Ruth O’Neill
Ruth O’Neill is originally from Waterford but in her teens, moved with her family to South Kilkenny.
After finishing secondary school she worked in Germany as an au pair and learned to speak the language fluently. On her return to Ireland, she studied marketing and languages in Dublin.
It wasn’t long however before Ruth was back travelling spending several years working overseas including in the Middle East during the second invasion of Iraq.
It was while she was working in Kuwait with her husband Shane, that she was forced to flee the country after threats to her safety emerged. Shane also left Kuwait a few weeks later.
Ruth and Shane moved to work in Bahrain and in 2011, the Middle East was making world headlines again when a series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions spread across much of the Arab world and became known as the Arab Spring. The small island nation of Bahrain didn’t escape the troubles.
After returning from working overseas, Ruth and Shane weren’t sure where they’d live. They moved into their summer home in Labasheeda to plan their future before eventually settling in the picturesque west Clare village where Ruth established her business, Charm Bee.
She is a creator of bespoke handcrafted silver pendants and charms from the actual prints of loved ones. She also designs personalised wearable jewellery from handprints, footprints, fingerprints and paw prints.
