Deirdre McConvey's chic basement café beside O’Brien’s Sandwich Bar on Belfast’s Chichester Street is a real hidden gem.
It’s a small shop with just two tables for customers to sit and have hot chocolate or Suki Tea, wit ... more...
Just as pretty as their original Primrose Café on Carlisle Road, Ciaran and Melanie Breslin's bigger business overlooking the Foyle has an extra touch of continental chic with its jaunty striped awnings and smart outside seating area.
It ... more...
Seasonal and artisan produce are always the heroes on the casual dining menu at Gather restaurant in Tuam. Having pivoted to do takeaway, lifestyle and grocery goods during the pandemic, they then returned to opening as a restaurant 5 days a week with ... more...
Established in 1978 by Dermot and Nicola Herlihy, this family-run business may not be the biggest egg producer in Ireland - but it's a benchmarking operation when it comes to sustainability.
The second generation of the Herlihy family is now involved ... more...
One of the fifth generation of the Wright family, Mark Wright grew up on the family farm at Ballylisk, Co Armagh. He now makes the range of cheeses which began with Ballylisk's Triple Rose.
This white mould ripened, single-herd, triple cream cheese wa ... more...
Established in 1759, and in the same (eccentric) family for six generations, John de Bromhead's unusual pub in Waterford is one of the few remaining houses to bottle its own whiskey. Although not the easiest of places to find, once visited it cert ... more...
Classes/Courses / Hotel / Restaurant / Speciality Store
A stunning property occupying a large corner site on the city’s most gracious Georgian square - overlooking a leafy park and only a minute’s stroll away from the City Art Gallery - this is the luxurious boutique hotel that discerning visito ... more...
When Declan Ryan sold the legendary Arbutus Lodge Hotel in Cork city in 1999, it was obvious that retirement would not suit him. So, inspired by breads he had enjoyed in America and France, Declan set about learning the art of sourdough baking from som ... more...
Fans of the RTE TV Nationwide programme may already be familiar with Sharon Sweeney's seriously impressive special occasion cakes and cupcakes.
She makes both classic and novelty cakes for every conceivable occasion - and gives cake decorating and sug ... more...
Dick & Helene Willems began making cheese here in the Cork Gaeltacht in 1979, and their famous gouda style cheese is now made by their son Dicky.
Made with the pasteurised milk of a neighbouring herd, it is a typically smooth, dense-textured chees ... more...
Our book Ireland for Food Lovers is divided into seven tourist regions and lists just 20 special places to eat and stay in each one - except the South-West, which is so important in both tourism and food terms that Cork and Kerry are given extra coverage, with each counting as a sub-region. The following establishments are great places to stay and especially known for their delicious home produced and local food
Flowers are perfect for special gifts - but not all flowers are equal. Fresh, lively, seasonal flowers from a local grower will out-class the superficial perfection of imported ones any day - and many of our home grown blooms have beautiful natural fragrance too, which is rarely the case with those flown in from afar...
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With a rich historical and maritime legacy, East Cork has a truly unique variety of attractions to offer the visitor.
It is a haven for family holidays with a huge range of activities and attractions to keep the whole family entertained for hours.
In this extensive county, the towns and villages have their own distinctive character. In West Cork, their spirit is preserved in the vigour of the landscape with the handsome coastline where the light of the famous Fastnet Rock swings across tumbling ocean and spray-tossed headland. The county is a repository of the good things of life, a treasure chest of the finest farm produce, and the very best of seafood, brought to market by skilled specialists.
The town of Killarney is where the Ring of Kerry begins and ends for many, among the lakes and mountains where they are re-establishing the enormous white-tailed sea eagle, has long been a magnet for visitors. Across the purple mountains from Killarney, the lovely little town of Kenmare in South Kerry is both a gourmet focus, and another excellent touring centre. As one of the prettiest places in Ireland, Kenmare puts the emphasis on civic pride.
That Galway Bay coastline in Co. Clare is where The Burren, the fantastical North Clare moonscape of limestone which is home to so much unexpectedly exotic flora, comes plunging spectacularly towards the sea around the attractive village of Ballyvaughan.
Connemara, the Land of the Sea, where earth, rock and ocean intermix in one of Ireland's most extraordinary landscapes, and is now as ever a place of angling renown - you're very quickly into the high ground and moorland which sweep up to the Twelve Bens and other splendid peaks, wonderful mountains which enthusiasts would claim as the most beautiful in all Ireland. Beyond, to the south, the Aran Islands are a place apart.
Rivers often divide one county from another, but Fermanagh is divided - or linked if you prefer - throughout its length by the handsome waters of the River Erne, both river and lake. Southeast of the historic county town of Enniskillen, Upper Lough Erne is a maze of small waterways meandering their way into Fermanagh from the Erne'e source in County Cavan.
Co Cavan shares the 667 m peak of Cuilcagh with neighbouring Fermanagh. No ordinary mountain, this - it has underground streams which eventually become the headwaters of the lordly River Shannon, Ireland's longest river that passes south through many counties before exiting at the mighty estuary in Limerick. A magnet for tourism now with boating, fishing, cycling and walking-a-plenty.
Between the sheltered bays at the foot of the Glens of Antrim, the sea cliffs of the headlands soar with remarkable rock formations which, on the North Coast, provide the setting for the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the Giant's Causeway.
A selective companion guide to our famous broad-based online collection, the ‘glovebox bible’ includes a uniquely diverse range of Ireland's greatest places to ...