Ireland: Late-night bar reborn as a green urban farm
Ireland’s first hospitality hydroponic urban farm in Killarney is growing nutritious salads and herbs for supply to hotels and restaurants
By Caroline Hennessy
Irish Examiner
Sept 2, 2022
Excerpt:
“We had looked at growing our own produce – the team were always very enthusiastic – but because all the properties are in the town centre, we could only grow herbs,” says managing director Gemma Ring.
After her husband Paul O’Neill encountered a vertical garden tower in the co-working space, Republic of Work, Ring discovered Jenny Twomey and Jill O’Brien’s Cork-based Green Towers Ireland and worked with them to develop a system for the Collection in Killarney.
“We met Jenny and Jill, did a tour of the Cork Rooftop Farm [which also uses this system], saw the towers there and got to taste what they grow. The flavour was amazing, very intense. We took some salad leaves home, and they lasted really well in the fridge.”
Ring and her team looked at hotel rooftop spaces initially: “we already have beehives on the rooftop of the Killarney Plaza Hotel & Spa.”
But then they started to look indoors: “We are in the town centre, so the only way was up for us; we didn’t have gardens or land. Our late-night bar space was closed because of Covid, so why not use it? We got 14 towers in there and it took a bit of adjustment to work with light and ventilation to get it right but it’s settled down now. We’re delighted it’s been a success and is going well.”
