Food Writing Retreat
Eat, Write, Retreat! A Fully Inclusive & Immersive Food Writing Retreat in a West Cork Castle for Autumn, 2026...
Eat, Write, Retreat! A Fully Inclusive & Immersive Food Writing Retreat in a West Cork Castle for Autumn, 2026...
Eat, Write, Retreat! A Fully Inclusive & Immersive Food Writing Retreat in a West Cork Castle for Autumn, 2026…
Where: Castletownshend, Village, nr Skibbereen, County Cork, P81 NH72
When: 6th – 9th October 2026
Cost: Fully inclusive residential package, €1800.
We can’t wait to host you for this special time spent on you and your writing!
Booking Deadline, August 7th 2026
This four-day writing retreat takes place in the 17th century historic house of Castle Townshend overlooking a picturesque ocean inlet in the gastronomic heart of West Cork. The castle and its demesne has been welcoming guests for over 60 years, and is the seat of the Townshend family who have lived here since the 1650s. This sanctuary-like venue, full of old-world charm and character, and exclusively ours for the duration of the retreat, is your escape into the world of writing, good food and hospitality.
As a small group of food writers from all backgrounds and different stages of your writing life, you will be fully immersed in this four-day retreat. Our days will combine guided writing sessions led by award-winning food writer Kate Ryan with visits to West Cork’s most inspiring and storied artisans and chefs.
The tastes, sights and stories of the food we will connect with, the landscape surrounding us, and tales from the people we meet will be channelled into our writing. The goal is to discover or develop your writing voice through food, as storytellers.
As well as writing sessions, there will be excursions, lunches and dinners each day, and free time to enjoy the Castle demesne or simply to write using what you have learned and experienced.
About the Retreat
Inspired by beautiful views from our writing space at the castle, we will explore food writing through instruction, workshopping and sharing. We will dive into what food writing is, the role of nostalgia in food writing, literary food writing, food and the senses, and much more.
Kate has hand-selected the excursions and chefs you will meet for their rich stories and commitment to heritage and provenance by emphasising the food stories they present upon the plate and palate.
Through these experiences, our writing sessions will support you to find and hone your authentic writing voice through personal essay and first person writing; and develop the importance of story in food writing.
Our group will be small, so there will be lots of time to write, talk, explore and gain insights from your instructor as well as the other members of the group. Our time together, whether around the workshop table or the dinner table, provides an opportunity to share stories, engage your senses, absorb the atmosphere and environment, and consider how these experiences shape what and how you write and how to convey your message.
By the end of the retreat, you will have improved your writing skills, gained a better understanding of the importance of story in food and how to use it, and practical inspiring advice on pursuing your own writing projects.
About West Cork
West Cork is the beating heart of artisan food in Ireland and home to some of Ireland’s most awarded and innovative chefs. Time-honoured traditions and the legacy of ages produce some of the finest food and drink in the world marking West Cork out as the food capital of Ireland.
We will visit one of Ireland’s pioneering artisans, learn about and taste the food made on their land. We will dine in a Michelin-starred restaurant, and sample expertly crafted plates of food from chefs who work with the seasons to craft narrative through their dishes and know well those who grow and make the foods they cook with.
From sweeping ocean vistas atop rocky cliffs, crystalline seas, and plains of pastureland so vibrant and verdant they seem to glow, West Cork is crafted by the weather. It is warmed by the sun, drenched by rain and sculpted by wind. The Atlantic Ocean beats against its coastline and shapes it into a place that’s truly apart.
What’s Included
In addition to the writing workshops, our retreat includes:
What’s Not Included
Who is This Food Writing Retreat For?
This food writing retreat is for those at the beginning of their food writing career – or those who simply enjoy writing for pleasure and have a keen interest in food – looking to gift themselves focused time to hone their voice and style, and explore the myriad ways in which food can be a vehicle for the craft of writing.
It is also for writers already publishing their work interested in taking a deeper dive into the world of food writing and its intertwining intersections. We all must eat everyday but how, where and what we decide to eat, and with whom, is peppered with all sorts of considerations.
Therefore, this is not a cookbook writing course! Instead we will explore food writing as a literary form by using prompts around nostalgia and memory, sensuality, folklore, and the natural world. We will learn from and encourage each other to be open to where this approach to food writing can take you!
There is no right or wrong way to write about food – there is only your way. Retreating from thedaily hustle and bustle to focus on what and how you want to write about food over an intensive few days will enable you to springboard forward in confidence – and make new friends along the way, too!
What’s Different About Our Retreat
The Instructor: Kate Ryan is a multi-award-winning food writer and founder of Flavour.ie, a platform dedicated to showcasing Ireland’s food culture. She is a West Cork-based food writer and member of the Irish Food Writers’ Guild writing long-form food stories about Irish food culture and the people who shape it. Her work has been published in print and online in Ireland, UK and more including the BBC, Irish Examiner, Food & Wine (Ireland), Vittles, Scoop Food Magazine, and the Oxford Symposium on Food & Drink. In 2017, she published “A Taste of West Cork – Artisan Food Guide”, a project funded by Cork County Council and Taste Cork, and contributed the central chapter to COOK, by Graham Herterich (2024).
