We toured through Ireland and Northern Ireland in May 2007 and I had the opportunity to taste many cheeses along the way. Many of the cheeses listed here are not exported to the U.S. The photos with signs and prices are taken at Cheese, Etc., Trevor Irvine's stand at St. Georges Market in Belfast. If there is a cheese you think should be here, or one that needs updating, please Email me.

Abbey Brie
ABO Cheese Company
Co. Laois - Ballacolla
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
Made by Pat Hyland (also known as Paddy Jack). They also make a smoked version and an Abbey Blue Brie. Abbey Brie is also called Paddy Jack's Abbey Cheese.

Ardagh Castle
Co. Cork - Ardagh
Raw Goat's Milk Cheese
Judy Wootton is the cheesemaker and she also makes a Norwegian-style gjetost goat's milk cheese.

Ardsallagh
Ardsallagh Farm
Co. Cork - Woodstock, Carrigtwohill
Pasteurized Goat's Milk
Jane Murphy makes both fresh and aged goat cheese. The fresh goat is offered in a variety of flavors. The aged cheese is a semi-hard grateable cheese.

Ardrahan
Co. Cork - Kanturk
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
Made by Cheesemaker Mary Burns
It's a semi-soft washed rind cheese with a pungent aroma. Ardrahan has buttery texture. The rind is golden orange.
Joanne's Tasting Note:
A washed rind, slightly stinky pate, with a few small holes. Pate is golden yellow creamy cast with an light peach/orange rind. The rind adds a slight bitterness. Nice balance.

Bally Blue
Fivemiletown Creamery
Co. Tyrone - Fivemiletown
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
A mild, creamy, soft, smoked cheese with streaks of blue. Fivemiletown make a non-blue, non-smoked version called Bally Brie.

Ballyoak
Fivemiletown Creamery
Co. Tyrone - Fivemiletown
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
A smoked cheese. The truckles are smoked using sustainably foraged oakwood from the Forest of Caledon.

Bandon Vale
Co. Cork - Watergate, Bandon
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
A cheddar cheese available as an aged version called Vintage. Made by Andy and Margaret Mahon.

Bay Lough
Co. Tipperary - Clogheen, Cahir
Raw Cow's Milk
Made by Anne Keating
A hard-pressed cheddar which is bandage wrapped in it's larger version. Smaller versions are waxed. There is also an oak-smoked, garlic, and garlic & herb flavored version.


Beal Organic
Co. Kerry
Beale Lodge Organic Dairy Farm
Cow's Milk - Vegetarian
Joanne's Tasting Note:
Dark brown thick powdery cheese mite-y rind. The pate is gold and crumbly darkening to almost dark brown under the rind. The cheese has a clean acidity and slight Cheddary nature on the nose. Pate is intensely complex of salt and sharpness with smooth cellar-y notes. Slightly dusty but very clean finish.


Bellingham Blue
Glyde Farm Produce (Thomas Family)
Co. Louth - Castle Bellingham
Raw Cow's Milk

Joanne's Tasting Note:
Creamy yellow pate with thick veins of blue molds. Thin harder rind with white molds. Gold hue to the pate darkens under the rind. Clean animal on nose. A lot of grainyness  and acidity with a very very salty finish. Needs something to balance it like bread or fruit. Something sweet works well. Trevor Irvine's sign on it said "As good as Stilton!"
A Slow Food Raw Milk Cheese Presidia Member.

Boulabane
Co. Tipperary - Roscrea
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
Michael Cantwell makes a semi-soft farmhouse cheese. The Cantwells are famous in Roscrea for their sorbet and ice cream.

Brid - See "Grace"

Burren Gold
Co. Clare - Ballyvaughan
Raw Cow's Milk
A Gouda-style cheese available plain, flavored (including a nettle version) and smoked. Cheesemaker is Ben Johnson who also runs a cheese shop.


Cahill's Cheddar
Co. Limerick - Newcastle West
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
Flavored cheddar style cheese made by Marion Cahill. Waxed rind. Flavors are: Ballyporeen (Irish herbs), Ardagh (wine), Cahill's Porter, Cahill's Whiskey, Cahill's Smoked Cheddar and a Cheddar with hazelnuts. One of Joanne's Great Cheese Finds.

Cais Rua
Fermoy Cheese Company
Co. Cork - Strawhall, Fermoy
Raw Cow's Milk
Cheesemaker is Frank Shinnick
A soft round flat brie-like cheese but with a washed reddish rind.



