Castlebar's Bar One Gastropub - Belmullet - Blacksod Lighthouse - Ballycroy (National Park). Three Days in Mayo #2.

Castlebar's Bar One - Belmullet - Blacksod Lighthouse - Ballycroy (National Park). 

Three Days in Mayo #2

 Eat. See. Stay.

Marvellous Bacon Chop at Bar One, Castlebar.

The friendly guide at Blacksod Lighthouse, with a twinkle in his eye, recounted a tale from his days as a fresh-faced naval recruit. The then-rookie Mayoman, eager for duty, found himself on the dock in Cobh bound for the naval base. He innocently asked which ferry he should take, only to be met with a stern command: ‘Sit down in the shed and behave yourself!’ The men in charge, you see, had mistaken him for a prisoner on temporary release from the Spike Island jail (served from the same dock). It wasn’t long before the navy came looking for their missing man, leading to a wonderfully red-faced apology for our much relieved Mayoman.

Blacksod Lighthouse

We had arrived at Blacksod, on our second day in Mayo, having driven west from Ballina in the direction of Belmullet, opting to bypass the usual Achill Island drive and instead take the peninsula route to Blacksod.

On the way to Belmullet, the windfarm at Oweninny, close to Bellacorick, caught our eye. And no wonder. Some sixty giant pylons march across the skyline, producing clean electricity—quite a sight. Stopped to take a few pics and, less than an hour after leaving Ballina, we arrived in Belmullet, a busy and impressive town, the gateway to some lovely scenery.

Oweninny windfarm

Our next halt was at the Blue Flag beach of Trá Oilí (right), a waypoint on the Wild Atlantic Way. A bit too windy for a swim, for sure! However, we did manage to get out and stretch our legs and clear our heads on a sunny day. We worked our way south to our destination, the Blacksod lighthouse. Here, you can visit the working lighthouse and hear the fascinating stories of maritime history, Irish culture, and local folklore. And here is where we met the guide.

Stories galore from this lighthouse on the edge of Europe, including how it came to be that a weather forecast from here was a significant factor in General Eisenhower deciding to head to the Normandy beaches on June 6th 1944.

There is a small looped route from Blacksod that rejoins the main road. And on a windswept hill, Fál Mór, you will see what you suspect to be an old stone circle, especially as the area has been a sacred place since the 6th century, associated with Saint Deirbhle.

 The stones are certainly old, but the structure is relatively new and was created by the artist Michael Boffin. The circle, named Deirbhle’s Twist, was made by raising the existing granite boulders on site and placing them in an ascending spiral. Boffin said the stone was already here. “I have just, in a sense, rearranged it.” It is the final part of a sculpture trail spanning North Mayo to commemorate Mayo 5000, and the site serves as another waypoint on the Wild Atlantic Way.

 Deirbhle’s Twist at Fál Mór

Back then, to the “mainland” and a short trip via Bangor Erris to the visitor centre of the National Park at Ballycroy, not so much to visit the park as we were there less than two years ago, but to have a spot of lunch at the lovely Ginger & Wild Cafe. The menu offers soups, paninis, salads, quiches, and cakes, with views out over the park. Look out for the lovely plum cake! That, plus a cup of tea, revitalised us and we were ready to do one of the walks here.

This doesn’t start at the visitor centre itself, but a few miles down the road towards Mulranny. We were to be disappointed, though, as the entrance was barricaded and the beautiful boardwalk was severely damaged, likely due to one of the recent storms that had battered the West Coast. Nothing for it but to carry on to our new base, the Ellison Hotel in Castlebar.

Lamb starter at Bar One

Dinner that evening was in Bar One, one of the best gastropubs in the country. I started with their Carolan’s Spicy Lamb Skewers With Tzatziki Yoghurt and a side salad. Sufficiently spicy to enliven it and very tasty overall, especially with a full glass of Mescan Blonde in my hand. They also offer beer from Reel Deal, another local brewer.

We had hoped to walk the easy Claggan Mountain coastal trail as we did 2 years ago
but storms have destroyed the boardwalk.

An excellent start and the high quality continued throughout the mains. CL picked one from the specials board: Pan-Fried Atlantic Cod with confit tomatoes, parsley, baby potatoes, steamed greens, lemon, and dill sauce. That was given a big thumbs up.

