The invitation
Five nights in a 1700s Georgian house in medieval Kilkenny, Ireland.
Hosted by a team of three Ballymaloe-trained chefs, this is a private week of cooking and eating for Americans who want to know Ireland from the inside: its kitchens, its producers, its stories and its people.
The team
Co-Founder & Executive Chef · Kilkenny, Ireland
Trained at the renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School, Tracie Daly spent nearly a decade as a senior teacher working alongside Irish food icons Darina Allen, Rory O’Connell, and Rachel Allen, building over 25 years of hands-on industry mastery. Her multi-award-winning café and bakery earned Best Casual Dining in Kilkenny and glowing acclaim in Lonely Planet, while her current coaching business was recently honored with both the Food Hero Kilkenny and Taste Kilkenny awards.
Trusted by the world’s biggest culinary names, Tracie works as TV Home Economist for Rory O’Connell, Culinary Brand Chef for Ballymaloe Foods, creates bespoke high-end dining solutions for Kerrygold corporate meetings, and hosts exclusive, secret online bakery masterclasses. A dynamic festival host who MCs major events like the Ballymaloe Festival of Food, Savour Kilkenny, and Taste of Sligo, she continuously travels across Ireland and Europe developing and delivering high-octane cookery demonstrations.
Joining Tracie on a culinary retreat means gaining privileged, behind-the-scenes access to a master educator, television insider, and awarded artisan chef & baker for an unforgettable, high-energy immersion into pure flavor, technique, and world-class food culture.
“Tracie is a true professional who brings research, preparation, and genuine energy to every event. She knows how to read the room, engage the audience, and keep discussions flowing smoothly. Her ability to turn chefs’ technical details into engaging stories makes her an invaluable part of any food festival.”
Trained at the renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School, Tracie Daly spent nearly a decade as a senior teacher working alongside Irish food icons Darina Allen, Rory O’Connell, and Rachel Allen, building over 25 years of hands-on industry mastery. Her multi-award-winning café and bakery earned Best Casual Dining in Kilkenny and glowing acclaim in Lonely Planet, while her current coaching business was recently honored with both the Food Hero Kilkenny and Taste Kilkenny awards.
Trusted by the world’s biggest culinary names, Tracie works as TV Home Economist for Rory O’Connell, Culinary Brand Chef for Ballymaloe Foods, creates bespoke high-end dining solutions for Kerrygold corporate meetings, and hosts exclusive, secret online bakery masterclasses. A dynamic festival host who MCs major events like the Ballymaloe Festival of Food, Savour Kilkenny, and Taste of Sligo, she continuously travels across Ireland and Europe developing and delivering high-octane cookery demonstrations.
Joining Tracie on a culinary retreat means gaining privileged, behind-the-scenes access to a master educator, television insider, and awarded artisan chef & baker for an unforgettable, high-energy immersion into pure flavor, technique, and world-class food culture.
“Tracie is a true professional who brings research, preparation, and genuine energy to every event. She knows how to read the room, engage the audience, and keep discussions flowing smoothly. Her ability to turn chefs’ technical details into engaging stories makes her an invaluable part of any food festival.”
Co-Founder & Executive Chef · Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas
An American chef trained in Ireland, Daniel Lubin graduated from Ballymaloe Cookery School in 2018 and worked as a banquet chef at an AAA Four Diamond hotel before founding his own private chef business in Dallas–Fort Worth in 2019. Since then he has cooked in private homes for families who could eat anywhere and choose to eat at home, from their weekly meals to the nights they want to remember: dinner parties, holiday celebrations and milestone birthdays. He also coaches cooks who want to build private chef businesses of their own. Daniel co-created The Irish Table with Tracie and cooks and hosts the week beside her: seven years of cooking in private homes, brought to a private house in Kilkenny.
“The flavors and the presentation of the dishes were beautiful. All my 10 guests loved it, and still talk about this special night.”
