Cornstown House Farm is a mere 15 miles from the hustle and bustle of Dublin’s busy streets.
Here, in this agricultural corner of Dublin the Grysons farm organically. The farm’s main activities involve alpaca trekking and growing ancient cereals. There have been farmers in this area for many centuries and some of the buildings here on Cornstown Farm date back to the time of the Battle of the Boyne.
Gently step back onto a farm that grows its crops using reapers and binders as well as modern machines. As the farm is organic no artificial chemicals or fertilizers are used, ensuring a sustainable template for food production in the future.
Cornstown House is home to a variety of animals including cattle, goats, sheep, poultry, bees, donkeys, horses and, most recently, alpacas who followed the potato to Cornstown nearly 400 years later!
Take a walk, with your alpaca, along the path which is bordered by wild flowers sown to attract wildbirds and, more specifically, the grey partridge. Visit our newly planted native forest where you can watch the trees as they develop and grow. Cross the bridge to the wild bird cover which also helped our wild birds survive the winter. Our winter has been enlivened by many finches who have feasted all the way through on our wild seeds.
Visit our vegetable garden where everything is sown organically and get some tips on how to do the same at home, no matter how big or small your garden.
See the wool from the alpacas and the lovely scarves Fionnuala creates from their wonderful fibres. Alpaca fleece is known as fibre rather than wool as it is hollow like our hair.
Have a chat with Dominic about how he built the bread oven in the cow byre. Have a look at the beautiful baskets he creates and the many uses to which they are put.
Dominic has been a farmer for as long as he can remember. He has always had an interest in sustainability and nature and since moving back to Cornstown House has had the opportunity to develop a farm that is truly in sync with nature.
Dominic grows ancient cereals which have been around since they built Newgrange. With these cereals he is part of a project called Foodcult where they are trying to recreate the beer that was drunk by the stonemasons that built Dublin castle. As part of their wages they received fourteen pints of beer a day!
Fionnuala was a primary school teacher who was always passionate about nature. On retiring she bought two Huacaya alpacas to develop her spinning and weaving crafts. She fell madly in love with the Suri alpacas she saw and hence began the alpaca trekking. The spinning and weaving have been put on hold for a while!
Fionnuala also loves her polytunnel which went up as a Covid project. She uses it to grow the plants for her organic vegetable garden and is really looking forward to this year in the garden.
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Cornstown,
Ashbourne,
Co. Dublin,
A84 N512,
Ireland
