Blas na hÉireann Finalists 2025 Announced. Forty Cork producers in the mix at Dingle in October.

Blas na hÉireann Finalists 2025 Announced.

Forty Cork producers in the mix at Dingle in October.

Caroline Hennessy, Santina Kennedy, and Anthony O’Toole. Three Blas na hÉireann Producers’ Champions 2025 as voted by Irish food producers

Caroline Hennessy, Santina Kennedy, and Anthony O’Toole

Three Blas na hÉireann Producers’ Champions 2025 as voted by Irish food producers 

Caroline (centre) with Santina and Anthony

Blas na hÉireann, the Irish Food Awards, is delighted to announce not one, but three exceptional individuals as this year’s Producers’ Champions — a trio of advocates whose work consistently shines a spotlight on Ireland’s food makers and artisan producers. Caroline Hennessy, Santina Kennedy, and Anthony O’Toole are Blas na hÉireann Producers’ Champions 2025. 

Each has their own unique voice and perspective, and their collective impact across Irish food writing, curation, hospitality, advocacy and sustainability is both significant and impressive. 

Chosen directly by Irish producers from every corner of the country, the Producers’ Champion title is awarded each year based on nominations from within the Blas na hÉireann network. It celebrates those who go above and beyond to support, elevate and promote Irish food and drink.

“We are thrilled to announce these three unique supporters of Irish food as this year’s Producers’ Champions,” said Artie Clifford, founder and Chairman of Blas na hÉireann. “Each of them in their own way has shown a serious and ongoing commitment to the people behind the produce. They share a deep understanding of what it takes to grow, make, market and champion Irish food having all had a background in production, and therefore an understanding of the challenges that producers can face. We couldn’t be happier to celebrate them as they have so often celebrated our producers.”

Caroline Hennessy has been a steadfast voice in Irish food for over two decades. As an award-winning writer, author, MC, and editor, she has consistently used her platforms — from her regular columns to her widely read site Bibliocook — to tell the stories of local producers. With a sharp focus on sustainability and regional food systems, her work weaves the story of Irish food into media, events and podcasts, helping producers reach new audiences and communities.

Santina Kennedy is a food consultant and curator whose work brings Irish food to life through unforgettable experiences. Whether creating immersive dining events at the National Gallery of Ireland or developing food tourism strategies with Fáilte Ireland, Santina places Irish produce centre stage. Pairing food with art, place, history and storytelling, her focus is always on keeping local food, ingredients and their narratives central to a destination’s offering. 

Anthony O’Toole, chef, writer, Slow Food advocate and lifelong champion of seed sovereignty, is behind some of the country’s most forward-thinking food initiatives. From launching Fat Tomato, his organic edible garden and horticulture project in Wexford, to co-founding Taste Wexford and #thisisirishfood, Anthony’s work connects chefs and producers through sustainability, education, and celebration of heritage ingredients. He is a sought-after advisor and an advocate for food as a tool for cultural connection and ecological resilience.

All three now join the prestigious roster of Blas na hÉireann Producers’ Champions — a list that includes Darina and Rachel Allen and Rory O’Connell, John & Sally McKenna, Neven Maguire, Jess Murphy, Kate Ryan, Conor Spacey, Brian McDermott, Laura Bradley & Johnny McDowell from Indie Füde, and Simon Coveney — as part of a community that celebrates excellence and advocacy in Irish food.

www.irishfoodawards.com

MERCEDES-BENZ SUPPORTS IRISH FOOD PRODUCERS. On the road to Blas at Dingle!

MERCEDES-BENZ SUPPORTS IRISH FOOD PRODUCERS

On the road to Blas at Dingle! 

Nevo’s Simon Andreucetti and Derek Reilly are pictured with Fallon Moore and Artie Clifford of Blas na hEireann ahead of their 2024 Irish Food Awards, taking place in Dingle next month.

Ahead of this year’s Blas na hEireann 2024 Irish Food Awards, in partnership with Bank of Ireland and taking place in Dingle next month, Mercedes-Benz Ireland has joined forces with Nevo, Ireland's only dedicated electric vehicle platform to offer practical support to the many small and medium-size Irish food producers who will take part in

Blas na hÉireann Cork Finalists 2023 Announced

Blas na hÉireann Cork Finalists 2023 Announced

 The finalists for Blas na hÉireann, The Irish Food Awards, 2023 have been announced and the countdown is now on for the return of the awards weekend to the pretty seaside town of Dingle. The three-day event will take place from Thursday September 28th to Saturday 30th September. 

