Dyed Green

Just off the Antrim coast, in a town called Ballycastle, lies Broughgammon Farm, 50 acres of carefully managed meadow, pastureland, gardens, and forest. It’s such an idyllic spot and an equally inspiring operation, so you might be surprised to learn that neither Charlie nor Becky Cole imagined that they’d be running their own regenerative farm one day. Motivated in part by the desire to find a market for male kid goats who are commonly disregarded as by-products of the dairy industry, the Coles have exceeded their original vision for their farm and now also raise pigs and rose veal; grow vegetables; and run a farm shop where they hold classes and host pop-up dinners. In an era where family farms are going under all the time, the Coles have managed to envision and create something beautiful and thriving. On this episode, we talk to Becky and Charlie about bringing their vision of regenerative farming to life; how to make a living in line with your ethics; and the challenges of introducing customers to new tastes and flavors. We also discuss Becky’s book, the Garden Apothecary; developing specialty products; and the benefits of collaborating with other local small businesses. Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

In 2013, artist Jennie Moran started an art project at National College of Art & Design in Dublin in the form of a college canteen called Luncheonette. Guided by Moran’s vision of “ghostis,” her curation of the canteen,  nourishing food, and—with the support of NCAD—Luncheonette became a food destination in the city, won awards, and created a convivial community space that lasted for ten long years. Her new book, How To Soften Corners, celebrates the success of Luncheonette and highlights Moran’s refreshing philosophy of hospitality.On this episode, we speak with Jennie about how food can be used to diffuse the pressure of a shared space; the limits of understanding hospitality as providing the best customer experience; planning a menu that cares for the guest holistically; and nurturing our instinct to welcome strangers rather than giving in to the suspicion of people we don’t know.Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

Despite being an island nation with almost 2,000 miles of coastline, only 9% of Ireland’s oceans are currently being protected. Irish organizers, backed by fishermen, small businesses, and local communities, are working to pressure the government to increase the protection of Irish seas to at least 30% by 2030 in the form of Marine Protected Areas. Ón this episode, we speak with Jack O’Donovan Trá, a marine biologist and representative from the Fair Seas campaign about the emotional connection Irish people have with the sea; making radical changes in policy that benefit people; the source of Ireland’s emerald green; and the great migration of fish from the twilight zone—as well as one of Kate’s favorite topics, how salmon farms are legitimately devastating to marine ecosystems. Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

Did you know that Ireland requires developers to have an archaeologist on hand when breaking ground on a new site? Or that Irish feasts in medieval times often featured professional farters alongside musicians as part of the evening entertainment? On this week’s episode, Max & Kate travel back and forth across time with archaeologist Neil Jackman, co-founder of Abarta Heritage.We speak with Neil about the impact of the economic crash on archaeologists; how to get people to value heritage sites in order to ensure their protection; food as existence; the relationship between folklore and archaeology in our reverence for ancient sites; and the role that archaeology played in developing Ireland’s sense of self after independence.Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

Our guests on this week’s episode followed their passions for food from the Philippines and Poland to Denmark, where they met, fell in love, and honed their craft, before moving to Kilkenny to open one of the best bread bakeries in Ireland. Since opening in 2019, Nicole and Bart have won the Supreme Champion Award at Blas na hÉireann; the Irish Times Top 100 Best Places to Have Lunch in Ireland; Ireland's Best Brunch at the Georgina Campbell Irish Breakfast Awards; and were recently named Best in Ireland 2025 by the McKenna Guide.On this week’s episode, we talk to Nicole and Bart about going from fine dining in Denmark to serving brunch in Kilkenny; how Noma is a four-letter word; faking it till you make it; and the trials and tribulations of using heritage grains.Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

