Irish Stew wraps its Off the Beaten Craic in the Hidden Heartlands Series in Drumshanbo, the Co. Leitrim town rewriting the rural renewal playbook. What began as a desperate effort to save a shuttered jam factory has become one of Ireland's most remarkable community-led success stories.

At The Food Hub in Drumshanbo, cohosts Martin Nutty and John Lee hear from Cllr Enda McGloin and onsite manager Fergal McPartland how a voluntary local committee refused to let the abandoned jam factory slip away, spending years securing a long-term lease and funding while recommitting the site to food production rather than easier options like storage. The Food Hub now houses multiple thriving enterprises including The Shed Distillery, home of Gunpowder Irish Gin which put this Leitrim town on the global spirits map. Together, the Food Hub and the Shed have transformed Drumshanbo from a symbol of industrial decline into a vibrant food, drink, and tourism destination studied by other towns seeking renewal.

Inside The Shed, the podcasters hear how its managing director and founder P.J. Rigney and his team have fused global imagination with local soul in their distinctive gins, whiskeys and now vodka. At the distillery’s heart beats an Irish storyteller's instinct for character, place, and pride.

The podcasters get to see the magic happen on The Shed Distillery Tour, a popular hospitality experience made complete with a stop at the onsite Jackalope Café, a local foodie destination.

Now P.J. is restoring the town's historic Methodist Church as a community and visitor hub, continuing the ethos of regeneration that began with the Food Hub. He calls it a partnership of "guardian angels" between business and community, each nurturing the other through shared purpose.

This final episode of Off the Beaten Craic in the Hidden Heartlands captures the alchemy of curiosity and connection that defines Drumshanbo, a small town that turned crisis into creativity and built a legacy of craft, courage, and collaboration. From jam to gin, from empty factory floors to bustling innovation, Drumshanbo proves that when community and imagination meet, even the most hidden heartlands can become a global destination.

Irish Stew’s next destination is Washington, DC. Join them next week for the first of several episodes on Irish films featured by the Solas Nua Capital Irish Film Festival.

Links

The Food Hub

• Website
• Facebook

Cllr Enda McGloin

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

The Shed Distillery

• Website
• Instagram
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• PJ Rigney on LinkedIn

Episode Details: Season 8, Episode 5; Total Episode Count: 146

Irish Stew’s latest “Off the Beaten Craic” adventure in County Leitrim discovers three new ways to slow down, tune in, and taste this corner of Ireland, through food, forest, and a gentle spin along the Jackalope Trail.

First, we meet Malaysian‑born chef and restaurateur Sham Hanifa. At age 20 he answered an ad to work in Ireland, arriving in Carrick‑on‑Shannon jet‑lagged and short on money, but today he anchors the local food scene with The Cottage, My Kitchen, and Buffalo Boy, blending Irish ingredients with his Thai‑Chinese‑Indian‑Malay heritage.

And he loves Irish Stew, though he was referring to the edible not the audio version.

“What I say is Irish stew is comfort food, packed with flavor and a good‑hearted dish,” he explains, insisting he won’t “mess around” with its unique Irish character even as he adds subtle Asian notes elsewhere on the menu. That respect for Irish produce interpreted with Asian flavors has turned Sham’s Leitrim restaurants into dining destinations

The episode moves next to the Drumhierny Woodland Hideaway, opened to guests in 2022 and featuring 11 self‑catering lodges tucked seamlessly into mature woodland. Sustainability, local partnerships, and wellbeing shape the experience, from an onsite café and private‑chef dinners to a sanctuary with seaweed baths, sauna, and cold plunge.

“They arrive stressed on Friday, and when you meet them on a Sunday they’re completely Zen, which I think is what we’re all about,” says co-founder and marketing manager Alison Moffatt.

The podcasters then roam towards Drumshanbo for a “slow adventure” on the Jackalope Trail with Eileen Gibbons of Electric Bike Trails. Inspired by seeing e-bikes on Ireland’s Greenway network, Eileen and her husband Seamus created guided rides that trade speed for stories—linking canal-side cycling with local heritage and the wider tourism scene.

“We take people along at a slow rate, stop along the way at interesting spots, all with a little bit of joke and a little bit of fun, and maybe even a bit of song,” she says.

The Jackalope Trail leads to The Shed Distillery of PJ Rigney, distillers of Drumshanbo Whisky and Irish Gunpowder Gin, part of Co. Leitrim’s innovative culinary incubator The Food Hub, both to be featured in the next and final episode of Irish Stew’s “Off the Beaten Craic” series.

Links

Sham Hanifa

• Website
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Instagram
• My Kitchen
• The Cottage Restaurant

Drumhierny Woodland Hideaway

• Website
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Alison Moffatt LinkedIn

Electric Bike Trails

• Website
• Facebook
• Instagram

Irish Stew Links

• Website
• Media Partner: IrishCentral
• Travel Partner: Tourism Ireland

Episode Details: Season 8, Episode 4; Total Episode Count: 145

It may be the smallest county in Connacht, the smallest by population in Ireland, with the smallest stretch of beach on the Wild Atlantic Way, but in their latest episode the Irish Stew podcasters learn that Leitrim is capitalizing on its offer of a great quality of life, relative affordability, entrepreneurial energy, appeal to a more mobile workforce, and its “slow adventure” approach experiencing its natural allure.

Arriving in Carrick-on-Shannon, the cohosts head to the offices of the Leitrim County Council, the local government organization committed to building an economically strong, creative and inclusive county, making Leitrim the best place to live, to work and visit.

Though County Council Chief Executive Joseph Gilhooly opened the doors to Leitrim for Irish Stew, for the interview he gave the floor to his able lieutenants, Director of Services David Minton and tourism officer Sinead McDermott.

You’ll hear how Leitrim’s economy is strong on small-scale entrepreneurship and growing sectors like fintech, food innovation, engineering, and renewables. They also detail the County Council’s integrated support system including the Local Enterprise Office, The Hive incubation hub, and the Carrick Campus for growing firms.

They share that tourists from across Ireland, the U.S, and Europe come for Leitrim’s authenticity, natural beauty, slower pace, farm to table food, tranquillity, and eco-tourism. They sense that climate change is subtly shifting European travel patterns northward, making Ireland a “cool” alternative to overheated southern Europe.

With Leitrim’s tourism value proposition top-of-mind, the podcasters head to the Landmark Hotel to meet with Sales and Marketing Manager Ciara Maxwell, who came to Leitrim for a one-year work experience 15 years ago and never left, which tells you everything you need to know about the pull of this place.

She tells how founders John and Ciaran Kelly envisioned a new riverside hotel that would be a real landmark looking out over “The Marina Capital of Ireland” and in the center of Carrick-on-Shannon’s lively weekend nightlife of pubs, shows, and restaurants.

There’s more tastes of Leitrim on Irish Stew next week, including the story of the Malaysian chef who’s upending the local food scene, the new woodland lodging hideaway set on 100 acres of Irish history, and the slow adventure e-bike option for traversing the Jackalope Trail to Drumshanbo, home of The Shed Distillery of P.J. Rigney.

Links

Leitrim County Council

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• X

Leitrim Tourism

Sinead McDermott

• LinkedIn

Landmark Hotel

• Website
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Instagram

Ciara Maxwell

• LinkedIn

Irish Stew Links

• Website
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Media Partner: IrishCentral

Episode Details: Season 8, Episode 3; Total Episode Count: 143