Visitor centre in Ballycroy

And I also hit the jackpot with my special: the honey and mustard-glazed ham sirloin chop, served with buttered green cabbage, honey-glazed carrots, champ potatoes, and MacIvor’s Cider Sauce. There was quite a lot for the chef to handle, but he did a superb job of it. I thought the bacon may have come from the local Andarl, but was told that it was from a small producer in County Cavan.

Dessert didn’t get a look-in on the night, and we walked back to Ellison and its welcoming and comfortable Siar Bar. No craft beer, but a drop of Dingle Whiskey served as an admirable and above-average nightcap. As the very helpful barman said, “Hard to go wrong with a single malt.”

Check out Mayo Day #1 and #3 

Ballina's Poacher - Ceide Fields - Belfry. Three days in Mayo (#1)

Three days in Mayo (#1)

Ballina's Poacher - Ceide Fields - Belfry

The award-winning visitor centre at Ceide Fields

We left Cork last Wednesday morning and, some 330 kms and four hours later, we arrived at our destination, the extraordinary Ceide Fields on the north coast of County Mayo, west of Killala (with its famous round tower), west of Ballycastle and a stone’s throw from my mother’s birthplace. Indeed, her teacher at Belderig NS, Padraig Caulfield, was the man who first found the traces of the ancient farms of Ceide buried deep beneath the wild boglands.

A visitor boardwalk runs alongside one of the exposed walls.

The remarkable Neolithic site contains possibly the oldest known stone-walled fields in the world, dating back nearly 6,000 years. Years later, Padraig’s son, Seamus Caulfield, who had studied archaeology, investigated further and discovered evidence of cultivated fields, houses and tombs which had lain hidden for many centuries. The few acres you see at the site are just the tip of the iceberg as the fields extend for miles. Just look at how the white-topped marker poles stretch off towards the horizon.

Croquettes (gammon and potato) at Poacher

A 4,000-year-old pine tree is an eye-catching centre piece at the visitor centre. Indeed, the building itself is an award-winning structure, with views over the bogs and also out over the nearby cliffs and the ocean beyond. To learn more, visit the website here.

We had a look around the centre itself and learned quite a bit, and even more when we took a guided tour out on the bog. Before all that, though, we needed some sustenance after the trip from Cork and enjoyed a wee lunch at the centre’s Ceide Ladle. The cafe offers a selection of soups, sandwiches, wraps, cakes and scones along with teas and coffees.

Cod

In Belderig afterwards it was sad to see that Kelly’s, a pub cum/grocery (I used get my pint poured into the glass from a chipped enamel jug) and once the liveliest spot around, was lying silent. With time running out, we turned back east to Ballina and the Belfry Rooms (part of the Merry Monk complex).

Manor Farm Chicken & Wild Mushroom Crumble, Watercress Crust, Salad Leaves, and Potato Crisps

An early dinner had been booked at the superb Poacher (spacious and comfortable) in the centre of Ballina, and here we enjoyed a meal as good as any, including a super steak (from Heffernans butcher on the ground floor) and a locally caught fish. Poacher is run by owners Yvonne Kathrein (chef) and Daniel Mayr (front of house) and is one of the few places where you’ll be able to enjoy both Austrian and German wines with the innovative cooking of a reasonably priced menu!

My companion was delighted with it, said she could do her starter (Crispy Pretzel - Fried Oliver Carty’s Gammon & Potato Croquettes) as a main and would be a regular customer if Poacher came to Cork. I’d agree wholeheartedly, and that’s coming from someone who’s often disappointed when dining outside of the rebel zone.

Superb steak from the butcher downstairs. The jus made it even better.

After that, it was back to the Belfry (a newly built nine-room block) on the Killala Road and to our comfortable room with its cool walk-in shower and no shortage of sockets (not in the shower!). First, though, there was a call to their adjacent bar, the Merry Monk, for a drop of whiskey, and the choice was Connaught. What else could you ask for with the distillery a few miles down the road?

It was here in the bar too that the friendly staff serve a decent multi-choice breakfast and, unusually, they serve it up to you from 8.30 am until “any time”. No need for panic, but if you leave it until lunchtime, you could have a lot of company as the popular place tends to get very busy.

See Mayo Day 2 here. Mayo Day 3 here.

Monk's Full Irish
with requested
adjustments!

