We really get in there with our guest on this week’s show, Cormac McGinley. Cormac runs walking tours along the Cliffs of Moher and all over the Burren in County Clare, one of our favorite places in Ireland. Name an -ology and Cormac probably studied it, and he brings his love of science to his love of Ireland with him on every walk he leads. On this episode, we speak with Cormac about really getting to know a place deeply; ecological wrong turns and the unnatural Irish landscape; the impact of ...
May 08, 2025•1 hr 14 min
**We made it to 50!** We’re celebrating the fiftieth episode of Dyed Green with Anne & Orla O’Carroll, the women behind Valentia Island Vermouth, a spirit made with twenty botanicals on a small island off the coast of Kerry. Anne & Orla originally met at art school in Bristol before moving back to Ireland to create the first ever Irish vermouth. On this week’s episode, we speak with Anne & Orla about the inspiration for their incredible drink; building a vermouth business from the gr...
Apr 03, 2025•50 min
We had the honor of hosting acclaimed pizza chef Reggie White for his first ever podcast interview! If you thought our bread-focused episodes were intense, just wait until you hear Max and Reggie nerd out about everything from water quality to hydration to milling grains on this week’s episode. Fresh from the recent opening of his Rathmines spot Reggies, we talked to the Ballymaloe alum about finding work that sparks joy; using ingredients that make you happy so the food tastes better; and the p...
Mar 13, 2025•1 hr
Just off the Antrim coast, in a town called Ballycastle, lies Broughgammon Farm , 50 acres of carefully managed meadow, pastureland, gardens, and forest. It’s such an idyllic spot and an equally inspiring operation, so you might be surprised to learn that neither Charlie nor Becky Cole imagined that they’d be running their own regenerative farm one day. Motivated in part by the desire to find a market for male kid goats who are commonly disregarded as by-products of the dairy industry, the Coles...
Mar 02, 2025•1 hr 4 min
In 2013, artist Jennie Moran started an art project at National College of Art & Design in Dublin in the form of a college canteen called Luncheonette . Guided by Moran’s vision of “ghostis,” her curation of the canteen, nourishing food, and—with the support of NCAD—Luncheonette became a food destination in the city, won awards, and created a convivial community space that lasted for ten long years. Her new book, How To Soften Corners, celebrates the success of Luncheonette and highlights Mo...
Feb 05, 2025•1 hr 16 min
Despite being an island nation with almost 2,000 miles of coastline, only 9% of Ireland’s oceans are currently being protected. Irish organizers, backed by fishermen, small businesses, and local communities, are working to pressure the government to increase the protection of Irish seas to at least 30% by 2030 in the form of Marine Protected Areas. Ón this episode, we speak with Jack O’Donovan Trá, a marine biologist and representative from the Fair Seas campaign about the emotional connection I...
Jan 09, 2025•1 hr 9 min
Did you know that Ireland requires developers to have an archaeologist on hand when breaking ground on a new site? Or that Irish feasts in medieval times often featured professional farters alongside musicians as part of the evening entertainment? On this week’s episode, Max & Kate travel back and forth across time with archaeologist Neil Jackman, co-founder of Abarta Heritage. We speak with Neil about the impact of the economic crash on archaeologists; how to get people to value heritage si...
Dec 20, 2024•1 hr 10 min
Our guests on this week’s episode followed their passions for food from the Philippines and Poland to Denmark, where they met, fell in love, and honed their craft, before moving to Kilkenny to open one of the best bread bakeries in Ireland. Since opening in 2019, Nicole and Bart have won the Supreme Champion Award at Blas na hÉireann; the Irish Times Top 100 Best Places to Have Lunch in Ireland; Ireland's Best Brunch at the Georgina Campbell Irish Breakfast Awards; and were recently named Best i...
Dec 09, 2024•1 hr 3 min
The experience of going for a pint in Ireland is more than a rite of passage, it’s a cultural institution. This week on Dyed Green, we speak with writer, journalist, and events producer Ali Dunworth about her book A Compendium of Irish Pints: The Culture, Customs, and Craic . Ali found her way into the world of food & drink via a stint in tv production in London, before pivoting to write about food full-time and organize festivals in Ireland. On this week’s episode, we talk to Ali about her ...
Nov 19, 2024•1 hr 14 min
This week on Dyed Green, we speak to Shane Neary, the co-owner of NearyNógs Stoneground Chocolate in the Mourne Mountains outside Newry, County Down. NearyNógs was the first bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the north of Ireland when the Neary family opened in 2011. Originally a passion project created to help pay the medical bills of Shane and Dorothy’s daughter, the high demand for the Nearys’ incredible chocolate caused a career pivot and changed their lives forever. Today, the Nearys run thei...
