Here at Cloughjordan House we are proud of our sustainable ethos when it comes to our food.

Provenance is important to us; therefore, we love being able to serve wedding and event guest’s food from our organic gardens as well as from local producers. 

In this post we want to talk about cheese - we love good quality artisan cheese and are so fortunate to be able to work with so many incredible local farmers to source the cheese we serve to our guests.

Let us introduce them to you!

Hegarty’s, Whitchurch, Co. Cork

A relatively new addition to Ireland’s cheese making scene, Hegarty’s was established in 2001 by Dan Hegarty. Dan’s father Jim is in charge of the cows, and takes great care to ensure the herd of Irish Friesians only feast on the best possible grass.

We use Hegarty’s Smoked Cheddar in our smoked chicken and cheese croquettes, but it is also a fantastic addition to a burger.

Mossfield Organic Farm, Birr, Co. Offaly

Mossfield farm consists of limestone pasture which produces exceptionally lush grass interwoven with wild herbs and clover - ideal grazing for their herd of eighty cows! Ralph Haslam has been farming at Mossfield since 1970 and in 1999 converted to organic farming.

Give their range of flavoured organic cheeses a try; Mossfield cheese with Tomato & Herbs, with Garlic & Basil or with Cumin Seed, you won’t be disappointed.

Ardsallagh, Carrigtohill, Co. Cork

Ardsallagh Goat Farm was born when Jane, a young mum, was told that goat’s milk would help to clear up her son Luke’s eczema. Jane and Luke, now an eczema-free Dairy Manager, have taken those few goats from the back garden to build a family business making high quality, handmade, natural goats’ cheese.

Ardsallagh don’t use any artificial additives or preservatives, and practice slow traditional handmade production methods to produce a premium quality cheese.

Cashel Blue, Cashel, Co. Tipperary 

Cashel Blue was created by Louis and Jane Grubb in 1984. They have been refining their blue cheese-making technique for over 35 years, and if their list of awards is anything to go by, they have produced many an exceptional cheese!

Nigella Lawson certainly agrees, having published a recipe for Irish Blue Biscuits using Cashel Blue in her recipe book, ‘How To Be A Domestic Goddess’.

St. Tola Irish Goat Cheese, Ennistymon, Co. Clare

Siobhan and John have owned St. Tola Irish Goat Cheese since 1999. St Tola Cheese has a unique taste and distinctive flavour that owes much to the clean fresh environment in which it is produced. The cheese flavours are suggestive of the sea with undertones of peat, flowers and honey.

If you fancy visiting the goats at St. Tola, they welcome tours of all kinds to their beautiful 65-acre farm!

Toons Bridge Dairy, Macroom, Co. Cork

Toons Bridge Dairy work with un-pasteurised buffalo, sheep and cows’ milk to make cheeses informed by the traditions of the Southern Mediterranean.

The owners spent months travelling between dairies in Italy, Spain and Greece learning and perfecting the traditional methods used to create their range of unique cheeses such as mozzarella, scarmorza, caciocavallo, hallumi and burrata. The milk gives the cheeses their provenance, and the family even have their own herd of Italian Water Buffalo brought from Italy!

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Well, not sure about you, but we are strangely in the mood for a cheese toastie now, happy eating!