Cow to Cone

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UCSC students Emma, Nicole, Riley and Lola explore the dairy industry in Dingle, Ireland, interviewing both farmer Dinny Galvin and a Murphy’s ice cream employee. Come along with us as we discover what really goes into making some of the best and purest ice cream in the world.
Transcript:
**Ice cream truck** 

Nicole: Welcome to our podcast, “Cow to Cone”. We’re going to explore the connection between the cows you see in the fields around Dingle, Ireland, to that luscious ice cream everybody is enjoying, rain or shine. 

Nicole Batinich (left) & Emma Avenia (right)

Emma: Ever wonder what makes ice cream in Dingle so creamy? Is it the way the cows live, so happily eating grass, or the short distance their cream has to travel? Or is it some other mysterious ingredient, like love? Elsewhere in the world, dairy production is highly mechanized. What is it about the way dairying is done here that makes the cream so rich? This is (in our own voices): Nicole, Riley, Lola, and Emma and we are here to explore the importance of the traditional dairy industry in rural County Kerry and how it supports the growth of popular ice cream shops like Murphy’s. 

Riley: It’s a cold, rainy afternoon, however there’s a crowd of people lined up outside Murphy’s, salivating for a scoop of ice cream. 

Murphy’s Manager Kevin:  Uh, so my favorite flavor of ice cream is the Irish brown bread. Uh, we crumble up brown soda bread, cover it in brown sugar, pop it into the oven for eight hours on a really low heat to caramelize it. So it has a very, uh, crunchy texture but a very sweet flavor

Customer: I got the butterscotch and the Irish strawberry, they’re delicious, I could highly recommend.

Lola Sehl (left) & Riley Ramos (right)

Riley: Murphy’s ice cream was started by two American brothers as one shop in Dingle and has since expanded to Galway, Dublin, and China. There are even two locations in the town of Dingle alone. Clearly there is something special about this place. The bathroom doors are painted with information about their process and where they get their cream. But what makes this ice cream so appealing? Is it the unique flavors, the friendly staff, or the locally sourced cream they use?

**sound of bell**

Ciera: Hi, my name is Ciera. I work in Murphy’s Ice Cream. I am currently a host advisor. I have been here three summers and I work in the Dingle shop mostly, but I also work in the Dublin shop during the winter. 

Lola: You may be wondering, what’s their most popular flavor? Well…

Ciera: The Dingle sea salt is one of our most popular flavors. We actually gather seawater from a beach local to us, wine strand, filter and boil it down and we add it to our base which is cream, milk, eggs and sugar. It’s very similar to vanilla but there’s actually no vanilla in it which is surprising to a lot of people but you can really taste the creaminess of the Kerry cow in the Dingle sea salt specifically. 

Emma: What really makes this place work is the people. 

Ciera: It’s really family friendly. Like I arrived at the shop and I’m working with my second cousin and it’s just so random because we didn’t know, but a lot of people who come into the company have had connections already in the company, like their parents or their aunties or their cousins, they were already in the company.

**Sound of cows mooing**

Lola: So where do the ingredients for all of this luscious ice cream originate? Turns out, not so far away…

Soft green acres of open pasture hug the sides of a narrow road on the outskirts of a quaint town called Dingle, Ireland. A herd of cows gather, their hides black and silky with white patches, with the exception of a single red cow. Welcome to Dinny’s farm. 

Dinny’s Red Calf

Dinny: I’m Dinny Galvin. I’m 54. I’ve been farming here since I was 16. It’s a mixed farm, dairy and sheep, and we produce milk, we produce sheep meat and wool, and we sell those on to the processor. 

Riley: He’s justifiably proud of his cows and the quality of the milk they give. 

Dinny: The best possible milk you can get anywhere in the world comes from dairy cows who are eating grass, not from dairy cows that are indoors, because a lot of it is produced from maize and concentrated feeds and genetically modified feeds. 

Emma: Grass is the one crop that grows in abundance in County Kerry, an area where the land yields not much else, but it’s not all sunshine and rainbows here at Dinny’s farm. It’s expensive to keep up with environmental regulations designed to protect waterways. 

Dinny: It’s very, very environmentally driven now. Which is putting pressure on a lot of the smaller guys like me. So if you’ve got a young family, I’m married, I have five kids. My goal in life is to send those girls to college, to uni, like yourselves, but if you have to invest X amount on the farm, and you’re trying to take care of the family as well, you’d need to be getting a lot more for your product.

Nicole: Dinny feels like he has a big target on his back as a small dairy farmer. 

Dinny: …they prefer a lot of the smaller guys would get out of the way and they prefer to have so many bigger guys, you know, concentrate on us.

Narration Emma: With all these added pressures and responsibilities, the future of Dinny’s farm is uncertain…

Dinny: I hope somebody will farm something here. It may not be dairy cows, but you know, I would hate to see, I would hate to think it would be sold. The farm next door was sold because it was an elderly man that owned it and then he never married. Which is sad, you know, we love to see it being handed on, but I mean, for the small farm 50 acres and milking 30 to 40 cows my son Cathal would not make a living outta that. He would have to do a double job. 

