Tourists might come to Ireland for museums, culture, pubs or sporting events, but the fact remains: they still have to eat while they are here. So why don’t we take food tourism more seriously?
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ireland welcomed over six million visitors in 2023. On average, they stayed just over a week and their total expenditure was €7.3 billion. While 40% were here on their holidays, we can be sure that all six million had an Irish food experience of some kind.
Rural Ireland is particularly well-placed for developing food and agri-tourism, but many areas aren’t maximising on the opportunity. Facilitating tourism efforts can enrich small communities by revitalising tired economies, providing employment opportunities and reaffirming pride of place within the locality.
“I remember speaking with a man in rural Donegal,” says independent gastronomy tourism expert and former Failte Ireland head of food tourism, hospitality education and standards, John Mulcahy.
“A tour bus had broken down and the visitors were stranded – this was a really remote area. They were in the local and the man spoke up: ‘I’m just about to go round up my sheep; they can come along if they like.’
“There was no plan beyond just going into the uplands – in the rain – with this farmer,” he continues. “But this ended up being the most memorable aspect of their trip. They had this unique experience to bring home with them. And for the farmer, this opened up an idea for a side business.”
Everyone thinks tourism is an industry, but really, it’s an accumulation of various industries to serve the needs of visitors
When asked to describe Ireland, most visitors will talk about the landscape – lush green fields; a patchwork of a thousand shades of green. Irish food is a more recent discovery. John says people might visit for other reasons, but it’s the food which tends to leave a lasting mark.
“Ireland is not the first place that jumps into the heads of tourists in terms of food,” he explains. “They might be a golfing tourist in the morning and a cultural tourist in the afternoon, but they become a food tourist in the evening. The funny thing is, once they’re home the narrative tends to be, ‘You won’t believe the food we had in Galway; we had these marvellous oysters…’, that’s what they remember.”
In terms of infrastructure, most rural areas already have everything they need to develop food tourism at a local level. What is missing is a sense of collaboration within the community.
“It’s there in every parish,” John says. “The restaurant, the pub, the local history. What’s needed is a set of networks to connect all the dots. Everyone thinks tourism is an industry, but really, it’s an accumulation of various industries to serve the needs of visitors. We need to stop thinking in silos and get people to work together locally.”
Boyne Valley Flavours
One of Ireland’s food tourism success stories can be found in Co Meath, where the Boyne Valley Flavours group has been in operation for nearly two decades.
This collaboration of local artisan producers and small business owners has led to the development of a robust food tourism trail, the annual Samhain Festival of Food & Culture and – a newer development – the Centre of Food Culture, which aims to focus on the education and advocacy of Irish food culture for current and future generations.
Co Meath is home to many of Ireland’s most ancient and sacred sites, which is why the producers group feels a strong connection between food and Irish culture and, particularly, the connection to Samhain as a feast day.
Olivia Duff operates the Headfort Arms Hotel in Kells. She is an active community organiser and was an ambassador of John Mulcahy’s Irish Food Champions programme during his time at Failte Ireland. She says her involvement in the programme, and John himself, helped inspire her vision of local food tourism.
“Our very first benchmarking trip [as Food Champions] was to Prince Edward County in Canada,” she tells Irish Country Living. “Which was once a canning district and is now somewhere that focuses on amazing experiences in food tourism.
"It was from there that I returned completely inspired to set up the Meath Food Series in 2012, which morphed into the Boyne Valley Food Series and, subsequently, the development of the Boyne Valley Flavours brand, alongside some wonderful people in the region.”
Samhain Festival
This year, the Samhain Festival of Food & Culture will be held from 7-10 November in Kells. For the first time, Sheridan’s Cheesemongers (whose flagship shop is located just down the road) have joined forces with Olivia and the Samhain team to combine their two annual events.
Kevin Sheridan and his team started the Sheridan’s Food Festival in 2009 and it has been taking place each autumn ever since. He says, this year, it felt right to combine forces with Samhain.
Kevin is bringing the annual Sheridan's Food Festival to the streets of Kells from 7-10 November. \ Barry Cronin
“[Our food festival] has expanded over the years, and one reason we’ve merged with Samhain is because we’ve kind of outgrown our own place,” he explains.
“Working with Samhain allows us to operate over two days instead of our usual one day, which is nice, because producers travel from all over to trade at the festival. Also, there’s a lot of infrastructure to put in for this festival so it’s easier to operate over two days.”
Sheridan’s will bring a food fair and farmers market element to Samhain, with artisanal food producers and cheese-makers setting up stalls and kiosks in Kells over the weekend. While in a different location, Kevin says the ethos – to highlight smaller food producers and the great work they are doing – is the same.
One reason we’ve merged with Samhain is because we’ve kind of outgrown our own place
“It all started because I wanted to have an open day for this new community we were coming into [having moved to Meath a few years prior], so I invited some of our producers to come and everybody said yes,” he recalls.
“I started to realise we’d need a marquee and more of a set-up, so it sort of turned into a festival by accident. Cheese-makers like Veronica Steele [Milleens] and Dick and Helene Willems [Coolea] came – these people who don’t normally do markets; who don’t meet with customers. They came and stood beside their tables with their products and all the locals came by with their kids. They loved it.”