Denis and Kate of Kinsale Mead Company

After the joyous reunion of last year’s in-person event for the first time in two years, the excitement is already building and the Blas team are hard at work preparing for the arrival of food and drink producers across Ireland to celebrate the very best of Irish. 

Now in its 16th year, Blas na hÉireann saw its highest entries from across all categories along with many new producers entering the awards for the first time this year. During the judging, which took place over June and July, over 3,000 entries were judged, the highest on record.

“The Blas na hÉireann awards are the highlight of the year for Cork producers as it pits their produce against the best that this country has to offer.” said  Joe Burke, Assistant Head of Enterprise, LEO South Cork. “We are very fortunate to have such awards that provide consumers’ reassurance of the quality and excellences of our producers. Cork producers are always well represented at Blas and receive many accolades and awards. We would like to complement the hard-working committee, judges, and sponsors of the awards which without them would not be possible. The Cork Local Enterprise Offices (South, North/West & City) are glad to be one of the sponsors of the awards and wish Blas continued success.” 

The finalists shortlisted from Co. Cork across a range of different categories are Alternative Christmas Pudding Company, Andrea's Kitchen, Bandon Vale Cheese, Bantry Bay Seafoods, Blackwater Honey, Bluebell Falls ltd, Bó Rua Farm, Carbery Group, Clares Homemade Hummus, Clóna Dairy Products Ltd., Clonakilty Food Company, Clonakilty Gluten Free Kitchen, Coolmore Foods, Folláin, Fresh Fish Deli, Frodo Ltd, Gloun Cross Dairy, Hanleys Puddings Ltd, Hassetts Bakers & Confectioners ltd., Irish Yogurts Ltd, Keohane Seafoods, Kepak, Kinsale Mead Co, Kinsale Spirit, Leahys Open farm, Macroom Buffalo Cheese Products Ltd, Malay Kitchen, McCarthy's of Kanturk, Niamh's Larder, North Cork Creameries, O'Callaghan's Cafe and Deli Ltd, O'Keeffes Bakery, O'Leary's Family Butchers, On The Pigs Back, Original 7 Beverage Co, Sage Restaurant, Second Street Bakeshop, Secret Recipe Limited, Shannonvale, Silver Pail Dairy, Spice O Life Ltd, Stonewell Cider & Nohoval Apple Wine, The Good Fish Company, The Sibly Food Company, Tom Durcan Meats Ltd, Toons Bridge Dairy, Velo Coffee Roasters, Walls Chips, West Cork Distillers, Wildberry Bakery and Ardsallagh Goat's Cheese.

Mural at Sage of Midleton

Speaking as the finalists were announced, Blas na hÉireann Chairperson, Artie Clifford said, “After last year’s success, we are thrilled to be back again. The Blas Village and Eat Ireland in a Day Tents were fantastic additions and created brilliant awareness for the finalists and winners to both the public and key industry people.  Seeing so many new producers enter this year is a testament to the fantastic produce Ireland has to offer and I am looking forward to celebrating past and new finalists and winners again this year.”

This year’s Blas na hÉireann awards in Dingle will see the return of last year’s new additions including the Eat Ireland in a Day tent and the Blas Village where the 2023 finalists will get the opportunity to showcase their products, engage with customers and meet key industry buyers.

 

With over 3,000 products entered in this year’s Blas na hÉireann, making it as a finalist is a huge achievement and one to be very proud of. The competition ramps up year on year, meaning those producers who are short-listed as finalists really are the crème de la crème of Irish food and drink. 

For finalist producers, it is not just their exceptional food & drink which will be celebrated in Dingle but the people themselves, the passionate producers who make the very best of Irish will be recognised and rewarded making this autumn’s Blas na hÉireann a food event not to be missed! 

Blas na hÉireann 2019 winners announced, with 46 producers winning from County Cork

Blas na hÉireann 2019 winners announced, with 46 producers winning from County Cork

Winner Caroline Murphy of West Cork Eggs receives her award from John Sheehy (left) of Blas
and David Henderson

Blas na hÉireann, the Irish food awards, announced this year’s winners, with 46 producers winning from Cork, announced at the 2019 finals which have just concluded in Dingle.

Now in their 12th year, the Blas na hÉireann awards are the all-island food awards that recognise the very best Irish food and drink products, and the passionate people behind them.

