Blas na hÉireann 2026 winners announced in Dingle.Thirty eight producers from Co. Cork awarded.

 Blas na hÉireann 2026 winners announced in Dingle

Thirty eight producers from Co. Cork awarded. 

Second Street Bakeshop win Best in County and Best Artisan Producer, (proudly supported by Cork Local Enterprise Office)

Pictured is Caroline Hennessy (centre) from Eight Degrees Brewing, Cork
who won Gold at the Blas na hÉireann Awards 2026 in Dingle. 

Dingle was the place to be on Friday 2nd October for the eagerly anticipated finals of Blas na hÉireann, The Irish Food Awards, now in their 19th year and firmly established as the largest and most influential food awards on the island of Ireland.

 

This year, 51 producers from Co. Cork were shortlisted across a wide range of categories, with 38 of them taking home coveted Blas awards. The bronze, silver and gold winners from the county include:

Alternative Christmas Pudding Co., Bandon Vale Cheese, Bantry Bay Mussels, Barry & Fitzwilliam, Cake Wheelers, Clóna Dairy Products Ltd., Coastal Trading, Cully & Sully, Durrus Cheese, Eight Degrees Brewing, Five Farms, Folláin, Hassetts Bakers & Confectioners ltd., Hyde Irish Whiskey, Hyde ltd, Irish Yogurts Clonakilty, K O'Connell Fishmongers, Keohane Seafoods, Kepak Ltd, Macroom Buffalo Cheese, McCarthy's of Kanturk, Niks Tea, OGAM Foods Limited, On The Pigs Back, Rebel City Distillery, SAGE 2 GO, SAGE by, Kev Aherne, Salt of Kinsale ltd, Saturday Pizzas, Second Street Bakeshop, Sibly Food Co., Skeaghanore West Cork Farm, Spice O' Life, St Patrick’s Distillery Ltd, Stonewell Cider, The Good Fish Company, Toons Bridge Dairy and West Cork Distillers. 

Second Street Bakeshop was awarded Best in County, proudly sponsored by Cork Local Enterprise Office and the prestigious Best Artisan Producer award, supported by the LEO Network.

"I’m absolutely thrilled to receive the Best Artisan Producer award for Second Street Bakeshop,” said founder Claire Keane. “After starting my first food business in San Francisco almost 20 years ago, coming back to Cork and building something new from the ground up has been a really exciting chapter. Our Toffee Popcorn Brittle is all about using simple, natural ingredients to make something that people genuinely love to eat, so to have it recognised by Blas na hÉireann is incredibly rewarding. It’s also a wonderful celebration of the producers, suppliers, the team and the Local Enterprise Office who have supported me along the way, and I’m so excited for what’s ahead.”

"Cork City Local Enterprise Office are delighted for Second Street," said Niall O'Keefe, Head of Enterprise, Cork City LEO. "Claire and her team have been a pleasure to work with. Their journey is a great example of a company constantly seeking best practice to provide the best products for their customers. This latest award is further evidence of Second Street going from strength to strength."

 

2026 marks another record year for Blas na hÉireann, with over 3,000 entries across more than 200 categories, reflecting the strength and diversity of Irish food and drink. 

This year’s finalists and winners had the opportunity to bring their products to life at the Blas Village and the ever-popular Eat Ireland in a Day market, both returning to Dingle alongside the annual Backyard at Blas panel discussions, supported by Bank of Ireland. Across the weekend, producers connected with buyers, industry experts, media, fellow producers and passionate food lovers, while celebrating the people, creativity and craft at the heart of Ireland’s thriving food and drink scene.

Speaking after the announcement, Artie Clifford, Chairperson of Blas na hÉireann, said: “2026 has once again shown us just how exciting and dynamic Ireland’s food and drink industry is. The standard of entries continues to climb, with producers demonstrating incredible creativity and a real commitment to quality. Reaching the finalist stage is a remarkable achievement in itself, and to take home a Blas award is brilliant recognition of the hard work and passion that goes into every product. It’s particularly special to see producers from across the country come together in Dingle to share their stories, celebrate their successes and champion the very best of Irish food and drink. Blas is about much more than awards – it’s about celebrating the people and community behind one of Ireland’s most exciting industries. Next year we will celebrate 20 years of the awards and it's incredible to see just how far we've come in those two decades.”

