Irish artisan foods make great gifts and support small family-run businesses, so how about making up a DIY hamper with your favourites? For ideas, I’ve drawn up a delicous Top 20 selection of my own favourites from around the country – and a Top 20 shops too, which represent the many dozens of superb businesses offering the best of Irish produce, and often offering all-Irish hampers too.
20 Great Irish Artisan Food Products for Gifts and Hampers (random order):
This is a balanced selection from the foods we’ve enjoyed most this year on our travels around the country. Two – Sally Barnes’ Hot Smoked Albacore Tuna and G’s Gourmet Jams Rhubarb & Ginger Jam – were in the Great Taste Awards Top 50 this year (along with several other Irish products). Any one of these beautiful products would make a lovely small gift, or you could combine several to make up a home-made hamper. Most of the shops recommended below will carry a good selection, and most will also offer hampers.
- Hot Smoked Albacore Tuna, Sally Barnes’ Woodcock Smokery, Co Cork
- Burren Smokehouse Smoked Fish Platter (mixed fish) Co Clare
- McGeough’s Air-dried Meats (lamb, beef pork) Co Galway
- Goatsbridge Trout Caviar, Co Kilkenny
- Crowe Farm’s Organic Dry Cure Back Rashers, Co Tipperary
- Irish Atlantic Sea Salt, Co Cork
- Knockdrinna Kilree Goats Cheese, Co Kilkenny
- Bellingham Blue Cheese, Co Louth
- Gubbeen Farm Cheeses & Smoked Products, Co Cork (also supplied in hampers)
- Sheridans Crackers for Cheese (made by Cookies of Character, Co Cork)
- Skelligs Handmade Chocolate Truffles, Co Kerry
- Highbank Orchard Syrup, Co Kilkenny
- Longueville House Cider, Co Cork
- Sparkling Irish Apple Juice The Apple Farm, Co Tipperary
- Country Choice anything (let’s say Christmas Pudding), Co Tipperary
- Cranberry & Almond Shortbread, Seymours of Cork
- Sheridans chutney for cheese (made by Janet’s Country Fayre, Co Wicklow)
- Rhubarb & Ginger Jam, G’s Gourmet Jams Co Offaly
- Deise Irish Honey, Co Waterford
- Green Saffron Mulled Wine spice mix, Co Cork
20 of the Best Speciality Food Shops – for individual purchase and/or hampers (random order)
This is just a small selection of great food shops from the growing number of speciality food stores all around Ireland. Most will stock a good number of the products recommended above, and/or offer Irish artisan food hampers. A gift token for a speciality food shop would also make a great gift
- Ardkeen Quality Food Store, Waterford
- Country Choice, Nenagh, Co Tipperary
- Burren Smokehouse, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare
- Gleesons, Roscommon Town
- Rua Café & Deli Castlebar, Co Mayo
- McCartneys of Moira, Co Down
- Sheridans, Carnaross, Co Meath
- Nolans of Clontarf, Dublin 3
- McGeoughs of Oughterard, Co Galway
- Glasrai & Goodies, Gowran, Co Kilkenny
- Farmgate, Midleton, Co Cork
- McCarthy’s of Kanturk, Co Cork
- The Little Cheese Shop, Dingle, Co Kerry
- Kelly’s of Newport, Co Mayo
- Olive, Skerries, Co Dublin
- Cavistons, Glasthule, Co Dublin
- Knockdrinna Farm Shop. Stoneyford
- Mannings Emporium, Ballylickey, Co Cork
- Hannan Meats Moira, Co Down
- McCambridges, Galway City
Georgina Campbell 