Lola: Is “keeping it local” actually enough to save a farm like this? After all, Murphy’s is expanding and the demand for grass fed dairy is escalating. 

Dinny: Anything you get wrapped up in plastic and we’ll say that milk, that beautiful white milk that’s in the tank, that goes to the milk processor. Nutrition is health, and certainly don’t ever believe anybody that tells you any different. As fresh as you can get vegetables, as fresh as you can get milk, and as semi-organic as you can. 

Nicole: So, if farmers like Dinny were unable to sustain their businesses, what do you think would be lost if local cream was no longer available? Ciera from Murphy’s has her thoughts. 

** sound of bell **

Murphy’s Dingle Location

Ciera: I think a lot of it is lost. We try to make everything ourselves. If not, we get it locally, which makes us stand out because we use such products where you know they come from. The taste would be lost, the creaminess would be lost. I think it would be a significant challenge and that we’d lose some customers over it, because that’s why they come to our ice cream is for the creaminess. 

**Ice cream truck jingle**

Nicole: After speaking to Dinny and Ciera, we’ve come to realize how much We take organic and local produce for granted. Everyone loves the idea of eating organically. Especially when it comes to supporting the farmers behind the scenes. 

Lola: Yeah, I think oftentimes we find ourselves enjoying the final product of something without really acknowledging the work that goes into it. 

Riley: I agree. It’s so vital to appreciate and support the people who contribute to satisfying our taste buds and for preserving an industry we all love. 

Emma: Especially since Murphy’s is so good! 

***Fade out music of Ice Cream by the Carling family***

Nicole: You’ve been listening to “Cow to Cone”, a podcast about how Murphy’s ice cream is promoting local dairy by sourcing from local producers and spreading the love back to farms like Dinny Galvin’s. We hope you’ve liked what we presented here. Thank you for listening. This has been Nicole, Riley, Lola, and Emma. If you liked our scoop on Murphy’s, maybe you should go get your own! 

Links:

Dinny’s Website: https://www.farmingfornature.ie/nominees/dinny-galvin/

Murphy’s Website: https://murphysicecream.ie/

What’s Kraken?

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Welcome to “Whats Kraken!” , a podcast produced by four students from UC Santa Cruz studying abroad; Finely, Charles, Shaya, and Naomi. We will dive into three marine myths popular along the Dingle Peninsula; the Selkie, the Sleeping Giant, and the Merrow.

 

 

CHARLES. It’s 1673, and you sail in a dark, stormy night sea imagining what lurks below the waves. Maybe there’s a sea monster like the one that just washed up in the harbor. The fishermen at the pub said it had two heads, ten horns, and a body bigger than any horse. You imagine its inky-black tendrils rising up to crush the side of your boat.

FINLEY. This ‘Kraken’ was later identified as a giant squid, but other stories from Dingle, this tiny Irish fishing town, aren’t as easily explained. For centuries, locals have regaled each other with tales of mermaids, seal-people, and sleeping giants. I’m Finley, and these are my fellow hosts…

CHARLES. Charles!

SHAYA: Shaya.

NAOMI: And Naomi

FINLEY. This is a UC Santa Cruz study abroad production. Welcome to What’s Kraken?!

CHARLES. One of the most famous stories fishermen tell is that of the selkies, or sealfolk, who have the top half of a human and the bottom of a seal. Ciara O’Connell grew up in Dingle, hearing much about these mythical creatures.

CIARA. They come up onto the shore to play and dance with their sisters and they shed their seal coats and essentially one of them gets kidnapped and married. And eventually manages to run away (Play Shaya Running) back to her family and her sisters that she’s missed very much.

CHARLES. Huh. Pretty dark…

CIARA. I have also heard of a version where she can’t bring the children and they have to stay on land. She still appears to them at the beach with tears in her eyes. And that’s why seals always look like they’re crying.

SHAYA. Tomas, a guide at the Blasket Center, has another story that parallels the selkie myth– this time, about a mermaid. 

TOMAS.“ a man long ago, Mikii, who lived by Smervik Harbour… 

 SHAYA. He didn’t have much going for him. Except being a farmer. One early morning…

TOMAS. He went to the beach and behold, he saw on a rock, the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.  

SHAYA. A mermaid. 

TOMAS. And there she was, combing her sea-green hair, in the morning sunlight. And it reminded him of butter melting on a plate of cabbage. 

SHAYA. It’s said that if you were able to capture her diving cap, she would go home with you. The one time she had it off, Mikkel grabbed it.

TOMAS. She says, ‘Man, do not eat me when you bring me home.’ ‘I have no intention of eating you,’ says Mikkel. He had pity for her, and he grabbed her hand and he noticed there was little webs between her fingers, like the foot of a duck. He said, ‘Will you come home?’ She says, ‘I’ll go, I’ll come home with you.’ 

