Kenmare Foodie - Karen Coakley

Home
Ireland
Kenmare
Kenmare Foodie - Karen Coakley

This is my page where I share the beautiful place I live, my recipes & a bit about life. Welcome to Kenmare Foodie page.
(1)

I've cooked on TV & now share my love of food through my very popular Kerry Food Tours.You can book a Food Tour through my website www.kenmarefoodies.com. If you like what you see here you can follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my Blog on my website www.kenmarefoodies.com

12/06/2026

A day trip to Sherkin Island.

Being from West Cork, Sherkin and Cape Clear Islands have always been a firm favourite with us and we had a ritual with the boys when they were younger of visiting one every year and finishing the day with Pizzas in Le Jolie Brise in Baltimore.

Times have changed and our boys have grown but we took advantage of the gorgeous sunshine (anyone remember that🤪) a few weeks ago and took the short ferry crossing to Sherkin.

The ferry takes about 10 mins and you can but your tickets as you board. They run very regularly especially during Summer.

Sherkin itself is very easy to get around with quiet country lanes. We were fascinated and delighted to see TFI transport on the island.

We brought a picnic with us and had coffee in a gorgeous little coffee hut that reminded me of what I encounter on The Camino.

I had a swim on Silver Strand looking across at Cape Clear and we enjoyed an drink in The Jolly Roger while waiting for the Ferry back.

It is well worth putting Sherkin on your summer list especially if you have young kids. You can bring bikes on the ferry and a bucket and spade 😉

Baltimore is always buzzing and such a perfect West Cork feeling to it.

Let me know if you have ever been to Sherkin Island or if you plan to now.

11/06/2026

📍ESK MOUNTAIN 📍
Some mornings just stay with you long after they are over.

This one started with a walk through mixed woodland and a track of genuine temperate rainforest on the Cork-Kerry border — and ended around a woodland kitchen fire, turning foraged ingredients into the most memorable pizza we've ever eaten. The crackle of the fire and smell of smoke was soothing as the rain came down around our shelter.

Esk Mountain is something truly special. 270 acres of nature restoration where the food actually comes from the land beneath your feet. The woodland kitchen itself was built from materials harvested within 50 metres of where you're standing — you can feel that intention in every corner of the place.

Kloe had a array of foraged ingredients from Elderflower Cordial and Dandelion Syrup (which she served with ) to Pickled Wild Leek flowers and bulbs and Fermented Plantain Tips.
Pizza tooping as well as the pickled delights included Cheese and Meats including their new Venison Salami which tied in with our conversation on preservation and the explosion in the Sika Deer population and then with Sean giving an inspiring talk about his cheese.

If you've been looking for a food experience that goes a little deeper than a restaurant table, this is it.
Equal parts wild, delicious, and genuinely good for the soul!
📍 Esk Mountain, Cork-Kerry Border

07/06/2026

Rainy Sunday afternoons on the Beara Penninsula are pure perfection at An Sibín.
A place that just does everything right.
And hat tip to the Wild Strawberry decorating my Rhubarb Tart.
Food is more than fuel, it is a story, a grounding and a connection to place and heritage.
Also kudos to Katherine Murphy play list!

03/06/2026

Killarney Food Tours are open for bookings every Thursday and Friday and there are spaces on this Friday at 11am.

So if you're looking for something tasty and delicious to do on Friday morning why not book through the website link in my bio.

Tour costs €95 pp and includes 5 stops with tastings and a wonderful few hrs strolling through Killarney.

31/05/2026

Things I never ever dreamed of.

On Tuesday I ran my 2nd ever Taste The Kingdom Food Tour (for the incredible@gatherdmc )

It incorporated Food Producers on Slea Head & Di**le and The Beara Penninsula.

Some highlights of the views from the day are
Carrauntoohil
Inch Beach
The Great Blasket
Beara
Waterfall

And we got to meet the best
Kallum & Clíona
Marie
Nicky and

And finish up in the wonderful Helens Bar at Kilmacalogue Pier

15/05/2026

Happy 10th Anniversary Emma, Patrick and family!

When I had the idea of running a Food Tour in Kenmare the very 1st person I mentioned it to was Emma in the first Maison Gourmet at the top of Henry Street.

The idea had been in my head for a while and I genuinely thought it was a stupid idea and who would actually come to join me on a FOOD TOUR?! 😂

Straight away Emma told me it was a FANTASTIC idea and from there the tours were born, as her reaction gave me the confidence to approach others and put the tours together. That was in 2018.

Over those years it has been a joy and a pleasure to watch Maison Gourmet go from strength to strength and to share their incredible story with thousands of people over the years.

No matter how busy or what goes wrong they welcome my tours even after all these years with a grear story and lots of laughs!

From my very 1st Food Tour on June 24th 2018 to Maison Gourmet now.

For me personally the Tours have gone beyond anthing I could have imagined on that 1st conversation with Emma with Food Tours now running in Kenmare, Killarney, Beara and Slea Head (yes, new this year)
It has been the most incredible few years started by a chance conversation and an idea I thought was crazy 😂

You can book a Kenmare or Killarney Food Tour on my website
www.kenmarefoodies.com

03/05/2026

The 1st day of Summer didn't disappoint.
You can't beat the feeling of being outdoors.
We hiked from The Blasket Centre to Wine Strand and I finished with a lovely cold dip.
It is the simple things that really hit the most.

09/04/2026

Spring has definitely sprung in Kerry and this mornings group on our Killarney Tasting Trail were lucky to see the Cherry Blossoms in The National Park in full bloom as they tasted their way around Killarney.

They got to Pull Their Own Pint in JM Reidys, taste some of the best Fish & Chips in Kerry at Quinlans Seafood Bar, take Lir Chocolates as they strolled around Killarney House (the Guiness Chocolate is pictured) had the most amazing sandwiches at Luna Cafe with Gubbeen Ham and their INCREDIBLE homemade Foccaccia and they finished it all off with some legendary Murphys Ice-cream....

Ireland is open folks and we are ready to welcome visitors to our shores with that Irish welcome and Céad Míle Fáílte we are known for and some great food too!

Guinness, Fish & Chips, Ice-cream, Chocolate, Great Sandwiches and a morning meeting locals and hearing their stories.

Bookings are open on my website
www.kenmarefoodies.com

22/03/2026

It was lovely to be tourists at home today...

We had a lovely walk from Derrycunnihy Church to Lord Brandon's Cottage for lunch (delicious egg salad sandwich and Taytos for the win😉) then a brilliant boat trip down to Ross Castle with Donal Dux O'Donghue.

This is possibly one of my favourite things to do on our doorstep. And despite the mist it was a fantastic way to spend a few hours and lovely to see the Lakes and get the lay of the land from a completely different perspective.

Make sure to put it on top of your list and remember, you don't have to be a Tourist to enjoy what we have at home.

https://gapofdunloetraditionalboattours.com/

20/03/2026

There is nowhere like it....
Magical sunset for last nights swim at Kenmare Pier

Address

Kenmare, Co. Kerry, Ireland
Kenmare

Website

http://www.kenmarefoodies.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Kenmare Foodie - Karen Coakley posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Kenmare Foodie - Karen Coakley:

Want your business to be the top-listed Interior Service in Kenmare?