image CELEBRATING SEAFOOD IN GALWAY AND CORK

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PADDY BURKES OYSTER INN, CLARENBRIDGE, COUNTY GALWAY

The Irish are very celebratory when it comes to food, especially with the arrival of the first oysters of the season in September, after their long nap through late spring and summer, and the beginning of the mussel harvest in May.

Two locations in County Galway—Clarenbridge and Galway City—host three-day extravaganzas honoring the oyster, which include shucking contests and black-tie balls. The residents of Clarenbridge (nine miles south of Galway), who proclaim, “the world is your oyster and Clarenbridge its home,” have held their festival on the first or second weekend of September since 1954. This weekend of craic (Irish for “good times”) includes cooking demonstrations, oyster-opening competitions, and seafood luncheons held under a festival marquee around Paddy Burkes Oyster Inn. But the festivities also spread to the pubs and restaurants throughout the village: Moran’s, Raftery’s Rest, O’Donaghue’s, Sherry’s, and Jordan’s bars among them. The traditional accompaniment for the oyster fare is Murphy’s, a County Cork–brewed stout produced by the main sponsor.

Also founded in 1954, the Galway International Oyster Festival, sponsored by Guinness, takes place on the last weekend of September, undoubtedly to allow a sufficient time for locals to recuperate from the Clarenbridge bash. The word “Guinness” precedes the name of most events at the fest, since the company hosts many of them, including the international oyster-opening championship, which draws aficionados from all over the world. Guinness also supplies libations at events held under the festival marquee pitched at the historic Spanish Arch and along the pub trail throughout the city. Music, parades, an “elegant lady” competition, receptions, brunches, and balls add to the general revelry. During the festival weeks, more than 10,000 people converge on these two Galway venues, and an estimated 40,000 oysters are consumed. No one keeps track of the pints!

On a slightly smaller, but no less boisterous, scale, a mussel festival takes place in Bantry, Country Cork, during the first weekend in May. Here it’s nonstop mussels, Murphy’s, and merrymaking when a similar round of events pays homage to the local shellfish. For details, see Resources.