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West Limerick Food Destination group invites lovers to taste History

West Limerick Food Destination Group at Glin Castle at the commencement of the West Limerick Food Destination Programme.

West Limerick Food Destination group invites lovers to taste History

A host of award-winning producers, growers, chefs, cafes, and restaurants from West Limerick will launch the West Limerick Food Destination at a special event next week, November 12th.

Fiercely proud of their food heritage and the natural bounty of West Limerick and eager to share their food and heritage with the world, this group seeks to encourage visitors to spend more time in the area by enjoying local foods and finding out more about the people behind those foods.


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Participating businesses are located all around the area, from Abbeyfeale to Dromcolloger, Adare to Newcastlewest and many places in between.  The launch event takes place at the Leahy Family Farm in Monagea, home to one of the newest products to emerge from West Limerick, Bally Goat Cheese.  In fact, this cheese has already been recognized for quality and excellence at the recent Blas na hÉireann awards.

The group has produced a visitor leaflet that introduces all the great food locations and people in West Limerick and will host a series of food events over the course of the 2020 season.

In the rolling pastures of West Limerick, you will find the finest agricultural land on the entire island.  No surprise then that it’s home to producers and purveyors of the very finest dairy, beef, pork, and lamb produced in the country. It has been renowned for centuries as The Larder of Ireland.  It’s a place of great castles and quaint villages, where every turn in the road reveals a landscape rich in history, folklore, and legend.  From this background comes the group’s slogan of ‘Taste the History’.

West Limerick Food Destination Group at Glin Castle at the commencement of the West Limerick Food Destination Programme.

Cllr. Olivia Collins of Limerick Food Group, Caitriona Scully of West Limerick Resources, Wade Murphy of 1826 Adare, Tom Flavin of The Strand Hotel Limerick, Tina O’Dwyer of The Tourism Space and Sinead Hennessy of Fáilte Ireland. Photo was taken in Glin Castle.

The project has been led by West Limerick Resources, who secured funding through the LEADER program for a comprehensive training and networking program for West Limerick Food Destination.  “We saw that there are amazing growers, producers, chefs and restaurateurs all around West Limerick working with some of the finest produce in Ireland.  We felt there was a wonderful opportunity to bring these businesses together in order to share the great heritage and taste of West Limerick Food with visitors from all around Ireland and further afield”, explains Caitriona Scully of West Limerick Resources. 

Food Tourism has become very important over the last decade.  More and more visitors are interested in hearing about and tasting local food, the so-called ‘place on a plate’ effect. This year, Fáilte Ireland launched the Taste the Island Campaign, an international campaign. designed to grow Ireland’s reputation as a food destination of distinction.  “The time is right for West Limerick to bring its story to the world and encourage visitors to stay longer and spend more in the area” according to Caitriona Scully.

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Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.