Cais Dubh
The Fermoy Natural Cheese Co
Co. Cork - Fernoy
Made by Frank and Gudren Schnick
Cais means cheese, Cais Dubh means Black Cheese.


Joanne's Tasting Note:
Black Wax covered rind. Creamy light yellow pate. The rind is brown with an orange tint and slightly powdery on top in places. The pate has medium holes sprinkled throughout. Nose of the cellar and underlying warm animal. The pate is semi-hard. It is reminiscent of a Gruyere or Mountain-style cheese but very salty and with a sharp acidity on the finish. Needs to be paired with something meaty. Pate is smooth but it takes a while for it to dissolve away on the palate and leaves behind salt and acid.
(special thanks to Trevor Irvine for help on identifying this cheese)

Carlow
Co. Carlow - Ballybrommell, Fenagh
Raw Cow's Milk
Made by Elizabeth Bradley
A mellow edam style washed curd cheese made from the milk from a neighbor's single dairy herd. Available in plain and flavored versions.

Carrigaline
Co. Cork - Carrigaline
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
Made by Ann and Pat O’Farrell
The O'Farrells make three cheeses: an all-natural semi-soft cheese, one flavour ed with garlic and select herbs, and a new maple-smoked cheese.
Joanne's Tasting Note:
Herbs & Garlic: The cheese is wax rinded in Green. Lots of small holes in the pate and some green specks. Creamy white color. Semi-hard pate likely meltable. Chewy texture coats tongue/mouth.

Cashel Blue
J & L Grubb
Co. Tipperary - Beechmount, Fethard
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
Ireland’s first farmhouse blue cheese, it is a semi-soft blue cows’ milk cheese made on the dairy farm of Jane and Louis Grubb. The majority of the milk comes from the farm's Friesian dairy herd.

Chulchoill
Co. Tipperary - Moyne, Thurles
Pasteurized Goat's Milk
A soft farmhouse goat log. Chulchoill is made by the producers of Cooleeney.

Clonmore
Co. Cork - Clonmore, Charleville
Pasteurized Goat's Milk
A small, dome-shaped semi-hard round cheese (gouda style) with a beige waxed exterior and a very white pate which has some small holes. The cheese is made from the milk of the Biggane's own free-range herd of goats.

Coolattin
Knockeen Dairy
Co. Carlow - Tullow
Raw Cow's Milk
A mature Organic Cheddar cheese made by Thomas & Fiona Burgess.

Coolea
Coolea Farmhouse Cheese
Co. Cork - Macroom
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
Made by Dick and Helene Willems.
It's hard waxed rinded Irish version of gouda. Possibly made with with Raw Cow's Milk.

Cooleeney
Co. Tipperary - Moyne, Thurles
Raw or Pasteurized Cow's milk (2 versions)
A handmade soft farmhouse cheese made by the Maher family with a white mold ripened rind. Made in the camembert-style.
A Slow Food Raw Milk Cheese Presidia Member.

Cooneen
Fivemiletown Creamery
Co. Tyrone - Fivemiletown
Pasteurized Goat's Milk
Made from milk from local farms it has a crumbly texture (almost like feta) when young. Mature cheeses are more creamy rather than crumbly.

Commeragh
Knockalara Farmhouse Cheese
Co. Waterford - Cappoquin
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
The Schliebitz family makes this Farmhouse Cheddar.

Corbetstown
Co. Westmeath or Co. Lough
Pasteurized Goat's Milk
Cheesemaker is Anne Holton
The cheese is semi-hard with a natural rind. Corbettstown is a variation of spelling I've seen. (Note: This cheese is no longer made, as of June 2008.)


Corleggy
Co. Cavan - Belturbet
Pasteurized Goat's Milk
"The milk is produced by a large herd of goats that graze the lush drumlins of County Cavan, close to the banks of the River Erne."
Joanne's Tasting Note:
A hard rinded cheese with a semi-soft pate with is a chalky gray/white cream color. Scent of fresh yogurt. Fresh bite of acid on the palate then a grainy-ness but also a meatiness to it. The rind adds a blue-ish piquant and more complexity.


Cratloe
Made by Sean Fitzgerald
Co. Clare - Brockhill, Cratloe
Pasteurized Sheep's Milk
Also called Cratloe Hills Gold. Made by Sean & Deidre Fitzgerald.
Joanne's Tasting Note:
Golden yellow pate with a hard slightly crumbly texture. The rind is orange-brown. Scent of earth, warm grass and crème fraiche. A very pleasant clean scent. The flavor is Cheddar-like but milder and complex with a salty and warm butter finish. The cheese is well balanced with a slightly grainy pate and smooth flavor. Texture is meaty and full of flavor but also offers a subtlety. I think it would be nice sliced thinly or as a cheese flavoring for a dish. It has a slightly flowery element. Really good!

