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Taste of The Boyne Valley Food Trail
Join us on this Farm to Fork Food Trail
Our Farm to Fork Food Trail is chance for you to visit some of the best food producers Ireland has to offer. We can organize a half day tour or a full day tour. Each tour can be customized to focus on your groups tastes so contact us if you would like to get off the beaten track and meet the Makers…
Meet the Makers A Tour of The Boyne Valley
Ireland has long been the mark of excellence when it comes to producing food. We are traditionally known for the likes of our mouthwatering butter and world-class quality beef but over the last number of years there has been a surge of groundbreaking food and drink producers that are turning heads. In this one day tour from Dublin, Irish Food Trail would like to take you on a special Foodie journey to the county of Meath & The Boyne Valley. Join us to meet the people behind the taste of some of Ireland best Artizan produce handmade culinary creations along the way!
Boyne Valley Goats Cheese Tour
First stop is a visit to Michael Finnagen family farm in the heart of the Boyne Valley. Here you will taste the award winning Boyne Valley Blue Goats Cheese. You will also meet the 300 goats that Michael looks after with loving care to produce some of Ireland’s best quality goats cheese. Michael will take you around the farm to meet his goats and show you what’s involved in getting his cheese from the goat to your plate ! Enjoy a delicious tasting before you leave.
Rock farm Organic Tour
Next we visit one of the most engaging and interesting eco farms Rock farm at Slane castle. Located on Ireland’s eastern coast, within easy reach of Dublin and Belfast, the Boyne Valley boasts a breath-taking landscape through the rolling countryside and waterways of County Meath and County Louth. Known as the Ancient Capital of Ireland, the valley’s rich history reaches deep into the past as the renowned home of World Heritage listed, prehistoric passage tombs of Knowth, Newgrange and Dowth. For more than 300 years, the Boyne Valley has also been home to the Conyngham family who have created an indelible legacy on an exquisitely set 1500-acre estate, by the banks of the River Boyne, within the rural village of Slane. This is a unique opportunity to explore three diverse experiences, all connected by the Conynghams, within a true Irish castle estate
After a tour of the farm you’ll get a change to put your hands on some raw flour from the local mill to use and bake some bread which you’ll have with some hearty homemade soup or stew on the farm.
Slane Whiskey Distillery
Slane Distillery is a brand new visitor centre and world-class working Distillery where Slane Irish Whiskey is produced. Located in Ireland’s Ancient East, Slane Distillery is in the heart of the Boyne Valley which is on Dublin’s doorstep. We are situated next to Slane Castle which is only…
Located on the 1500-acre estate of Slane Castle, within the castle’s 18th century restored stable yard, Slane Distillery is the homeplace of the triple distilled and triple casked Slane Irish Whiskey. Slane Distillery and Slane Irish Whiskey was born out of a kinship between the Conyngham family of Slane Castle and the Brown-Forman Corporation of Kentucky, purveyors of Jack Daniel’s. Today, visitors to Slane Distillery experience our whiskey’s store within the reality of a modern, working distillery as they move through micro malting, mash house, brew house, still house, cooperage, and maturation warehouse. Finally, visitors will finish the tour in the best way possible, with a taste of our signature triple casked blend, Slane Irish Whiskey. Following the tour, visitors will have time to visit our luxury gift shop where they can purchase anything from a Slane Irish Whiskey t-shirt to a fill-your-own bottle of Slane Irish Whiskey. Visitors can fill their bottle straight from the cask and put a personalised message on the bottle!
The Cider Mill & Cockagee Cider Tasting
We finally visit an apple orchard and home to Cockagee Cider. Mark, is an award winning cider producer has been making this prized liquid for many happy years. Produced on his home farm, Mark will take you to see his orchard and explain how apple cider is made before you finally get to taste some samples. What a wonderful way to finish this foodie fiesta !
Private Tours & Events
Contact Us – We can arrange your own custom experience
The Cider Mill Tour
An up close and personal visit to The Cider Mill offers a unique backstage pass into the world of traditional farmhouse cider making and home of the multi award winning Cockagee Irish Keeved Cider. Situated on an old Georgian farmhouse and orchards in Stackallan, Slane, right in the heart of Irelands Ancient East, with magnificent vistas of the Rathkenny hills and glens as backdrop.
Learn about the rich history and heritage of our native apples and cider making in Ireland together with the fascinating story of the once famous Irish Cockagee apple tree. This tree, its apples, and the cider made from it were all known as Cockagee and first mentioned in written records in 1664 indicating its existence in the 1500’s or before. Visit the cider barn and see first hand the apple washing, milling, pressing and fermenting process and how it has been done for centuries on a traditional Rack & Cloth Press and delve into the mysterious art of Keeved Cider, an ancient Irish fermentation method long abandoned but revived again here with Ireland’s only Keeved Cider.
