Lucinda O'Sullivan's Ireland

Monday 05 August 2013

FOOD tourism is a huge industry around the world and something that has been growing in Ireland in the past few years. There is no doubt but that when businesses in a region or town band together it proves to be to everyone's advantage.

Basically, it is very simple. You have to make it easy for the 'punter' to find you, and what your area has to offer, as a package. Kinsale was the first to practise this with the Good Food Circle and the Kinsale Gourmet Festival back in 1976 and it went on to make them a destination for every foodie tourist to Ireland. Obviously everybody is basically interested in their own business, but in Kinsale if one restaurant was booked out they would recommend another member of the Good Food Circle. It is also a very positive image to promote, a feelgood factor for the visitor, to have one business person recommending another restaurant rather than taking a side swipe at them, as happens too often in the very competitive food world.

The folks down in Kilkenny along with Kilkenny Tourism (www.visitkilkenny.ie and www.trailkilkenny.ie) are really getting it together to promote what is an amazing city and county awash with great places to eat, walk, and generally enjoy oneself. Trail Kilkenny has just launched a new 36-page comprehensive directory covering food, crafts, walking and cycling. Kilkenny was at the forefront of craft in Ireland with the trailblazing Kilkenny Design Centre, which is celebrating its 40th birthday. In addition, the Kilkenny Arts Festival, which runs from Friday to August 18, is also celebrating its 40th birthday, and will bring the very best of music, theatre, literature, visual art, dance, craft, children's and street theatre. After its resounding success last year, in what was supposed to be a one-off appearance, there is a return visit of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, with an outdoor performance in the Castle Yard of The Taming of the Shrew. Macnas will be at the festival, as will Olwen Fouere with her performance of Riverrun. You will get all the details on www.kilkennyarts.ie

Kilkenny has attracted people from all over the world including the amazing Rudolph Heltzel, who has been at the forefront of the craft movement with his handmade jewellery since 1966, and is now joined by his son in his studio shop on Patrick Street. The original craft trail, which took you relatively simply from Kilkenny down to Bennettsbridge to the Nicholas Mosse Pottery and then on to another longstanding craft industry, Jerpoint Glass at Thomastown, has been vastly expanded. Rebranded as the Made in Kilkenny Craft Trail it covers potters, jewellers, glass-blowers, a candlemaker and stonecarver, as well as weavers, a leatherworker and a milliner.

Some 18 months ago, a new Taste of Kilkenny Food Trail was launched, covering restaurants, cafes, food producers, food shops and pubs in the area. You could have a wonderful few days working from this trail alone, or just cherry-picking those you fancied.

You could start out in the shadow of the glorious Kilkenny Castle at Kilkenny Design Centre itself, which has an excellent restaurant upstairs utilising the best of local produce, from Knockdrinna goats cheese to Milleeven Honey. Other restaurants in Kilkenny included are Ristorante Rinuccini, Antonio Cavaliere's brilliant Italian restaurant, Foodworks on Parliament Street, Campagne and Zuni, Langton's Tea Rooms, Marble City Bar & Tea Rooms, Sol Bistro, The Watergarden and The Blackberry Cafe in Thomastown, The Thatch Pub at Kilmacow, and the gorgeous Mount Juliet Hotel, also in Thomastown.

If you want to see food at its source, you can visit Cillin Hill Market on the Dublin Road in Kilkenny and see cattle and sheep being sold. After that, call to Mary McEvoy's A Slice of Heaven on High Street and treat yourself to some fabulous cakes, or you can have Cramer's Grove Ice Cream at The Goods Shed at McDonagh Junction. Take a trip out to the pretty village of Gowran to Siobhan and Derek Lawler's Glasrai & Goodies – a veritable treasure trove of delicious foods and treats. It's hard to believe there is such a variety of goodies in such a small place. Pick up a picnic here and go across the road to the ruins of the 13th Century St Mary's Abbey to indulge.

Helen Finnegan's Knockdrinna Cheese and Farm Shop at Stoneyford has a little animal farm, so the kids can see the animals. Check out Helen's cheese-making courses which run throughout the year. Highbank Organic Farm at Cuffesgrange is where Rod and Julie Calder-Potts produce fabulous apple juice, and Cuffesgrange too is where Anne Neary's Ryeland Cookery School is based.

At Thomastown you can meet the fantastically innovative Margaret and Ger Kirwan who run their Goatsbridge Trout Farm producing delicious fresh and smoked trout which you will see on many menus around the country. Last year they launched wonderful Irish Trout Caviar, which is as good as it gets. Who would ever have thought "Caviar from Kilkenny" – brilliant. Margaret Kirwan says: "Our trout are available for direct sale to all visitors – just let us know when you are coming." After you've picked up your trout and caviar, hop back to the centre of Thomastown to The Truffle Fairy and indulge in some of Mary Teehan's beautiful handmade chocolates.

Mary and Tony Walsh produce oven-ready chicken and geese under the label Kilkenny Free Range on the Callan Road – you might even want to order your Christmas goose – and then you can pop down to one of the oldest bakeries in the country, Keogh's Model Bakery in Callan, which has been there since 1838. From Olivia Goodwillie's Lavistown Gourmet Sausages to Oldtown Hill Farmhouse Bakery, Kilkenny is a foodie's paradise.

With the success of the Kilkenny 'Trails' a free 36-page Trail Kilkenny Directory has been launched encompassing the food and craft trails and free maps for five scenic walks, three river walks and four cycle routes at different levels. You can do the 12km Brandon Hill Loop in five hours, which is deemed "hard", or the Kilmacoliver Loop, which is 6km, takes two hours and is deemed "moderate". There are north and south Kilkenny cycling routes linking in with the food and craft trails and this is a brilliant initiative for tourism in Kilkenny. So now you are alerted to all you can do in the county, get out your walking shoes and prepare for the Kilkenny Walking Festival, which has been rebranded Kilkenny Trails Festival, and takes place throughout the month of September with all sorts of events such as guided nature walks, family walks, a bat walk, birdwatching and foraging along the rivers.

Walks with a heritage and cultural interest at Mount Juliet and Shankill Castle promise to be spectacular with herbaceous border blooming and orchards laden. Fitness walks are also planned, which are designed to get you into the walking habit on autumn evenings, and also a very important focus too on accessible walks on an easy terrain designated for those with reduced mobility, or looking for buggy-friendly routes. Check this out on www.kilkennywalkingfestival.ie

The new Trail Kilkenny Directory is available through the offices of the Kilkenny People newspaper on High Street, as well as from the Kiosk on the Parade, the tourist information office and at all top tourist locations.

When you have done all of that you will be ready for the seventh Savour Kilkenny Food Festival at the October Bank Holiday weekend! www. savourkilkenny.com

FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT ON AUGUST 4, 2013