Highlights - West Cork People

Back to Heir Island in the fifties

Eugene Daly December, 2023

Heir Island in the early 1950s has left a store of memories in my mind, which I will never forget. There was no electricity, no running water; the people were poor in a monetary sense, yet there was richness in their lives. The only sounds were the sounds of nature […]

Penguins on thin ice

Dr Jeremy A. Dorman December, 2023

Climate change can have a devastating effect on animals that have spent thousands or millions of years adapting to a particular lifestyle. In Ireland, the weather is always changeable – an early spring might encourage birds to nest too soon, only for their chicks to be killed off by snow […]

In defence of the octopus

Dr Jeremy A. Dorman November, 2023

I once received a postcard from a friend in Greece which showed a fisherman bashing an octopus against a pier wall. Jane Grigson wrote, in her excellent ‘Fish Cookery’, that fishermen in the Mediterranean insist an octopus has to be beaten 99 times before it is fit for the pot. I […]

Urru reaches the first 20 years in its remarkable food journey

WCP Staff November, 2023

Urru Culinary Store Bandon celebrates 20 years this year. The woman behind Bandon’s beloved food emporium, Ruth Healy, chats to Mary O’Brien about the highlights and challenges in reaching this milestone, her foodie roots and how the combination of a good idea, hard graft, luck and optimism have paid off […]

Happy pigs on Dundeady free range farm

Tommy Moyles November, 2023

If you’re travelling along the Wild Atlantic Way, in the vicinity of the Galley Head lighthouse and Long Strand at Castlefreke, you may have noticed the appearance of a small herd of pigs in recent years. Shane Kenneally and his family started breeding pigs on the small holding they have […]

Pushing the boundaries of baking

Mary O'Brien November, 2023

When Lettercollum Kitchen Project retired at the end of last year, Clonakilty mourned the loss of its healthy gourmet go-to. The space sat empty for a spell and tummies rumbled and grumbled but then the arrival of spring brought hope of a new artisan bakery and deli moving in. After […]

Categories