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Did you know?
Bog butter doesn’t exactly sound very appetizing, nor would it taste particularly pleasant, but believe it or not butter is frequently found in Irish bogs and some of it is around 300 years old. It’s thought that historically butter was buried to enhance the flavour, but the bog would also have kept butter cold while the antiseptic qualities of turf would keep it mould-free. Tasty!
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Great food, brilliant company and some of the best gastro events in the world…
Food & Drink
Explore Ireland’s rich, bounteous larder and discover a variety of excellent fresh produce, glisteningly fresh seafood, and some of the best fine dining in Europe.
What’s all the fuss about?
One of the great pleasures of holidaying in Ireland is the food. Topping the list as a major gourmet destination, Ireland’s food scene is vibrant, cosmopolitan, varied and among the most dynamic in Europe. Right now, the island is at the centre of a culinary revolution and gourmet travellers are flocking to Ireland to savour a raft of super-fresh produce, supreme seafood, top cookery schools, excellent artisan industries, and Michelin-starred restaurants.
Where should I go?
While Ireland’s big cities invariably contain the biggest saturation of restaurants, markets, delis and cafes – it’s not all about the urban scene. Many of the country’s top places to eat are nestled into remote, rural countryside, and even the tiniest villages boast gourmet farmers’ markets.
Why is everyone talking about Cork?
Cork is at the very heart of Ireland’s gastronomic transformation, and is bursting at the seams with gourmet delights from the unofficial foodie capital, Kinsale, to renowned cookery schools like Ballymaloe. On top of that, Cork is home to many of Ireland’s excellent artisan producers including Gubbeen and Durrus cheese.
What about farmers’ markets?
Farmers’ markets are not only wonderfully atmospheric places to browse around, they’re also ideal for sampling local, organic and artisan produce with exceptional farmhouse cheeses, melt-in-the-mouth fudge and salamis straight from heaven. Plus, you’re likely to stumble across one in most towns and villages across the country.
And food festivals?
The Irish like festivals, and the Irish like food – so the food festival is a big deal in Ireland. Try the Listowel Food Fair in November, the Kinsale Food Festival in October, the Hillsborough Oyster Festival at the end of August, the Galway Oyster Festival in September, and the Bantry Mussel Festival in May.
What’s on the menu?
Ireland is justly famous for its seafood with smoked salmon, smoked fish, oysters, mussels and crab topping the bill. But it’s not just fish that gives Ireland its reputation – the country also produces excellent lamb, beef and pork, too.
Finally, it would be foolish to miss out on some of the country’s top produce including black pudding, homemade candy, farmhouse cheese, soda bread and, of course, Guinness and maybe a drop of whiskey!
Finally, it would be foolish to miss out on some of the country’s top produce including black pudding, homemade candy, farmhouse cheese, soda bread and, of course, Guinness and maybe a drop of whiskey!
What’s so great about Irish pubs?
It’s not hard to see why Irish pubs are the best in the world. From famous traditional sessions in places like the Crosskey's Inn on the old Belfast to Derry Road, to the atmospheric Johnnie Fox’s in the Dublin Mountains, to the country’s numerous old-fashioned bars and pubs with thatched roofs and grocers attached, the Irish pub is like no other. And a combination of creamy pints of stout, lively local characters, wonderful music and dance, great ‘craic’ (good fun), and roaring turf fires in winter means you’ll never want to leave.