Big news for Mayo food and drink producers

 Big news for Mayo food and drink producers

 

Wednesday 19^th May 2021 will be a red letter day for every food and drink producer in the county of Mayo. It’s the launch date for the much anticipated Mayo Food and Drink Networking and Training Programme which will totally change the food and drink landscape within the county. This is a really important event for owners or managers of food and drink businesses in Mayo to attend. It’s relevant for both established businesses and those at an earlier stage of development. Getting involved at the beginning will increase the value your business gets from the new network.

 

Celebrity chef Brian McDermott (right) is keynote speaker at the virtual event, and will talk about the importance and value of Irish food producers to hospitality and food tourism. Brian McDermott is an award winning chef, author, presenter and proud Donegal man who has just been named Ireland’s Producers Champion for 2021 by Blas na hEireann. He has built a national reputation on one simple belief – that tasty, healthy food based around traditional recipes and local produce is something everyone should enjoy. He’s a familiar face on TV, has his own weekly BBC radio slot and is a regular on the Irish food festival circuit.

 

The Programme is a result of the Mayo Food and Drink Strategy 2025, and between now and July 2022 will give free and easy access to training, mentoring, and information supports, exclusively to Mayo food and drink businesses. Having a network of producers will develop and improve the profile of Mayo food nationally. The producer register already includes 115 businesses and any who have not yet signed up are encouraged to get involved. There is no cost to producers. 

 

Sue O’Toole, Senior Enterprise Officer, South West Mayo Development Company has been a stalwart champion for developing the food and drink sector in Mayo. She commented, “Last year I was privileged to work with local producers to develop the Mayo Food & Drink Strategy 2025. Now, South West Mayo Development Company, on behalf of Mayo Local Action Group, is delighted to announce the Mayo Food Programme, a LEADER funded response to the challenges and opportunities identified in the Mayo Food & Drink Strategy 2025. The Programme will action the priorities identified by producers.  It is totally food focused offering networking supports and a range of training and skills development supports. LEADER continues to work with the producers in Mayo’s vibrant and growing food and drink sector”.

 

Programme manager Oonagh Monahan has secured the services of four expert trainers, all steeped in the food and drink sector. They are: Aisling Roche (business supports); Louise McDonnell (e-commerce and e-marketing); Suzanne O’Brien (food tourism/integrating the food and drink sectors with tourism); Derek and Joanna Hannick (adapting your food and drink business for future opportunities and challenges).

Launch attendees will get the benefit of the trainers’ top tips for saving time, making money and ensuring success. It’s a great chance to ask burning questions and get the benefit of their shared experience and knowledge. Everyone at the launch will also be included in a free draw.

 

Elaine Moyles, A/Head of Enterprise Local Enterprise Office Mayo, explained the support her organisation can offer, saying, “LEO Mayo is delighted to support the Mayo Food & Drinks Network. We work with local producers across the food and drinks sector offering training, mentoring and financial supports to help grow and scale their business and can see at first-hand the high quality produce created in the county and sold worldwide. We encourage local businesses to take part in this important opportunity to collectively promote their products, reach wider markets and advertise Mayo as the food destination of choice”.

 

Join in the launch of the Mayo Food and Drink Networking and Training Programme at 12 noon on Wednesday 19^th May. It will be streamed live on Facebook (www.facebook.com/mayofoodanddrink). The link will be shared on social media.

 

The Mayo Food and Drink Networking and Training Programme is supported by South West Mayo Development Company and Local Enterprise Office Mayo.

press release

An October Wander in Mayo and Galway

An October Wander in Mayo and Galway

Afternoon near Letterfrack

Dozio & Pears in TIA

So here I am in Mayo, in Louisburgh to be precise, enjoying a delicious Swiss-Irish cheese in a lovely friendly Portuguese-Irish cafe. The cheese is called Dozio ( pronounced dots-i-o) and the café is called TIA. It is the last Friday in October, it is dull and showery, but I’m nice and cozy and enjoying the grub and the  lunchtime buzz.

TIA tiles

TIA, according to Google, means aunt in Portuguese and there is a family feel about the place, lots of school kids in either with a parent (maybe an auntie) or without and a fair bit of banter between the customers and the staff. And the food is local as exemplified by the board that says the lamb chops are PJ’s. They appear on the list of more substantial meals (more like your dinner).

We study the other board and order a couple of delicious salads. There is a Sourdough toast, honey roasted ham, Barr Rua cheese (also from Dozio), relish, salad and TIA crips. The potato, chorizo, kale and fried egg combination looks attractive, well priced at €8.50. All the dishes seem well-priced and all the food is sourced locally.

