{"id":544094,"date":"2026-07-11T07:37:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/544094\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T07:37:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:37:14","slug":"meet-the-deckhams-peter-omahony-and-wife-jessica-on-turning-a-passion-into-a-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/544094\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the ‘Deckhams’: Peter O’Mahony and wife Jessica on turning a passion into a business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last summer, to cement the family time that retirement from rugby gave Peter and Jessica O\u2019Mahony, they secured a mobile home in West Cork. It was a dream come true.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d asked about getting a deck onto our mobile,\u201d Jessica begins, \u201cbut we realised that no one else had decks yet. We asked the owner and he said no problem…\u201d Peter interjects, shaking his head: \u201cAh, you\u2019re not going to tell this are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessica laughs and continues with her story: \u201cWe were down at the beach, at the end of this amazing summer… and this guy says, \u2018ah, Posh and Decks\u2019. And we were looking at him blankly. And he goes, \u2018you don\u2019t know? You\u2019ve been called Posh and Decks all summer\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter jumps in again, smiling: \u201cNo it was the Deckhams.\u201d They both take it with a pinch of salt, laughing and appreciating the Cork humour more than anything else.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever came up with it, it\u2019s pure Cork. So witty… The relief, then, when we went back, and we saw a few more decks popping up \u2014 the heat is off us now!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PeterPeter and Jessica O Mahony. Photo: Br\u00edd O’Donovan.<\/p>\n

One thing you don\u2019t find in the O\u2019Mahony house is ego. The mat at the front door reads \u2018Be Our Guest\u2019, and the welcome inside is real. They flew in late the night before from Portugal, Jessica tells me, apologising for the unpacked clothes waiting to be sorted on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank god the weather is like this,\u201d she says of our current heatwave. \u201cI think I\u2019ve done nine washes already.\u201d<\/p>\n

They are heralded as Cork royalty \u2014 and when I tell them so, it prompts Jessica\u2019s Deckham story. In reality, there isn\u2019t a trace of Posh and Becks in this Blackrock home. We sit in their back garden on an idyllic morning, the older two kids are in summer camps \u2014 one art, the other, unsurprisingly, rugby. Their youngest \u2014 too young yet for camps \u2014 entertains himself in the garden; their two-year-old black lab, Bond, popping over every so often for a pat or a cuddle.<\/p>\n

We are here to discuss their brand new business venture, S\u00f8w\u00b7S\u00e9, a new gardening and interiors range.<\/p>\n

It all began during covid, they explain. Peter always had a love of gardening, at his grandmother\u2019s house in the city, at his uncle\u2019s in West Cork. It was always, he says in hindsight, a reprieve for him, headspace from the demands of professional rugby.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely it was a big release for me,\u201d he says. \u201cObviously, rugby was very stressful, and you\u2019re in the public view, and all that. So it was nice to just be able to get out and spend a bit of time out there on your own.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PeterPeter O Mahony. Photo: Br\u00edd O’Donovan.<\/p>\n

The idea for S\u00f8w\u00b7S\u00e9 came gradually, and organically. The couple were thinking about life after rugby, and then, during covid, the interest in Peter\u2019s gardening took off. He ordered raised beds from Amazon at the start of that beautiful April lockdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe planted loads of fruit and veg in the raised beds. Ralph wasn\u2019t born yet, but Theo was about one and a half, and Indie was about four. We spent so much time outside with the kids, and we loved the fact that we were growing our own veg,\u201d Jessica recalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started documenting Peter\u2019s gardening online, and he actually said, \u2018don\u2019t bother putting that online, no one wants to see it\u2019. But the following grew and grew, and more people were looking at the gardening stuff than the rugby stuff. I think with the interest that people had in Pete showing his gardening, we said, maybe there\u2019s something in this.\u201d<\/p>\n

They knew lockdown had also led to a new interest in gardening in a younger demographic: \u201cWe really felt like, we could make it maybe a little bit more interesting for young people to like their garden, and show it doesn\u2019t need to be difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PeterPeter O’Mahony and Jessica O’Mahony Sow Se<\/p>\n

So, five years ago, baby Ralph still in a Maxi Cosi, they met with Dee Corcoran and Simon Murphy from Chapter, a design duo who partner with clients to bring their vision to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose raised beds,\u201d says Peter. \u201cWe got endless queries about them, it was half the reason that we started designing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t find a stunning one,\u201d says Jessica. \u201cAnd then we thought, what if we do it ourselves, make really beautiful, aesthetic planters, something that people could look out into their garden, and it\u00a0 wasn\u2019t just functional, it was actually really beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so, this week, as they launch S\u00f8w\u00b7S\u00e9, the planters are the centrepiece. Smaller ones sit on the wall by their sunken patio. Walking up the steps to the garden pathway \u2014 past the perfectly manicured\u00a0 grass, with its crisp, alternating light and dark stripes \u2014 there, almost hidden behind hedging, the larger planters take centre stage. Their garden sauna looks out at them, and Jessica admits it is her favourite outdoor spot in her home.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll year round, you can change it \u2014 Pete packed them with alliums a couple of months ago, or at Christmas, you can put in Christmas trees,\u201d says Jessica.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can totally play around them, or else you can use them for veg, whatever you want. They are modular, so they can connect together, so if you buy one, you can build your collection and we have four different sizes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SowSow Se products by Peter and Jessica O Mahony. Photo: Br\u00edd O’Donovan.<\/p>\n