Creeny
Co. Cavan - Belturbet
Raw Sheep's Milk

Croghan (see Mine-Gabhar)

Crozier Blue
Co. Tipperary - Cashel
Pasteurized Sheep's Milk
Made by Henry and Louis Clifton Browne, of Crozier Dairy Products

CuilCagh
Co. Cavan - Belturbet or
Co. Fermanagh
Pasteurized Sheep Milk's (or Goat's)
A pure white rindless fresh cheese. They used to make goat cheese now they are trying sheep. Fresh milk scent. Slightly sour flavor. A slight grainyness but melts away leaving a rather clean acidity.
photo link

Darú
Co. Tipperary - Moyne, Thurles
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
Darú is a semi-hard handcrafted cheese with a natural rind. It is made by the Producers of Cooleeney.

Desmond
West Cork Natural Cheese Company
Co. Cork - Schull
Raw Cow's Milk
Made by Bill Hogan & Sean Ferry
Very hard and quite sharp in aftertaste.
A Slow Food Raw Milk Cheese Presidia Member.


Dilliskus
Made by Maja Bindler of Dingle Peninsula Cheese
Co. Kerry - Kilcummin (Dingle)
Pasteurized Cow's Milk
Maja also makes Beenoskee and Kilcummin.
Joanne's Tasting Note:
A round cheese made with dulse seaweed. It has a dark brown powdery rind. The pate is semi-hard with darker lines of burgundy brown seaweed throughout and some elongated holes. The pate is pale gold at the center turning almost a darker gold with a greenish hue under the rind. A stinky cheese smelling of animal and stable. The flavor is milder than the scent.
A Slow Food Raw Milk Cheese Presidia Member.

Drumlin
Co. Cavan - Corleggy, Belturbet
Raw Cow's Milk
Made by Silke Cropp
A natural aged hard cheese. The dark yellow rind is edible. Comes in flavored and smoked versions.
A Slow Food Raw Milk Cheese Presidia Member.

Smoked Drumlin
Joanne's Tasting Note:
The cheese is an interesting doughnut shape. Hard orange gold rind. The pate is creamy yellow turning to almost orange under the rind. Nose is smoke-y like bacon. Pate has a smooth meatiness and a slight grainy-ness on the finish. There is an intense acidity on finish and a slight softness to the pate. The rind is rather tough but I gather that in a younger cheese the rind would be more palatable.


Duhallow
Ardrahan Farmhouse
Co. Cork - Kanzuk
Cow's Milk
Joanne's Tasting Note:
A semi-soft cheese with a waxy shiny rind (but not waxed). Pate has a few smaller holes but is dense and smooth. Scent of clarified butter and warm sand. Mellow flavor. Texture is like cold butter. The cheese is rich and smooth on the palate with some bright acids on the finish. Dense texture.


Dunbarra
Co. Tipperary - Moyne, Thurles,
Pasteurized cows milk
A soft mold ripened white cheese which originated in Dublin. Also made in flavored versions. Made by the producers of Cooleney.
Joanne's Tasting Note:
Bloomy rind. Smells mushroomy like a brie. Slightly chalky center. Runs slightly under rind. Rind adds acidity and slight bitterness. Very mushroomy and creamy.

Durrus
Made by Jeffa Gill
Co. Cork - Coomkeen, Durrus
Raw Cow's Milk
A semi-soft, rind washed cheese is made from the milk of local herds in West County Cork.
Joanne's Tasting Note:
Some medium holes in the pate. Pate has a yellowish hue. Scent of warm butter – but a rather fresh scent. The pate is creamy with a great smooth acidity. Deep deep complexity with a distinctive saltiness that reminds me of seaweed in the sun.
A Slow Food Raw Milk Cheese Presidia Member.

FiveMiletown Mature Cheddar
Fivemiletown Creamery
Co. Tyrone - Fivemiletown
Cow's Milk

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Very Special Thanks to Trevor Irvine of Cheese, Etc., in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim, for help on sorting out some of the mysteries of this list. Trevor also has a wonderful cheese stand on the weekends at St. George's Market in Belfast. You can email Trevor Irvine, but he does not have a website yet.

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