Living the Sheep's Head Way

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Walk and Whiskey Island Tour

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Walk and Whiskey Island Tour

Get a real taste of Ireland on a walk and whiskey tour of Whiddy Island!

Take the short ferry trip from historic Bantry, and islander Tim O’Leary will share the secrets of the West Cork island’s past.

On your guided walk, you’ll encounter traces left by previous generations, from Martello towers to the old schoolhouse. Then we’ll head to Whiddy’s Bank House pub to sample the distinctive flavours of Ireland’s exciting new single malt, single cask whiskies.

Guided Walk Through Whiddy’s Past

The short ferry ride offers you wonderful views of Bantry Bay and Bantry House as you sail to Whiddy Island – sheltered by the beautiful mountains of the Beara peninsula to the north and the Sheep’s Head peninsula to the south.

Whiddy is one of seven inhabited West Cork islands, and it has a fascinating story to tell. Your guide, Tim O’Leary will share it with you as you discover the traces of its history that remain to this day in the form of Martello towers, a gun battery, and other historic sites.

Enjoy Great Irish Whiskey At a Bank House Tasting Session

After your walk, retire to Whiddy Island’s Bank House pub where Liquid Curiosity‘s Jaq Stedman will take you on a kind of whiskey tour, introducing you to the distinctive flavours of Ireland’s exciting new whiskies. You’ll have a wonderful time trying the best single malt, single cask whiskies Ireland has to offer.

We’ll begin with Dingle Single Malt – this is Ireland’s first new whiskey to come of age in almost half a decade. During a fascinating tasting session, we’ll try five exceptional single malt Irish whiskies matured in different types of casks. Even better, you’ll match their great flavours with some of West Cork’s fine local artisan produce to complete this delicious experience!

Group Tour Details

The tour takes 4.25 hours, including ferry trips. The island walk takes about 2.5 hours and it will take place over mixed terrain so good shoes are required. The walk will finish at The Bank House pub where you’ll enjoy your whiskey tasting session before you return to Bantry. The ferry journey takes approximately ten minutes each way.

The walking route is accessible to anyone who is used to walking regularly.

Bookings

Advance booking is essential, and we are happy to help make plans for private groups, tour operators and West Cork cruise tours. Either choose a scheduled date on our event calendar, or contact us to arrange a bespoke guided tour.

The ‘Walk and Whiskey Tour’ fee (€35) includes your ferry trip to Whiddy Island, a guided walk, and your whiskey tasting session.

Contact

For more details, contact Siobhán Burke on 086 303 0991 or email

Manning’s Emporium Food Tours

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Manning’s Emporium Food Tours brings you to the very heart of West Cork’s foodie culture with its absorbing day tours

If you love the local food you’re tasting along the Wild Atlantic Way, take a Manning’s Emporium foodie tour and you’ll discover how the spirit of West Cork infuses the flavours on your plate.

Each of our exclusive tours gives a distinct flavour, not just of the region’s deservedly famous artisan cheeses, hams and other delicacies, but of the people who make them, and the places that inspire them.

Manning’s Emporium has a reputation as one of the best places to eat in West Cork. Now its guides will take you into the heart of West Cork’s foodie scene to meet our passionate producers, and to explore the landscapes in which they work.

This is the perfect way to get a taste for artisan produce, and to learn more about the people, places and seascapes that give West Cork food its unique character.

All Manning’s Emporium food tours must be booked in advance.

Location:Ballylickey, Bantry, Co. Cork [N71 - Bantry to Glengarriff Road]
Opening Hours:Daily, 9am-7pm
Winter Hours:Closed Mondays
Tel:00 353 (0)27 50456
Email:[email protected]
Website:http://www.manningsemporium.ie
Wheelchair accessible?Access to undercover area, however no bathroom facilities.
Wi-Fi Available?Yes
Credit Cards:Yes
Special Dietary Requirements?Vegetarian, options available. Wide variety of gluten-free speciality items.
TripAdvisor Reviews: Yes
Facebook:Yes
Twitter:@emporiummanning

Eat Mussels The Sheep’s Head Way

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Eat Mussels the Sheep's Head Way
Diarmaid Murphy (The Fish Kitchen); Pat Kiely (O’Connor’s Seafood Restaurant); and Trish Messom (The Stuffed Olive) will be cooking mussels ‘the Sheep’s Head Way’ as part of a weekend celebrating the great food culture that exists along West Cork’s renowned Sheep’s Head Way walking route (May 23rd-25th).