When Kevin was chairperson of the original Meath Food Producers group, before it became Boyne Valley Flavours, he says food tourism was not at the top of the agenda. It was, and still is, very much about supporting the local producers in developing their business.
“Something I’m keen on is always going back to why we’re doing what we’re doing, which is supporting local food producers and potential new ones. Developing food tourism is a part of that; it’s not the objective itself.
“Everyone’s trying to keep their business alive – if you can get support and have local people eating your food, then the tourists will come in an authentic way,” he adds.
“We think of tourists as coming from abroad, but really, food tourism is [equally] day trips from urban to rural areas. Kells is a great spot for that because it’s so near Dublin.”
Co Meath cheese-maker, Michael Finegan, agrees with Kevin. Producing Boyne Valley Cheese on his family farm, Michael often hosts culinary students and offers farm tours as part of his involvement with Boyne Valley Flavours.
Michael Finegan owns and operates Boyne Valley Cheese, which is made on his family farm. \ Philip Doyle
“The main reason we do what we do is to spread the word about our business,” he tells Irish Country Living.
“In the grand scheme of things, I’m only a small producer. I don’t have billboards or big ads. I do a bit of social media and then it’s just down to word of mouth, when people come to the farm and see what we’re doing.
“I’ve done the Sheridan’s Food Festival since it started and you meet so many people at the stall,” he continues. “I don’t do markets in general, but it’s great to meet all the people there each year. It’s like that phrase: a rising tide lifts all boats. The Boyne Valley Flavours brand does that for us as small producers.”
Centre of Food Culture
Going forward, the Samhain Festival of Food & Culture is set to become the annual flagship event for the county’s new Centre of Food Culture.
With the centre’s concept conceived after the first Samhain festival in 2019 and its official launch at Samhain in 2022, Olivia and other community members worked through lockdown to make the concept a reality. The group envisions Ireland’s first-ever centre celebrating national food and drink culture to make a significant impact on how we value food in Ireland.
“We have amazing educational institutions, courses and leaders in Irish food – we don’t wish to compete with that,” Olivia says.
“This centre is about using Irish food as a mouthpiece to cover many more topics. We want it to be a go-to, not just for the Boyne Valley, but for all of Ireland. It’s an exciting few years ahead and we couldn’t have done it without the support of Meath County Council and Failte Ireland.”
For more information, check out foodcultureireland.ie
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Tourists might come to Ireland for museums, culture, pubs or sporting events, but the fact remains: they still have to eat while they are here. So why don’t we take food tourism more seriously?
According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ireland welcomed over six million visitors in 2023. On average, they stayed just over a week and their total expenditure was €7.3 billion. While 40% were here on their holidays, we can be sure that all six million had an Irish food experience of some kind.
Rural Ireland is particularly well-placed for developing food and agri-tourism, but many areas aren’t maximising on the opportunity. Facilitating tourism efforts can enrich small communities by revitalising tired economies, providing employment opportunities and reaffirming pride of place within the locality.
“I remember speaking with a man in rural Donegal,” says independent gastronomy tourism expert and former Failte Ireland head of food tourism, hospitality education and standards, John Mulcahy.
“A tour bus had broken down and the visitors were stranded – this was a really remote area. They were in the local and the man spoke up: ‘I’m just about to go round up my sheep; they can come along if they like.’
“There was no plan beyond just going into the uplands – in the rain – with this farmer,” he continues. “But this ended up being the most memorable aspect of their trip. They had this unique experience to bring home with them. And for the farmer, this opened up an idea for a side business.”
Everyone thinks tourism is an industry, but really, it’s an accumulation of various industries to serve the needs of visitors
When asked to describe Ireland, most visitors will talk about the landscape – lush green fields; a patchwork of a thousand shades of green. Irish food is a more recent discovery. John says people might visit for other reasons, but it’s the food which tends to leave a lasting mark.
“Ireland is not the first place that jumps into the heads of tourists in terms of food,” he explains. “They might be a golfing tourist in the morning and a cultural tourist in the afternoon, but they become a food tourist in the evening. The funny thing is, once they’re home the narrative tends to be, ‘You won’t believe the food we had in Galway; we had these marvellous oysters…’, that’s what they remember.”
In terms of infrastructure, most rural areas already have everything they need to develop food tourism at a local level. What is missing is a sense of collaboration within the community.
“It’s there in every parish,” John says. “The restaurant, the pub, the local history. What’s needed is a set of networks to connect all the dots. Everyone thinks tourism is an industry, but really, it’s an accumulation of various industries to serve the needs of visitors. We need to stop thinking in silos and get people to work together locally.”
Boyne Valley Flavours
One of Ireland’s food tourism success stories can be found in Co Meath, where the Boyne Valley Flavours group has been in operation for nearly two decades.
This collaboration of local artisan producers and small business owners has led to the development of a robust food tourism trail, the annual Samhain Festival of Food & Culture and – a newer development – the Centre of Food Culture, which aims to focus on the education and advocacy of Irish food culture for current and future generations.