The bronze, silver and gold winners from Cork across a range of different categories are 9 White Deer Brewery Ltd., Bainne Codladh Ltd., Bandon Vale Cheese Limited, Bluebell Falls, Bó Rua Farm, Caherbeg Free Range Pork Ltd., Centra - Inspired by Centra made in store salads, Clonakilty Food Company, Cooke's At The Gallery, Elbow Lane Brewhouse Ltd., Fitzgeralds Butchers, Follain, Gloun Cross Diaries, Good Food Processing Ltd., Gourmet Pantry Kinsale, Happy Days Artisan Ice Cream, Henry Denny & Sons (IRE) Ltd., Hodgins Sausages, Irish Yogurts Clonakilty, Keohane Seafoods, Kepak Cork, Kinsale Mead Co., Longueville House Beverages, Maggie's Homemade Jam, MamaBear Foods Ltd., Mellas Fudge, Nohoval Drinks Company, Ó Crualaoi Feoil Teo, O'Leary Family Butchers, On The Pig's Back - La Charcuterie Irlandaise Ltd., Praline Pastry Shop, Quish's Kitchen, Saturday Pizzas, Serendipity Smokehouse, Shannonvale, Skeaghanore  Duck, Spice O' Life Ltd., St. Patricks, Distillery Ltd., The Fresh Fish Deli, Tom Durcan Meats Ltd., Uflourish Foods, Union Hall Smoked Fish, Velo Coffee Roasters, West Cork Distillers, West Cork Eggs Ltd. and West Cork Garlic. With Follain winning Best in Cork and On The Pig's Back - La Charcuterie Irlandaise Ltd. winning Best in Farmer’s Market for Cork.

The biggest blind tasting of produce in the country, the criteria on which the product is judged as well as the judging system itself, which was developed by Blas na hÉireann with the Food Science Dept of UCC and the University of Copenhagen, is now recognised as an industry gold standard worldwide.

Products entered are blind-tasted, meaning that all packaging and identifying features are removed from products before being presented for judging, creating a level playing field for products from both large and small producers. Judges come from a range of food backgrounds from chefs to restaurateurs, academics, journalists, authors, food champions, caterers and enthusiastic home cooks.

The founding mission of Blas – establishing quality benchmarks for Irish produce on a level playing field – is strictly adhered to and measurably applied.

Speaking after the announcement Artie Clifford, Chairperson and founder of Blas na hÉireann said, “Blas na Éireann 2019 has been another exceptional year showcasing the talents and hard work of some of this country’s most innovative, forward-thinking and disciplined food entrepreneurs. This is our 12th year of the Blas na hÉireann awards, and our aim continues to be to assist Irish producers to tell their stories by marking them out as special, and worth exploring. Winning a Blas award has been shown to work for our previous winners in bringing them to the attention of food-lovers both at home and abroad and we are looking forward to yet another exceptional year for our worthy winners of Blas na hÉireann 2019.”

 Press release

Blas na hÉireann 2019 finalists announced ahead of October's final judging in Dingle

Blas na hÉireann 2019 finalists announced ahead of final judging in Dingle in October  and there are 62 producers shortlisted from Cork.

Take time out to tour the stunning peninsula, including Slea Head (above)

Arte Clifford (Blas)

 Blas na hÉireann, the Irish food awards, have reached the penultimate stage of this year’s awards, with the announcement of the finalists who will go through to the final round of judging in Dingle this October, with 350 producers from across Ireland reaching this coveted stage.

The Blas na hÉireann awards are the biggest blind tasting of produce in the country, and the criteria on which the product is judged as well as the judging system itself, which was developed by Blas with the Food Science Dept of UCC and the University of Copenhagen that is now recognised as an industry gold standard worldwide.

During the first round of judging which took place over the course of four weeks in June and July, over 2,500 entries were judged in UCC & TU Dublin, bringing the total number of finalists in each category down to just five.

Each of these producer finalists will have their products tasted, compared, savoured and judged at the final of Blas na Éireann 2019 in Dingle on Thursday 3rd October. This is the 12th year of the biggest competition for quality Irish produce on the island, and the Blas na Éireann 2019 final will produce worthy winners of awards that have become an important part of the commercial success of so many exceptional Irish products.

