Tag Archives: Burren Smokehouse

CLARE Jam Company enjoyed a sweet moment this weekend winning gold at the Blas na hÉireann Awards in Dingle. It wasn’t for one of their tasty fruit preserves however, as the company name implies, but for one of their savoury products – traditional Doolin mustard. The Doolin company’s versatility was rewarded with gold by the judges and they also took the ‘Best in Clare for 2022’ award. Two other Burren-based businesses were also successful, gaining silver and bronze at the leading food awards. The Burren Smokehouse won silver for their Cold Smoked Honey and Dill salmon, while St Tola Irish Goat cheese won bronze for their St Tola Karst cheese. This year’s finalists and winners got to experience the Blas Village for the first time. Located in the heart of Dingle, this pop-up village was built for producers across the country to come together and celebrate the very best of Irish food and drink for Blas’s first in-person event in …

A 41-year-old Scotsman who brought his dog to a burglary appeared in court this week, after he broke into The Burren Smokehouse in Lisdoonvarna and stole a credit card machine. Sean O’Neill, who is originally from Glasgow but has an address at Rooska, Lisdoonvarna, pleaded guilty to burglary at The Burren Smokehouse in Lisdoonvarna on August 2, 2017, and also to possession of cannabis at his address on August 5, 2017. At Wednesday’s sitting of Ennis District Court, Inspector Tom Kennedy outlined that O’Neill broke into the business premises by breaking a glass panel in the door. “He took a wireless machine for credit cards. That is how he was detected, because he tried to use his card in the machine later that day,” he said. Inspector Kennedy told the court that, in total, between the damage and the loss of the machine, the smokehouse was out of pocket to the tune of €700. Inspector Kennedy said when gardaí went …

Two County Clare organic food producers have been shortlisted for the upcoming National Organic Awards, organised by Bord Bia and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Hens’ eggs from Rathlir Farm, Kilrush are shortlisted in the Best Fresh Product category, while the Burren Smokehouse’s Smoked Irish Organic Salmon is shortlisted in the Best Prepared Product category. Following judging by a team of industry experts, just 20 companies were shortlisted across seven categories. The National Organic Awards, which mark the achievements of Irish organic food and drink growers and manufacturers who create excellent quality organic products in Ireland, will take place at Bord Bia’s Dublin headquarters on Thursday, October 13. This year’s prestigious judging panel included JP McMahon, Michelin-starred chef from Aniar restaurant, Co.Galway; freelance journalists Suzanne Campbell and Oliver Moore; Alan Kinnear, International Buying Manager, Ocado, UK online retailer; Al Overton, Head of Buying, Planet Organic, UK’s largest fully certified organic supermarket; Lisa Garrett, Innovation Chef with Le …

A North Clare business woman was one of 150 guests invited to attend a reception in NUI Galway, honouring the first official joint visit of the Prince of Wales and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall. Birgitta Curtin described the event as “very special”, especially given that she witnessed the historic first meeting and handshake between Prince Charles and Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams. Deputy Adams described their handshake “as a symbol” of the progress that has been made since the Prince’s first visit to Ireland in 1995. Birgitta described the atmosphere as “very relaxed” adding that she “didn’t know it was going to happen”. “Of course then it dawned on me that this was extremely significant,” she recalled. While the handshake and brief introduction, witnessed by Birgitta, lasted just 30 seconds, the pair later held a 10-minute private meeting. Prince Charles, in his first speech of the couple’s four-day visit to both sides of the Irish border, told the …

THE Burren Smokehouse has landed a year-long contract to supply its trademark product at a world-famous department store in London. Burren Smoked Irish Wild Salmon, which is produced by the Burren Smokehouse, will be offered for sale at Harrod’s Food Hall in the latest commercial success for the Lisdoonvarna-based company. It already supplies its products overseas to KaDeWe Berlin, Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason. The family-run company sources its wild salmon from commercial fisherman, Mick Murphy, on the River Nore in County Kilkenny, before smoking the fish in the Burren. Mr Murphy, accompanied by Burren Smokehouse owner, Birgitta Hedin-Curtin, this week landed the first commercially-caught wild salmon in Ireland this year, near the historic Kilkenny village of Inistioge. “Mick Murphy catches the wild salmon in the traditional way, with snap-netting and in traditional flat-bottomed fishing vessels called cots. Conditions have been difficult this year, due to weather conditions, and the catch is late coming. “However, that has made the first …