A New Life: A massage therapist finds working in Connemara good for his life and career. Tony Clayton-Lea reports.
Looking at Ray Foley walking against breathtaking backdrops of some of the mountains of Connemara you'd swear he'd been there all his life. Foley's countenance might not have as many folds or furrows as those mountains behind him (far from it, in fact), but he looks very much at home in the contained wilderness.
He works as a massage therapist in Delphi Mountain Resort and Spa, but he will be the first person to admit that his life has been nowhere near as calm as it currently is.
In his early 40s, Cork-born Foley's road to massage therapy and the call of the mild wild is a long and winding one. There are, it would seem, no epiphanies here, no Road to Damascus-like experiences. Rather, much like many other people we know, there are continuing series of gradual and, in Foley's case, enlightening episodes that have brought him to, quite literally, where he is.
An apprenticeship in ship joinery was completed in 1984, and from then on Foley was bitten by a travel bug from which he has only recently started to recover. Earlier holiday trips to Crete were followed by a visit to Australia. Then it was home for a spell in the Irish army as a carpenter.
Two years in the defence forces honed Foley's physical combat and sporting skills. As well as participating in cross-country running and orienteering, he was All-Army boxing and karate champion. Following this was civvy street work in the construction industry in London and Berlin.
But the call of the wilderness easily won over the noisy allure of European cities.
"I always seemed to return to Crete," says Foley. "There was a bit of time on my hands because there was no designated schedule for new work contracts to start. I gradually arrived at a small village, Sougia, on the southwest coast of Crete. It's quite remote, very secluded and a lot like Delphi, actually - the mountains and the sea aren't too far away. I got a job in a bar, and eventually ran it for four years with my then girlfriend. We rented it from the owner."
It was while running Sougia's only Irish bar - called the Blah Blah Bar, naturally - that Ray came into contact with a number of people who were into alternative health and lifestyles - "Yoga, massage and the like. In Crete, I was the person that people came to for a talk about their problems. It was the only bar with Europeans working there, and it attracted alternative-type people, and some strange cases would arrive looking for help.
"That was a learning thing, all right, a real University of Life experience."
It was from his encounters on Crete that Foley became intrigued by complementary health therapies. Complications with the owner of the Blah Blah Bar eventually came to a sticky end, and Foley headed home to Cork, where, in early 2000, he applied to the College of Commerce for a place on its Complementary Health Therapies course.
"I spent two years studying. The course covered a wide range of areas, including anatomy and physiology, massage, reflexology, diet and nutrition, stress management, reiki and yoga. In the second year, I did sports injury massage, sport nutrition, sport psychology, Indian head massage, and so on."
With a Student of the Year award under his (black karate) belt, Foley finally came to the realisation that his wandering days were coming to a close. He was aware that his previous jobs - joinery, soldier, construction worker - were very much of the muscular, male type. What attracted him to the area of complementary health, he says, was an innate curiosity about how the body works.
"I've been doing exercise all my life and received regular aches and pains because of it. I was always wondering why I received pains in my muscles, what happens in the body when you run, that kind of thing. Above all, I was always fascinated as to how athletes overcame the training they did, how they came back on form after an injury.
"Having had a life of regular change, the course in Cork gave me the impetus and opportunity to get involved and study and work in that area of health. To have the knowledge to help people who have sports injuries - even minor aches and pains - is great. That was always in the back of my mind. The fact that it's my hobby as well makes it even better. Funnily enough, I always thought that what I was doing over the years was leading up to this."
Would he consider he's now in a job where he is at his most content? The answer is obvious - Foley is in a job he loves doing. "Coming here to Delphi has a lot of similarities to Crete, and it's funny that it's called Delphi, because that's a Greek city. I obviously have a connection with Greece!
"Somewhere as naturally beautiful as Delphi is thoroughly conducive to my job. I could do the job I do in a city, but being here helps me tenfold.
"There is energy here, a healing energy that assists me; the location, the wilderness - there's something good going on. It makes it easier, that's for sure, for me and for anyone working here.
"To come to a place like this you have to give up some things. If you're used to city life, somewhere like here can be a bit of a culture shock. Anyone who is here wants to be here, however. For me, where I work makes it easier."
Delphi Mountain Resort and Spa, (095-42987).