The finalists shortlisted from Kerry across a range of different categories are Kinsale Mead Co., West Cork Garlic, 9 White Deer Brewery Ltd., Bainne Codladh Ltd., Baked 4 U, Ballyvolane House Spirits Company Ltd., Bandon Vale Cheese Ltd., Barrie's Pate, Bluebell Falls, Bó Rua Farm, Caherbeg Free Range Pork Ltd., Centra - Inspired by Centra Made in store salads, Clona Dairies, Clonakilty Food Company, Cooke's At The Gallery, Coolmore Foods, Elbow Lane Brewhouse Ltd., Fitzgeralds Butchers, Follain, Gloun Cross Dairies, Good Food Processing Ltd., Gourmet Pantry Kinsale, Happy Days, Artisan Ice Cream, Hassetts Bakery & Confectioners Ltd., Henry Denny & Sons (IRE) Ltd., Hodgins Sausages, Irish Yogurts Clonakilty, Keohane Seafoods, Kepak Cork, Kinsale Bay Food Company, Longueville House Beverages, Macroom Buffalo Cheese Products Ltd., Maggie's Homemade Jam, MamaBear Foods Ltd., Mellas Fudge, Milleens Cheese, Milsean, Nohoval Drinks Company, North Cork Co Op, North Cork Creameries, Ó Crualaoi Feoil Teo, O'Flynn's Gourmet Sausage Company, O'Leary Family Butchers, On The Pig's Back - La Charcuterie Irlandaise Ltd., Praline Pastry Shop, Quish's Kitchen, Saturday Pizzas, Secret Recipe, Serendipity Smokehouse, Shannon Vale Foods, Skeaghanore Duck, Spice O' Life Ltd., St. Patricks Distillery Ltd., The Fresh Fish Deli, Tom Durcan Meats Ltd., Trace Of Cakes, Liz's Grain Free Bread, Uflourish Foods, Union Hall Smoked Fish, Velo Coffee Roasters, West Cork Distillers, West Cork Eggs Ltd.

A former Supreme Champion

 Backyard at Blas

Returning to this year’s Blas na hÉireann in Dingle is the hugely successful Backyard at Blas, an innovative meeting space designed to bring fellow producers together in a relaxed and informal way to meet, mingle and share experience and insights into running a business, and to offer support to those starting out. First supported by Bank of Ireland in 2017 and again last year, the talks series has proved so popular with attendees that Bank of Ireland have just signed a new deal for Backyard at Blas 2019.

This September, Blas na hÉireann are going on the road with a special roadshow to help finalists get ready for the weekend in Dingle. They have been kindly welcomed by their partner Bank of Ireland to host special events across the country in their Bank of Ireland Workbench venues. These events will help finalists with details on the weekend of final judging, tips on how best to prepare from a press and buyer point of view, local information for travel, help on timings and how best to prepare your product for delivery and judging.

The roadshow will be in Cork on Tuesday 3^rd September at 2pm in the Bank Of Ireland Workbench, 70 Patrick Street, Cork.

Over 2,500  products were entered into this year’s competition to win Gold, Silver or Bronze Blas na hÉireann awards in over 140 food and drink categories, as well as key awards like Supreme Champion and Best Artisan Producer, so there will be good food and drink guaranteed in Dingle this October.

press release

Winning Blas Producers at Bank of Ireland Food Series

Winning Blas Producers 

at Bank of Ireland Food Series

Rosscarbery producer Avril Allshire with moderator Joe McNamee

Bank of Ireland Startups, who helped get the successful Backyard feature off the ground during this year’s Blas Awards in Dingle, hosted a number of follow-up events last Tuesday, including one at their premises in Patrick Street, Cork. Joe McNamee was the moderator for the evening and the principal speakers were Artie Clifford of Blas and local chef Kate Lawlor.

Lia Boyland was involved in setting up the latest Workbench Food Series Event and she welcomed us to the Workspace at the bank, explaining that the digital progress in the banking sector has freed up the space for “events like this evening”. Work spaces are available during the day - bring your laptop - and you'd never know who you might meet.

We knew though we were going to meet Artie as not alone was he a panel member but he also launching the 4th edition of the Blas na hEireann Buyers Directory.  Artie, involved in the founding of the Dingle Food Festival eleven years ago and in setting up Blas a year later, was delighted to launch the book here.

