Savour Irish Flavours of Land and Sea
Becky, November Supper Club, Broughgammon Farm, Ballycastle, Co. Antrim
Irish people have long had an appreciation for the land and its seasonal gifts, matched by a great respect for the sea.
As Ireland’s modern food culture grows, so too does pride in its traditions. Today, the island offers countless opportunities to experience its farms, festivals, artisans and producers who champion slow food and regenerative practices, and celebrate a deep connection to land and sea.
Here are six to try...
1. A regenerative farm-to-fork adventure
Broughgammon Farm, County Antrim
Minutes from the coast amidst the rugged Antrim hills lies Broughgammon, a pioneering regenerative farm. Charlie and Becky Cole have created a versatile experience for visitors here, complete with a farm shop, café and educational hub in their converted barn, where they host workshops, supper clubs and other seasonal events.
It all started with one question: wasn’t there a less wasteful way to use male kid goats born into the dairy industry, most of which were being put down at birth? In 2011, the Coles began rearing these young goats for healthy cabrito (kid goat meat). This, in turn, led them to produce free-range rosé veal, pasture-reared pork and lamb, free-range eggs and regeneratively grown vegetables, as well as to develop their own nose-to-tail butchery.
Today, you can visit the farm for a nature walk to discover its beehives, orchards, native hedgerows, stream and pond, followed by a browse in their farm shop or lunch in their café (don’t miss their Broughgammon charcuterie). You can also book in for seasonal supper clubs (BYOB), foraging walks or workshops covering everything from herbalism and smoking to fermenting, cheese-making and butchery.
In the area: Explore the dramatic Causeway Coast around Ballintoy Harbour or take a gentle walk along Whitepark Bay.
Harvesting Oysters by Supplier - Wild Atlantic Oysters
2. Shuck at the edge of the Wild Atlantic Way
Sligo Oyster Experience, County Sligo
When you eat an oyster, it’s like tasting the sea itself – but wait until you’ve sampled that oyster in a coastal setting such as Sligo Bay, with its vast skies framed by Ben Bulben and Knocknarea, and expansive shores where oyster beds thrive.
When Aisling Kelly Hunter met her husband Glenn – an oyster farmer whose daily “office” is that expansive bay – she wanted to share his experience with others.
Hunter herself will host you on the low-tide line, where the farmers explain how oysters grow here from tiny seed while helping to keep the bay healthy. Both native flat oysters and farmed Pacific oysters naturally filter the water, improving clarity and creating habitats that support fish, seabirds and marine life. The oyster bed reefs also protect the coastline, making Sligo Bay oysters an essential part of the local ecosystem.
Once you learn how they are harvested and shucked, you’ll savour them fresh from the cold Atlantic waters. Oysters will never taste the same.
In the area: Stroll Rosses Point or enjoy the scenic views around Strandhill.
3. Patience, craft and the art of slow fire
Lo & Slo, Derry~Londonderry
In the right circumstances, cooking a meal is a mindful experience – especially when done low and slow over a live fire, which demands full attention to the elements and the ingredients you’re working with. It’s even better if you get to share the results with those you’ve cooked alongside.
Set on the banks of the River Foyle, just outside Derry~Londonderry, historic Brook Hall Estate is a picture-perfect setting for award-winning barbecue innovator Emily McCorkell’s Wild & Fired BBQ School workshops. These immersive sessions also include time to explore the estate’s 18th-century walled gardens.
Whether drawing on expertise from her own Lo & Slo cookbook or collaborating with local chefs and food producers, McCorkell’s communal sessions will remind you how good it is to connect and rediscover the joy of cooking and eating together.
In the area: Walk the scenic River Foyle paths or explore Derry~Londonderry’s 17th-century city walls.
Burren Farm Experience, The Burren, Co Clare
4. Meet Ireland’s slow food heroes
Burren Slow Food Festival, County Clare
Dubbed “the fertile rock”, the Burren’s lunar landscape of limestone karst has a surprisingly rich food heritage that plays a vital role in the biodiversity of this UNESCO Global Geopark.
Visit in May for the annual Burren Slow Food Festival, where you can meet and sample produce from the finest Irish artisan food producers at Sunday’s all-day market. This year, the festival is celebrating its 21st birthday and will be launched by Darina Allen of Ballymaloe Cookery School, with chef demos and a Saturday night Burren Slow Food Banquet.
Enjoy local heroes such as farmhouse Linnalla ice cream made on the Flaggy Shore from the cream of a short-horn herd, or Burren premium beef organic grass-fed steaks and hand-cured charcuterie, produced from cattle that, unusually, winter upland. There, the limestone radiates stored summer heat, the grazing herds curtail the fast-growing hazel and nourish rare orchids, wildflowers and grasses with their manure.
You can deep-dive into that local food culture year-round, with the Burren Food Trail. Or book a Burren Farm Experience to visit native breed cattle farmers on their land and learn about their unique local transhumance traditions. Another highlight in the area is the Burren Food Fayre in October, which offers a chance to join the locals in the annual Winterage Cattle Drive.
In the area: Walk the hills of Burren National Park and explore Aillwee cave or visit the famous Cliffs of Moher for sweeping Atlantic views.
Highbanks Orchards, County Kilkenny
5. Orchard walks and Irish craft apple juice
Highbank Orchards, County Kilkenny
Julie and Rod Calderpott’s organic apple orchards at their fifth-generation Kilkenny family farm offer a wonderful insight into life on a rural working farm and orchard. The Calderpotts are notably imaginative in how they use the bounty of the land and how it can be shared with others.
Most recently, they have embraced the spirit of slow tourism at their farm and created self-guided trails following QR-coded vernacular red gates and pillars. Rod is a born storyteller, and now you can listen to his entertaining tales and fascinating insights into organic horticulture while exploring their gardens and orchards at your own pace.
Be sure to visit the farm shop afterwards, where their high-quality products celebrate a single humble ingredient: the apple. Their orchard syrup and cider apple vinegar are staples of the Irish foodie’s store cupboard, but don’t miss some of the great products from their onsite distillery, too, including apple brandy, schnapps, rum, gin and more.
In the area: Travel back in time at Kilkenny Castle or enjoy a slow travel adventure through scenic County Kilkenny.
The Keep, Woodcock Smokery, Cork
6. Learn from a master fish smoker
Woodcock Smokery, West Cork
Sally Barnes is a living legend in the Irish artisan scene, being one of the most skilled, meticulous and uncompromising fish smokers in a land of excellent fish smokers. She is famous for her dedication to artisanal methods and slow food values and travels the world to teach about the value of wild fish and traditional preservation techniques.
With the help of Max Jones of Up There The Last – a traditional food conservationist who also leads extraordinary hands-on workshops and shoreside feasts in West Cork – Barnes built ‘The Keep’ as an educational and hospitality hub at her Skibbereen smokehouse. Here, she hosts regular smoking masterclasses, coastal foraging workshops and guest chef lunches.
Whichever experience you choose, you’ll leave well fed and entertained, with new skills, new insights, new friends – and, knowing Sally, plenty of great new stories to take with you.
In the area: Swim, kayak or walk at Lough Hyne saltwater lake or enjoy a mellow trip around Cork city and beyond.