Founded in 1979 by John and Bridget Roberts, this famous and beautifully located smokehouse near Clifden is now run very successfully by their son Graham and his wife Saoirse.
They offer an appealing range of products and have earned a reputation for excellence, as they explain it themselves, “by following a simple recipe: fresh fish, natural ingredients, and traditional smoking methods that have stood the test of time.”
Recognition has come from many quarters, including Rick Stein's Food Heroes and Good Food Ireland awards for specialities that include wild and organic salmon, line-caught Irish tuna, other traditional smoked fish such as kippers and mackerel, and also marinated fish products including a gorgeous gravadlax.
But one of the best things about the Connemara Smokehouse is the smokehouse tours which operate every Wednesday in season (at 3pm - booking advised), when the whole process is demonstrated and tastings are offered.
There is a shop at the smokehouse and visitors are welcome on weekdays (except lunch hour, 1-2pm); group tours can be arranged at any time, all year.
2024 saw a big change at the smokehouse, when Graham and Saoirse opened a café in a restored two-storey building just a few steps from the smokehouse. An ideal way to showcase their ever-growing range of products, it's an ambitious project with a deli-servery on the ground floor and seating over two levels. While it's open all day in summer, you need to be there between noon and 3pm for the lunchtime offering of Connemara Smokehouse Specials (platters of smoked fish), otherwise there's a small menu of drinks and light snacks.