The experience of going for a pint in Ireland is more than a rite of passage, it’s a cultural institution. This week on Dyed Green, we speak with writer, journalist, and events producer Ali Dunworth about her book A Compendium of Irish Pints: The Culture, Customs, and Craic.  Ali found her way into the world of food & drink via a stint in tv production in London, before pivoting to write about food full-time and organize festivals in Ireland.On this week’s episode, we talk to Ali about her encyclopedia of pints, from the deep & meaningful to birthday pints and more. We also discuss how to poor a proper pint; expectations for buying a round at a pub; old man pubs; and how Guinness came through for pub drinkers during Covid.  Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

This week on Dyed Green, we speak to Shane Neary, the co-owner of NearyNógs Stoneground Chocolate in the Mourne Mountains outside Newry, County Down. NearyNógs was the first bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the north of Ireland when the Neary family opened in 2011. Originally a passion project created to help pay the medical bills of Shane and Dorothy’s daughter, the high demand for the Nearys’ incredible chocolate caused a career pivot and changed their lives forever.Today, the Nearys run their solar-powered chocolate factory with about ten employees, and ship around the world. On this episode, we talk to Shane about his commitment to sourcing ethically and paying farmers a living wage; tasting notes & terroir in chocolate; and the difference between craft chocolate makers & “melters.”Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

After a bit of a break, Dyed Green is back with a conversation with Paula McIntyre, a chef, writer, and broadcaster and the director of Slow Food Northern Ireland, based in Portstewart in County Derry. Paula’s passion for cooking began at the age of 8, when she visited an Italian deli in Edinburgh, where she had a formative experience with parmesan cheese and Parma ham. As luck would have it, Kate met Paula at a market in Rome while crying and eating pizza. Chef Paula McIntyre thinks chefs waste too much time trying to make something fancy that would taste better if it were more simply prepared: “You're not going to end up with anything in three hours that you wouldn't have ended up with in two minutes.” On today’s episode, we discuss Paula’s enduring love affair with turnip tops and Red Cow parmesan, attending culinary school in the United States, and following the food journey of Ulster Scots immigrants along the Appalachian trail. Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

Rose Greene began her culinary career on a rapidly ascending yet predictable trajectory—a four year culinary arts course followed by many years working in Michelin starred kitchens around the world—before realizing that the nightly slog just wasn’t for her. The never-ending long hours, shady sourcing of produce, and restaurants whose models rely on unpaid labor made her rethink her approach to food and a life in the industry. Then she met her partner Margaux, discovered the wonders of fermentation, and decided to slow down and move forward on her own terms. Together they started 4 Hands Food Studio and haven't looked back.We spoke with Rose about the importance of a work/life balance; food as nourishment; building her own home; and growing a business that fits your life instead of the other way around.Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast. Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

Ireland, like many places around the world, is in the grips of a housing crisis. Many young people are living with their parents far into adulthood and being told that home ownership may not be within their financial reach. What if there was an alternative to meeting the salary requirements for a bank loan and incurring a huge debt to pay for a mortgage? Our guest on this week’s show, Harrison Gardner, may just have some ideas for you. Harrison is the author of Build Your Own: Use what you have to create what you need, and a co-founder of the Clare-based Common Knowledge, a social enterprise focused on teaching people the skills they need to build sustainable housing from the ground up.On this episode, we speak with Harrison about empowering people to use tools for the first time; the importance of making mistakes; the integral role of food in community projects; and how joy, hope, & possibility are key ingredients in any and all efforts to build toward our common future. Tune in for this truly inspiring and motivational conversation and be prepared to want to put on a hard hat when it’s done!Photo courtesy of Erin McClure.Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast. Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

While Ireland’s rolling green hills are lovely to look at, they reflect a country whose landscape has been dramatically changed over many years. You may not even know that Ireland is the most deforested country in Europe. But what is Ireland’s “natural” landscape, and what does that even mean? For this week’s show, we spoke with Matt Smith, the manager of Hometree, a dynamic organization based in Ennistymon, County Clare, dedicated to planting more native trees into the Irish landscape. Hometree is not your average reforestation program, however! Built on a solid foundation of environmental science, they eschew carbon credit schemes, and their work incorporates community involvement, education & outreach—and even a healthy dose of Irish culture.In this conversation with Matt, we discuss the need for speed in our cultural shift towards thoughtful tree-planting schemes; the concept of rewilding as applied to the landscape; how Hometree has grown from a community garden project to the force of nature it is today; and the role that hope can play in the face of the unfolding climate crisis.Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast. Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