Co Meath is home to many of Ireland’s most ancient and sacred sites, which is why the producers group feels a strong connection between food and Irish culture and, particularly, the connection to Samhain as a feast day.
Olivia Duff operates the Headfort Arms Hotel in Kells. She is an active community organiser and was an ambassador of John Mulcahy’s Irish Food Champions programme during his time at Failte Ireland. She says her involvement in the programme, and John himself, helped inspire her vision of local food tourism.
“Our very first benchmarking trip [as Food Champions] was to Prince Edward County in Canada,” she tells Irish Country Living. “Which was once a canning district and is now somewhere that focuses on amazing experiences in food tourism.
"It was from there that I returned completely inspired to set up the Meath Food Series in 2012, which morphed into the Boyne Valley Food Series and, subsequently, the development of the Boyne Valley Flavours brand, alongside some wonderful people in the region.”
Samhain Festival
This year, the Samhain Festival of Food & Culture will be held from 7-10 November in Kells. For the first time, Sheridan’s Cheesemongers (whose flagship shop is located just down the road) have joined forces with Olivia and the Samhain team to combine their two annual events.
Kevin Sheridan and his team started the Sheridan’s Food Festival in 2009 and it has been taking place each autumn ever since. He says, this year, it felt right to combine forces with Samhain.
Kevin is bringing the annual Sheridan's Food Festival to the streets of Kells from 7-10 November. \ Barry Cronin
“[Our food festival] has expanded over the years, and one reason we’ve merged with Samhain is because we’ve kind of outgrown our own place,” he explains.
“Working with Samhain allows us to operate over two days instead of our usual one day, which is nice, because producers travel from all over to trade at the festival. Also, there’s a lot of infrastructure to put in for this festival so it’s easier to operate over two days.”
Sheridan’s will bring a food fair and farmers market element to Samhain, with artisanal food producers and cheese-makers setting up stalls and kiosks in Kells over the weekend. While in a different location, Kevin says the ethos – to highlight smaller food producers and the great work they are doing – is the same.
One reason we’ve merged with Samhain is because we’ve kind of outgrown our own place
“It all started because I wanted to have an open day for this new community we were coming into [having moved to Meath a few years prior], so I invited some of our producers to come and everybody said yes,” he recalls.
“I started to realise we’d need a marquee and more of a set-up, so it sort of turned into a festival by accident. Cheese-makers like Veronica Steele [Milleens] and Dick and Helene Willems [Coolea] came – these people who don’t normally do markets; who don’t meet with customers. They came and stood beside their tables with their products and all the locals came by with their kids. They loved it.”
When Kevin was chairperson of the original Meath Food Producers group, before it became Boyne Valley Flavours, he says food tourism was not at the top of the agenda. It was, and still is, very much about supporting the local producers in developing their business.
“Something I’m keen on is always going back to why we’re doing what we’re doing, which is supporting local food producers and potential new ones. Developing food tourism is a part of that; it’s not the objective itself.
“Everyone’s trying to keep their business alive – if you can get support and have local people eating your food, then the tourists will come in an authentic way,” he adds.
“We think of tourists as coming from abroad, but really, food tourism is [equally] day trips from urban to rural areas. Kells is a great spot for that because it’s so near Dublin.”
Co Meath cheese-maker, Michael Finegan, agrees with Kevin. Producing Boyne Valley Cheese on his family farm, Michael often hosts culinary students and offers farm tours as part of his involvement with Boyne Valley Flavours.
Michael Finegan owns and operates Boyne Valley Cheese, which is made on his family farm. \ Philip Doyle
“The main reason we do what we do is to spread the word about our business,” he tells Irish Country Living.
“In the grand scheme of things, I’m only a small producer. I don’t have billboards or big ads. I do a bit of social media and then it’s just down to word of mouth, when people come to the farm and see what we’re doing.
“I’ve done the Sheridan’s Food Festival since it started and you meet so many people at the stall,” he continues. “I don’t do markets in general, but it’s great to meet all the people there each year. It’s like that phrase: a rising tide lifts all boats. The Boyne Valley Flavours brand does that for us as small producers.”
Centre of Food Culture
Going forward, the Samhain Festival of Food & Culture is set to become the annual flagship event for the county’s new Centre of Food Culture.
With the centre’s concept conceived after the first Samhain festival in 2019 and its official launch at Samhain in 2022, Olivia and other community members worked through lockdown to make the concept a reality. The group envisions Ireland’s first-ever centre celebrating national food and drink culture to make a significant impact on how we value food in Ireland.
“We have amazing educational institutions, courses and leaders in Irish food – we don’t wish to compete with that,” Olivia says.
“This centre is about using Irish food as a mouthpiece to cover many more topics. We want it to be a go-to, not just for the Boyne Valley, but for all of Ireland. It’s an exciting few years ahead and we couldn’t have done it without the support of Meath County Council and Failte Ireland.”
For more information, check out foodcultureireland.ie
Read more
SommiT conference 'raising the bar' for Irish hospitality
‘Every dish I cook has a story to tell’
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