Notes from Newbrook

Lamb shoulder, potatoes and vegetables simmered gently with thyme and bay. A complete Irish stew recipe with metric and UK imperial measures.

Potatoes, kale, milk and butter make a generous Irish side dish. This colcannon recipe serves four and includes both measurement systems.

Cooking apples and brown sugar tucked inside a soft crust. An Irish apple cake adaptation with metric and UK imperial measurements.

A simple brown loaf made with wholemeal and plain flour, buttermilk, egg and a little honey. Includes metric and UK imperial quantities.

Mashed potato and grated raw potato come together in these Irish pancakes. A complete boxty recipe with metric and UK imperial measures.

Four ingredients, a light hand and a hot oven. A traditional white soda bread recipe with metric and UK imperial measurements.

I set off from Newbrook House in pursuit of a perfectly proportioned puffin. Along the way, I considered Skellig Michael’s monks, their beehive huts and the rather optimistic notion of building a monastery in the Atlantic.

Chasing a West of Ireland sunset in her slippers, Caroline of Newbrook House ends up with her car stuck in a Mayo ditch and no phone signal. The second Notes from Newbrook story, also published by IrishCentral.

After a career setback and an evening of wine and web browsing, Caroline bought a crumbling 17th century granary in County Mayo, then found the rain coming in through the walls. The first Notes from Newbrook story, also published by IrishCentral.

Tourists beware, the greatest challenge to those alighting upon the Emerald Isle to discover Ireland is not the challenge of driving around hairpin bends on the wrong side of the road, or ordering bacon for breakfast instead of ‘rashers’ and finding oneself being served with an entire gastronome of swine with galleons of very very strong tea to aid the mastication process. No, the greatest challenge is that of the spoken language. “English“ you say, “accompanied by a most del

In his book Till the Cows Come Home Phillip Walling tells the story of the relationship between humankind and cattle and is a must read for anyone wanting to know anything more detailed than my own general observations acquired in my role as guardian of the blissful rural retreat, Newbrook House. I am fascinated by the simplicity of the cycle in which cows eat food that has been grown using their own excrement. I am not an expert and honestly don't know the difference betwee