SHAYA.  Since Mikkel had stolen the cap, she lost the power of the sea. Before leaving  she left  a message to her father, king of the wave. Off they went to get married.

TOMAS. One day, Mikkel, he was away in Dingle.

TOMAS. And the mermaid, she was very house proud. So this day, she decided that she’d clean around the fireplace and the chimney breast. And she pulled back the Hessian sack, and she pulled out the netting, the fishing tackle. And what did she find behind all of that stored? Her diving cap. And she puts it on. And the power of the sea returns to her, and she sees her father’s cassock, and looking around the house, she sees her three kids, and with her sigh, she bids them goodbye, and goes down to Smerwick Harbour, and plunges into the sea.

TOMAS. And she’s never seen again.

NAOMI. Another myth is used to explain the shape of Inishtooskert, one of the Blasket Islands off the Dingle Peninsula. When viewed from the east, the island looks like a person laying on their back. It’s nicknamed ‘the sleeping giant,’ and its story has been around for centuries — most recently as a popular children’s book displayed in every Dingle bookstore. Nicolette Tillery, who works as the Dingle aquarium’s education director, remembers reading that story to her niece all the time. 

NICOLETTE. The Blaskets are a big grounding point for a lot of locals. People love this place. 

NAOMI. Nicolette even has a tattoo of the island. Anyways, the story goes…

NICOLETTE. “He was stepping on all of the villages and the pubs and the houses and everything. So a druid brewed a potion and put him to sleep. And that’s where he is in the sea.”

FINLEY. However, Ciara told us of a much darker version of the tale, one set in the time of the fairies. After all, the island’s other name is An Fear Marbh: the dead man.  

CIARA: “He made friends with the fairies and they invited him to their homeland, Tír na nÓg, the land of the young. But time there was all mixed up. And so he’s there and he’s whiling away the time with them and eventually he’s kind of like, ‘Oh, I best hit the road. Get back to the lads, wife and kids.; And they’re like ‘We’ll give you this horse, but like, just don’t get off the horse, whatever you do.’”

FINLEY: But when the giant returned home, things were different. Everything was smaller than he remembered, and he didn’t recognize the landscape. And then–

CIARA: he sees there’s been a bit of a rock slide and there’s a young boy trapped under a rock. So he leans down to help take the rock and he comes off the horse.

FINLEY: So he saves the boy, but something goes wrong. He starts feeling weak,

CIARA: and he stumbles backward into the ocean, falls and hits his head.

CIARA: And he’s been lying there ever since, waiting for his friends to come wake him.”

NAOMI: That ambiguity over how he fell asleep — whether you believe the children’s story or the darker version — is probably why the story still holds weight today.

NICOLETTE: “There’s a lot of fascination with him with visitors and children nowadays. When my niece comes to visit. She’ll be like, tell me stories about, An Fear Marbh. And so I’ll just kind of make up things. If you ask her where the waves come from, she says that it’s him snoring while he sleeps.”

NICOLETTE. “They take on a little bit of a tale of their own within current day.”

NAOMI: Personally, I’d like to think that the sleeping giant is just waiting patiently to be woken up in Ireland’s hour of greatest need. It’s kind of refreshing for an Irish story to leave room for imagination and hope, which I love. What do you think, Shaya?

SHAYA: I think the myths also have a moral aspect to them. They were used to pass on important messages: don’t take things that aren’t yours, don’t make enemies of the fairies… don’t kidnap women, etc.

CHARLES. I’ll keep that in mind!

FINLEY: Some locals like Ciara say they don’t believe in them, but others, like Tomas and Nicolette’s niece, absolutely do. 

CHARLES: I noticed that a lot of them seemed to start as ways to explain natural phenomena– like the seals looking like they’re crying, or the topography of the island!

NAOMI: I agree. I think…people take what they need from these stories. They get passed down through generations and Dingle’s really unique relationship to the sea continues. 

FINLEY: That’s all we have for this episode! Next time you’re by the ocean, watch for one of these fantastical beings. I’m Finley!

CHARLES. I’m Charles!

SHAYA. Shaya!

NAOMI: Naomi… And that’s what’s Kraken!

Guilt of the Guinness

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Have you ever thought of becoming a bartender? Making drinks, meeting new people, hearing interesting stories, and making good money sounds like a dream job. Join UC Santa Cruz students, Jessica, Jordan, Amm, and Kat as we talk to Luke McNamara, a bartender at John Benny’s Pub in Dingle, Ireland, about what it’s really like behind the bar.

John Benny's Pub (outside)

Guilt of the Guinness

John Benny's (inside)

Transcript:

[music]

Jessica: Welcome to Dingle, a small town in the southwest corner of Ireland and home to over 50 pubs. We’re here for five weeks as part of the UC Santa Cruz Study Abroad program. Being able to go into pubs for the first time raised some questions on what it’s really like to be a bartender and encouraged us to explore the intricacies of life on the other side of the bar.