“Thank you all for coming. Eight thousand inserts (from the 10,000 copies) will be coming with your Shelflife magazine. It makes it easy for buyers and chefs to find good Irish produce. There is no charge for inclusion - it is something we want to give back. We hope this is a useful guide for sourcing Irish products and that many of the producers listed here will become your suppliers of tomorrow.”

There is a lot of work going into the new Blas website and it will include a searchable catalogue of producers, and will be ready soon. “Next, we want to do a roadshow during the year to build on it, to talk among ourselves, producers, buyers, chefs, and to get our own solutions.”

We would soon find out more about Artie, the face of Blas, as Joe McNamee asked the questions before the discussion proper (which would include quite a few producers) began. Artie, from Dundalk, was a commercial fisherman, then a ship's engineer and a skipper. In 1992, the work was in Dingle so that was where he went, his family still in Dundalk before they eventually joined him in Kerry.

Later, Artie worked in a  fish factory, most of the output for export. When the MD retired, Artie took over and looked at adding value: smoked fish, paté, chowder and so on for the home market. But costs went up, prices didn't and eventually, in 2010, the company was sold. By then Blas was just a little baby and Artie was making a few bob at Farmers Markets.

And his future then began to take shape. He told us about the first food festival in Dingle and the start of the famous Taste Trail there. “People came back year on year. In the second year of the festival, the awards became part of it and we worked hand in hand.” 

Chef Kate Lawlor was the other main guest on the night and, like Artie, she too has had her ups and downs and is fully committed to using Irish produce. An early visit to Brussels with her CIT class inspired that commitment. They were there to promote Irish food and a belief took hold that it was as good as any. She joined Fenn's Quay in 2001 and that “amazing journey” included taking it over in 2008. 

“We built a bond with local producers. I enjoy food, it should be fun and that was why I used some of the local slang on the menu. Sad to let it go this year but the producers are still talking to me.”

Artie Clifford

After the closing down of Fenn's Quay earlier this year, she took a much needed two month break - “I had run out of ideas, though there was a sense of satisfaction as well as sadness. I enjoyed the two months off and a highlight was the weekend in Dingle. This year I had the time to relax and enjoy it.”

Immediately afterwards she joined the newly reopened Oyster Tavern and the aim is to get it back to its “iconic status”. There are great young chefs there and Kate is just the person to help them. It is right alongside the market so she is back in there buying local again. “The connection  between chef and producers in very important. It leads to personal relationships and a better understanding of the product.”

After the introductions, it was time to meet the producers and we’ll cover the interesting exchanges in the next post, now available here.

Taste of the Week. Clo’s Wind Atlantic Bar

Taste of the Week

Clo’s Wind Atlantic Bar

Called into Le Fournil, a bakery and chocolatier on the Sligo Food Trail, during a recent visit to the town. And I immediately spotted some truffles that I had seen in Dingle during the Blas na hEireann tasting, truffles that had won for Clo who makes the chocolates here.

But is was one of her bars that next caught my eye. I always like chocolate with a little salt and when I spotted the Wild Atlantic Bar I couldn't resist. It was every bit as good a expected and is our Taste of the Week.

It is a milk chocolate bar and, of course, Irish Sea Salt is one of the important ingredients. Another is Knocknarea Honey. A delicious blend made in Sligo and also a Blas winner for Clo, this in 2015.

Sligo Cafés. Variety is the Spice

Sligo Cafés. 
Variety is the Spice 

Naanwich

Vegan friendly dishes at the Sweet Beat in Bridge Street. A Naanwich and Leitrim roasted coffee at The Nook in rural Collooney. Chocolate and French Baking at Le Fournil in Tobergal Lane. Oysters and Prosecco at WB’s in Stephen Street. Just a few examples from the lively café scene in and around Sligo.

Growing up in Brittany, Clotilde (known in Sligo as Clo and I read somewhere her Friday doughnuts are Clonuts), saw just how important bread was in their lives so no big surprise that she and her partner Tomasz Giderewicz run Le Fournil bakery in Sligo. There is also a related Le Fournil in Donegal.

Le Fournil. Including Friday's "Clonuts"

A sweet tooth led Clo to pastries and chocolate and indeed she won two Bronze at the recent Blas Awards. She has a fiercely loyal staff and they told me in no uncertain terms that it should have been two golds! We did, of course, leave “this little corner of France” with some chocolate. If Clo “wandered” in to Sligo, some of the other café owners here wandered out, for a spell.

