Honey-Bee Festival at Johnstown Castle, Estate and Museum

In July 2019, Anthony was approached by the Irish Heritage Trust and Johnstown Castle, Estate and Museum to help design a new festival dedicated to the celebration of the native Irish honey bee. Taking place in September 2019, the festival was part of the inaugural international Taste The Island celebrations, hosted by Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland to showcase Irish food and drink.

Anthony curated an event series inviting many honey-lovers from around Ireland to participate, along with taking over their restaurant for the 4-day festival.

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The delicious raw honey, harvested and jarred on-site, reflects the biodiversity of the gardens and wild spaces at Johnstown Castle, Estate and Museum. Like fine wines, honey has many varieties, and they depend on the region’s seasonal flowers with their unique colours, flavours and medicinal properties. As well as honey, the festival showcased herbs, orchards and soft fruits from the walled gardens, dependent on bees for pollination.

The festival appealed to the growing interest in biodiversity, sustainability and food heritage and created links between the landscape and the purity of the food on visitors’ plates. It also attracted a wide range of people interested in the heritage of Irish food as Johnstown Castle is the home of the Irish Agricultural Museum, where you can see the different types of machinery and tools used over the years for different farming practices.

The Museum also has different kitchens on display from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, displaying the different ways Irish people cook and prepare food and drink. As dairy is a huge part of Ireland’s culinary heritage, there was a wide range of milk vats, butter churns and paddles on display.

Events that took place

  • Restaurant honey-themed menu featuring a diverse range of local producers

  • Short beekeeping courses

  • Workshops on using beeswax in the kitchen

  • Chocolate truffle making using honey and herbs with Bean and Goose

  • Beer talk and tasting of St. Brigid’s Ale (made using honey) with Two Sisters Brewing

  • A biodiversity talk and panel discussion with Euro-Toques Ireland and Slow Food Ireland

  • A live recording of a podcast with Sharon Noonan of Best Possible Taste

  • Candle Making

  • A miniature farmers’ market with local producers and honey keepers

Anthony OToole