Pictured left to right: Micheál Sugrue, Sharon Sugrue and Emmet Casey, of mussel and oyster farming company Réalt na Mara Shellfish.
Photo: BIM
A new shellfish tour and tasting experience has opened in Co. Kerry, adding a food- and heritage-led visitor attraction to the Wild Atlantic Way with support from Ireland’s Seafood Development Programme.
Réalt na Mara Shellfish, an award-winning aquaculture business based in Cromane, has launched a Shellfish Tour & Tasting Experience overlooking Castlemaine Harbour. The initiative expands the company’s activities beyond production and wholesale into tourism, combining shellfish tastings, aquaculture demonstrations, marine biodiversity education and local history.
The development received a €10,000 grant from the Fisheries Local Action Group (FLAG) Southwest under the Coastal Communities Development Scheme, part of Ireland’s Seafood Development Programme co-funded by the Irish Government and the EU through the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Timmy Dooley TD, said the project reflects the aims of FLAG funding.
“FLAG funding is designed to strengthen coastal communities, and Réalt na Mara Shellfish is a perfect example of that vision in action. This investment supports the local tourism and aquaculture industries and showcases the best of what can be experienced along the spectacular southwest coastline,” Dooley said, via a BIM media release.
Founded in 2015 by Micheál Sugrue and Emmet Casey, Réalt na Mara supplies purified Irish mussels and oysters to customers at home and abroad and has earned multiple national awards, including Good Food Ireland’s Seafood Producer of the Year and a Gold Award at Blas na hÉireann.
The new experience is delivered by the founding team, including marine biologist Sharon Sugrue, and draws on a long family connection to Cromane’s aquaculture sector.
A bespoke on-site visitor centre includes a multimedia learning space, historical displays and behind-the-scenes insight into shellfish production, alongside outdoor tastings and guided tours of the harbour environment.
“We are very proud that we are continuing working in a business that our grandfathers worked in together. We are lucky as three young people to be able to keep tradition alive. Adding the new tours is a wonderful spin off and another revenue opportunity,” Sugrue said.
Already part of BIM’s Taste the Atlantic – A Seafood Journey, the project is expected to boost local tourism and support the wider coastal economy by attracting more visitors to Cromane and the surrounding area, BIM said.