Kat: This is Jessica, Jordan, Am, and Kat, and we’re here to give it to you neat on what it’s like to be a bartender in one of the most notorious tourist destinations in Ireland. Welcome to the podcast Guilt of the Guinness.

Jordan: John Benny’s pub is located across from the Dingle Pier. Its exterior is painted a deep royal blue with three large windows above the shaded outdoor seating area. Walking through the bright orange front door, you’re greeted by the host, Ben, who points you into the direction of the bar. Sitting at the tall seats, you see dozens of alcohol bottles, dollar bills, and police badges taped onto the back wall of the bar.

Kat: Imagine a bustling room full of chatter and live music as you sip on your favorite drink to ease you into comfort. That’s exactly what a typical night at John Benny’s Pub is like, if you’re on the customer’s side.

Amm: Bartenders perform a graceful dance in constant motion as their quick hands appear to work independently, making your favorite drink while they give advice, tell stories and lend an ear. Have you ever thought you could be a bartender?

Luke: This is good fun while it lasts, but, you know, this isn’t forever.

Jessica: Meet Luke McNamara, a bartender at John Benny’s. He dresses like your typical 20 something year old, with straight cut jeans, a black polo tee, and his accessory, an ice latte. His eyes narrow as his smile widens, which happens quite often as he’s always cracking jokes. His brown hair lays flat against his forehead, from the sweat droplets as he rhythmically dashes from one side of the bar to the next, filling pines with Guinness, ringing up bills, and chatting with the old guy at the end of the bar about the soccer game.

Luke: My name is Luke McNamara. I’m a student and bartender.

Jordan: Luke has been bartending for six years, but his bartending career started before he could even legally drink.

Luke: I was stuck for cash when I was about 15. So I went down to my local pub and said, can I have a job? And they said, yes. So I started 15, just changing kegs, collecting glasses, running the food, doing the odd drink here and there.And I really shouldn’t have been.

Amm: Bartending entails much more than we originally thought.

Kat: Luke, could you describe what the job looks like for you?

Luke: You have to make drinks, serve drinks, you have to do it quickly. And you have to be able to talk to people. On a day to day basis, there’s at least 300 people coming over to our job at least. And I’d speak to 200 of them, even if it’s just hello. So after a summer, let’s say that’s what, a thousand people a week for ten weeks, you’ve met 10, 000 people in three months. So you have to have a base level of knowledge on pretty much everything. Okay. to hold at least a 30 second conversation whether it be about sport, politics, religion, what they had to be in a certain restaurant seven years ago.

Amm: Okay, 10, 000 people, 30 seconds each, that’s 300, 000 seconds of small talk, that’s 5, 000 minutes. Could you talk about anything for 30 seconds?

Jess: Yeah, like what if I asked you about magic mushrooms in Ireland?

Jordan: Oh my god, um, I think you’re better off asking Steve about that one.

Luke: I think bartenders as a whole tend to be chatty people, or are able to, there’s an Irish expression, the gift of the gab, where you can just talk about pretty much anything, get away with it.

Amm: Luke is currently working 55 to 65 hours a week at John Benny’s, with only one day off. Those Irish seem crazy. A typical full time work week is 40 hours. I mean, he must be exhausted.

Luke: I feel ancient, I’m 21. Lots of people think it’s a great idea, until they try and do it and the workload is just insane. And you’re never actually off work, ever. It’s more than full time.

Kat: So, it’s hard work. What about work life balance?

Luke: Trying to balance a social life and Full time job in hospitality is near nigh on impossible. So my day off is a Monday. Most people are off Saturday, Sunday. And then, let’s say people are doing stuff on a Friday night, I’m probably working until 1am. You tend to gravitate towards people in the same industry, quite often. Which you will see, a lot of people who work in one pub will hang out with people who work in a different pub, because your all hours kind of merge. It’s when you’re able to socialize.

Jess: The secret to working these long hours?

Luke: Caffeine and nicotine. I think it is just a natural stress relief. You just kind of go, and relax. And it takes you out of the environment as well. Because obviously, I can’t light up a cigarette behind the bar. But I think it becomes a habit.

Jordan: So, how do you relax once you’re off work?

Luke: You do take an hour or two to decompress. I kind of just sit at home, eat, scroll through my phone. I really don’t speak to anyone. I’ll say hello to my parents and I’ll just sit. I just kind of can’t because you spend all day speaking to people. Social battery is dead.

Kat: I don’t know how he does it. My social battery only lasts for a few hours.

Jess: Being around so many people can be draining, especially after dealing with people who’ve had a little too much to drink.

Luke: I’ve had people screaming and shouting and calling and shouting all sorts of abuse over the other side of the counter and you have to sit there and go, whatever, leave. Because you can’t be responsible for what might happen if they are beyond that point.

