Burren Smokehouse

The Burren Smokehouse is a family-run business that was set up in 1989 by Birgitta & Peter Curtin. They researched the smoking traditions in Ireland and in Sweden and the idea of the Smokehouse was born.

The Burren Smokehouse is a family-run business that was set up in 1989 by Birgitta & Peter Curtin. They researched the smoking traditions in Ireland and in Sweden and the idea of the Smokehouse was born. For over a century now, the Curtin family have owned the ‘Roadside Tavern’ nearby which was the first place where their own smoked salmon was served. Its quality became known very soon, and pubs, hotels and restaurants in the Lisdoonvarna area started to order salmon from the Smokehouse. At that time three people were working in the Smokehouse, today there is a team of almost 20. Orders started to come in from all over Ireland, followed by those from hotels and restaurants in the UK. Nowadays, the Burren Smokehouse supplies smoked salmon all over the world, within 48 hours.

Burren Smokehouse visitor centres:

The Burren Smokehouse continues to extend its reputation in its original market areas and has developed a major business in Corporate Mail Order and online orders where companies use modern dispatch facilities to send sides of smoked salmon to their clients worldwide. Many of these patrons are from Continental Europe and the U.S. with a growing number coming from the Far East and the emerging Eastern European markets. The Burren Smokehouse has also addressed the wholesale and bulk catering markets including airline catering, supermarkets and specialist gourmet food chains in continental Europe and the United Kingdom. Over the past years it has gained extensive experience in developing product and packaging requirements for specific client needs and is now in the process of marketing this expertise in the European markets. In 1995, we opened our visitor centre to showcase the traditional way of smoking, our products and those of other food producers in the area. Visitors can get a tasting of our Burren smoked Irish salmon and watch a DVD presentation about the smoking process. They can discover mosaics inside and outside our shop that are telling the story of the “Salmon of Knowledge”.