Explore Ireland 2015

Patrick Ryan’s Firehouse Bread School, Heir Island

When in West Cork, one thing you have to tick off the itinerary is a visit to Heir Island. This island is a little piece of heaven tucked away in a corner of Roaring Water Bay. It offers a unique, unspoilt landscape dotted with charming cottages dating back to the 1920s and is an ideal destination for sailing, swimming, diving or walking – to enjoy its abundant flora and sandy beaches.

But it’s not gardens or landscape we came to the Heir Island today for – but food.  Food lovers travel from far and wide to visit Heir Island for the bread making classes offered at the Firehouse Bakery. The Firehouse is not just a bakery, but a café, restaurant and gift store – and a bread school all in one.

Run by chef and baker Patrick Ryan, the bread school opened in 2012, and it offers a hands-on baking experience, where you bake your very own handmade bread in a wood fired clay oven.

Patrick is actually a trained lawyer, who decided to trade law books for chef knives and set up the Firehouse Bread School to share his love for food and real bread.

The great thing about the classes Patrick runs is that they are small – only six maximum per class so you get personalised advice from Patrick. Patrick is a lot of fun and because he obviously enjoys what he does so much you will too; it’s infectious.

The Firehouse only uses the traditional method to bake bread – using the wood fired oven and the authenticity of the experience is only enhanced as the aroma of freshly baked bread fills every corner of the building and there’s nothing quite like it!

While we were there, we took a course in making pizza dough – and then cooked them in the wood fired clay oven and had the pizzas for lunch. We learnt about the flour, how to knead and Patrick showed us how easy and fun it can be to bake from scratch with fresh ingredients.

So if you ever find yourself in West Cork, make sure you plan a trip to the beautiful Heir lsland and visit the Firehouse Bakery and book yourself a class to learn the bread making skill from Patrick. It's a lot of fun and a skill you will use forever that will remind you of your visit to Ireland and travelling the Wild Atlantic way for many years to come.

For more information, visit www.ireland.com or www.thefirehouse.ie.