This is followed by a visit to our museum display and tasting room where a tutored tasting of five different cider styles will open your eyes and taste buds to a world of unique and elegant ciders that excite, surprise and transcend peoples understanding of what real cider truly is. Our ultimate goal here is to return cider to its rightful position as Ireland’s national beverage and original wine of the land, as it once was for over a thousand years of Irish history.
The Cider Mill Tour with Mark Jenkinson (www.cockagee.ie)
Meet the Chef Cooking Demo & Craft Beer Tasting
Beer & Sausage Tasting
Our job is certainly not boring, when recently we were asked to put together an experience for “The Norwegian Christmas Beer & Sausage Appreciation Society” for their trip to Dublin. We were up for the challenge.
[Read more…] about Meet the Chef Cooking Demo & Craft Beer TastingLonely Planet names Galway the 4th best city in the world
Visit Galway the City of Culture in 2020
Galway has been named the fourth best city in the world to visit in 2020 by Lonely Planet – coming in ahead of cities like La Paz, Vancouver and Denver. The leading travel media company unveiled the accolade today (Monday, 21 October) in the prestigious Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2020 – its collection of the world’s hottest trends, destinations and experiences for the coming year.
Tourism Ireland plans to take every opportunity to maximise this accolade for Galway over the coming weeks and months. Its promotional campaign will roll out in Britain, the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Welcoming the news, “The inclusion of Galway as the Number Four City in the world in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2020 is wonderful news and will surely help to inspire travellers everywhere to put Galway and the Wild Atlantic Way on their holiday wish-list for next year. It is another well-deserved accolade, which provides Tourism Ireland with a great hook to continue to promote Galway and Ireland around the world as a ‘must visit’ destination.”
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland,
Galway is described in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2020 as “brilliantly bohemian” and “arguably Ireland’s most engaging city”. It goes on to talk about Galway 2020 and says: “vivid and vibrant, brimful of imagination, Galway in 2020 is home to a year-long, city-wide, arty party”.
Tourism Ireland’s campaign to leverage the accolade will roll out over the coming weeks. Activity to spread the good news will include:
- a new video highlighting Galway city and county and Galway 2020; click here to view;
- a specially created page on Tourism Ireland’s international website, Ireland.com, which attracted 20+ million visitors last year;
- extensive social media activity, including posts and news on Facebook (Tourism Ireland has 4.4 million fans worldwide), Instagram (around 630,500 followers) and Twitter (523,000 followers);
- a major PR and publicity push to Tourism Ireland’s 20,000 international media contacts (including an article on the organisation’s online press room); and
- highlighting the accolade at major travel fairs like the upcoming World Travel Market in London, the largest B2B event in the global travel and tourism calendar.
Bridgette Brew, Galway 2020; Nóirín Hegarty, VP Digital Content, Lonely Planet; Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland; and Patricia Philbin, CEO of Galway 2020, at the announcement Galway has been named the fourth best city in the world to visit in 2020 by Lonely Planet.
Lonely Planet top 10 cities
Top ten cities in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2020 are:
- Salzburg, Austria
- Washington DC, USA
- Cairo, Egypt
- Galway
- Bonn, Germany
- La Paz, Bolivia
- Kochi, India
- Vancouver, Canada
- Dubai, UAE
- Denver, USA
Check out our Irish Food Trail “Galway Experience” food tour.
Bloomsday Festival – The Joyce of Food 2019
Take a culinary stroll through the world of James Joyce. Every year the Irish Food Trail takes inspiration from the pages of Joyce’s Ulysses. This event aims to bring the pages of Joyce alive as locals and visitors alike get to explore the sights, sounds and flavours of Dublin City.
[Read more…] about Bloomsday Festival – The Joyce of Food 2019The Whiskey Trail Deluxe Rag Trader
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The Rag Trader opened in 2016 is a new bar in the city centre with a classic Dublin theme. A cosy homely styled bar located at the back entrance to Dublin’s popular bar Dakota. This classic styled bar captures the rag trader era from the moment you enter the venue.
[Read more…] about The Whiskey Trail Deluxe Rag TraderIrish Craft Beer & Food Pairings
The principles behind successful food and craft beer pairings are not too far removed from those of wine. Our beer pairing guide includes: a definition of craft beer, an outline of essential terminology, a breakdown of the most popular beer types and advice on food pairing.
[Read more…] about Irish Craft Beer & Food PairingsVisit Boxty House on The Deluxe Irish Food Trail
Local is where the heart finds home
Walking through the door of the Boxty house feels like arriving home to me, there is agenuineness to the real Irish welcome you will find here – they’re not being polite because they’ve been trained to be, it’s very relaxed. This restaurant is homely, authentic the staff (our friends) are genuinely interested in where you come from and why you came here. Your first experience of a place will influence how you feel about the rest of your journey, so we recommend you start it here.
[Read more…] about Visit Boxty House on The Deluxe Irish Food Trail