OffTheBeatenCraic Episodes

Nov. 30, 2025

Birr Castle - Citadel of Science, with Historian Brian Kennedy - Day …

Ireland has no shortage of stately manors, but as Irish Stew hosts Martin Nutty and John Lee learned, no other historic property has a legacy like Co. Offaly’s Birr Castle Demesne, which for generations has been an incubator ...

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Nov. 23, 2025

Peatlands for Prosperity’s Promise with Douglas McMillan & Donie Rega…

The poet Seamus Heaney once said, "I think of the bog as a feminine goddess-ridden ground, rather like the territory of Ireland itself." And that territory is 14- to- 21 percent bog. So, on their fourth day “Off the Beaten Craic in the Hidden Heartlands,” Irish Stew cohosts John Lee and Martin Nutt…

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Nov. 16, 2025

Growing Green with Organic Farmers Pippa Hackett & Margaret Edgill - …

How did Ireland become a food destination? Thanks go to chefs like John Coffey of Athlone’s Thyme Restaurant and Belfast’s Niall McKenna of the Waterman House, both past Irish Stew guests. But ask those chefs that question an...

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Nov. 9, 2025

Hidden Heartlands History Hike with Athlone’s Vincent Harney

Despite the “Off the Beaten Craic” theme to the current Irish Stew podcast series, on this episode hosts Martin Nutty and John Lee follow the well-worn track of history that flows through Athlone like the broad River Shannon....

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Nov. 2, 2025

Sean's Bar Shanachie - Timmy Donovan

The oldest pub in Ireland, Europe…the world? Lend an ear as we explore the legend and lore of Sean’s Bar with the pub’s official storyteller Timmy Donovan. A central character in the Sean’s Bar story for the past 37 years, Timmy flips the calendar back to AD 900 when Luain Mac Luighdeach set up an …

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Oct. 26, 2025

Chef John Coffey – Homegrown Haute Cuisine in the Hidden Heartlands –…

Taste Ireland…more specifically, taste the Hidden Heartlands of the Irish Midlands through a completely original cuisine designed around the fresh local produce from surrounding farms, on offer at Athlone’s Michelin Bib Gourm...

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Oct. 19, 2025

Irish Stew Goes “Off the Beaten Craic” in the Hidden Heartlands

Your cohosts are back from an eight-day road trip through Ireland's Hidden Heartlands, where instead of profiling a person, they went “Off the Beaten Craic” to explore a place - the Irish Midlands. Some tourists might view it as "drive-through country,” as they motor west from Dublin to the Wild At…

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