Nov 05, 2024•49 min
After a bit of a break, Dyed Green is back with a conversation with Paula McIntyre, a chef, writer, and broadcaster and the director of Slow Food Northern Ireland, based in Portstewart in County Derry. Paula’s passion for cooking began at the age of 8, when she visited an Italian deli in Edinburgh, where she had a formative experience with parmesan cheese and Parma ham. As luck would have it, Kate met Paula at a market in Rome while crying and eating pizza. Chef Paula McIntyre thinks chefs waste...
Oct 15, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Rose Greene began her culinary career on a rapidly ascending yet predictable trajectory—a four year culinary arts course followed by many years working in Michelin starred kitchens around the world—before realizing that the nightly slog just wasn’t for her. The never-ending long hours, shady sourcing of produce, and restaurants whose models rely on unpaid labor made her rethink her approach to food and a life in the industry. Then she met her partner Margaux , discovered the wonders of fermentat...
Feb 12, 2024•56 min
Ireland, like many places around the world, is in the grips of a housing crisis. Many young people are living with their parents far into adulthood and being told that home ownership may not be within their financial reach. What if there was an alternative to meeting the salary requirements for a bank loan and incurring a huge debt to pay for a mortgage? Our guest on this week’s show, Harrison Gardner , may just have some ideas for you. Harrison is the author of Build Your Own: Use what you have...
Jan 25, 2024•1 hr 20 min
While Ireland’s rolling green hills are lovely to look at, they reflect a country whose landscape has been dramatically changed over many years. You may not even know that Ireland is the most deforested country in Europe. But what is Ireland’s “natural” landscape, and what does that even mean? For this week’s show, we spoke with Matt Smith , the manager of Hometree , a dynamic organization based in Ennistymon, County Clare, dedicated to planting more native trees into the Irish landscape. Hometr...
Jan 19, 2024•43 min
Having too much or too little salt can make or break a dish, and as chefs know all too well, even the variety of salt used can dramatically impact flavors. Salt is a seasoning that we consume every day and is necessary for life, but how much do we know about its contemporary production? Although typically associated with warmer climates, Dingle Sea Salt co-founders Tom Leach & Moe McKeown have created a small batch Irish sea salt that not only rivals their Mediterranean competition, but is m...
Jan 11, 2024•48 min
As the impact of the climate crisis unfolds all around us, the reality of what’s at stake changes our relationships with each other and the natural world. More and more of us are finding ourselves drawn to reconnect with the land and to build community—to “rewild,” in a sense. But what does it mean to live a wilder life? Is it even attainable or realistic for most of the globe, especially if you live in a densely populated urban area? Our guest on today’s show is Lucy O’Hagan , a teacher, forest...
Dec 17, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Social media has been abuzz these past few weeks as the world tries to come to terms with the abundance of creative talent bursting forth from Ireland, from literary greats like Paul Lynch, whose Prophet Song just won the Booker, to actors like Cillian Murphy, Paul Mescal, and Barry Keoghan, who continue to dominate the silver screen. As the pundits continue to pontificate, we’re here to tell you that Ireland’s verdant climate, political history, and nourishment of the arts creates the condition...
Dec 08, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Katie Holten is an Irish artist and activist based in New York City whose work is inspired by the relationship between humans and the natural world. She’s spent the last several years working on a tree alphabet to translate the world in a way that might connect us more intimately with nature, where each letter corresponds with an indigenous tree species (there’s even a downloadable font ). Earlier this year, Holten published a gorgeous book called " The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literatu...
Nov 30, 2023•1 hr 3 min
Chef Paul Cunningham , based in Dundrum, County Down, walks the walk like no chef we’ve ever met before. The owner of “slow food fast food” Scopers in Dundrum Village and the upscale pop-up Mourne Larder , Cunningham sources all of his food from within a 15 mile radius and never sets foot in a grocery store. His business model puts his ethos into practice in a way we’ve never seen, and he’s successfully bridging the gap between consumers and thoughtfully grown, regenerative food at affordable pr...
Nov 17, 2023•40 min
A special broadcast of Autumn and Adrienne Maree Brown 's interview with Claire Davey , an apothecarist, distiller, and spiritual leader from County Galway: We found Claire Davey on the summer solstice and bring her to you this Samhain week. Claire shares sacred Celtic Cosmology teachings about moving into the sacred delicious darkness of this phase of our (northern hemisphere) year. Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder , whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, ...