Achill Island

This section also details a Chicken, Mozzarella and Ciabatta salad; another salad of Sausage rasher, fried egg with Blaa; and a Vegetarian Burger with Sautéed potatoes, salads and pickles.

I go for the Warm Roast Pear Salad, Dozio Cheese and excellent homemade brown bread (12.00). Danilo Dozio and Helen Grady are making cheese in Mayo, using ancient recipes from Canton Ticino in the South of Switzerland. They make a few different varieties including the soft Zing (with apricot) that I so enjoyed with my salad. Meanwhile CL was loving the Warm Chicken salad, pickles, wedges and a Chilli Mayo (10.90). And it was two happy customers that left the Halloween decorated café to continue our journey to Clifden in the heart of Connemara.

The Breaffy House Hotel, our base for the middle night.

Our trip had started two days earlier near Ballina with a visit to relatives. Later that evening, we dined in the quirky Gallery Wine Bar in Westport, details at end. The following day, on the Thursday, we took up an invite to visit the Foxford Woollen Mills and its gorgeous revamped café. Terrific food here also from Chef Kathleen Flavin and you may read about the mill and the meal here…

The morning hadn’t been great but the sun was out and about as we left the mills and so we decided to head for Achill (a change of plan as we had been thinking of visiting the nearby National Museum featuring country living, our rainy day option). And quite a few stops were made and many photos taken as we made our way around the nearer loop (we didn’t go as far as Keem Bay), taking in the sights including the Grace O’Malley castle.

Superb burger, with local beef and bacon and topped with Dubliner cheese, at Oxtail in Balla.

That evening, we headed out to Balla for an excellent evening meal at the Oxtail Kitchen (you’ll find it above the Shebeen Pub on the main street). Here, Balla born Patrick McEllin and French lady Rebecca Miton, support local farmers and producers through the ever changing menu, a menu Patrick describes as classical with a modern twist. We certainly enjoyed our visit. Details also at end.

The following morning we met up with a friend of ours in Westport and enjoyed a chat and the coffee in Leafy Greens before heading west along the road to Louisburgh. First though, we stopped to see the impressive famine memorial in Newport and the horrors of the famine would again be in our minds as we headed to Leenane via the beautiful Doolough valley, haunting and maybe haunted by the happenings there during the famine, and now commemorated by a plain stone memorial as you go through the Doolough Pass. A yearly walk is held along this route in memory of the Doolough dead  of 1847 and to highlight the starvation of the world’s poor today. Otherwise though it is a lovely drive and a terrific cycle route (I’m told!).

Detail from the famine ship memorial in Muirisk

On then through some spectacular roads, including the final Sky Road, to Clifden. That night we would dine in the Marconi Restaurant in Foyle’s Hotel in a room whose decor recalls the exploits here of Marconi and also the story of Alcock and Browne. A good meal was followed (indeed accompanied) by pints of Bridewell, the local brew. Some excellent music in Mullarkey’s Bar meant a pleasant extension to the evening.

The famine memorial in the lovely Doo Lough Valley

Napoleon was all over the
place, even in the bathroom!

We spent the night in the Napoleon room of the quirky and hospitable, if expensive, Quay House, an 8-minute stroll from the town centre. The Quay, which closes up for the winter, has one of the brightest and well appointed breakfast rooms in the country, a conservatory room indeed and a breakfast to match.

Thus fortified, we started up the trusty Toyota and headed south, enjoying the benefit of the newly extended motorway, at least to Limerick. After that we drove through a lot of bends and a whole lot of broken promises by politicians before our home city came into sight.

 

Anyone for breakfast? The gorgeous conservatory at Clifden's Quay House.

Also on this visit:
Dinner and wine at Westport's Gallery
Foxford Woollen Mills: Visit and Lunch

Foxford Mills & Cafe. The Nun. The Accountant. The Chef.

Foxford Mills & Cafe.

The Nun. The Accountant. The Chef.

In 1892, a determined nun created Foxford Woollen Mills. And it had its ups and downs, employing a peak of 240 in the ‘50s, until 1987 when the receiver moved in. An accountant with the receiver still saw potential and made a bid and Foxford was revived. Nowadays, with over 70 employed, it is confident and thriving, both as a production unit and as a visitor centre, workers and tourists well fed by a determined chef in the kitchen who has recruited a posse of local producers, a move that would no doubt have had the blessing of the founder.

