Many would make the trek to Dingle solely for the pleasure of tucking into one of the treats on offer at this cheerful blue and white fronted café down near the harbour.
The Murphy brothers, Kieran and Séan, have been making ice cream here with fresh Kerry milk and cream since 2000 and have earned a national reputation in the meantime - they now supply a network of discerning restaurants and specialist outlets around the country. Gradual expansion has seen a second Dingle café at the Pier, as well as an outlet in Killarney, a Dublin shop on Wicklow Street and Murphy’s in Galway is in the heart of the Latin Quarter.
The café is unusual in that it only offers coffees and ice cream, but the range of flavours is growing all the time - unusual ones include sea salt, and also balsamic vinegar, but most are a little more predictable. They are scooped in time-honoured fashion from a freezer cabinet in the shop and available in little tubs to take away if you like; also milk shakes and and ice cream desserts (sundaes, banana split).
There’s also a Murphy’s Ice Cream Cake, the perfect party piece, and some of the Murphy’s own favourite chocolates.
* Kieran and Séan Murphy published their own ‘Book of Sweet Things’, available from the cafés and bookshops.