Having too much or too little salt can make or break a dish, and as chefs know all too well, even the variety of salt used can dramatically impact flavors. Salt is a seasoning that we consume every day and is necessary for life, but how much do we know about its contemporary production? Although typically associated with warmer climates, Dingle Sea Salt co-founders Tom Leach & Moe McKeown have created a small batch Irish sea salt that not only rivals their Mediterranean competition, but is made in the most environmentally sound way possible.For our first episode of 2024, we speak with Tom & Moe about their love of surfing and its relationship to salt production; how it’s possible to use solar evaporation to make salt in an Irish climate; and why it’s important to grow their business thoughtfully, with intention and care for the natural world.Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast. Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

As the impact of the climate crisis unfolds all around us, the reality of what’s at stake changes our relationships with each other and the natural world. More and more of us are finding ourselves drawn to reconnect with the land and to build community—to “rewild,” in a sense. But what does it mean to live a wilder life? Is it even attainable or realistic for most of the globe, especially if you live in a densely populated urban area?Our guest on today’s show is Lucy O’Hagan, a teacher, forest school leader, wildlife tracker, bushcraft instructor, and the founder of Wild Awake Ireland. Through Wild Awake, Lucy guides people through rites of passage, teaches ancestral skills, and helps people to distill what it means to rewild on a personal and practical level, regardless of where you live.On this episode, we speak with Lucy about the Wild Biome project and what it’s like to eat exclusively wild, foraged food for three months; honoring age transitions through nature-based, participatory rituals outside of traditional religious practice; using ancestral skills to understand the role of power and privilege in our modern day lives; and the importance of collaboration and building community in our efforts to reconnect and reengage.Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast. Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

Social media has been abuzz these past few weeks as the world tries to come to terms with the abundance of creative talent bursting forth from Ireland, from literary greats like Paul Lynch, whose Prophet Song just won the Booker, to actors like Cillian Murphy, Paul Mescal, and Barry Keoghan, who continue to dominate the silver screen. As the pundits continue to pontificate, we’re here to tell you that Ireland’s verdant climate, political history, and nourishment of the arts creates the conditions where bards can grow in every corner of society.Case in point: Our guest this week is a poet who might not even know it: Pat Whelan, of James Whelan Butchers, is a man whose passion for farming, the craft of butchery, and using the whole animal has led him to become Ireland’s foremost butcher, and the co-author of the best-selling Irish Beef Book, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.On this week’s episode, we speak with Pat about growing up on a family farm and being inspired by his hard-working parents; how important the role of a local butcher is to connecting stewardship for the land to our tables; how the food industry should take lessons from the wine world with regard to cherishing and promoting meat; and much, much more.Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast. Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe

Katie Holten is an Irish artist and activist based in New York City whose work is inspired by the relationship between humans and the natural world. She’s spent the last several years working on a tree alphabet to translate the world in a way that might connect us more intimately with nature, where each letter corresponds with an indigenous tree species (there’s even a downloadable font). Earlier this year, Holten published a gorgeous book called "The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape." The book, which includes contributions from people like Winona LaDuke, Camille Dungy, and Ross Gay, is both an offering, a conversation, and a call to action. On this week’s episode, we speak with Katie about the ways in which people can rebuild their connection with the land, repairing our broken language through nature and story, the Rights of Nature, the process of creating the language of trees, and the importance of art as a tool for social and political action.Photo courtesy of Katie Holten.Dyed Green is a project of Bog & Thunder, whose mission is to highlight the best of Irish food and culture, through food tours, events, and media. Find out more at www.bogandthunder.com.Dyed Green is Powered by Simplecast. Get full access to Sunwise at katemccabe.substack.com/subscribe