Hello,

I'm a Vegan living in Washington State in the USA. This September, my wife and I are going to be traveling to Ireland for a 10 day visit. As my last name is McCarthy, you can imagine the reasons for our visit. LOL. Anyway, I've checked out some of the names of the places we can use in Dublin and beyond. What I'm wondering are there any groups active in the Republic and are there any links that anyone would be willing to share with Alice and I ( Chuck). I would be greatful for any hints and tips about eating vegetarian/vegan while visiting. My wife is gluten sensitive, so I've learned to cook this way, and would like to keep our diet as gluten free as possible as well.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.


Chuck McCarthy,
North Bend, WA
northbenders@gmail.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/23/2011 08:45PM by Northbenders.

Hi, and welcome to the group! I'm very jealous of your trip - my father is Irish yet I've only been to Dublin once and down to the South-West of the country once. There's so much more of it to explore!

I certainly had no trouble finding vegetarian food when I was there though, as with everywhere else, you may find vegan catering a little harder to come by. I know the place I stayed in Goleen did a vegetarian and vegan version of their breakfast though as I think did our lovely B&B in Kilkenny. Gluten-free is widely recognised both in the UK and Ireland though again, I'm not sure how the land lies on that when actually eating out in restaurants. Supermarkets and even smaller food shops generally stock a wide range of gluten-free versions of many foods.

Do you have a specific itinerary set up yet? If so, I would certainly highly recommend emailing all the places you're staying to discuss your dietary requirements. Many places will be happy to cater as long as they know in advance.

It sounds like you've certainly done your homework on here which is going to be a great start for you.

I found the following links which may be of some use to you:

http://www.vegetarian.ie/content/galway-vegetarian-group-monthly-meeting
http://www.meetup.com/vegetarian-485/
http://homepage.eircom.net/~veganirish/vegan%20groups%20ireland.htm


Hope those might help.

Govindas 3 restaurants (mainly Indian food) in Dublin are recommended over on Volentia (If you're not already a member, do join the other 14,600+ veggies and vegans on there!).

So Chuck, how was your trip to Ireland? Let us know what great veggie food you found. Any recommendations?