The Blas na hÉireann awards weekend ran from Thursday 1st to Sunday 4th October in Dingle, with a packed programme of events shining a spotlight on the very best of Irish food and drink. Sustainability once again remained a key focus, with the event continuing to build on its waste-free commitments and support a more conscious future for Irish food.

George's Street Arcade and Iveagh Gardens. Two lesser-known Dublin attractions

 George's Street  Arcade and Iveagh Gardens

Two lesser-known Dublin attractions

Bombay Banshee

The gardens are a popular lunchtime stroll and you are as likely to see business men in pinstripes and sneakers as a more relaxed walker in a more colourful outfit, possibly bought in the fascinating George's Street Arcade. Both the park and the arcade are no doubt well known to locals, perhaps not so to visitors.

Both are relatively central but I have to admit I visited neither until a recent mid-September break in the capital. And yet both have been there for a long time, the gardens since 1865 and the arcade since 1881.

The arcade in Dublin2, was Ireland’s first purpose-built shopping centre, and one of Europe’s oldest city markets, is a wonderful experience! Located in the heart of Dublin city centre in the cultural quarter area it is less than 5 minutes walk from Grafton Street and Temple Bar and Trinity College.

In this enclosed Victorian market you can enjoy ‘independent’ boutique shops and stalls ranging from trendy often, vintage, clothing, jewellery, funky music, collectable items, souvenirs and much more along with wonderful dining and food options.

My search for a book, The Night of Camp David (Fletcher Knebel), brought me here, to the stall of Stokes Books. But no luck here as Stokes concentrate on non-fiction and my target is a novel. But we did have a lovely conversation about books in general and I can certainly recommend a visit there if you’re hunting a non-fiction work, even if just want to poke around! 

You’ll find their latest catalogue here. 

Inveagh Gardens

Designed by Ninian Niven in 1865, but with a history dating back over three hundred years, the Iveagh Gardens are located close to St Stephen’s Green Park in Dublin city centre.

Short video of the Cascade in full flow.

From modest beginnings as an earl’s lawn, the gardens went on to host the splendour of the Dublin Exhibition Palace in 1865. Many of the original landscape features are still in place, or have been restored and conserved since 1995. These include the yew maze, the rosarium, and the fountains. The cascade in particular is a stunning spectacle in summer. Iveagh Gardens are popularly known as Dublin’s ‘Secret Garden’. By the way, I couldn't find any signs for it on Harcourt St!

Also on the trip:

Two French Restaurants in Dublin 2

EPIC - Irish Emigration Museum

Three Dublin Cafes worth noting.

Bouef & Frites. Superb Steak

Culchies on the Capital Culture Trail.  Visual Poetry. The Photography Of John Minihan

CHRISTMAS, TWIXMAS AND NEW YEAR AT DUNLUCE LODGE

HOTEL OFFERS WINTER 2026 (inc. Christmas and New Year).

press releases

CHRISTMAS, TWIXMAS AND NEW YEAR AT DUNLUCE LODGE

– Pre-Christmas escapes, fireside dining, Twixmas on the Causeway Coast 

and a Coastal Escape from £295 –

Nutcrackers by the fire

 

Open log fires, fabulous food, fine Irish whiskey and wild Atlantic walks are on the menu this Christmas at the five-star Dunluce Lodge in Portrush, Co. Antrim, as the luxury retreat unveils its festive season of pre-Christmas stays, indulgent ‘Twixmas’ escapes and New Year celebrations.

 

The 35-suite Lodge, overlooking the fourth fairway of Royal Portrush Golf Club and just 300 metres from spectacular Whiterocks Beach, will welcome guests throughout the run-up to Christmas before closing on Christmas Day and St. Stephen’s Day, 25th and 26th December. It reopens for ‘Twixmas’, those wonderfully unhurried days between Christmas and New Year when the entertaining is done and there is finally time to disappear somewhere lovely.

