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Coffee in Kildare: Coffee Beans House, Athy
Last month, after discovering @coffeebeanshouse on Instagram, I had the opportunity to visit Ingrid at her premises in Athy and chat with her about her business and her passion for coffee and tea. From Klaipėda to Kildare For Ingrid, the story of Coffee Beans House is about more than selling…
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The Archaeology of Kildare Village
Kildare Village attracts thousands of visitors each year in search of designer brands and discounted luxury goods. Few of those visitors are likely to consider the much older history of the land beneath their feet. Yet long before the boutiques, cafés and the car park, this area formed part of…
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Coffee in Kildare: Creed Coffee Roasters, Celbridge
Creed Coffee Roasters, with coffee shops in both Kildare and Dublin, is one of Ireland’s leading speciality coffee roasters. As someone from Celbridge, I am very familiar with their coffee shop on the main street. However, last month, I had the opportunity to visit their roastery where I met Declan,…
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Palaeolithic Ireland: Was Anyone Here During the Ice Age?
The Palaeolithic period, often called the Old Stone Age, is the earliest phase of human prehistory and spans from the first known use of stone tools by early human ancestors in Africa, roughly 3.3 million years ago to the beginning of the Holocene around 11,700 years ago. It is characterised…
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Coffee in Kildare: PS Coffee Roasters, Clane & Naas
PS Coffee Roasters, a coffee roastery with coffee shops in Naas and Clane in Co. Kildare, was founded in 2015 by Straffan natives, brothers Peter and Simon. During spring, I travelled out to their roastery in Kilcullen to chat with Simon. His passion was clear. As we spoke, he emphasised…
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Wild Food Ways: A Foraging Workshop in Kildare
Tomorrow, the 22nd April, is Earth Day, and it centres on a simple idea: that people are part of the land, not separate from it. So, I thought this would be the perfect time to highlight wild food foraging. Foraging puts people back into direct relationship with the land. It…
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Coffee in Kildare: The Woodstack Café, Monasterevin
There is no better café to highlight for the International Day of Forests, on the 21st of March, than The Woodstack Café in Monasterevin, Co. Kildare. This year’s theme of the International Day of Forests is forests and economies which aims to celebrate the essential roles of forests in driving…
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From Shepherd to Bishop: St. Patrick in His Own Words
Much of the popular legend surrounding Saint Patrick stems from two clerical writers in the 7th century – Tírechán and Muirchú. St. Patrick did exist but they wrote about him 2 centuries later. Their aim was to glorify his memory and advance the prestige of the church of Armagh, rather…
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Kildare’s Prehistoric Landscape: Standing Stones
What is a Standing Stone? A standing stone, otherwise known as a long stone or menhir1 (gallán, dallán, líagán), is a single upright stone that has been deliberately placed into the ground. Standing stones are a type of megalithic monument2 often used for ritual, ceremonial, or funerary purposes. They vary…
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Gluten-Free Delights at The Chocolate Garden of Ireland
On Saturday, it was the February meet-up for the Oak & Oolite Book Club and as the book chosen was Joanne Harris’ Chocolat, I decided it might be nice to get some chocolates to enjoy through our coffee and afternoon chat about the book. As a coeliac, I had to…
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Discover Nature’s Wild Foods: 15 Favourite Foraging Books
Let’s jump into spring with some foraging! 🌱🌸☀️ I only recently became interested in foraging, as you may have seen when I made acorn tea last autumn. I have a local course lined up for next month, so I’m excited about this new road and learning as I go. Below…
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Coffee in Kildare – Roastery Spotlight: Feighcullen Peated Coffee
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to visit a pretty unique coffee bean roastery in County Kildare, Feighcullen Peated Coffee. Set up in 2024 by landowner Richard and his uncle, it really stands out as one of Ireland’s most distinctive roasteries. Richard, who comes from a farming and hydraulics…
