East Cork, where the story of modern Irish hospitality first began

Irish Examiner

08-05-2025

I often think of East Cork and West Cork as siblings; loyal to each other as good family members always are, never warring, but with certain marked differences in appearance and attitude and sometimes even the occasional frisson of rivalry.
Cork is unquestionably the food county of Ireland, but once you have imbibed the food culture of the city and had your fill, attentions naturally turn to the countryside. So, which way do you turn, East or West?
West Cork as a food destination is that sibling whose attractions are immediate and obvious and it is never shy in touting them, justly proud of its superb producers and great restaurants. East Cork is the more reserved sibling, also handsome though less inclined to shout about its charms but, more importantly, it is possessed of that special confidence of the older sibling who knows, when it comes to food, East Cork was the original national pathfinder, the place where the story of modern Irish hospitality first began.
What's more, West Cork's own food producer movement, now internationally renowned, got its first big break thanks to the support of its Eastern sibling, when Myrtle Allen dining in a Kenmare restaurant encountered Veronica Steele's Milleens cheese for the first time.
Milleens is rightly regarded as the food product that kickstarted the modern Irish specialty food producer movement but it needed the exposure of Myrtle Allen's Ballymaloe House dining room to attract the class of attention that would eventually lead to international awards and the beginnings of the modern Irish Farmhouse Cheese movement.
By the time, those first awards began to head Westwards to Veronica Steele, in Beara, Myrtle Allen and her Ballymaloe House had been an internationally renowned restaurant for over 15 years, and is now unquestionably acknowledged as the place where modern Irish hospitality first began, when Myrtle first opened her East Cork home to the dining public in 1964.
Ivan and Myrtle Allen, pictured at Ballymaloe House, Shanagarry, Co Cork, in 1964, with their original Desert Trolley, at Ballymaloe House, which would go on to win World's Best Trolley of the Year 2019 at the World Restaurant Awards.
And, though much has changed in the intervening 50+ years, it remains the first on any list of food and hospitality, not just in East Cork but also in Ireland. The death of Myrtle Allen in 2018 signalled the end of an era, though she had stepped back from the business some years prior, but it was the retirement several years ago of her daughter-in-law, Hazel Allen (who sadly died last year), that triggered a period of uncertainty for the esteemed country house hotel and restaurant, but it has come roaring back to life under the managership of Laura Behan with head chef Dervilla O'Flynn and head pastry chef JR Ryall breathing a whole new life into the kitchen, delivering menus to rival the very best in the country.
Dervilla O'Flynn, head chef at Ballymaloe House, Shanagarry, East Cork. Picture: Joleen Cronin
Myrtle's daughter-in-law, Darina Allen, who began as a chef in Myrtle's kitchen, has in turn added to the international renown of East Cork as a food destination, when she and her brother, TV chef Rory O'Connell, first opened the Ballymaloe Cookery School in 1983. Celebrating its 40th anniversary just two years ago, it has become one of the most famous cookery schools in the world, drawing students from all corners, over 40 different nationalities at last count, and the cookery school and farm shop are always worth a visit.
Myrtle and Ballymaloe's influence naturally seeped into its hinterland, first creating its own network of food producers to supply the restaurant and that was then followed by the creation of a local restaurant culture that has since yielded top notch cooking in more recent decades.
A sample from chef Ciaran Scully's mouthwatering menu at the Bayview Hotel.
The beautiful little clifftop village of Ballycotton is just down the road and is a very popular destination for walkers from the city and, for such a tiny place, punches mightily when it comes to food and hospitality. Unsung hero Ciaran Scully rarely touts his own charms but he turns out consistently fine fare in the Bayview Hotel while the Blackbird Bar & Field Kitchen is just one of several great pubs in the village, though the Blackbird comes with the added bonus of its own onsite catering truck turning out very lovely casual dining.
The gorgeously restored Sea Church, first encountered on driving into the village, has been a massive success, both as a live music and entertainment venue and for its own considered casual dining menus.
Enjoy a delicious dinner and a quality show at the creatively restored Sea Church in Ballycotton.
While the village may have mourned the closure of Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant, Cush, at least it could comfort itself that it wasn't gone entirely, but instead had relocated to nearby Midleton, opening its doors mere weeks ago.
Dan Guerin, Head Chef at Cush, Midelton.
Midleton diners, having endured their own 'mourning' for the passing of the hugely popular Sage Midleton, have been more than consoled by the arrival of Cush into the former Sage venue and following a very smart makeover, chef Dan Guerin is already welcoming diners in their droves and is certain to turn this new venture into a restaurant of national renown.
Midleton is also the birthplace of the Midleton Farmers' Market, the first in the country and still going strong to this day, and its produce can be found on the tables of some of the East Cork market town's other restaurants including the charming Ferritt & Lee where the cooking is rock-solid. The original Farmgate restaurant in Midleton was sadly lost forever to the catastrophic flooding but Bite Size café has gone some way to plugging the gap, not least for those with a sweet tooth and a hankering for their fine baked treats.
Ballymaloe and Myrtle's dynasty has long been the big story of East Cork hospitality but there is now another 'big beast' buttressing the region's hospitality credentials.
The crash of the Celtic Tiger greatly crimped the original aspirations for Castlemartyr Resort as a luxury destination hotel but the 2021 purchase of property and business by Singapore-based Stanley Quek and Peng Loh, adding to an Irish portfolio including Sheen Falls and Dublin's Trinity Townhouse Hotel, means there is finally the budget required for it to function as originally envisaged and GM Brendan Comerford and his team now have the entire operation purring like a Rolls Royce.
Chef Vincent Crepel, whose restaurant Terre at Castlemartyr resort has just been awarded a second Michelin star.
The jewel in Castlemartyr Resort's crown, though, must be Terre, its Michelin two-starred restaurant operated by the highly talented chef-patron Vincent Crepel who is delivering up superb menus combining French classical technique, Asian influences and excellent Irish produce.
East Cork, flush with miles and miles of rich, rolling farmland has historically been less reliant than West Cork on the tourist dollar but this new invigorated Castlemartyr Resort and Terre restaurant have added enormously to the East Cork hospitality and tourism offering.
Terre Restaurant in Castlemartyr Resort Cork, awarded two Michelin stars.
'I'll tell you a story that happened to me, as I went down to Youghal one day by the sea' — the immortal words of Tadgh Jordan's drinking song, popularised by Jimmy Crowley, bring to mind a time when daytrippers taking the train from Cork city turned the East Cork seaside town into one of the country's busiest tourism hotspots but passenger services were withdrawn in 1963 and the advent of package holidays in the 1970s and 1980s largely put paid to Youghal as that tourist destination of old. It is a terrible shame; with family connections in the town, I have been visiting since childhood and have always held a special grá for what I firmly believe is a still sleeping giant of Irish tourism waiting for the next revival.
It has a sublime coastal location, where the River Blackwater's estuary meets the Celtic Sea, some lovely beaches and a charming town, even if it could use a little love in places. Re-opening a Cork-Youghal train connection is a must but in the meantime, I'll have to make do with a bracing beach walk followed by a delicious bowl of chowder in the legendary Aherne's Townhouse & Restaurant, Blue Book stalwart and another icon of East Cork hospitality.