Come to West Cork and ‘Eat Mussels the Sheep’s Head Way’ in an event that will celebrate Bantry Bay’s iconic seafood, and the quality of cooking along the famous Sheep’s Head Way walking route.

Bantry is, of course, famous the world over for its mussels which are produced in the bay’s pure waters, overlooked by the Sheep’s Head and Beara peninsulas on either side.

Over the May weekend, restaurants along the Sheep’s Head Way will be showing how they’re inspired by local mussels. Each foodie team along the walking route – which runs from Bantry town to the end of the Sheep’s Head peninsula, and from Gougane Barra to Ballylickey – will be interpreting this classic ingredient in a way that showcases its own skills and styles.

Visitors will have the chance to attend cookery demonstrations, and sample mussel dishes prepared in the distinctive style of local restaurants:

• Visit The Good Things Café for a cooking demonstration followed by a mussel-themed dinner at the wonderful Blairscove House & Restaurant. [Booking Essential]
• Taste mussels with samphire, or mussels with West Cork whiskey and honey sauce, at O’Connor’s Seafood Restaurant.
• Tuck in to moules frites and stout at The Fish Kitchen.
• Savour mussels in garlic & cream sauce served with home-made chips at Arundel’s by the Pier in Ahakista.
• Head to Whiddy Island to try smoked mussels with home-made brown bread at the Bank House.
• Spice things up with coriander, mango, lime and chilli mussels at The Brick Oven.
• Sample free mussels with any pint at The Quays over the weekend.
• Eat mussels in the cosy setting of Bantry’s much-loved Snug.
• Try mussel mulligatawny soup with home-made brown bread at The Stuffed Olive on Friday and Saturday.
• Taste mussels tapas-style at seafood café, Trawl and Trend.
• Watch Murphy’s Seafood wok-toss mussels at Bantry’s Friday market.
• Enjoy mussels Thai-style on Sunday as Manning’s Emporium teams up with Wokabout.

The mussel-focused weekend will launch the ‘Eat the Sheep’s Head Way’ event series. Each event in the programme will see chefs and locals showcasing the wonderful ingredients produced along the Sheep’s Head Way walking route.

‘This is an unspoilt part of the world,’ says Diarmaid Murphy of Bantry’s The Fish Kitchen, ‘and we have access to amazing ingredients. When visitors head to Bantry and taste Bantry mussels, Durrus cheese or Kilcrohane potatoes, they’re getting the place on a plate, and it really adds to their experience of West Cork.’

‘West Cork is a place where people take time to refresh their senses, and their palates’, adds Carmel Somers of The Good Things Café and Cookery School. ‘When our visitors eat “the Sheep’s Head Way”, they’ll get to savour and appreciate the amazing ingredients we produce and work with in this beautiful part of the world. ’

‘Mussels are a great ingredient to start our series with’, says Pat Kiely of O’Connor’s Seafood Restaurant. ‘When people think of Bantry and food, mussels are the first thing they think of. We’re all really looking forward to showing just how versatile mussels are, and to dishing up some really great food. It looks set to be a great weekend!”

Booking advisable.
For more details, see  https://livingthesheepsheadway.com/eating

For further information contact:

Siobhán Burke
Tel. 086 303 0991
[email protected]

The Sheep’s Head Way – Discover Ireland’s Best-Loved Walking Route


Eating the Sheep’s Head Way

‘Eat Mussels the Sheep’s Head Way’ is the first event in a series of ‘Eating the Sheep’s Head Way’ events. Each event will showcase individual ingredients prized by the chefs, producers and people who live along the Sheep’s Head Way, the renowned walking route in West Cork which forms a network of 200km of hiking trails.

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This project has been supported by Cork County Council & the LEADER programme under the Rural Development Programmes 2007-13 and 2017-2021.