Abbeyfealegood is a documentary exploring the full spectrum of human experience – from the tragic to the magic – through the 16 barbers and hairdressers of Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick.
Abbeyfeale, with a population of two thousand people, has more hairdressers and barbers per head of population than any other town in Ireland. There are 16 on two streets. Located on the border between Limerick and Kerry, it is a thoroughfare between those two places. Through economic struggles, depopulation, and a never-ending stream of traffic passing through, it has experienced much hardship in recent years. Although pubs, restaurants and shops have closed, hairdressers and barbers have sprung up in their place.
It could be said that they are the lifeblood of Abbeyfeale. Locals frequent them to look good and to feel good, and whether they be young or old, they also come to talk. There is a unique and intimate bond between customers and hairdressers and some of them have known each other for decades. Each business has their own type of customers and their own atmosphere. And, in the mirrors of these salons, stories unfold that elevate ordinary, everyday existence into something universal and extraordinary.