An American chef trained in Ireland, Daniel Lubin graduated from Ballymaloe Cookery School in 2018 and worked as a banquet chef at an AAA Four Diamond hotel before founding his own private chef business in Dallas–Fort Worth in 2019. Since then he has cooked in private homes for families who could eat anywhere and choose to eat at home, from their weekly meals to the nights they want to remember: dinner parties, holiday celebrations and milestone birthdays. He also coaches cooks who want to build private chef businesses of their own. Daniel co-created The Irish Table with Tracie and cooks and hosts the week beside her: seven years of cooking in private homes, brought to a private house in Kilkenny.
“The flavors and the presentation of the dishes were beautiful. All my 10 guests loved it, and still talk about this special night.”
Sous Chef · Kilkenny, Ireland
Trish Hennessy’s deep connection to farm-to-table food began in 2003, when she trained at the world-renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School alongside her fellow Kilkenny native, Tracie Daly. Their shared journey started in the Coach House on Ballymaloe’s 100-acre organic farm, rooming together during their three-month intensive training before both returning as trainee teachers to spend a full year living in a farm cottage at the edge of the estate.
Today, Trish is a proud dairy farmer’s wife and mother of three, bringing her farm-fresh philosophy to life every day where provenance, whole ingredients, and cooking from scratch remain central to family life. Having successfully established and operated her own micro-dairy, Trish is an exceptionally talented chef and artisan baker who firmly believes that great farming and great food are inextricably linked.
At The Irish Table, Trish brings guests an authentic, rich immersion into true Irish farmstead cooking, traditional baking, and deep agricultural heritage.
Trish Hennessy’s deep connection to farm-to-table food began in 2003, when she trained at the world-renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School alongside her fellow Kilkenny native, Tracie Daly. Their shared journey started in the Coach House on Ballymaloe’s 100-acre organic farm, rooming together during their three-month intensive training before both returning as trainee teachers to spend a full year living in a farm cottage at the edge of the estate.
Today, Trish is a proud dairy farmer’s wife and mother of three, bringing her farm-fresh philosophy to life every day where provenance, whole ingredients, and cooking from scratch remain central to family life. Having successfully established and operated her own micro-dairy, Trish is an exceptionally talented chef and artisan baker who firmly believes that great farming and great food are inextricably linked.
At The Irish Table, Trish brings guests an authentic, rich immersion into true Irish farmstead cooking, traditional baking, and deep agricultural heritage.
The house
Mountrothe House was built in 1765 and still sits on a working farm, ten miles outside Kilkenny city. For five nights the whole house is taken for our group, with no other guests. Seven bedrooms, each with its own bathroom: five with king beds, two with twin beds.
The week
Flour on your hands before breakfast.
Each morning, four guests at a time join a private masterclass in Irish soda bread and handmade butter. The bread you bake is on the breakfast table, still warm. The places rotate, so every guest gets their morning at the bench.
At four, all fourteen guests gather in the kitchen while Tracie and Daniel cook that night’s dinner in front of you. Pull up a stool and watch, or tie on your apron and cook it with them.
Photo: Daniel Lubin
Introduced as a friend, not a visitor.
Each day, our private group heads out into the Kilkenny countryside to visit the miller, the orchard, the wool mill and the potter. These are producers Tracie and Trish have known for years, so you won’t get the visitor’s version.
No crowds, no scripts: just the people who do the work, showing you how it’s done. It’s the Ireland most visitors drive right past.
Photo: Highbank Orchards
Arrive as a guest. Leave as family.
This is Kilkenny through a local’s eyes. The house belongs to Tracie’s uncle, and you’ll meet more of her family as the week goes on.
On St. Patrick’s Day you’ll stand with the locals for the parade, pour your own pint at her brother’s pub, and drown the shamrock with us at the long table that night.
By Friday, Kilkenny won’t feel like somewhere you visited. You’ll always have a place at this table.
Photo: Tracie Daly
The details
Reserve by December 31, 2026 to keep this price.After January 1, it rises to $8,450 per person.
The guarantee
You’ll go home able to cook a three-course dinner for eight, from scratch. If there’s a technique on your sheet you haven’t got by Friday morning, we’ll do it with you again before you leave.
