Join us for a 9-day immersion to explore, experience and discover the beauty of the country and the passion of the people that creates the unique food culture of southwest Ireland. Based in Cork, the food and culinary capital of Ireland, the program begins on the historic University College Cork (UCC) campus in engaging discussions with APC Microbiome faculty about their latest research on gut health and with UCC faculty Regina Sexton, food and culinary historian and author of A Little History of Irish Food, setting the stage for the tours, tastings and experiences ahead.

Regina will be our guide as we explore Cork’s renowned English Market and Butter Museum, meet with My Goodness owners, Donal and Virginia O’Gara, to learn about their probiotic food business, travel to the nearby village of Midleton for the Saturday market, visit with farmers, and spend an afternoon at the internationally acclaimed Ballymaloe Cookery School where you will work with the culinary staff to prepare a garden to table dinner. The program provides a perfect mix of scheduled activities and meals and the opportunity to discover and visit local sites and restaurants on your own.

Welcome to Cork, Ireland. Check into apartments on the University College Cork campus.

Regina Sexton will give a warm Irish welcome and tour of the beautiful University College Cork campus followed by a program overview and discussion of Ireland's food and culinary landscape and Ireland’s rich agriculture and related food history. Regina will connect the history with today’s growth of artisan food producers, well-known chefs and regional food markets that are sustaining Cork’s culinary culture and its continued claim to be the food capital of Ireland.. 

Welcome dinner at Paradiso, an iconic institution in the Cork dining scene and the wider Irish food culture featuring the innovative and groundbreaking vegetable cuisine, is the perfect place for a fond farewell to the many delicious food experiences in the culinary capital of Ireland.

AM - Food historian, Regina Sexton will lead a discussion on The Great Irish Famine. The second half of the 18th century was the high point for the potato in Ireland. On the eve of the Great Famine, however, only one variety, the Lumper was almost the universal food of the poor. Their dangerous reliance not simply on one food, but on one variety of potato which was highly susceptible to potato blight made inevitable the dire consequences of this fungal disease in 1845.

Following the food history discussions, we will take a 30-minute train ride from Cork to Cobh, the emigration port for hundreds of thousands of Irish emigrants and the last port of call for the Titanic. Visit the Heritage Center (www.cobhheritage.com).

Dinner on your own in Cobh. 

AM - Food historian, Regina Sexton will lead us through the English Market, Ireland’s most renowned covered market. Opened in 1788, it is one of the oldest local markets in the world and remains a bastion of Cork’s food traditions. 

Lunch: The Farmgate Café

“Centuries old traditional, seasonal, regional, even ‘forgotten’ foods are at the core of the Farmgate ethos, and also form a visible link between the menu and the wonderful array of produce downstairs”.

PM - Cork Butter Museum

Guided visit and demonstration at the museum celebrating one of Ireland’s great success stories – butter. Discover its heritage, growth in the 19th century and growth in international trade.

Free evening. Enjoy Cork

Discussion with UCC APC Microbiome faculty on their latest research on fermentation and gut health. The UCC APC is a world-leading research centre focused on understanding the gastrointestinal bacterial community and harnessing the power of the microbiome – (or microbiota) – for the health and wellbeing of people and planet. 

Lunch on your own at Quay Co-op

PM   Tour and discussion with My Goodness owners, Donal and Virginia O’Gara, on permaculture and role in their modern fermented food business.

 Relax on your own or take a day trip on a tour bus to beautiful West Ireland sites like the Ring of Kerry, Dingle Bay, Cliffs of Moher, Blarney Castle. 

 AM Fota House

The day starts with a guided tour of Fota House, its arboretum and Frameyard Kitchen Gardens. Fota House, originally a modest two-story hunting lodge belonging to the Smith-Barry family, was expanded in the 1820s into an elegant Regency style country house with over 70 rooms, ranging in size from the more modest servant rooms to the large and beautifully proportioned principal rooms. The development of Fota’s internationally recognized arboretum in the 1840s coincided with the great plant hunting expeditions around the world bringing back wonderful specimens from places such as the Orient, South America and the Pacific coast of northwest America. “Fota” is derived from the Irish “Fód te” meaning warm soil – perfect for the growing and cultivation of rare trees and exotic plants.

Lunch: The Bakestone Cafe at Fota House Dine al fresco and enjoy the views over Fota’s parklands. A variety of food, prepared daily, often using organic produce from Fota’s kitchen garden.

PM Ballymaloe Cookery School

Continue the day with a tour of the Ballymaloe Cookery School organic farm and gardens, followed by a cooking demonstration, and finishing with a hands on culinary experience and dinner.

Meet the UCC food service director for a discussion and Q&A session about their sustainability policies that have inspired food service operations across Ireland.

Lunch on your own at the UCC Main Restaurant to experience the sustainability practices and local food procurement policies.

Afternoon meet Denise Cahill, Cork Healthy Cities Coordinator, for a discussion and Q&A about Cork’s designation as a World Health Organization (WHO) European Healthy City since 2012.

 Our visits today provide a window into local food cultures beginning at the Midleton Saturday Market to observe and experience the direct connections with food growers and producers then off to lunch with Frank Hederman at Belvelly Smokehouse, one of the few traditional smokehouses remaining in the world where, for more than 25 years, where Frank has smoked fish using a technique where fish is smoked hung over beachwood chips. 

Check out of Cork accommodations.

If you are continuing your foodcultureology Ireland experience, travel to Dublin by scenic coach for a 4-day Dublin area extension.

Check into accommodations in Ireland's capital city.

Guided tour of Book of Kells and Trinity College Library.