Irish delights are back; Celtic Creamery re-opens after Hurricane Florence

CAROLINA BEACH, NC (WECT) - All the way from Ireland, an ice cream parlor claims to have the creamiest, purest and freshest ice cream.

It’s an Irish delight that’s been absent for the past six months on Pleasure Island.

“The roof failed," Celtic Creamery owner Jeff Hogan said of the building’s damage after Hurricane Florence. "It was a flat roof and it lifted. When it did, 28 inches of rain came inside. The whole building had water damage.”

We first met Hogan and stepped inside the brand new Celtic Creamery during our Highway 6 series.

“We opened on May 12 of last year, and we had to close Sept. 12," Hogan said. “Only open four months and then closed six months to try to get everything back up.”

The building had tens of thousands of dollars after Florence, including mold and mildew, and all the product in the adjacent Seaside Shenanigans shop was destroyed.

“It’s been a discouraging process,” Hogan said. “There were times I wasn’t sure we were going to open back up.”

But there’s a cherry on top of this story. Celtic Creamery reopened April 12, serving up what Hogan calls the creamiest ice cream around.

“It’s the purest and the freshest, no preservatives and most all of the ingredients come from Ireland,” he said. “When we opened, there were so many smiling faces. You could tell people were excited we opened back up and (they) missed the ice cream.”

Hogan said it was vital to try to reopen before summer.

“We knew with spring break you get that really good pop at the beginning of the season," Hogan said. "We knew it was important to get open before Easter weekend as well, and so we just kept pushing and pushing.”

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