The stunning stretch between Westport and Achill Island on the Wild Atlantic Way is renowned for its magnificent views of Croagh Patrick and Clew Bay. But did you know that the area’s dramatic landscape is also home to a rich, and captivatingly diverse, artisan food heritage?
Fifteen years ago, Dermot Madigan returned home from Australia, and took up his role as General Manager at the beautiful, four-star Mulranny Park Hotel. He was instantly struck by the quality of the food in the surrounding area, and the unique approaches of Mayo’s food producers.

Mulranny Park Hotel

“I found it really interesting that some of them were still using methods from a hundred years ago – obviously now with modern technology,” he tells Best Of Ireland. “Like the pudding from Kelly’s Butchers (kellysbutchers.com). He’s using a recipe that his grandmother gave him, which is over 150 years old.
“So, what we wanted to do was tell that story – about food, and the produce we’re using here in the hotel – and share it with visitors to the area.”

From that idea, the Gourmet Greenway was born. With the Great Western Greenway as its backdrop, the food trail highlights and celebrates the delicious fare of producers around Mulranny, Newport, Westport and Achill, as well as offering unique food experiences for visitors.
“Originally, in 2012, there were five members,” Dermot recalls. “But it’s developed to over 20 members today.”
The aforementioned Kelly’s Butchers in Newport is one of those key members. The award-winning family enterprise was founded in 1930, and their artisan butcher counter continues to place a powerful emphasis on quality meats, sourced locally. Kelly’s are especially famous for their puddings and sausages – including their traditional putóg, and the spectacular Wild Atlantic Pudding, which is infused with local seawood.

Sean Kelly of Kelly's Butchers

You’ll also find Kelly’s products served up as part of the exceptional dining experience at Mulranny Park Hotel (mulrannyparkhotel.ie), in its Nephin Restaurant and Waterfront Bar, overlooking Clew Bay. Executive chef Chamila Mananwatta, who’s been with the hotel for the better part of two decades, is known to skillfully combine the finest Gourmet Greenway ingredients in his dishes. Knowing where your food comes from in the locality is a particularly special part of dining at Mulranny Park Hotel, Dermot reckons.
“It’s not just about one meal on the plate,” Dermot resumes. “There’s a story all around the plate. People can go, ‘That pudding was made in Kelly’s down the road.’ Or, ‘That barbeque salmon was smoked in Achill…’
“Calveys Achill Mountain Lamb (calveysachillmountainlamb.ie) is located beside us,” he adds, “so people can look out the window and see the Blackfaced Lamb walking up and down the mountain – and know that that’s the lamb that we serve here in the restaurant.”
As Dermot points out, “the personal touch that the producers give to the food trail” is also crucial.
“By going to the Gourmet Greenway members directly, and talking to them, vistiors get a real sense of where the produce has come from,” he says.
After trying one of the Mescan Brewery (mescanbrewery.com) beers, for example, you could head out to Kilsallagh and do a tour of the working microbrewery with head brewer Cillian Ó Móráin himself – and get a fascinating insight into the brewing process, which uses water sourced from a natural spring beneath Croagh Patrick.

This Must Be The Place

“It’s the same with the Croagh Patrick Seafoods (croaghpatrickseafoods.ie) experience,” Dermot notes. “Visitors have the oysters and mussels here at the hotel – and then they can actually go visit Padraic and his team. You get to see what the life-cycle of an oyster is, and get to taste some directly from the sea.”
That experience is one of Dermot’s personal favourites on the trail – though he admits it can be hard to choose just one: “It’s like picking your favourite child!”
“Getting a native oyster directly from the water – that’s as close as you could get to natural food, anywhere,” he says. “Nothing’s been done to it. It tastes of Clew Bay: the sea, the mountain air, everything... It’s just lovely.”
But when it comes to visitors planning their own route along the Gourmet Greenway – whether they’re walking, cycling or driving – he encourages people to follow their own food passions.
“It would take three or four days to visit all the members,” he tells us. “So I’d recommend breaking it up, and picking some of your favourites – whether it’s chocolate, seafood, gelato or whiskey – and targeting those. That way, you really get the best out of each one.”
Of course, in addition to the visitor experiences, the Gourmet Greenway is also an alliance of producers, with a strong sense of community at its heart.
“When we set up the Gourmet Greenway, we didn’t just want to have individual members – we wanted them to be connected,” Dermot explains. “We hold a showcase dinner at the end of every year, and all the producers come together to contribute to the menu.
“Cornrue Bakery (cornrue.com) in Westport, who make sourdough, bring their bread for the dinner,” he continues. “Café Rua (caferua.com) in Castlebar have a very distinct dillisk brown bread that they make, and they bring that too. Achill Island Irish American Distillery (irishamericanwhiskeys.com) do a cocktail with their whiskey. And Marlene’s Chocolate Haven (marleneschochaven.com) provides the chocolates…”

