• Cattle have always had an important role in Ireland's culture and cuisine.Cows image by wojciechhajduk from Fotolia.com
  
  As a predominantly agricultural society, the people of Ireland have always based their cuisine on locally available, seasonal foods. Many of the traditional foods of Ireland have withstood the test of time, including the Great Famine of the 19th century, and the social and political upheaval that have plagued Ireland for hundreds of years. The cuisine of Ireland is a tangible link to the island's past, and is one of the most important cultural legacies of the Irish people.
  
  

Cheese

• The economy of ancient Ireland was based on cattle, both for meat and dairy. This long relationship with cows as currency gave rise to a reliance on dairy products for sustenance and a wide variety of regional cheeses. Although traditional cheese-making died down during the early part of the 20th century, a recent renaissance of artisanal cheese-craft has emerged, particularly in County Cork. Today, some of the most well-known and widely available Irish cheeses are Cashel blue, cooleeney, corleggy and Ardrahan. Cashel blue is a creamy, blue-veined cheese made in Cashel, County Tipperary. It was first made in 1984 using techniques and fungi used in the production of the better-known Roquefort and Stilton blue cheese. Cooleeney uses raw cow's milk in its production, producing a cheese that is creamy with an earthy flavor. Corleggy is a hard goat's milk cheese produced in County Cavan. It has a briny flavor and an extremely hard texture, making it an excellent grating cheese. Ardrahan is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese produced in County Cork. It has a buttery flavor that is often compared to brie.
  
  

Bread

• Traditional Irish bread is subject to regional and seasonal availability, although certain types are available virtually anywhere throughout the year. Common Irish breads include soda bread and brown bread, which is readily available throughout the country. Soda bread is a type of quick-bread with only four ingredients: flour, buttermilk, baking soda and salt. It generally is made with white flour, although whole-wheat flour is popular in the north of Ireland, where it is called 'wheaten bread.' Brown bread generally is made with rough-milled whole meal flour and has a coarse, chewy texture. It can be eaten with savory or sweet toppings. Regional breads include blaa, which is a type of doughy, white bread roll found in the southwest of Ireland, in counties Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny. Barmbrack is the most iconic of Irish seasonal breads, traditionally eaten on Halloween. It is a sweetened, raisin-studded yeast bread generally eaten with afternoon tea. On Halloween, the bread is baked with a variety of trinkets inside as part of a traditional fortune-telling game.
  
  

Traditional Dishes

• Traditional Irish dishes often are simple, with a reliance on cold-weather crops and locally available meat. A common dishes in Ireland is bacon and cabbage. It is made with back-bacon (not strip bacon) that is cooked together with the cabbage for flavor, and served over boiled or mashed potatoes. Champ is another traditional dish that still is commonly eaten. It consists of mashed potatoes mixed with green onions, salt and black pepper. Coddle is a dish traditionally associated with Dublin, where it is a popular comfort food. It is a one-pot meal consisting of sausage or bacon, sliced potatoes, onions and carrots boiled together.
  
  

Drinks

• Of all drinks associated with Ireland, perhaps the most iconic and well-loved is stout. Stout is a dark, dry ale with a hearty, coffee-like taste. Although Guinness is synonymous with stout in Ireland and abroad, other varieties are available, including Beamish and Murphy's. Irish whiskey holds a special place in Irish culture, with a history stretching back to the 12th century. What differentiates Irish whiskey from other whiskeys is its triple-distillation process and a general lack of peat used in its production, with few notable exceptions. The "pure pot still" method of distillation also is particular to Ireland, meaning that the final product contains both malted and unmalted barley that was prepared in a pot still.