07/29/2026
Day 5 in Ireland!! By Nolie Charlet🤩🇮🇪
This entire experience has been informative and gobsmacking, and today continued to set the bar for my future travels! After breakfast, we set off for our third farm of the trip: Crowley Family Farm in Mooncoin, County Kilkenny. John Crowley, a ninth generation farmer, runs his potato/veg and dairy farm with his son and brother. You could hear John’s passion for agriculture in his voice as he described his processes, upbringing, values, and hope for Ireland’s future. A fun fact about the Crowley farm is that they installed the first dairy parlor (station for milking cows) in Irish history! We left the Crowley’s around noon and ate lunch at Jilly and Joe’s Café. The agricultural tour resumed at 2ish with Richard’s Grow It Yourself (GIY) operation at the Curraghmore Estate in Portlaw, County Waterford, which crowns the tallest tree in Ireland. Richard runs this organic farm with consciousness and determination. He and his daughter, Claire, showed us their chickens, various vegetables, and natural pest defense. Richard even let us gather hen eggs and pull weeds out of his field (hands-on experience or free labor? 😂)! Afterwards, we fulfilled the “farm to fork” lifestyle by going to the GIY Restaurant, where Richard’s and the establishment’s very own commodities were made into delicious sourdough, pork and veg soup, and almond cake. Finally, we departed the restaurant with satisfied stomachs and went to our hotel. Can’t wait for tomorrow!!! 😆
