Urney Chocolates grew out of a jam pot

I've been so busy in the garden this summer that my Urney blog has been sadly neglected. My poly tunnel is producing courgettes to beat the band- suggested uses for same are very welcome. I've been sneaking courgettes into most of my dishes and even tried my hand at a courgette sorbet which my family very politely ate with approving gestures. I'm touched by their tact but I promise, I won't be making any more. *sighs of relief all round..* 

I'm sure great-granny Eileen Gallagher would know what to do with a glut of veggies. A chutney-making enterprise perhaps? Afterall, it was the jam that she made from the excess fruit in her garden that launched a cottage industry that later became Urney Chocolates. "Urney Chocolates grew out of a jam pot" as Eileen's husband Harry was fond of saying.
I often wondered what it was that made Eileen such an astute business woman. Her determination and practical nature would have helped. Early family life would also have shaped her thinking. She was the youngest of 16 children and despite both her parents coming from well-off families, Eileen saw her mother struggle financially. Her father John had been destined to take over the family business in New Ross, Co. Wexford but preferred to spend his time playing the organ while the family's fortunes dwindled away. It's safe to say Eileen didn't inherit his business acumen (or lack of..). Eileen's mother, Mary Ellen, on the other hand became an adept seamstress and frugal housekeeper and managed to keep up the illusion of comfortable living. She was fortunate to get annual income from her own family, who were related to MP John Redmond. While the allowance would have helped enormously it must have been difficult. No doubt it would have strengthened Eileen's resolve for financial security in later life. And the instilled notion that you couldn't always rely on the traditional bread-winner to provide for you, may have made her more independent and unconventional? Well, we can only speculate. Now...anyone for a slice of courgette cake?

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a well deserved break over the Christmas holidays. It's hard to get back into the pace of normal life. First there's the sugar addiction to get over and then there's the effort of getting up early for a hard days slog to get re-accustomed to.... Especially hard these arctic mornings. Brrrrr...

I'm guessing most of you had a traditional turkey dinner for Christmas. Well, an interesting fact about Eileen Gallagher, founder of Urney Chocolates; she introduced the first White Holland turkey into Ireland in 1956. Eileen, a keen fowl fancier, acquired some fertilized turkey eggs on a trip to the USA and managed to smuggle them back to Dublin. She bred White Holland turkeys successfully for many years in Tallaght, producing up to 3,000 birds annually. Before that, the Bronze turkey would have been the predominant turkey breed in Ireland and goose would have been commonly eaten at Christmas. The White Holland is a smaller breed than the Bronze but matures earlier. There's much debate about how Eileen managed to get the eggs home though it is commonly agreed that the means weren't entirely legal... My preferred family myth claims she hid them in the lining of her fur hat.