A mouth–watering collaboration delivering an authentic rural farm to fork feasting experience immersed in tradition and folklore. The Céilí House Supper, a Slemish Market Supper Club pop-up dining experience with Willow and Lore heritage farm.
In the historical community of Glenravel, nestled in a heather–clad valley on top of the magnificent Antrim plateau lies Willow and Lore Heritage Farm, a hidden haven, that embraces the natural world it borrows its footprint from and celebrates the rich local heritage that has been rooted in its land over the last two centuries. It is a family run working heritage farm delivering hands on heritage farm experiences that transport you back in time and connect you to the land, life and legend of a simpler world.
Showcasing the fabulous produce of Slemish Market Garden in the nearby 400-year-old market town of Ballymena, award winning Chef Rob Curley of Slemish Market Supper Club, creates mouth–watering six course menus for diners to experience the food and traditions of the sea, rivers, lakes and lands so important to the areas gastronomy. For Chef Rob, each plate tells a story. Every ingredient is chosen to paint a picture in the diner’s mind and spark their imagination as well as their palate.
Welcomed onto the land by Declan and Sabrina Scullion of Willow and Lore farm, guests will be taken on a guided exploration of what the farm has to offer in the current season and will be connected to the place and a forgotten era. Transported then by local folklore around the open fire in the traditional Irish cottage, the 6–course culinary journey begins with a drink and a ‘wee bite’. The fine dining feast continues in the barn with starter and fish courses that celebrate the old ways. The meat course follows with Willow and Lore’s own grass fed, rare-breed Jacob lamb crafted with care to showcase the spirit of the regenerative farming enterprise that produced it. And if you can manage it, a dessert that challenges the imagination and perfectly underlines the innovation delivered by Chef Rob on every plate
From farm to fork, every bite is cooked in time-honoured ways and is rooted in tradition, pure County Antrim heritage, told through food and celebrated in a setting as beautiful as the food itself.
Chef Rob and Declan and Sabrina from Willow and Lore first came together in August 2025 to run a pop-up supper club as part of the annual Glenravel Country Fair. Chef Rob drew inspiration from a local legend Mickey McIllhatton, the ‘king of the glens’ a famous illicit Poitín maker whose 50th anniversary was being celebrated and from the regeneratively farmed rare breed Jacob sheep reared by Declan and Sabrina to create a masterpiece that had even the more conservative diners pushing their comfort zones and clearing their plates.
“Absolutely incredible evening at @willow_and_lore_farm with @slemishmarketsclub . . . a 6 course tasting menu . . . with flavours from the glens of Antrim . . . great company , great food and a great setting 🌾 🚜 🍷 Thank you.” “Fantastic food and a great evening’s craic, thanks to all 🤩”
From the incredibly positive feedback received and the energy through the evening they knew this couldn’t just be a one-off. “It’s always important to me to connect diners to the local area through the produce we use, but to be able to immerse them in the farm setting that produced the food and connect them with the history and heritage of that land, just brought a whole new level to the experience.” Explained Chef Rob
“We want our guests to go away with more than just a memory of a heritage activity, we endeavour to create a deeper, emotive, subconscious connection for them with the place.” explained Declan, “These dining experiences will give us a whole new medium to do that, you can see heritage, learn about it, replicate it . . . and here you can taste it.”
In ancient times ‘local produce’ wasn’t just about necessity or lack of alternatives, it was about an altogether more spiritual cycle. The ancient celtic calendar revolved around the farming seasons guided by the sun, Lughnasa marking the start of harvest and Samhain the end. Danu the ancient godess was godess of both the earth and fertility, a clear connection between the land, the soil and the produce harvested from it.
The understanding of the soil from which the crops have grown and the respect and honour for the animals reared on it has sadly been lost through the industrialisation of agriculture over the last century. That has been to the detriment of our health as well as our mental and social wellbeing. The good news is a change is happening, that important connection between the land and food is being renewed and this heritage farm to fork feast collaboration between a heritage farm producer and a Chef passionately committed to local produce is a truly fantastic manifestation of this change.
The Céilí House Supper will run on regular scheduled dates from March 2026 and can be booked as a private dining experience.
Bookable via www.willowandlore.co.uk, www.slemishmarketsupperclub.com and contact slemishmarketsupperclub@gmail.com
or +44 (0) 7547 804 975 for private bookings