Women in Irish Cheese

To celebrate Women's History Month, we honor bold, passionate, and pioneering women who have helped develop rich and diverse artisanal cheesemaking communities. As it's March, it's only right we highlight delectable Irish cheeses, and the Irish women who resurrected a nearly obsolete artisanal cheese culture. 

Veronica Steele, creator of Milleens, is known as the movement's founding mother. A pioneer of Ireland's nascent artisanal cheese movement in the 1980s, her interest in cheesemaking started from a desire to make better use of the extra milk consistently being wasted on her dairy farm in West Cork. She tried her hand at many styles of cheeses until she perfected the Mileens, a buttery washed rind cheese that not only became popular in Ireland, but it took the rest of Europe by storm. 

Using this powerful influence, she pushed to grow the cheese community in Ireland by helping shape government regulations that would allow dairy farms to make their own cheeses.  She also taught cheesemaking across Ireland to share her knowledge. Ms. Steele passed in 2017, but her impact will be felt years to come. 

We only received a few small pieces of Milleen's this year, so we're reserving the special cheese for our Irish cheese classes only - sign up if you'd like a taste and to learn more.

SIGN UP FOR CLASSES HERE

Next up is Helene Willem, who is making an amazing gouda-style cheese in County Cork called Coolea. You can't miss it in the cheese case: it's the most gorgeous golden hue, like a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.  This is Ireland’s take on Gouda, which makes sense as the cheesemakers are actually Dutch immigrants! But, whereas some Goudas are tangy, this one is more rich, sweet and smooth. 

Another pioneer Irish lass is Giana Ferguson who (with her husband) is the cheese mastermind of Gubbeen. It's a buttery washed rind cheese with a gorgeous pink-ish rind, pale yellow paste and big, mushroomy flavors. 

And we can't forget Jane Grubb and her Cashel Blue. Nobody in Ireland was even interested in blue cheese before Cashel Blue. Brave is not a strong enough adjective to describe Jane. She brought her passion for artisanal cheese and created a market where there was none. Today her daughter Sarah is the head cheesemaker at Cashel dairy and we are excited to have their Shepherds Store for the first time in the shop. This is a European style, semi-hard cheese made seasonally between February and September. It's delicate and creamy, reminiscent of a Manchego but distinctly Irish.