History
Durrus Irish Farmhouse Cheese is a raw milk cheese, made using traditional methods in the beautiful upland valley of Coomkeen, on the Sheep’s Head peninsula, in the far south-west of Ireland.
Traditional cheeses were made at one time in Ireland, but their details have been lost, other than their names and vague descriptions, over the centuries. A policy that favoured butter production over cheese in the nineteenth century ensured the demise of any remaining small producers.
In the late seventies, a number of people, driven by idealism and a need to make a living from their small farms, began to reintroduce the craft of small scale cheese making to rural Ireland. Many of these, perhaps by chance, or drawn to the rugged beauty of the area, lived in West Cork.
Conscious that they were using the same materials and methods as the ancient cheese makers the new traditionalists drew upon skills and knowledge from all over the world. Each of the modern cheese makers developed a cheese that reflected their own personalities, experiences and preferences. Modern, artisanal cheeses in Ireland are unique in that they are intrinsically associated not only with a place but with an individual.
Jeffa Gill was one of the first of these new traditionalists, and first made her cheese in a pan on the kitchen stove in 1979. The cheese is still made on the farm in a bright and cheerful dairy from top quality local milk. Jeffa works with five people, including Ann McGrath who has been involved with the Durrus for many years. The dairy even hosts the occasional French student anxious to learn more about Irish cheese making skills!
