McConnells Gourmet Smoked Foods

Smokery & Fish Shop

There are many great advantages to living in a city. That said, one of the big disadvantages to living in Dublin city with its absence of green spaces and outdoor areas is the distinct lack of produce and producers that we can genuinely call local to the metropolis.

Enter McConnell’s Gourmet Smoked Foods and meet one of the real artisan food heroes of our time! Back in 1969, Adrian Sweeney bought and imported a single unit smoker and began smoking fish in his small premises on Dublin’s north side. He gradually began building his business to growing acclaim and when McConnell’s (formerly McConnell and Nelson) famous fish shop on Dublin’s Grafton Street approached him in 1996; it was with the view to a merger or takeover. They chose him because of the high quality of his produce and because they trusted him to maintain the standards of quality with which their own brand had become associated. Today, there is no doubt that they made the right decision. The McConnell’s brand goes from strength to strength and its list of customers reads like a lexicon of all the premium Irish hotels and restaurants.

The passion for food and business is in evidence from the moment you enter the smart premises in Tallaght on Dublin’s Westside. Here the Sweeney’s work, en famille, Aedemar, Adrian’s dynamic daughter is a warm and passionate hostess and is the first point of contact for anyone needing a talk or tour of the processes in the factory. Daddy Adrian is the principal buyer, Aedemar the principal seller and Mammy is right there at the heart of everything! Staff and owners alike enthuse about the product and process and the little factory is a hive of activity. Adrian’s original smoke machine is still in use, mostly employed to smoke poultry now but there is another smoker which takes care of the fish. The produce is supreme. After filleting, pin-boning and salting, the fish is put in the smoker and only high quality oak chips are used to smoke a range of trout, salmon, organic salmon and mackerel along with cold and hot smoked chicken and the wonderful Silver Hill duck. McConnell’s also produce delicious gravaldax, which they cure with dill, salt, sugar and French cognac! One of the most innovative products on offer is the stunning ‘long-sliced’ smoked salmon which is a truly remarkable product…sliced along the length of the fish thereby allowing no waste but also allowing for restaurant style presentation on the plate. Even more surprisingly is the distinctive texture that this cut gives: the salmon is like butter, delicious, delicate and with a velvety mouth-feel…amazing!

This is a seriously excellent operation; the produce is Irish, fish sourced from Marine Harvest, Mourne or Clare Island, the duck from Silver hill and there is a real eye for detail in the packaging and marketing. The new brand shows a detail from the grain of five thousand year old Irish bog oak and this small detail represents the commitment to tradition (and innovation) which runs throughout the ethos of the entire family business. McConnell’s Gourmet Smoked Foods are among the best fish smokers on our small Island. Look for the distinctive packaging, pick up their products and get munching!

If you are in Cork City you can taste McConnell's delicious Smoked Duck on the menu at Table Restaurant.

Contact Details

To Contact a Member Directly, please click on the email or website below

Unit 2
Whitestown Industrial Estate
Tallaght
Dublin 24
+353 (0)1 4524100
Email: info@mcconnellsgsf.ie
Web: www.mcconnellsgsf.ie

 

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