Sustainable culinary excellence at Killeavy Castle

The new additions to the award-winning Killeavy Castle Estate in County Armagh are designed to enhance the ‘farm to fork’ culinary ethos, sustainability practices and overall guest experience at the eco-friendly resort.

Killeavy Castle Estate has a beautifully refurbished castle as its centrepiece – a Grade A-listed, nineteenth-century gem that lay derelict for many years before being exquisitely restored.

Alongside the castle sits an award-winning 45-bedroom luxury boutique-style hotel, with spa, restaurant, bar and picturesque self-catering gate lodge all located within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

While the history and majesty of Killeavy Castle embodies the luxury experience, the estate also leads the way in sustainability and gastronomic excellence, with its working farm and walled gardens providing 90% of the food served in the award-winning restaurant.

Killeavy Castle Estate comprises 356 acres of mixed farm and woodland on the slopes of Slieve Gullion in beautiful south Armagh. With 150 acres of grounds dedicated to the rearing of Longhorn Cattle and Cheviot Sheep, the new farm store and estate garden, recently unveiled by the owners, will play a significant role in increasing the self-sufficiency of the estate and its capacity to provide the highest-quality local produce to guests.

Mirroring the landscape of the existing heritage walled garden, the estate garden doubles the volume of fresh produce that Killeavy Castle Estate can now grow on site, while the farm store has been purpose built to facilitate the processing of the estate’s beef and lamb – including specialised aging techniques, curing and smoking of the meats.

The farm store will also be used for preparing the organically grown fruit and vegetables from the gardens for kitchens throughout the estate. Through special viewing windows, guests can watch their food being prepared under the expertise of executive chef, Darragh Dooley, adding to the full farm to fork experience.

Central to the warm hospitality guests receive, food and sustainability are the great passions at Killeavy Castle. The menus make extensive use of foraged ingredients, while the working farm and gardens feed the range of sustainable dining options across the hotel’s garden lounge, restaurant and bar.

Guests can take a farm tour or a foraging experience to hear about the journey their food takes, and depending on the season, the sights and sounds of the farm can be enjoyed with an expert team of guides – it’s even possible to see lambs and calves being born, sheep being shorn or honey being extracted from the estate’s bee hives.

Aside from its quality food offering and the luxury of the castle, hotel and spa, Killeavy Castle Estate also offers other experiences such as forest bathing, estate walks, cycling, golf, distillery tours and guided walks to the top of mystical Slieve Gullion, the highest point in County Armagh.

The ideal place to relax and unwind.

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