The garden, they admit, was the reason they pulled out all the stops to buy this home. They met in 2010, and five years later accidentally stumbled across the property. \u201cI was in Dublin, but then moved back down,\u201d says Jessica. \u201cWould you believe, we viewed the house behind us, but it was too much work. We didn\u2019t have the money to do it, and it was too much of a job. But we walked down this laneway, and we looked in the side gate here. It wasn\u2019t for sale yet, and I said, \u2018that\u2019s my dream house\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo weeks later, Pete texted me, saying it was in the paper [the Irish Examiner\u2019s Property magazine]. It was the front page. I remember reading the last line in the article \u2014 I still have the paper upstairs \u2014 and it was something like, \u2018this is someone\u2019s dream escape\u2019, and I said \u2018oh my god, I want that house so much\u2019. There was a bidding war and we put in our last possible bid… We didn\u2019t have a cent after that, never mind the couches or anything else. They were going to have to wait. But that\u2019s half the joy of it. We were just so happy. We renovated it slowly, a job each year for about 10 years. Each year we had a little project. It\u2019s nice now that we\u2019ve got to a point where we feel like we don\u2019t have anything big to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

They took the same approach to S\u00f8w\u00b7S\u00e9. In reality, the business could have been launched a year ago, but they wanted to get it just right. Where possible, everything was sourced and made in Ireland. But equally, they were anxious to include an affordable price point, so as well as the planters, there\u2019s a room spray \u2014 \u201cto marry the inside and the outside\u201d \u2014 wicker baskets, even a children\u2019s book.<\/p>\n

\"JessicaJessica O Mahony. Photo: Br\u00edd O’Donovan.<\/p>\n

The wording on the high-quality tote bag, \u201cespecially for Peter!\u201d, Jessica laughs, reads \u2018I\u2019d rather be mowing the lawn\u2019. It\u2019s printed in neon green, one of Jessica\u2019s favourite colours. Flourishes like this discreetly give S\u00f8w\u00b7S\u00e9 personality and individuality. Everything about the range has been considered, right down to the labelling. \u201cObviously, if people don\u2019t like neon they can hide it as well, but I really wanted our love of colour to be there, but to keep it refined.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessica worked with Peig\u00edn Crowley of GROUND to create the bergamot and fig room spray. The candle is coming soon. This, says Jessica, is just the first wave for S\u00f8w\u00b7S\u00e9. Even the name has great meaning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both went to Japan for Peter\u2019s World Cup, and we were both very much in love with Japan as a country,\u201d Jess explains. \u201cWe loved the idea of a name that almost sounded Scandinavian or Japanese, that kind of feel, but we also wanted some meaning tied into the garden. So the sow was like to sow a seed, where things grow from or where it all begins. And then Pete said he\u2019d love to tie in something from his rugby that meant so much to him, so S\u00e9 came from the fact he played six for his entire career. We loved the sound of it. We loved it from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

A bespoke service is also available for different colours or sizes, and Peter has already been working with clients.<\/p>\n

Any one of Jessica\u2019s 133,000 Instagram followers will know her love of interiors. And she has so many ideas about where she could take this.<\/p>\n

\"PeterPeter O’Mahony and Jessica O’Mahony Sow Se<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved the interiors and the decor side of things,\u201d she says. \u201cI was a solicitor for 12 years, and I really found that my interest lay in other things so I slowly, organically started doing a bit more content creation. I\u2019m constantly taking photos, looking up interiors, fashion. I just love it. So, I think organically we realised our interest lay in these areas, and thought, can we do something with it?\u201d<\/p>\n

There is stress though, launching this new business, especially for Jessica. \u201cIt\u2019s extremely nerve-wracking. I\u2019m having sleepless nights,\u201d she admits.<\/p>\n

There is an easy banter between the couple. At one point she calls herself the \u2018gardening director\u2019. There\u2019s a side eye and a raised eyebrow from Peter; \u201cI\u2019m known for slagging him,\u201d she laughs later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d very often go off to the garden centre, and pick up stuff I like. He might say that actually won\u2019t work at all, because you\u2019ve got the wrong style of flower. Like, I went to buy climbing roses, and I just bought regular roses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what I like, and then Pete will say what will work. I\u2019d be looking at the interior magazines of houses in the Hamptons, and I\u2019ve seen something, and Pete will say, listen, that took 20 years to grow.\u201d Ultimately, the garden they created would be the venue for their intimate lockdown wedding, \u201ca gathering for 15 people\u201d, Jessica recalls.<\/p>\n