Jordan: So Luke, when they do get to that point, what do you do?

Luke: Cut them off straight away. And people really don’t like being told that. I had some guy try and fight me. He was just squaring up. He was like, we don’t have a bouncer where I work in England at the minute. So he’s like What are you going to do? You’re not involved, so what are you going to do about it? You know, and just, there’s no need. You just have to sit there and be calm and let it, let them get it out of their system.

Kat: Luke also shares how he’s considered walking away when he’s become too overwhelmed.

Jordan: So wait, was there ever a time you considered leaving the industry?

Luke: Oh God, yeah. I’ve, I’ve considered quite many places. I’ve never done it. I think everyone, anyone in hospitality who says they haven’t considered walking at least once is lying. They’re lying. Because some days it is just too stressful, it is just too much.

Amm: Even though the job can be strenuous, Luke keeps coming back to work.

Jess: What about this job makes him stick with it?

Luke: The money, mainly. I need to be able to afford to live.

Kat: After all these negatives, you start to wonder, are there any positives that come with bartending?

Luke: I like meeting new people, talking to everyone. I do actually like the serving, and also I do secretly enjoy it. I do enjoy the work I do, and I’m good at it now.

[Music: Bartender Blues “I’m just a bartending and I don’t like my work. But I don’t mind the money”]

Jordan: After talking with Luke and getting to know a little bit more about what he does for work Would you guys ever consider being a bartender?

Amm: I’ve considered it in the past, but now I’m not so sure I think I would do it.

Jess: As much hard work as it seems, it seems like he has a lot of fun doing it, and I think I would enjoy that.

Jordan: Yeah, for sure. He’s always talking to, like, a lot of different people, and he has a lot of cool stories, and he gets paid a lot of money, so. Yum.

Jess: What did we learn from this experience?

Jordan: Um, I learned a lot. I definitely have a greater appreciation for service workers, and, like, Since interviewing Luke, sitting at the pub, like, I just remember, like, Oh, the bartender’s a human, too. Like, I gotta treat them as a person.

Kat: Yeah, I agree. As a service worker myself, I can definitely understand where he’s coming from, and understand, like, the amount of work he does, and it just makes me more empathetic to service workers myself.

All/Kat: Thank you all for listening. This has been Jessica, Jordan, Am, and Kat on Guilt of the Guinness with Luke McNamara.

Shalanje!

[Music: Bartender Blues “I see lots of sad faces, and lots of bad cases, of folks with their backs to the wall.”]

Traversing Irish Tradition: A Conversation with Dingle Musicians

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You’re here today with Punya, Aspen, Rose, and Oliver. We’re in small town Dingle in County Kerry, where traditional Irish music is everywhere! We’re talking with singer-songwriter Segotia and a trad musician, Eilis Kennedy, about what music and tradition mean to them.

Please check out Segotia and Eilis Kennedy if you enjoyed their music! 

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Ewe Herd it Here First

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Sheep are an iconic part of Ireland’s image. Walk into any gift store and take a look at the hundreds of postcards, stuffed animals, or drinking glasses that feature these animals. Sheep line the shelves and adorn the hills, but what are they really doing in Ireland? We are Elena, Hashna, Mia, and Maya, and in Ewe Herd it Here First, we will take you through the reality of a small-scale sheep farm in West Kerry all the way to a local store that sells Kerry wool and talk about the future of these woolly animals.

Mia: When you picture Ireland, what do you see? Rocky cliffs plunging into breaking waves, rolling green hills, and of course,

*Sheep Bleat*

Sheep. Ireland’s gift shops are lined with sheep merchandise ranging from keychains to plushies to postcards. Clearly, sheep are an iconic part of Irish culture, but what do sheep really mean to Ireland today?

Elena: This is Ewe Herd It Here First, and we are Elena, Hashna, Mia, and Maya, and we are in County Kerry, Ireland on a UC Santa Cruz study abroad program. We’re exploring the culture and economics of the sheep farms that support the 114,305 sheep in County Kerry. 

*Sheep Bleats*

Maya: Those are the sheep at Dinny Galvin’s farm. They eye us cautiously as they realize we’re not going to feed them. Their cloud-like bodies begin to trot over to the gate the moment they spot Dinny.

Dinny Galvin:

So my name is Dinny Galvin, I’m a dairy and sheep farmer. I have 40 cows and we have 20 sheep. My dad bought a few sheep by accident on the market and brought them home and right away I fell in love with the sheep. I just wanted to keep the sheep and have a few baby lambs and that was it.

*Dog Barking*

Hashna: And this is Dan. He’s a border collie that Dinny uses to herd his cows and sheep. Dan is bringing the sheep in now so we can take a closer look. These sheep have shaggy white coats, curling horns, and faces like Rorschach inkblots. 

Elena: Dinny introduces us to his sheep as if he was asking us to meet members of his family. And in a sense, they are.

