Irish Times paid tribute to his remarkable life and legacy in this obituary.

I inherited the site which was in a bad way after years of neglect.

It was overgrown, delipidated, flooded and flood-prone, contained extensive landfill, dangerous electrics with substantial compliance, health and safety and presentation issues.

It is a four project to clean, restore and bring this beautiful site to its full potential.

Wicklow Village will be a community meeting place celebrating garden living, healthy living, healthy eating, craft micro enterprises and the rich walks, attractions, and history of Wicklow.

Wicklow Village is the opposite of designer brands; it is about celebrating simplicity, sustainability, living mindfully, caring for the environment, recycling, embracing healthy living, eating less processed food, enjoying your garden and enjoying the beauty and air of County Wicklow.

There are several great walks in the area which I feel are under-utilised and so much history. I want Wicklow Village to be used as a base from which to explore them.

Having worked in the family business for most of my working life and having built and sold my own London-based tourist hostel company, built upon the principles of high standards, good value and attention to detail, I now bring that same ethos of excellence to Wicklow Village.

Wicklow Village Farmer’s Market will be launched on Saturday 25 April 2026 with regenerative, local or organic produce where possible and multiple micro craft enterprises.

I am proud to bring the site full circle to my father’s regenerative farm and his ethos of community connection through nature and the land.