Nov 13, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Victory Nwabu-Ekeoma is the founding editor of Bia! Zine , a magazine that celebrates the voices, food, and stories of immigrant communities in Ireland. Unlike most other food-related publications, Bia! doesn’t concern itself with the hottest new chefs or trends in food and restaurants. Rather, the zine is a place to highlight and share the stories behind food—ones which emphasize how immigrants live their identity, cultural heritage, and celebrate in their new homes through the medium of food. ...
Nov 02, 2023•48 min
Garry Hughes is the chef at The Shelbourne , one of Dublins’ finest and also oldest hotels, celebrating their 200th year in 2024. While the phrase hotel restaurant doesn’t always conjure excitement, the Shelbourne under Gary’s leadership has developed a culinary program that is exciting, creative, locally sourced, and most important—delicious. On this week’s episode, we speak with Garry about the importance of work/life balance and the power of an eclair to change someone’s life. We also talk to...
Sep 21, 2023•41 min
Passing through Ballycastle, a charming seaside town on the Causeway Coast in Ireland’s northeast corner, one wouldn’t necessarily expect to find a world-class bakery serving sourdough breads and creative, beautiful pastries. But after spending time learning and traveling abroad, this is exactly what Ciara O’hArtlaighle and her husband, Dara, created when they opened Ursa Minor . Not only does Ursa Minor have fantastic breads and pastries, but it’s also a cafe, serving a really important role as...
Sep 14, 2023•58 min
Niall Sabongi fell in love with seafood as a child living on the east coast of Ireland, where his father would bring him to the beach to find cockles and mussels to eat for dinner. Today, Niall is at the forefront of the conversation around Irish seafood. As a chef, he founded fish-centric favorite spots like Klaw , Saltwater Grocery , and most recently, The Seafood Cafe . While the stereotypical Irish ocean-based meal might be fish and chips or chowder, at Niall's restaurants, the incredibly wi...
Sep 07, 2023•50 min
We often talk about how Irish food is not just Guinness and potatoes…and yet! A real Irish culinary experience would not be complete without a pint of the good stuff and some delicious spuds! Eunice Power is exactly what her name implies—a powerhouse as a chef and small business owner. In addition to being the director of the West Waterford Festival of Food , Eunice is a caterer and the owner of And Chips , a gourmet takeaway featuring fresh, sustainable food and—you guessed it—chips! On today’s...
Jun 19, 2023•52 min
Our guest this week is Kevin Burke of Library Street , a newcomer on the Dublin restaurant scene that was recently named Best Newcomer at the Irish Restaurant Awards. Kevin spent some time working at the two Michelin-star Patrick Guillbaud early in his career before heading to London where he lived and worked for 8 years before returning home to Ireland. We talk to Kevin about the inspiration behind Library Street, his time in London, and when he knew it was time to come home. We also chat about...
Jun 01, 2023•59 min
When you walk in the doors of Pota Café in the Connemara Gaeltacht there’s a buzz in the air. Pota’s atmosphere is filled with community spirit and the sweet scent of freshly baked bread, while the melody of people conversing in Irish fills the air. It’s this community spirit, as well as their prolific use of local produce and seafood, that led the cafe to win the award for best café in the country from Food & Wine Ireland this year. Opened by chef Diarmuid Ó Mathúna in 2021, Pota is a bilin...
May 05, 2023•45 min
Have you ever wondered how much blood sausage a person can eat in one sitting? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Artie Clifford and Fallon Moore are the founders of Blas na hÉireann , the Irish Food Awards. Blas, which means ‘taste’ in Irish, was born in Dingle in 2007, and has organized an annual celebration of the best in Irish food and drink every year since. With some help from University College Cork, they’ve developed a blind tasting process that’s become the international standard in...
Mar 24, 2023•52 min
Is there anything Kwanghi Chan can’t do?! The Dublin-based chef and cookbook author owns two restaurants, a food truck, a retail sauce company, and regularly appears on TV. Born in Hong Kong, Kwanghi moved to Donegal when he was eight and grew up cooking in his uncle’s Chinese takeaway. As an adult, he chose a culinary education over art school and went on to work in a number of Michelin-starred restaurants before going out on his own. Kwanghi’s first book, Wok , came out last year and is the fi...
Mar 16, 2023•51 min
The diversity of Irish whiskey today is in a new league compared to just 20 years ago when a few big brands dominated the market. One of the things that defines a modern Irish whiskey is the story behind it, and few have as compelling a story as Slane Irish Whiskey . Distilled on the grounds of Slane Castle —a site famous in part for hosting huge outdoor rock concerts since the 1980s—the brand uses water from the mythologically important River Boyne and homegrown grain, prioritizes measurable su...
Dec 11, 2022•55 min