 

The December Coastal Escape is available from 1st December to 23rd December and features a luxurious overnight escape complete with a £50 dining voucher to savour an exceptional culinary experience from the À La Carte menu. (From £295 per room per night).

For New Year’s Eve, Dunluce Lodge has created a special New Year’s Eve Experience from £625 per room, including an overnight stay, welcome refreshment on arrival, three-course dinner in Bailiú Restaurant, live entertainment and a midnight toast to welcome 2027, followed by a full Irish breakfast on New Year’s Day. Guests also have access to The Spa’s steam room and gym, with complimentary local transfers available on request. And because New Year’s Day is surely better spent lingering over breakfast than packing a suitcase, additional nights are available for £260 per room per night.

Pink sky over putting green

 

For families planning their own festive gathering, The Stookan, Dunluce Lodge’s private residence, can also be hired exclusively. Comprising eight individually appointed suites and accommodating up to 16 guests, it offers a luxurious solution for several generations who want to spend precious time together while retaining the privacy and comfort of their own space.

 

One of the newest members of Ireland’s Blue Book and part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Dunluce Lodge has quickly established itself as one of the island’s most exciting luxury retreats. And winter may just be when it is at its best. Outside, the wind can howl in from the Atlantic, rain can sweep across the golf links and waves crash onto Whiterocks Beach. Inside, fires crackle, lamps glow against warm fabrics and deep sofas, and the bar beckons with a hot whiskey or a beautifully poured dram of something local.

For those who do venture outside, Whiterocks Beach is just 300 metres away. Wrap up and take a bracing walk along one of the most spectacular stretches of the Causeway Coast before returning rosy-cheeked to the Lodge, shedding the winter layers and settling beside the fire.

 

Food is central to the experience and dining here is really something special. Executive Head Chef Stephen Holland, named Chef of the Year at the Licensed & Catering News Awards 2026, describes the produce of the Causeway Coast as “nature’s pantry”, and his cooking celebrates the exceptional ingredients found on Dunluce Lodge’s doorstep.  Menus take their inspiration from the land and sea, with outstanding seasonal produce, fresh fish and ingredients sourced from local and Northern Irish suppliers forming the heart of the dining experience.

 

Guests can dine in Bailiú Restaurant, while the atmospheric Wine Vault can be reserved for private dining, a particularly special setting for a festive lunch, family dinner or gathering of friends, surrounded by a carefully curated collection of fine wines.

A winter stay can be as active or as gloriously inactive as guests choose. The Spa offers a cocoon from the winter weather, with restorative treatments, a steam room and the Lodge’s Drift & Dream Ritual, incorporating grounding breathwork and personalised massage. Guests can also work off dinner in the fully equipped gym overlooking the surrounding woodland.

 

Dunluce Lodge has its own PGA-approved nine-hole putting green, designed by Martin Ebert of Mackenzie & Ebert, providing the perfect setting for a fun, family putting competition. For larger family gatherings, The Stookan allows everyone to come together for long lunches, coastal walks, private dinners and evenings over a bottle of wine, before retreating to the comfort of their own suite. Special dining experiences can be arranged, while guests have the Lodge, Spa and Causeway Coast to enjoy at their own pace.

Twixmas is perhaps when Dunluce Lodge really comes into its own. Those wonderfully unhurried days between Christmas and New Year lend themselves perfectly to a slower pace. As the winter weather closes in across the Causeway Coast, guests can retreat to the warmth of the Lodge for a hot whiskey, cocktails by the bar and dinner accompanied by a carefully chosen bottle of wine. With no Christmas shopping, cooking or entertaining to think about, it is an opportunity to properly switch off and enjoy a few days where there is very little that needs to be done and nowhere else one needs to be.

 

There are thoughtful luxuries back in the suite too, from The Larder at Dunluce, stocked with a curated selection of North Coast flavours and refreshments, to evening turndown complete with a chocolate treat from local chocolatier The Chocolate Manor.