Sligo Food Trails neatly sums up Carolanne Rushe of Sweet Beat. “The grass will never grow under Carolanne’s feet (though if it did, she’d probably turn it into a pesto)….. Going from running a market stall on her own to employing fifteen in Sweet Beat in just two short years, Carolanne is proving that plant based cuisine can taste great.” Coffee is pretty good there too as I found out on a brief visit to Bridge Street.

It seems that many in the Sligo food scene have been abroad (not just on holidays) and Carolanne is no exception. She’s been to the Middle East, Himalayas, Australia, South Africa. An extended course in Ballymaloe helped her bring all her food knowledge together and now Sweet Beat is a revelation, even for many committed meat eaters. She describes her plant based cuisine as “just food that’s good for you”.

Aisling Kelly is another Sligo “wanderer”, having spent many years on America's West Coast. Back in Ireland she became involved in the travel industry before returning home to Sligo to open WB’s in the old family pub. A larger than life statue of WB Yeats stands a few yards away.

She had learned much about coffee on the US West Coast and now makes sure that coffee culture is alive and well on Ireland’s West Coast. They also have an unusual offering. For under a tenner, you may enjoy a couple of local oysters and a glass of Prosecco.

Ethna Reynolds, of the Nook Cafe in Collooney village, is another who wandered out, not so much from Sligo, but from her native Leitrim. But the food bug had already struck through her part-time work in cafés in her student days. Several years travelling around Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand and working in different types of kitchens helped to further mould the budding chef.

Curry Roll

And indeed those years led to the slightly exotic cuisine at The Nook where the best of local produce gets a Reynolds twist. The signature dish is perhaps the Naanwich. “We can change the menu and we do, but we can never take that one off,” one of the staff told us on our visit there for lunch.

CL picked that one. So what is the Naanwich?  A soft folded Naan bread with a Tandoori spiced mouth watering filling of Donegal buttermilk chicken, tikka mayo, house local veg pickle, local grown salad and slaw. A plateful of colour and flavour, altogether delicious, at a very reasonable price.

My pick was the Curry Roll and I was surprised by both the quantity and the quality! It’s a Tortilla wrap stuffed with curried roast chicken, Dozio’s Chilli Zing Cheese (from Mayo), Mango Chutney, Red Cabbage Slaw, Markree Farm herb tossed couscous, paprika fries. You’d have to be palate paralysed not to appreciate the flavours here. An amazing dish (€11.00) to find in a small rural village. 

No wonder though that the new venture (May 2016) is well supported and already winning awards (including Georgina Campbell Newcomer of the Year 2017). By the way, they do breakfast here as well.

There are, of course, many other cafes in Sligo, and you may check them out here on this Sligo Food Trail list.

We had a great base in the Riverside Hotel, so conveniently situated for walking to the cafes, bars and restaurants in Sligo town. It has a marvellous location on the Garavogue River, at 50.7 kms, one of Ireland's shortest. The hotel overlooks the weir. 

The lovely restaurant room, where you also take breakfast, takes full advantage of the location and you can enjoy the waters on two sides. As I say, a really convenient location and we were able to walk to bars such as the Swagman and Anderson's, cafes like WB's and Sweet Beat, and restaurants Rugatino and Embassy Steakhouse.


See also: Lough Gill Brewery
 Strandhill Food Festival
Clo's Chocolates
Rugatino of Sligo
Embassy Steakhouse
The Swagman Rocks

Dingle Weather Or Which? Ignore Forecast. Just Go!

Dingle Weather Or Which?

Ignore Forecast. Just Go!

Louis Kennedy Pottery

We have an ex Dingle woman as a neighbour in Cork and if she hears we’re heading for the peninsula, she says: “Why go, it will be covered in fog. That’s why I left.” The weather forecasts can be equally discouraging. My advice, based on years of practice, is to ignore both Mrs Flaherty and the forecasters. Just go and enjoy yourself.

Our latest examples came last Friday. Rain was forecast for early afternoon. It didn't come until about seven in the evening. Here's what we did in the meantime.

We had been in Dingle since the day before but had some time to ourselves on Friday. First stop was the beach at Ventry, wild, windy and beautiful, the sky a gorgeous blue. Great for a walk to clear the cobwebs from the night before. 

On then to the magnificent Slea Head, along with a few cars and even fewer buses. What a magnificent sight under that clear blue sky. Loads of big waves rolling in, crashing on the sharp rocks and sending sun-lit white foam bubbling towards the sands. What a son et lumière.