Dinny Galvin: Everybody’s different. You might think alike, but we’re all different. And so are the sheep. You’ve just gotta see it in them, that’s all.

Hashna: We were surprised to learn that Dinny doesn’t raise these sheep for their wool. In fact, their wool is somewhat of a financial burden to him, rather than a valuable product.

Dinny: It’s not so much about the wool, but it’s just that the value isn’t added to it.  A disgrace.Yeah. Um, there’s one big market in England, Bradford Market. That’s where they process and scour all the wool and clean it.  So we should be doing that locally here. We have a hundred tonne of wool comes into a place locally here. Yeah and it’s just packed into large bales and shipped to Bradford, UK.

If we were just scouring that, which is washing it, that would put money back into the farmer’s pockets because it’s not going halfway around the world to be washed. 

Mia: Wow, shipping wool all the way to England, that’s a hefty expense. And look around, most people are wearing synthetic fabrics. Even my sweater is acrylic. Wool just isn’thigh in demand anymore.

Maya: So If wool is such a burden, why raise sheep for wool? 

Dinny: I don’t think we’re raising sheep for wool anymore, but you’ve got to take it off them. You have to shear the sheep.  It’s just like getting a haircut.  

Mia: Ireland has lost 15,000 sheep farms since 1993. Dinny told us what would be lost from Irish culture if this trend continues

Dinny Galvin: You lose the rural communities. You lose rural people out of the countryside, you’re going to lose the school. You’re probably going to lose the sports, the GAA.

And you’re going to lose people in general, people to talk to. You know, that’s a big, big thing. Animals will provide you with a certain amount of company, but if you have nobody, if you haven’t another human being to talk to, it’s, you know, it’s not a good way to be. 

Elena: So wait, if these farms are shrinking and they don’t raise sheep for wool anymore, why are these shops full of wool products that claim to be locally sourced? 

Mia: Well Kerry Woolen Mills is a local shop and wool processing company that is one of only two working mills left in ireland. We talked to the manager of this shop to get a wool makers perspective

You walk in the small, square building and a rainbow of colors and textures greet you. Local wool products like hats, blankets, scarves, and yarn flood every shelf, clothes rack, and bin.

Grainne Garnain: My own name is Gráinne Gárnain and I manage Kerry Wool Mill Shop in Dingle. Kerry Wool Mills is a mill located about 40 km from Dingle itself and they have been producing wool for, well, since the 17th century. The current owners have had it in their family for about 110 years now. 

The Majority of what we source is, we would predominantly use Irish wool. Now you do get different textures through the shop purely because we use a mixture of lambs’ wool and then the Aran, the adult sheep.

Maya: Like Dinny, Gráinne emphasized the community in the wool industry.

Grainne Garnain: I mean they’re intertwined, all the working mills work together.

So even here we will stock Cushendale, we’ll stock Rosson. Because they’re like us. So the smaller mills, we do support each other. We are small working mills. So yeah, we work very, very closely with them

Mia: She also pointed out changes that she noticed.

Grainne Garnain: It’s changing even now. So in recent years, even in the last kind of five years, there’s a big push on education, both educating, I suppose the mills themselves and the farmers.

So, The price of the sheep fleece is low. That’s an argument that I mean, every farmer has, and often it will cost a farmer more to shear the sheep than what they’re getting for the fleece. So we are focusing on, I suppose, educating farmers that the better quality fleece is obviously going to produce a higher quality or a higher price.

On the flip side of it, there is only two working mills left in Ireland doing the full process. So really need a high standard. So, education all around will make a big difference.

Mia: We questioned her on what she saw for the future of wool, and she answered to us,

Grainne Garnain: I see Irish wool making a big comeback, to be honest. I mean, there is a major focus on it now, and it’s a fantastic raw material.

Like, it’ll keep you warm, it’ll help keep you cool. It’s self cleaning, which is always nice. It’s a really long, durable product. And the fact that it’s sustainable, renewable, It’s kind of a no brainer. So there is a lot of focus on mattresses, insulation now being used with the Irish wool. There is definitely more to be done with the Irish wool, and I reckon insulation is probably the way to go.

Mia: Wait, insulation? Like, using it in walls?

Elena: Yeah, Dinny mentioned this as well! He was talking to us about his hope for the future of sheep farming.

Dinny Galvin: Try to get something done with the wool–probably insulation. We need to build a pile of homes. Wool is biodegradable. Synthetic insulation isn’t a good thing, because if your house is remodeled or knocked that goes back into landfill, and the synthetic stuff doesn’t break down.

Maya: – Wool holds the story of a way of life in County Kerry. People here have grown up surrounded by sheep for thousands of years. For some, it’s an emotional and tactile connection to family.