Whether it is a few indulgent days before Christmas, a private multigenerational gathering at The Stookan, a restorative Twixmas escape or dressing up to welcome 2027, Dunluce Lodge offers a very different sort of festive season.

 

Gift vouchers are also available for Dunluce Lodge, The Spa and for dining, offering the perfect Christmas present for someone who appreciates quiet luxury and the pleasure of having something rather special to look forward to. For reservations and further information, telephone +44 (0) 28 705 31 700 or email reservations@dunlucelodge.com.  For more see www.dunlucelodge.com

 

Old Butter Roads Festival returns to Cork City 9 - 11 October

 

Old Butter Roads Festival returns to Cork City

9 - 11 October

This October all roads lead to Shandon as the great Old Butter Roads Festival is revived in the heart of Cork City from the 9th to 11th of October. 

The Old Butter Roads Festival celebrates Cork’s unique place in food history. Beef fattened on the rich pastures of Cork, Kerry, and Limerick, along with butter churned in farmhouse kitchens, all made its way to the markets centred around Shandon along ‘the Butter Roads’. 

The packed festival programme offers a mix of free, and ticketed events for food lovers, families, and those with an interest in culinary history and culture. 

The festival will be launched on Thursday 8th October, along with Joe Harrington’s history of the Butter Road from Listowel to Shandon Once Upon a Road at The Butter Museum in Shandon. Over the course of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday the Butter Museum will open for free with butter making demonstrations at 12.00 each day. No booking required. 

On Friday evening Shandon will be abuzz with activity from a talk at The Butter Museum with Kate Ryan of Flavour.ie and Master Cooper Killian O’Mahony, the launch of the "Butter/Spuds/Cheese/Fish" Exhibition at The Firkin Crane, The Butter Exchange Band playing live on O’Connell Square and a meet the producers cheese and bread tasing at St. Anne's Shandon. 

On Saturday, there will be more tastings with a Food Heritage Walking Tour, Kate Ryan talking about the first foods – Blood and Milk. The day will culminate with a night of food and folk with Butter Roads songs with Ger Wolfe, stories with Maria Gillen and with the Cronin sisters of The Farmgate Café cooking up delicious bitesize tastes from The English Market at Bakestone Perry Street. 

Sunday is a day for families with special events for junior tastebuds and interests. From the sweets of Cork with Shandon Sweets and The Chocolate Shop, to sewing seeds for future harvests with Education for Sustainability and animal-based crafts with both animal origami and making pottery cows and sheep – all events are drop in and centred around O’Connell Square. 

The festival ends with a talk by culinary historian Regina Sexton talking about Spiced Beef at The Butter Museum with tastings of James Nolan’s spiced beef from around the corner on Shandon Street. 

Festival Chairperson Máire Ní Mhurchú said “It’s great to see a festival celebrating the rich food heritage of Cork revived and reimagined. In its new home of Shandon, this festival links food producers based in the county with sites that were once the epicentre of Cork commerce … when Cork was the larder of the world. Hundreds of years later Cork is still home to amazing producers, based in both the city and the county, and all Butter Roads lead to Shandon this October as we celebrate the best of Cork food.” 

The Old Butter Roads Festival is generously supported by Cork City Council, Fáilte Ireland and Ireland’s Ancient East. For more information on all festival events see the festival page on The Butter Museum website www.thebuttermuseum.com

Culchies on the Capital Culture Trail. Museums, Galleries, including Visual Poetry. The Photography Of John Minihan

 Cork Culchies on the Capital Culture Trail

Visual Poetry. The Photography Of John Minihan

The stairs at the National Gallery. Only the risers are coloured. So, you see the
colours as you go up, not as you descend.

We began our Dublin culture trek with a “serious” visit to the National Gallery and ended it with a laugh a minute roll through the National Wax Museum. In between, we visited the National Museum, The Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI), and GPO.

We had just an hour to spare when we reached the Gallery in Merrion Square and headed straight up the stairs (there is no lift) to the Hugh Lane rooms and to the John Minihan Visual Poetry in particular.  Minihan, who Hot Press recently called a "quiet architect of cultural memory", was born in Dublin and raised in Athy and, at 16 years of age, began his photography career with the Daily Mail in London. Soon he was shooting the stars of the art world, of painting, music (Springsteen), and literature (most notably Samuel Beckett).

