Summer cheese

Ireland is the home to some of the finest cheeses. There seems to be something special in the land and the climate, most particularly in west Cork. Excellent cheeses are made in this extreme western tip of Europe, many of them soft cheeses, with a ‘washed rind’ - the pungent, pinkish-orange surface also found on French cheeses such as Livarot.

West Cork has attracted a lively and diverse collection of people, the type of people who are more likely to take up the strange craft of cheesemaking. Not only is it a beautiful county, but the land produces the good milk that makes good cheese. On top of that the atmosphere is cool but not cold and damp - ideal conditions for maturing cheeses.