Grainne Garnain: As a kid, I remember my grandmother knitting for me. I remember sitting down and being taught how to knit, and you were an absolute failure if you couldn’t master it. And I do, I see it too, I do it with my own girls. I have them knitting and sewing, and they’re using the Irish wool, and I suppose the biggest thing for me is as a child living in a rural place you grow up with sheep and you’re surrounded by them and you never have an appreciation for what they give you.

Hashna: Times are changing. The old way of life is becoming more and more distant. But many sheep farmers in Kerry, like Dinny Galvin, are trying to change with the times in order to keep their traditions alive.

Elena: So what is the future of sheep farming in Kerry? No one has a crystal ball, but it likely involves innovation and keeping products local. And Ewe Herd it Here First! We are Hashna, Mia, Maya, and Elena, and we are with UCSC in Kerry, Ireland. Thank you for listening!​

 

Dingle Hub: Dinny Galvin Website: Link

Kerry Woolen Mills Website: Link

Pub Investigators Look Into Two Top Irish Pubs

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A group of three students have been searching for the truth behind what entices people to enter Kennedys and The Dingle Pub. These two pubs attract many locals and tourists, so what makes these two pubs similar, and what makes them different?

Made and produced by: Ainsley Clancy, Consuelo Mendoza, and Jason Mack

Dinny in Dingle

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Ireland’s history is deeply rooted in agriculture, with livestock being the central focus of all those green fields you see when you arrive. Old practices of running a family dairy are under pressure from environmental laws and a rethinking of what is sustainable, but in other ways some of these ancient practices are being revived as more sustainable. Farmers feel caught in the middle. Ireland is a small contributor to climate change overall, but the efforts to reduce emissions may force consolidation and threaten family farms livelihood. Change is coming so fast from government regulations that farmers are wondering if they can hang on even one more generation. No matter how hard one farmer tries to change, he doesn’t feel like his concerns and livelihood matter in the bigger picture of government regulations. Dairy farming is trying to adapt, but the speed of change may be the death knell for this type of family farm.

Join us as we discuss the future of farming with Dinny Galvin, a farmer from the Dingle Peninsula!

What’s The Catch?

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In the small town of Dingle Ireland, there is a local family-run business called the Fish Box. Locals and tourists alike line up down the street to get a taste of their fish. Only five years old, this restaurant is a huge success, but what’s the catch?

Today we dive into the issues in the fishing industry in Dingle and Ireland as a whole. We take a closer look at the Fish Box and how they manage to stay afloat despite rising prices, increasingly expensive fuel, biased restrictions, and sustainability struggles. With the help of special guest, Micheal Flannary, we get an inside look into what it’s like to be an Irish fisherman today.

THE FISH BOX / FLANNERY'S SEAFOOD BAR, Dingle - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews - Tripadvisor

 

SCRIPT:

 

Music

 

CHRISSY: I just want to know, do you know where your fish comes from?

 

FISH BOX CUSTOMER: the Atlantic Ocean

 

CHRISSY: That’s a customer at the Fish Box, a family-owned restaurant in Dingle, Ireland where we: Chrissy, Nolan, and Eva are spending five weeks exploring the local culture and history of this small seaside town. Did I mention there is always a line out the door of this tiny venue? All seems rosy, right? However, recent changes in the fishing industry have led to increased prices of our favorite fishy dishes and changes in where our fish comes from, how it’s prepared, and who is preparing them. You might stop to think twice about spending a few extra for your fish, but have you thought about why you need to?  

 

Boat Noise                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

 

Something is happening behind the scenes, something… fishy. I’m Chrissy, I’m Nolan, and I’m Eva, and we are here to fish out the answers to this fishery mystery with the help of a local Dingle business focused on sustainability and quality fish.

 

MICHEAL: My name is Micheal Flannery. I’m the owner of the Fish Box. I own it with my father and my brother.

 

EVA: Micheal founded Fish Box in 2018. It’s a small restaurant. Locals and tourists are often seen lined up down the street outside the bright blue building, waiting to get a taste of the award-winning fish. When you go to the fish box you can expect to get the freshest fish available because they catch it themselves.

 

MICHEAL: The fish box started out quite small to be honest, and just kind of evolved.

 

NOLAN: The restaurant evolved from a wholesale outlet market to an actual restaurant in response to changes in the Atlantic fishery. Because of a multitude of problems, the profitability in solely fishing was waning, leaving Micheal to figure out how to keep the family business afloat.

 

MICHEAL: Like, you know, a big thing that, like my grandfather, my father always says, it’s called fishing, not catching. It means that no day is ever the same. It’s always different. And that’s important to remember that just cause you’ve one good day doesn’t mean the next day’s gonna be good.

 

NOLAN: Micheal’s dad has been a commercial fisherman for the last 50 years and the family’s fishing history is much older, going back 100 years. But as the 21st century began, things began looking grim. 

 

MICHEAL: We were finding it very hard to find a market for our fish, and we just felt that the kind of quality of the produce that we were bringing in wasn’t getting the value that it should have been getting. 