All the photos here are in black and white, which he regarded as the true colours of photography. While shots of the famous helped make his reputation, he never forgot his roots and regularly returned to Athy to photograph the local characters, a task he would replicate in West Cork in later years. 

Entitled “Visual Poetry”, it is an amazing exhibition and continues until October 11th. Much more info on this video here.

A few steps away, you’ll find the Gallery’s most famous painting, The Taking of Christ, by the Italian maestro Caravaggio.  Centuries between the Italian and Irish artists but Caravaggio’s technique of transfixing subjects in bright shafts of light and darkening shadows reminds me of Minihan’s Black and White. I’d like to think there’d have been a mutual bond between them had they met.

Look at that head of hair on the man from the bog. Pic taken on a previous visit.

Bodies From The Bog

We had promised ourselves a return visit to the magnificent National Museum (archaeology) in Kildare Street, We have been there a few times and still the magnificent dome inside the door took my breath away. Entrance is free, do pop in and take in that dome at least. There are 9 areas of interest (over 2 floors, no lift) and we had two in mind: Ireland's gold and Kingship & Sacrifice (where we found the bog bodies).

There were three on display, from the National Museum of Ireland collections - Gallagh Man, Co. Galway and Baronstown West Man, Co. Kildare and Croghan Man. 

The latter, an Offaly man, is dated to between 362 and 175 B.C. The Gallagh man is 470–120 BC while the Baronstown West guy is much more recent, dated to between AD 242 and 388. The Meathman, another of bodies recovered from Irish bogs, is dated between 700 and 400 BCE. And, yes, they found he had used hair gel. 

Also on the trip:

Two French Restaurants in Dublin 2

EPIC - Irish Emigration Museum

Three Dublin Cafes worth noting.

Bouef & Frites. Superb Steak

Culchies on the Capital Culture Trail.  Visual Poetry. The Photography Of John Minihan

Gold (this from Tipperary) forms part of the impressive collection at the National Museum

Award Winner Disappoints

at MoLI

I had long anticipated visiting Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) but left disappointed. The historic building has been beautifully restored and the rooms are magnificent. Aside from an extensive Joyce area, it barely scratches the surface of Irish literature. Inspiring quotes abound but memorabilia of the many Irish authors is scarce. All in all, for me it falls flat. 

The lovely Commons Room serves as a day time restaurant.

Wax Museum. For The Craic. And The Odd Screech!

Shadow of a gunman, Wax Museum

We had a very enjoyable visit to the National Wax Museum with surprises around every corner. Certainly in the Hall of Mirrors, where you’ll struggle to find your way, bumping up against yourself, sometimes shoulder to shoulder, in an almost disquieting way, a way that soon becomes frustrating. But, stick with it, if I can do it, so can you.

There’s a series of horror surprises but also family-friendly exhibits, fantasy zones and Irish history and a “musical pub” with some of our best known performers. Group options including schools, parties and murder mystery experiences. It is a lot of fun, within yards of O’Connell Bridge.

Lightfinger at the Wax Museum

Witness History

The GPO Witness History is located, in fairly cramped quarters, inside the historic building on O'Connell Street. So cramped that a guided tour will hold up the self-guiders.

Stamps issued in 2016 to commemorate the centenary of the Rising

Quite a bit of memorabilia from that pivotal week in April 1916, photos of the freedom fighters and tales of the dead, both old and young (2-year old Sean Francis Foster was shot in his pram - see stamp above).

Highlight is perhaps the 17 minute immersive film that runs frequently during the day. The fighters shout, bullets fly; noises comes from all sides and the rapid screen changes combine to make this dizzily immersive.

Time then to head to the peaceful Green Garden Kitchen cafe upstairs.

You can just turn up at many of Dublin's main attractions but other places including Old Kilmainham Gaol, the Rock 'n' Roll Museum, and EPIC should be booked in advance.