A new life: Gabrielle McAuley tells Susan Calnan that leaving the health food business to study theology was a natural step
If Gabrielle McAuley was asked to define her life's goal, she would probably describe it as a spiritual mission of sorts, a quest to understand the relationship between the individual and God or the "divine element", which she believes resides in everyone.
It is this same quest that has set her in a new direction, leaving the health food business after 15 years to study for a degree in theology, which she just started at All Hallows College in Dublin.
"Some might view it as a fairly dramatic departure to give up work and start a degree in my early 50s, but for me it's been a natural progression," says McAuley.
"Working in the health food business nurtured my passion for holistic living and a belief in the connection between the mind, body and spirit. So, in a sense, I am continuing on the same path, only in a different guise."
Although she wouldn't describe herself as a very religious person, McAuley believes that her interest in spirituality took its roots in her childhood and being brought up in "a Catholic west of Ireland family", where both parents maintained a strong religious faith.
Growing up in the 1960s, she recalls the sense of excitement in her own family and in Ireland following the announcement by Pope John 23rd of Vatican II in 1962.
"A lot of people associate the 60s with the Beatles and flower power but for many it was also a very significant time for Catholicism," says McAuley.
"Vatican II marked the beginning of a new era for the church, where there was a greater sense of openness and an emphasis on the role of the laity; this sense of optimism is something that has remained with me still today."
After growing up in Galway, McAuley moved to Dublin in 1969 when she completed her Leaving Certificate and was offered a job in CIÉ working in its administration and ticket office.
Soon after she got married in 1975, McAuley gave up her job and spent the next 13 years raising her three sons.
"It was during this time that I started to cultivate a real interest in healthy living and complementary medicine.
"By the time my eldest son was a year-and-a-half, he had been put on six different antibiotics for recurring ear and chest infections," she recalls.
"Fortunately, I came across a medical doctor who was also qualified in homeopathy and she recognised that my son had an intolerance to dairy products.
"The effects of reducing his dairy intake were remarkable and it sparked my interest in the importance of diet and in complementary medicine."
After her youngest son started playschool, McAuley decided to return to work and got a job working in the Hopsack health store in Rathmines.
A year later she moved to the Nut Keg health shop in the Square in Tallaght, where she worked for several years.
"At this stage, health food outlets were quite pioneering. As well as providing a source of healthy, organic food, they were also a one-stop shop for all sorts of information about complementary medicine, a lot of which has become quite mainstream today, largely because of the role of health stores," she says.
From the Nut Keg shop, McAuley moved into the health food distribution business and secured a job in the marketing department of Wholefoods distribution company in Dublin. Among its range of products, Wholefoods distributes the Bioforce products - a range of herbal tinctures developed by the famous naturopath, Alfred Vogel.
In 2000, McAuley was appointed manager of Bioforce in Ireland, and has been working in this capacity for the past five years.
"I've really loved working in this industry all these years: you get a chance to meet so many great people who are passionate about what they do and who have a sense of vision and integrity," she says.
"But over the past year, I've felt that it was time for a change."
A combination of factors - including the death of a close relative and the birth of her grand-daughter earlier this year - spurred her to "take stock of her life" and to identify other areas in her life that she wanted to fulfil. Alongside her desire to do a degree, McAuley has always maintained an interest in spirituality and in the philosophies.
"Theology is something that has particularly interested me. I've always been curious about the concept of God and about the relationship between the human and the divine," says McAuley.
"Also, religion has been patriarchal for so long in this country, I think I'd eventually like to do some work with women's groups and help women find ways to reconnect with their sense of spirituality, to help them enrich their lives."
In the meantime, McAuley says she will be busy adjusting to her new role as full-time student and grappling with the realities of student life.
Although she insists that she will always maintain her passion for healthy living, as well as her connections with the people she has met through her working life, she adds that she is looking forward to the challenges of university life.
"I know it's going to take a while to adjust and at the moment I'm just taking things one day at a time; luckily, everyone has been tremendously supportive," McAuley says.
"I think there comes a time in everyone's life when they feel they need to make a change and to take a look at the broader picture.
"Making a change is never easy but, as someone once said, 'nobody should die with their song unsung'."