But back to the Deckhams. They push back at the idea of celebrity, but equally, they know they are recognised often in public. After decades in rugby, Peter is used to it. But for Jessica it was something newer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PeterPeter O’Mahony and Jessica O’Mahony Sow Se<\/p>\n

“We try our best to chat to people,\u201d says Jessica. \u201cPeople might approach us more on nights out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate and are very mindful of the fact that you rely on the public for your careers. If people say \u2018I love what you posted\u2019, I actually appreciate that, because sometimes you can become quite self-conscious. Pete isn\u2019t like that but I\u2019d be constantly doubting myself.\u201d There\u2019s also the backlash that comes with it all, especially online.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had it throughout my whole career \u2014 99.9% of the stuff that I\u2019ve always had has been positive, but there\u2019s always a handful,\u201d says Peter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would fixate maybe on a negative comment,\u201d says Jessica, \u201cbut I\u2019ve gotten better now.<\/p>\n

She admits she struggles to pinpoint a \u2018job title\u2019: \u201cI was calling myself a content creator there for a while, because I don\u2019t like the term influencer. I feel people give it negative associations when actually, there\u2019s a lot of work involved in it… you unnecessarily get backlash.\u201c<\/p>\n

Her career change was gradual, she says: \u201cIt was very organic in the sense that I\u2019ve always, since the age of five or six, had a camera in hand. I loved taking photos of outfits and clothes.<\/p>\n

My background is a family of lawyers. When it came to choosing a course in college I didn\u2019t even put thought into it. But I realised all my interests lay in other areas. When I was between law exams, I\u2019d be cutting out outfits from a magazine, and I never even thought that was a career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember someone telling me they worked in a magazine. My heart sank in a way; I knew I would love that so much \u2014 putting a page together with outfits and inspiration. I was like, oh my god, that\u2019s a job? And I was going down to court every day… I used to go to Brown Thomas on my lunch breaks when I was a solicitor to try on outfits because I liked doing that, and then one day they said, we\u2019ll pay you for seven posts, and I was like, \u2018oh my god\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I look back and I\u2019m thankful for the discipline of training and studying. I don\u2019t feel like [that was] a waste of time. I learned a lot there \u2014 how to read contracts, how to reply to people in emails, how to deal with professionals, accountants, all these people that you deal with daily.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PeterPeter O’Mahony and Jessica O’Mahony Sow Se<\/p>\n

The joy of this career change is flexibility with the kids \u2014 she can work hours that best suit her family.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a world away from the period when she was working full time as a solicitor with two small kids in tow, at a point when Peter was away with his rugby career. \u201cThose years I spent over 200 days in hotels,\u201d says Peter. \u201cThat was the career that I\u2019d chosen. Even playing at Munster, I know it\u2019s my home club, but it\u2019s based in Limerick, so I was four days a week overnight. And then, obviously, with Ireland, there was Six Nations. I was seven or eight weeks in Dublin. You\u2019re in the Southern Hemisphere…\u201d<\/p>\n

He looks to Jessica. \u201cIt was probably harder for you, because I was living my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessica says: \u201cI think we focused heavily on the fact that, how lucky were we as well, because we made the best friends, who are still our best friends, and the life we got to experience… I always looked on that side of things. There were certainly moments \u2014 at one point Pete went back to work when Ralph was small, he never got leave or anything like that. There were those times where you\u2019d nearly be crying putting everyone to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family were a great help, but Jessica also knew it wouldn\u2019t be forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could see there was an end in sight,\u201d she says. \u201cI used to love going up to the matches with them, it was so exciting. Though, I think if Pete said, \u2018I\u2019m heading off there to be a coach\u2019, I might have cried…\u201d She trails off, laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that career,\u201d he says, \u201cyou always know that there\u2019s [an end], whether it\u2019s pre-empted or not, if you finish through injury, or contract wise, and so you\u2019re always kind of planning for it, but it is a big change. I did it for a long, long time, since I was 17.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter will reflect on his life in rugby in his memoir, published by Sandycove, due for publication this September. But it\u2019s safe to say life post rugby, is treating him well (recent surgery on an arm injury aside).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had the best year,\u201d Jessica says. \u201cWe did so much travelling, got to do things that we really wanted to as a family. Pete went skiing for the first time, we got the mobile home in West Cork,\u201d she says, adding with a smile, \u201cand the decking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Home products range from \u20ac18-\u20ac68
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\n Steel range \u20ac275-\u20ac1,750, sowse.ie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last summer, to cement the family time that retirement from rugby gave Peter and Jessica O\u2019Mahony, they secured…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60,19930],"class_list":["post-544094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-this-much-i-know-column-shape-i"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}