Cornrue Bakery

Ar Bia Mara

That sense of collaboration also extends to the Gourmet Greenway members’ unique offerings – with Krem Gelateria & Café (krem.ie) in Westport using ingredients from Mescan Beer and Achill Island Sea Salt (achillislandseasalt.ie), to create wonderfully unique Mayo-inspired gelato.
The Beehive Café and Restaurant on Achill Island is also famed for using fresh local ingredients – including top-quality seafood like Keem Bay smoked salmon and Clew Bay mussels. Baking is also a speciality of the family-run business, with the café always offering a delicious selection of cakes, teabreads, fruit tarts, baked desserts and scones served with homemade preserves.
Achill Island is also home to Keem Bay Fish Productions, where Gerry Hassett masterfully smokes salmon, mackerel, kippers, and even certain vegetables, for local restaurants, including Gourmet Greenway members.
The iconic Ár Bia Mara food truck (instagram.com/ar_bia_mara) is just a stone’s throw away, in Calvey’s Carpark, Keel. Born out of an idea to catch, cook and sell their own fish, the team behind the truck operate their own trawler. One of the highlights of their regularly updated menu is their seafood platter, a selection of locally-caught fish, served on a bed of mixed leaves and homemade brown bread. Don’t miss their famous lobster rolls – featuring lobsters caught in local waters.
That all-important relationship between the food we eat, and the surrounding land and sea it comes from, is a key focus of the Gourmet Greenway, particularly when it comes to seasonal produce.
“Chef Chamila will walk around the hotel, and pick the wild garlic flowers that are blooming at the moment, and he’ll bring those into the menu,” Dermot explains. “Or he’ll go to the seashore across the road from us, and get some wild seaweed, and use that in the menu.
“Wildwood Balsamics (wildwoodbalsamics.ie) is another great example, with their Blackberry Balsamic Vinegar,” he adds. “So it’s lovely to be able to go, ‘Okay, that’s in season now – let’s use that on the menu.’”
It’s an approach embraced by many of the other restaurants included on the Gourmet Greenway trail.
An Port Mór (anportmor.com), located in the heart of Westport, places a particularly strong emphasis on using seasonal, local and artisan ingredients – reflected in dishes like the Achill Mountain Lamb Pithivier and the Seared Wild Irish Pigeon Breast. Their signature mains, meanwhile, include the 12oz Kelly’s Striploin with Spiced Armagh Apple Butter, as well as the Grilled Fillet of Sea Trout. With numerous accolades to their name, An Port Mor is clearly a dining experience not to be missed.

An Port Mór

The renowned Newport café Kelly’s Kitchen (kellyskitchen.ie), led by Shauna Kelly – daughter of Sean Kelly, who operates the neighbouring Kelly’s Butchers – also takes great pride in highlighting produce from the Gourmet Greenway members. While you’re in the area, be sure to sit down for a hearty meal and great local beers at The Grainne Uaile, overlooking the Black Oak River.
This Must Be The Place – a vibrant Westport café that offers great views of the town – is home to some superb local produce too. Just down the road is Savoir Fare (savoirfare.ie) a bistro, and a cheese and wine shop, serving Irish cheeses and charcuterie, as well as meals sourced from small, independent producers.

Savoir Fare

Westport’s also home to Bean West Coffee (beanwestcoffee.com), a family-owned, independent coffee-roasting company, where you’ll be able to witness the roasting process firsthand.

Bean West Coffee

There’s no shortage of similarly up close and personal experiences on the Gourmet Greenway, from self-guided tours of the Achill Island Sea Salt visitor centre, to the Westport Food Tour(westportwalkingtours.ie) – a guided two-and-a-half walk through the beautiful town, that allows you to sample the very best local products.
Clearly, the Gourmet Greenway has something for every taste palette, whether you want to sip on the finest hot chocolate at Marlene’s Chocolate Haven, tuck into a delicious lobster roll at the Ár Bia Mara food truck, or bring home some from of Kelly’s Butchers’ award-winning traditional putóg. From the land to the sea, Co. Mayo really is a feast for the senses…