The Presidia is made up of 11 artisan dairies that work with their own distinctive style and techniques, but share a common commitment to producing a safe, high-quality product using raw milk from their own cows or goats or milk from nearby herds.

The Presidium is represented by a number of cheeses that are considered ‘ambassadors’ for Irish raw cow’s and goat’s milk cheese, selected on the basis of their taste qualities. Only one cheese from each producer of each milk type can be represented at any one time.

The purpose of this project is to encourage and support raw milk cheese producers throughout Ireland and to increase appreciation for this product. It seeks to celebrate the distinctive merits of Irish raw milk cheese, the environment from which it springs, its artisans and its varied styles of production. The objectives are to raise awareness among consumers, retailers and food policy experts of the quality of raw milk cheeses, and to defend the right of small-scale producers to make raw milk cheese in Ireland.

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Artisan

Dairies

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Cheeses

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Coolattin Farmhouse Cheese

Tom Burgess - Mount Leinster

Tom Burgess has been producing top quality milk from his pasture fed cows in West Wicklow for twenty years. He wanted to develop a product which reflected this quality and decided it would be Mature Raw Milk Cheddar.. “Pasture to Cheddar the same day”. “The milk we use to make Coolattin Cheddar is special for a number of reasons, we process in the summer months when the cows are grazing fresh clover-rich pasture only which is the ideal diet for cheese processing milk. We use early morning milk which is high in melatonin which aids relaxation and sleep. It is pumped directly to the cheese-vat, not stored or pasteurised, this the natural goodness & flavour is preserved by our traditional cheese-making process. We add beneficial Lacto-bacilli & Rennet to our milk, the curd is cut, scalded, drained & pitched the cheddar, milled, salted & mixed by hand. Following this we place in 40b moulds and press for 2 days. It is the matured over a year at 10°C.”

01/11

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Bellingham Blue

Peter Thomas - Bellingham Blue

Peter and Anita Thomas are justifiably proud of their cheese and its achievements. Peter took his time in developing the cheese, over several years of trial and error before he was happy with the results. As soon as the first batch of Bellingham Blue was mature, it started winning very prestigious awards in the world of cheese, including gold medals at the British Cheese Awards between 2001 and 2011, Supreme Champion Irish Cheese in 2010, and silver medal in the World Cheese Awards in 2008.

All our raw milk comes from a single closed herd of grass-fed Friesians. Its flavour is rich and robust; the buttery, creamy yellow is complemented by the depth of taste in the blue. The texture is slightly crumbly and the finish is long and smooth, with a hint of saltiness.

02/11

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Durrus Farmhouse Cheese

Jeffa Gill - Dunmanus

When Jeffa Gill began making cheese on her farm in 1979, she started it as part of her pioneering spirit to provide for her family from her own small holding in West Cork and to capture something of the beauty of the area in her unique hand-crafted cheeses.

Today, more than 37 years later, our cheeses are still made by hand using traditional techniques on our farm in the beautiful valley of Coomkeen just beyond Durrus village in West Cork. We are a small family business dedicated to producing the highest quality product while staying true to the principles from which we were founded which were sustainability, quality and enjoying the work we do.

03/11

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Mike’s Fancy Cheese

Mike Thomson - Young Buck

Mike’s Fancy Cheese is proud to be creating a new tradition of raw milk cheesemaking in Northern Ireland. Michael Thomson went from cheese enthusiast at Arcadia Deli in Belfast to cheese making student at the School of Artisan Food, Nottinghamshire. Upon graduating he gained experience from some of the UK leading artisan cheesemakers, before going on to be head cheese maker at Sparkenhoe Farm. With the desire to produce his own cheese within Northern Ireland Michael turned to crowdfunding platform, seedrs. Supported by friends and backed by 98 investors, he is now operating out of Newtownards, buying milk from a single herd and is supplying Northern Ireland with its first raw milk cheese. Its name is Young Buck.

04/11

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Knockanore Farmhouse Cheese

Eamonn Lonergan - 15 Fields

Knockanore Cheese is made on the farm in the tiny townland of Ballyneety in the ancient and historic parish of Knockanore, County Waterford. The Irish name ‘Cnoc an Oir’, literally translates as ‘the hill of gold’. It is on these golden and lush rolling hills that Eamonn and Patricia Lonergan and their family keep a herd of 120 pedigree Friesian cows, and every drop of milk that goes into Knockanore Cheese is from these cows.

05/11

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Corleggy Cheese

Silke Cropp - Drumlin, Corleggy, Creeny

Watching fresh warm morning’s milk running into our cheese vat brings joy & excitement for the production to come. Cheese making is Magic! #RawMilk

We believe that small is beautiful. Every cheese is made by hand with production not exceeding 10 tonnes per annum between Goats, Sheep & Cows’ milk cheeses.

We collect all our milk from three neighbouring farms using just mornings milk for our production (Good morning Cows’, Sheep & Goats!). Our farmers agree with us that grass fed animals give the best milk.

06/11

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Carlow Farmhouse Cheese

Carlow Farmhouse Cheese - Carlow Tomme, Nine Stones

Elizabeth Bradley started making cheese in 2005 on her farm at Fenagh in County Carlow using raw milk from a neighbour’s dairy herd. Elizabeth developed the cheese for sale at the local farmer’s market in Carlow where her cheeses have built up a loyal following within a few short years. She believes that it is vital to the interests of both farmers and consumers that there is an increase in direct interaction between the two.

07/11

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Killeen Cheese

Marion Roeleveld - Killeen Raw Milk

Relatively new for us is the production of a raw milk goats cheddar. It is traditional in every way. Not only is it made with raw milk, but it is also cloth wrapped. This is a natural way of protecting the cheese, but it does let the natural yeasts and moulds influence the flavour.

08/11

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Cloonconra Cheese

James Gannon - Cloonconra Moiley Cheese

Core to the vision and ethos of Cloonconra Cheese is heritage, sustainability and the slow food movement. As a member of The Irish Slow Food Presidium, Cloonconra Cheese believe that good, clean and fair food can provide a future for the family and the farm. The farm is traditional and sustainable by using both a breed suited to marginal land and organic standards. Our packaging is fully compostable to reduce environmental damage. Because these values are so important to us we are passionate about what we do.

09/11

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Inagh Farmhouse Cheese

Siobhan Ni Ghairbhith - St Tola Raw Milk Log

Brought to you from the West of Ireland, near County Clare’s wild Atlantic coast, St. Tola Irish  goat cheese has achieved exceptional critical acclaim since its launch over twenty-five years ago. 

From young, fresh crottin through to mature, year old Gouda, all our cheeses are handmade and matured to suit our customers’ individual requirements. As such, cheese from the St. Tola range is now among the most sought-after artisan produce in Ireland. St. Tola Irish Goat Cheese has been made in the townland of Inagh just south of the Burren in County Clare since the early 1980s. Read our Company Profile.

10/11

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Dingle Peninsula Cheese

Maja Binder - Dilliskus Cheese

German-born Maja Binder has been making cheese at Kilcummin Beg, near Castlegregory on the Dingle Peninsula since 1997. All her cheeses are made using raw cow’s milk which she buys in from a local herd. Generally raw milk is best converted to cheese as soon as possible after milking, and Maja manages to collect the milk and start cheesemaking within one hour of milking. Unusually, Maja uses seaweed from her husband Olivier’s sea vegetable business to flavour her Dilliskus cheese, ensuring that this cheese is a true expression of place, reflecting the contrast of sea and pasture which typifies coastal Ireland.

11/11

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