How did Ireland become a food destination? Thanks go to chefs like John Coffey of Athlone’s Thyme Restaurant and Belfast’s Niall McKenna of the Waterman House, both past Irish Stew guests.

But ask those chefs that question and they’ll thank their lucky stars for the local producers who supply the fresh vegetables, fruit, meat, seafood, and dairy that make their cooking soar.

So Irish Stew went Off the Beaten Craic to Daingean, Co. Offaly, to talk with two farmers on the vanguard of Ireland’s organic agriculture boom in an historic Georgian farmhouse at the heart of Mount Briscoe Organic Farm.

Margaret Edgill set aside her marketing and event planning career in Dublin to take over Mount Briscoe, which her family has farmed for seven generations. Joining her for the conversation was her Geashill, Co. Offaly neighbor Pippa Hackett, also an organic farmer and Ireland’s former Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Margaret describes the privilege of stewarding Mount Briscoe and the many ways she’s infusing renewed life and new ideas into the land with a mix of organic beef production, upscale B&B accommodations, a shade more rustic “glamping” experiences, artisan food production, memorable farm-to-fork experiences, and public programs designed to celebrate the traditions and vitality of rural life.

Pippa draws on her background in science and public service to champion greener, more sustainable farming practices, sharing insights shaped by her years on the farm and in government. “If you have a healthy environment and a healthy farm, you’re going to have healthy animals and produce healthy foods,” she says, adding that with organic farming, “There's a great sort of magic in it--you actually have to do less work to get more."

The pair delve into Ireland’s “Origin Green” brand, the ongoing debate between organic and conventional farming methods, the lopsided economics that farmers juggle, the benefits of Irish people consuming Irish produce, and how hands-on rural experiences can counteract the growing urban disconnect with what’s on their plates.

Margaret offers her “wellies-on-the-ground” perspectives as both a farmer and owner of an agritourism business adding to the Hidden Heartlands tourism mix, talking up Ireland's potential as a green island destination, sharing how North Americans come to Mount Briscoe seeking heritage, tranquility, and authentic farm experiences, how guests look to disconnect with a digital detox, and how as climate change is making traditionally hot destinations less appealing, she’s seeing first-hand the growing appeal “cool-cationing” in Ireland…even with its rainy days.

And it was a rainy day indeed when Irish Stew visited Mount Briscoe Farm, but to cohosts John and Martin, the lush fields looked all the greener for it.

Next week Irish Stew visits another Offlay farm and slogs through a bog to explore the innovative Peatlands for Prosperity initiative.

Links

Margaret Edgill

• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• Facebook

Mount Briscoe Farm

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook

Pippa Hackett

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

Despite the “Off the Beaten Craic” theme to the current Irish Stew podcast series, on this episode hosts Martin Nutty and John Lee follow the well-worn track of history that flows through Athlone like the broad River Shannon.

Their guide is the affable Vincent Harney of Athlone Guided Tours, a well-researched, perceptive storyteller who peels back the layers of the Athlone story from atop Athlone Castle, while crossing the Shannon, and as they trod the ancient streets back into the very heart of Irish history.

Along with local history, Vincent shares his story of growing up in a big farm family in nearby Cornafulla, the post office his parents operated, his own time as postmaster, and lessons learned working the family farm.

“In the post office, I loved hearing the old people’s stories and hearing about their history. And we would know the history of the fields around us, like the one field given away for a loaf of bread during the famine,” Vincent recalls.

Inspired by those stories, Vincent started a new career leading historical walking tours to share how Athlone’s origins as a river ford placed it at the crossroads of Irish history, how Norman and Cromwellian armies both marched over its first timber bridge, about the accommodation built into the stone bridge for the gentry's sail boats, and why the railway bridge was considered an engineering marvel of its day.

Vincent reveals Athlone's surprising connections to the Titanic disaster with the sad tale of the ill-fated passenger Margaret Rice, whose body could only be identified by the shoes she wore, purchased from the venerable Parsons of Athlone in the red brick building that still stands today at the corner of Custume Place and Northgate Street.

Vincent spins a happier tale about Athlone native John McCormack, tracing the singer’s unlikely rise from a working-class family to global fame as one of the greatest tenors of all time.

The episode wraps with Vincent making a compelling case for visiting Ireland and coming to Athlone when you do, reminding us, “the history of Ireland is here in Athlone.”

Next week, Irish Stew talks organic farming and agritourism in Offaly with Margaret Edgill of Mt. Briscoe Farm and Pippa Hackett, former Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Links

Athlone Guided Tours

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook
• Tripadvisor

Hidden Heartlands Travel Resources

• Ireland.com
• Discover Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands

Irish Stew Links

• Website
• Episode Page: Vincent Harney
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• X
• Facebook
• TikTok

Episode Details: Season 7, Episode 32; Total Episode Count: 135

The oldest pub in Ireland, Europe…the world?

Lend an ear as we explore the legend and lore of Sean’s Bar with the pub’s official storyteller Timmy Donovan. A central character in the Sean’s Bar story for the past 37 years, Timmy flips the calendar back to AD 900 when Luain Mac Luighdeach set up an inn on the banks of the Shannon which would evolve over the centuries into the Sean’s Bar of today.

He points out the ancient wicker-and-wattle construction unearthed in the venerable pub’s plaster walls and the slanting floor that carried medieval floodwaters through the bar down to the nearby river as just two signs of the pub’s antiquity.

Of the eye-catching memorabilia layering the pub’s walls, Timmy may be the proudest of the Guinness World Record certificate proclaiming Sean’s to be the oldest pub in the world.

That and the monster trout on display that Timmy himself landed in the nearby Lough, evidence of the prime fishing that has long drawn anglers to the region.
Timmy tells the saga of the Vikings sailing up the Shannon deep into the Hidden Heartlands, how for local monks distilling whiskey was doing God’s work, why hundreds of police uniform patches festoon the pub walls, and how American football fans are beating a path to Sean’s door.

Sean’s Bar not only dispenses a full range of pints and pours, the legendary pub also serves its own Sean's Whiskey, now an integral part of the pub's identity, for which Timmy is a most compelling spokesperson.

The monks would be proud, Timmy.

Sláinte!

LINKS

Sean’s Bar

• Website
• Facebook
• Instagram

Hidden Heartlands Travel Resources

• Ireland.com
• Discover Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands

Irish Stew Links

• Website
• Episode Page: Timmy Donovan
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• X
• Facebook
• TikTok

Episode Details: Season 7, Episode 31; Total Episode Count: 134