That founder was the redoubtable Sister Arsenius, originally known as Agnes Morrogh Bernard (family from Cork). At the age of 50, the sister and a few companions arrived in Westport to establish her Sisters of Charity order there. She was struck by the grinding poverty and the depressing hopelessness, the people held down by the landlord system (focus of the Land League campaign of the time). Famine was still a factor, and indeed there was a localised one as late as 1879.

The Western Care Association are Foxford's new charity partner for this year and are pictured here with MD Joe Queenan (far right) 

The Sister still saw opportunity in the gloom and concentrated on setting up the wooden mills with water from the fast flowing Moy, labour and sheep all at hand. But she had no experience. She approached a Protestant Freemason who had a mills in Ulster for advice. He wasn’t that keen at first but the nun was not for turning and eventually he helped set up the mills.

A grant from the Congested District Board was also a big factor, local weavers were trained and soon the Foxford Mills were up and running, it’s klaxon at morning, lunch (twice) and evening, setting the agenda for the town and the surrounding farms as our enthusiastic guide Alison told us on our tour of the mills. By the way, a portion of all tickets prices is allocated to various charities.

One of the superb dishes that we enjoyed during our visit to the café in the Mills.

Chef Kathleen

Alison does most of her talking before you actually enter the production as there is a lot of noise in there! Setting up and operating the machinery takes much of patience and precision - not too sure I’d last too long there! But the results are fantastic, great designs and natural colours.

Did you know that some well-known phrases have come from the various stages of production in mills like these, such as Tenter Hooks and No Strings Attached. Later, during lunch, I found out for the very first time that the Mayo village of Balla is actually pronounced as Bal (like pal), the final “a” being silent.

Dessert

Back to that lunch with MD Joe Queenan, the accountant who stepped in and, with various supports (including a vital Business Expansion Scheme (BES)), eventually revived Foxford Mills after the 1987 crisis. Today over 70 people are employed here and their products are sold in mid to high-end stores. Some 33% is exported mainly to the US, the UK, Scandinavia. The Asian market is being targeted but Joe expects that their internet sales will be their next big outlet. “Online is becoming more and more important.”

They have deliberately retained the quality in design and product, innovation is also key, and have found their niche in the mid to high-end. They recognised early on that there is no way they could compete with the major manufacturers in Asia. 

Fascinating story behind this Michael Collins
throw. Read it here

Joe and indeed the people of Westport know that the founding Sister pursued “a holistic approach, …founding bands, …helping farmers get their products to market, …the kids to get an education.., and more”, a point also emphasised by Alison.

And you sense he is quite proud now of the mills and indeed of the café (which has a come a long way in the last ten years), proud to lead a company that does real work, produces real products and serves real food.

In the bright and airy upstairs café, we meet head chef Kathleen Flavin, an articulate chef with a vision that translates beautifully to the plate as we would soon find out.

She loves that she gets to work every day in the bright place, a luxury not afforded to that many chefs! In this recently renovated and updated room, Kathleen has a great rapport with her customers, answering their queries and helping with recipes - check out the cafe’s Facebook page here.  

After a hearty greeting, Kathleen immediately told us that the food is local and seasonal and called out a long list of local suppliers, many of whose photos are to be seen on one of the walls. These include Dozio’s Cheese, the Reel Deel Brewery, Killary Fjord Shellfish, John Clarke’s Smoked Salmon and Clive’s Butcher Shop.

Most of the herbs and leaves come from their own gardens and both Kathleen and Joe are rightly proud of that as well. As many of us are now beginning to realise, the shorter the journey, the better your food.

The Mills shop in Foxford sells many other top notch Irish products, including Modern Eire and Finline Furniture.

The focus is very much on healthy but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a delicious dessert here. We did, just after two of the very best salads we’ve ever tasted.

And if you’d like to take something home with you, that’s not a problem as Kathleen and her crew have various jams and preserves (how about pickled plums?) prepared and packed in jars. Oh by the way, she loves baking too. Yes, the Christmas puddings are ready and on the shelves. And there’s a great selection of cook books on offer here as well in the shop, underlining Joe’s words about a seamless connection between the two.

So there you are. A great place to visit. A great place to eat. Great products to buy. And great people too. I think Sister Arsenius would be rather proud of the accountant and chef and the team that are carrying Foxford Mills into the future.

Also on this trip: The Gallery Wine Bar, Westport
October Wander in Mayo & Galway