 

NOLAN: And so, Micheal opened the Fish Box, a family-run restaurant that catches, prepares, and serves its own fish. But while they were no longer worried about selling their fish to processors, they ran into new problems. 

 

MICHEAL: the problem is in Ireland, we just don’t have enough quota.

 

EVA: In Ireland, the fishermen only have a certain amount of fish they can catch each month. In order to sustain their businesses, they have to catch all their fish in 30 days, but its not that easy. 

 

MICHEAL: if you get 20 days bad weather, you only got 10 days to catch a fish and makes it very dangerous.

 

EVA: Not only dangerous, but catch quotas limit the number of fish boats are allowed to catch. 

 

MICHEAL: Yeah, so in Ireland we get a pretty raw deal with the fishing industry. I think we have a really large percentage of the waters and probably have the richest waters in Europe, but we have the minimum quotas here, which makes it really, really, really hard for the fishermen. 

 

EVA: But these quotas aren’t the same for other European countries that fish in Ireland, leading to a situation that can only be seen as unfair to the local fishermen. 

 

MICHEAL: You know, there’s plenty fish. There’s so much fish. There’s Spanish boats, there’s French boats, there’s Belgian boats, there’s every kind of boats fishing and harvesting. So like maybe five, six times more than what we can take outta the sea, which I just think is wrong, like, and other than being a fish fishing nation with built on fishing and farming, I think that it should be more self reliant on what it has.

 

EVA: There are other problems faced by Irish fishermen aswell. [Mee – hall] tells us there is an reduction in the Irish fleet, and the boats they do have are getting old. On top of that, there is a rising cost in the fuel needed for the boats. 

 

MICHEAL: They just brought on a decommissioning scheme and there’s been around 40 boats taken out of it, but all from the same sector are whitefish. All from whitefish, so that means there’s 40. That’s both supplying the restaurants this year. Of Ireland has put the restaurants in a really sticky predicament because we’ve already gone up on oil, gas and electricity, but now our fish is going up.

 

EVA: With rising costs of fuel and labor, the restaurant industry as a whole is dealing with higher prices that carry over to their consumers. So, many people are now simply choosing to cook for themselves rather than going out taking a chunk out of the livelihoods for these local businesses.

 

NOLAN: Micheal says that the government isn’t providing enough support to sustain the local trade of fishing. He proposes that the Irish government must work with the EU to increase the funding towards fishing in Ireland and help fishermen get back into full swing by increasing quotas. The first step would be by repairing or replacing old boats and giving local fishermen more power over local waters. 

 

Ocean Waves

 

MICHEAL: There’s an area that we fish on the parking point Bank West, about 180 miles west of Dingle.

 

That’s our main fishing area. We can only fish there five months of the year. What do we do for the other seven? when we are not fishing there, there’s English boats fishing there, there’s Spanish boats fishing there.

 

Why are they allowed to fish there? And we are not. It’s in our waters. It’s wrong. It’s totally wrong. So instead of us being 180 miles, Away from home and landing at home all the time. We’re 400 miles away landing into different ports. And these, these are men they’re coming home. They don’t see their kids.

 

CHRISSY: Today, its not just the weather fishermen are worried about, but also the law. 

 

NOLAN: A few months ago, the fishermen with the restaurant had a run in with the law. They had been in waters designated for prawn fishing where the cutoff day was November first. While there, they made the decision that after prawn season was over they would swap to bigger nets to catch white fish. They called the proper authorities who granted them permission, as long as their yield of prawns was less than five percent. While fishing they were flagged down, searched and detained by the navy, despite their catch yielding only 3 percent. They were held for several days without a charge until the final day where they came up with a charge that Micheal says most people consider to be made up. With this charge their boat is now frequently stopped by authorities, impeding their ability to catch fish.

 

MICHEAL: I just think that they criminalize it a lot. 

 

So just for an example now, I think there’s nine fishery patrol officers in Dingle and there is uh, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 ports. Yeah, which is just crazy. It’s just really hard to make an ends meet at the moment with it. Between weather and just everything, it’s tough. It’s a tough, tough gig. This isn’t, 50 years ago, all of the men now are qualified people. They all have high skippers tickets, they all have education. They’re intelligent men. They should know what’s going on.

 

I think at the moment the fishing is actually on the fence. And I think it’s nearly at the point of no return, where it’s gonna be too far for them to come back. And if they lose it, they’re in serious trouble because they’ll never get it back.

 

I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’ll be interesting to see does our quota increase, because if it doesn’t, there’s something very wrong and it’ll be there for the world to see. So I hope they do something. 

 

CHRISSY: Still, tourists and locals alike line up for a chance to taste the Fishbox’s fish, ranking the restaurant high on the travel guide’s best places to eat. The Flannarys plan on expanding the number of seats to 100, so although things seem dire, they are still planning for a future that includes fresh, locally caught fish, from sea to plate in a few, difficult steps. 

 

music

 

END.