Mary Burns - Artisan Cheese Maker

Mary Burns is one of the greatest business women of her time. Over 30 years ago, she made a conscious decision that she was going to start a business at home on the family dairy farm near Kanturk, north Cork.

Her husband Eugene encouraged her to get out of the house and take a break from her work as a housewife and mother. They had a busy family life with five young children, Eugene, Elizabeth, Deirdre, Maeve and Gerald, and both Mary and Eugene’s mothers living with them.

Mary spotted an advertisement for a cheese-making course in UCC. It was just what she needed. She and Eugene had already been investigating making cheese and they were particularly fond of the French and Dutch type of rich creamy cheese.

She explained: “It had nothing to do with the abolition of quota, but more of a conviction that I wanted to make more of the milk we produced.”

She signed up for the cheese-making course in 1983, which was led by Professor Charles Daly and his team. “There were 13 of us, including Louis Grubb who founded Cashel Blue cheese. So, two of us continue to make cheese today.”

The course featured a practical placement with a cheese maker. Mary spent valuable time at Milleens cheese on the rugged Beara peninsula. She returned to the farm and began making cheese with Eugene. Various recipes were explored and eventually they were happy with the winning formula and Ardrahan Farm House cheese was born.

Ardrahan cheese is a semi-soft cheese made from pasteurised cows’ milk. It is a gold medal award-winning cheese with an international reputation. It took time to build this reputation and Mary admits that it was probably 10 years before they saw a return on their investments.

Travels in France

Mary remembers the early days. “There was no Bord Bia back then and a lot of documentation and customs had to be cleared before the cheese could be taken abroad. Off Eugene would go to France with the strong-smelling cheese under his arm!

“Back then, it was very strong partly because it was made from unpasteurised milk. Eugene was an affable man and would talk his way out of any corner. It wasn’t long before he found a girl in Le Harve who would deal with his papers swiftly. She loved the cheese and was partial to some Irish brown bread, so I’d make the bread before he set out,” said Mary.

Mary explained that Eugene really loved to travel around France with the cheese, while all the time building up the markets. He would go to the huge market of Rungis in Paris which operated on a Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. He became a regular at the Foreign Trade Expos.

Mary also remembers that the Irish co-ops, Dairygold, Golden Vale, the Irish Dairy Board and Tipperary Co-op were really good to them in those days.

“They’d allow Eugene to keep the cheese in their fridges or even facilitate a meeting for him.”

Then, by chance, an agent called Ardrahan House. At first, Mary and Eugene were sceptical, but the call turned out to be genuine and they realised that much of Eugene’s marketing had paid off.

So, it was easier to move the cheese in France and Holland. It brought a new regime, in that the quantity of cheese had to be ready on the day as ordered so the business grew.

All changed

Everything went well with the Ardrahan cheese-makers until calamity struck in 1989. In the normal run of the business on a dairy farm, they had one dry heifer reactor during a TB test. The consequences were dire.

Overnight, their department documentation vanished and with it went the French market. “I would have thrown in the towel but for the encouragement of Michael Horgan of Horgan’s Delicatessen in Mitchelstown. Michael was great,” added Mary.

Instead, they installed a pasteuriser with support from LEADER and extended the buildings. Then, the English market opened to Ardrahan cheese in 2000, just after Eugene’s death.

“It was the first time that a phonecall came from a company looking for the cheese without Eugene’s intervention and I was so sad. I really regretted that he wasn’t here to know about that call after all his hard work marketing the cheese,” said Mary. “But, that’s life and I just had to get on with it.”

While they all missed him terribly, the two boys were still young and needed their father.

Life for Mary changed considerably with the death of Eugene, who was only 59 at the time of his death. Still, Mary is philosophical, remembering him fondly.

“We had some great years together and I was very lucky to have him for so long.”

Fourteen years on, the sense of loss has abated but Mary still misses her “Jeanie.”

Nevertheless, she is thrilled that her son Gerald came back to farming 11 years ago and now her daughter Elizabeth (O’Keeffe) has also returned to the cheese business.

The Burns family turn out 50t of Ardrahan cheese annually and hope to increase this and develop their markets further. Gerald farms the 200 acres, producing liquid milk from the pedigree herd and supplying North Cork Co-op Creameries in Kanturk.

New products

Gerald also produces Lullaby Milk, which has been shown by scientists at the University Kuopio, Finland, to improve sleeping quality for people who have disturbed sleep patterns.

The cows are milked before daybreak as darkness stimulates the release of melatonin. Melatonin is used by the body to regulate body clock rhythm, making people fall asleep and wake up.

Some parents have decided to try it with children who have erratic sleep patterns and are reporting good results. This milk is packaged separately by Kanturk and can be sourced from any shops that are supplied by Musgraves, such as SuperValu and Centra as well as Dunnes and Tesco.

Ardrahan cheese has won many awards, including the Irish Food Writers Guild annual Good Food award, British Cheese Awards and the World Cheese Awards.

Mary advises anyone with an idea to follow their dream and develop the business.

She also acknowledges that it is time for her to go back to playing bridge to give herself some down time with her friends.

For further details, contact 029-78099 or www.ardrahan cheese.ie