Entrepreneurs Artisan Food Suppliers
CARINA CONYNGHAM
a Dexter beef herd of about 40, chickens, outdoor pigs and turkeys for Christmas. We also grow vegetables, so we’re very much a mixed farm along the old lines of mixed farming. We’ve just joined the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme, a new targeted programme to support farmers who work in special areas of conservation and natural heritage areas. We’ve just started a new plan to convert about 19 hectares into a welding project along the Boyne ramparts walk, which will eventually become the Boyne Greenway,” said Carina. The farm also offers luxury glamping and accommodation between April and November. From yurts, shepherd’s huts to strawbale cabins, there’s an option for everyone. Like every hospitality business, that side of the business was impacted by Covid. “Business owners found themselves in situations that they never would have anticipated, from trying to find out if they had the right kind of business disruption insurance to constantly rebooking visitors. We’ve had two years of wedding couples and international visitors having to constantly change their plans.” A weekly farmer’s market takes place every Thursday at Rock Farm. Carina is currently applying for Meath Leader funding to build a commercial kitchen and meat processing unit on the farm. “That would close the loop on how we actually farm. We’ll still have to send
“WE ALSO WANT TO REDEFINE WHAT A RURAL ESTATE IS AND CREATE A COMMUNITY, RATHER THAN A BIG HOUSE WITH LOTS OF LAND AROUND IT. BY INTEGRATING THE FARM WITH THE CASTLE OFFERING, I THINK WE’RE ACHIEVING THAT.”
As
Managing Director at Rock Farm Slane, Carina Conyngham has been instrumental in turning what was a piece of land beside the Boyne river into a thriving organic farm and ecotourism destination. Carina and Alex Conyngham, son of Lord Mount Charles, run Slane Castle Estate along with Rock Farm Slane. From the outset, the idea was to restore the land at Rock Farm Slane and create a mixed organic farm. “Today, we have
our animals away to the abbatoir, but we’ll be able to process them ourselves. It’s all about creating that farm to fork experience on the farm.” At the Castle, Carina and Alex run a food truck and courtyard café and intend to run a series of pop-up dining experiences in the near future. The aim is to create a food destination at the Slane estate. “Slane Castle is known for rock concerts and hopefully they will come back, but we also want to redefine what a rural estate is and create a community, rather than a big house with lots of land around it. By integrating the farm with the castle offering, I think we’re achieving that.”
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