And then more of the same as we continued around the peninsula. Waited for the one shower of the morning to pass before walking up on Clogher Head to a point where we had a fantastic view of Ceann Sibeál and the various bays nearby, the waves crashing wild and white against the rocks. Magnificent.

Time now for a snack. We had already passed the Blasket Centre (where we’ve often snacked in the past) so carried on a wee bit and stopped at the Louis Mulcahy café in the famous pottery. Just a little snack, tea and a scone (apple and cinnamon), and soon we were shopping for a tea-pot, a lovely piece that was well wrapped up for us. Actually that took quite a leisurely while as we had a great chat with the gentlemen serving us.

Slea Head

Luke, Sharon, Zack.

Back then to Dingle and to the The Backyard at Blas, a new “club” for people involved in the event. Here, whether you’re a judge or producer, you could have a cuppa and catch up on the latest news. There were also some more formal talks about various aspects of a small food producer’s business, part of the #BOIFoodseries.

We were at the Be Social event, designed to be a MASTERBlast of social media tips with the #Blas2017 Twitter Fairy, Sharon Noonan, who was joined on stage by Zack Gallagher (@Irishfoodguide) and Luke Burgess of Bean in Dingle Coffee shop. They were trying to influence those producers who are too busy in the kitchen or the yard to have anything to do with social media.

Zack says he took to social media “like a duck to water” and wants producers and chefs to go on Twitter and promote modern Irish food by using hash tags such as #Irish and #food. Luke is more an Instagram fan as it has a focus on younger people and the cafe can show their “fun attitude”.

“Get a website,” said Zack "and use the other platforms to drive traffic to you. We have too many amazing producers who are scared of social media.” Sharon advised to “be yourself. Don't leave social media to an intern.”

Walking down to beach by Slea Head

It could hardly be expected that a 20 minute session would be a blow by blow learning experience for the audience but the over-riding message was that if you are a producer or restaurant who needs to sell (is there another kind?) then you do need to get that website up and need to use either Twitter or Facebook to engage with possible customers, not to bluntly ram your big selling points down their channels but to at least let them know that you are operating and where and when they can find you.

Aussie takes us on tour at Dick Mack's new brewhouse

Next port of call was to Dick Mack’s on Green Street. Not to see the famous pub but to visit the newly unveiled Dick Mack’s Brewery in the yard. Here, an old cowshed dating back over 150 years, has been transformed into Ireland's newest brewery. So new that the samples we were drinking were all first batches.

And the three friends, Aussie, Finn and Seamus, who set up the brewery, while understandably a little nervous as the gang arrived, were soon smiling as the compliments started to flow for their three beers: a Session IPA, an Amber Ale and a Coffee Stout. All were excellent and, during the tour, Aussie promised they'd be getting even better, though hard to see how that delicious stout can be improved.  

Slea Head

With such a promising start this is surely a brewery to watch. Initially, the beer will be on sale in Dick Mack’s but you may except it to travel, and travel well, in the not too distant future. Watch this space!

Ceann Sibeál (top left)

The tour finished just in time for us to head down town to Out of the Blue on the waterfront for a lovely fish dinner - separate post to follow! Back then to our hotel, The Dingle Bay, for the Food Festival Opening Night party. Paudie’s Bar was packed and rocking with the 7-piece Limerick band Trees Fall Down setting the pace, picked up eagerly by the punters (including a  lively bunch of Germans On Tour! ) Great day. Great Night. Great Town.

Beach at Slea Head

See also: 72 Tastes of Dingle  Out of the Blue Dingle The Skipper, Ventry

Dingle Food Festival in Photos

A local!

Dingle Food Festival in Photos

Dingle Harbour

The Blas judging has been done (though the winners won't be announced until  Saturday). The huge Dingle Food Festival will launch this Friday evening before taking over the town on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Here are a few of my Dingle pics from this food weekend in recent years. Get all the details on the 2017 event here. Enjoy. I will!

Market stalls

Shark Bite (via Out of the Blue) on the very popular Taste Trail

Slea Head

You can't get lost at Murphy's Ice-Cream. On the Taste Trail

Venturing out in Ventry

Turbot at Global Village

On the Taste Trail, over 70 outlets

Demos, formal and informal

Lots of little places to discover

Gold medal winner at Blas 

This cask may not be there but a visit to the local distillery is a must!

The sun doesn't always shine at Slea Head