Tell us where your family came from, and your county will be on your place card at the gala dinner.
Questions
The week
No. Every dish is made in front of you first, and whenever you cook, Tracie, Daniel or Trish is right beside you. Helping with dinner is always your choice. Either way, you’ll go home able to cook a three-course dinner for eight. That’s our promise.
Yes. Each morning, four guests at a time join a private masterclass in Irish soda bread and handmade butter, and the bread you bake is served at breakfast that day. The places rotate, so every guest gets a morning. On Friday you take home a soda loaf baked that morning, wrapped for the flight.
A little of both, kept small. Fourteen guests share one private house in County Kilkenny for five nights. You cook with three Ballymaloe-trained chefs, go out each day as a private group to meet producers Tracie and Trish have known for years, and come back to dinner at one long table. Every meal, outing and tip is included.
At Mountrothe House, a Georgian country house built in 1765 on a working farm in Paulstown, County Kilkenny, ten miles from Kilkenny city. The whole house is ours for the week, with no other guests. Seven bedrooms, each with its own bathroom: five with king beds and two with twin beds.
About 75 miles, under two hours by highway. You won’t drive it: our private coach meets the group at Dublin Airport on Sunday, March 14, and takes you back on Friday, March 19. You never have to drive on the left.
Rooms are for two people traveling together: a couple, two friends or family. We don’t take single bookings, and the week is for adults only.
You’ll be on your feet a good part of each day. The cooking demonstrations run about 90 minutes, with a stool for everyone, and the outings mean a few hours of walking on uneven ground and city streets. If you have any doubt, talk to us before you request an invitation.
Ballymaloe Cookery School, on an organic farm in Shanagarry, County Cork, was founded in 1983 by Darina Allen with her brother Rory O’Connell. It’s one of the best-known cookery schools in the world. Tracie and Trish trained there together in 2003, and Tracie went on to teach there for nearly a decade. Daniel graduated in 2018. The Irish Table is our own and isn’t run by the school.
Not yet. Requesting an invitation is free and commits you to nothing. After your 30-minute video call with Tracie, your invitation comes with the full itinerary and menus, and sets out the deposit, the payment schedule and the cancellation terms. Nothing is payable until you accept it in writing.
St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland
We go into Kilkenny and stand with the locals for the parade. Then it’s on to Tracie’s brother’s pub, where you pour your own pint, and back to the house for dinner at the long table. We end the night by drowning the shamrock.
Dublin has the biggest parade and the biggest crowds. To see the day the way an Irish town lives it, go somewhere smaller. Kilkenny is a medieval city with a Norman castle, narrow lanes and its own parade, and it’s Tracie’s home town. On March 17, you stand with the people who live there.
Yes. March 17 is a public holiday in Ireland, and in 2027 it falls on a Wednesday. Banks, offices and many shops close, and towns all over the country hold their own parades. That’s why our St. Patrick’s Day is built around the parade, the pub and the table.
Yes, at Tracie’s brother’s pub on St. Patrick’s Day. You’ll learn the proper two-part pour: tilt the glass, fill it most of the way, let it settle, then top it up. And then, of course, you drink it.
It’s an old Irish custom for the end of St. Patrick’s Day. A sprig of shamrock goes into the last drink of the night. You raise a toast, drink it down, and toss the shamrock over your left shoulder for luck. We do it together at the long table.
Usually not corned beef. Corned beef and cabbage is the Irish-American version. In Ireland, the traditional plate is bacon and cabbage, made with a boiled joint of Irish bacon, which is closer to ham than to American bacon. On St. Patrick’s night, we cook an Irish dinner for the long table.
For this week, yes. Outside Dublin, March is quiet before the summer crowds, the days are already about twelve hours long, and St. Patrick’s Day is the big celebration of the season. Expect highs around 50°F (10°C), nights in the high 30s and rain on about one day in three, so pack layers and a rain jacket.
A private gathering
Request your invitation to St. Patrick’s Day 2027. We read every request ourselves.
Nothing is payable until you’ve spoken with us and accepted your invitation.