Kate holds a Masters in Food Studies and Irish Foodways, a Postgraduate Diploma in Irish Food Culture, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Food Writing all from University College Cork, Ireland. As well as honing her career in food writing for 15 years, Kate understands the value of learning from others and has been fortunate to learn from successful food writers Mark Diacono and Diana Henry (UK), Trish Deseine (Ireland & France), Dianne Jacob (USA), and Jamie Schler (France & USA).
The Format: We will not be stuck in a room all day! Instead, our days will be built around short bursts of creative writing, instruction and discussion interspersed with visits to artisan producers and excellent food.
The Food: Food writers engage with their senses more than any other kind of writer. We are already formulating our writing before we pick up a pen or sit in front of a screen – our sense of smell or taste trigger the emotion, memory or story which we will later go on and construct. For these reasons, West Cork is a food lover’s destination and why we have selected the most accomplished food producers and chefs of the region. You will dine well at breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Celebrated chef Caitlin Ruth revels in the larder of the region to produce inventive, creative and hyper-seasonal dishes. Originally from Dublin, New Hampshire, USA, Caitlin has called West Cork her home for almost three decades, many of those as head chef of the former Deasy’s seafood restaurant – a favoured gourmet destination of food critics! Today, Caitlin has a successful food business, Caitlin Ruth Food, hosting creative pop ups, private dining, and roving locations with her big blue food truck. Caitlin’s food is all about serious fun with flavours, textures, colours and hits of piquant pickles. Caitlin is also an author: in 2023, she released FUNKY as part of the Blasta Books series of innovative and accessible cookbooks. The book celebrates her love of a good, funky pickle – many of which we will taste at our two lunches and two dinners she will cook exclusively for us!
Rob Krawczyk is head chef co-owner of Restaurant Chestnut with his wife, Elaine. The restaurant received its first Michelin star after just 6 months of opening in 2019 and has held it every year since. One of Ireland’s greatest chefs, Rob’s cuisine is about local and seasonal ingredients underpinned with a love of charcuterie and hot and cold smoking gained from his father, the great Frank Krawczyk. Each menu is a seasonal journey from land to sea, hedgerow to meadow, corset-tight in its precision and memorable to the last.
Our Location
Castletownshed in West Cork is located 85 kms west of Cork Airport, approximately 1.5 hours’ drive. This is the local regional airport, and it is recommended to fly into this airport for participants outside of Ireland. Dublin Airport is approximately 5.5 hours’ drive, and Shannon Airport 3.5 hours’ drive. There are no regional bus services to Castletownshend, therefore it is recommended to drive to our venue.
Castletownshend is located on the world famous Wild Atlantic Way, the world’s largest uninterrupted coastal touring route which starts in the south at Kinsale in County Cork and ends in the north at Malin Head in Co Donegal. West Cork is a wonderful place to explore with many stunning beaches, mountain passes, and its myriad colourful villages and towns. The village of Castletownshend developed around the Castle demesne, peppered with characterful buildings either side of the steep main street leading to the castle and harbour. A unique feature of the village is a pair of large sycamore trees, planted in the 1800s, which grow out of a raised stone roundabout in the middle of the street halfway down.
The Castle itself is located on the water’s edge of a sheltered inlet with uninterrupted sea views and surrounded by its own manicured gardens and woodland walks. St. Barrahane’s Church, built in 1826, is located directly behind the castle estate atop 52 steps (one for each Sunday in the year) and features many fine examples of Harry Clarke stained glass windows.
The Castle is an atmospheric property rich with original features, including the grand mahogany panelled hall with open fireplace, and walls bedecked with heraldry and original oil paintings of the Townshend family.
The Castle has been lovingly restored to provide all the modern comforts expected of a four-star residence whilst honouring the history and heritage of this castle which, even today, remains the family home of the Townshends. Each of the bedrooms are ensuite, many with beautiful sea views and furnished to a very high standard to the style of the castle. Each room is decorated individually with no two rooms the same – some have four poster beds, roll top baths or walk in showers, chaise longues, open fireplaces, terraces and other period features.
Please note that due to the age of the castle and the location of venues we will visit during the retreat, we regret that the retreat is not wheelchair accessible.
Registration Fee
The cost for this Food Writing Retreat is €1800 per person payable in full at the time of booking. This includes all workshop sessions with food writing instruction, 3 nights’ accommodation with breakfast each morning, 3 lunches, 3 dinners (one in a Michelin-starred restaurant), a selection of drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) served with meals, and an excursion.
Not included: Any personal travel costs. If you wish to extend your stay either side of the retreat, please contact The Castle direct to book and arrange payment with them. When booking, let them know you are taking part in the Food Writing Retreat.
How to Pay
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations will be refunded except for a service fee of €150 until 7th August 2026.
If you need to cancel between 8th August and 31st August, you will receive a 50% refund. There will be no refunds from 1st September 2026.
Registration and Payments will all be processed through the dedicated page for our Food Writing Retreat: www.flavour.ie/retreat
If the Food Writing Retreat is cancelled by the organisers, all fees paid will be refunded.
Travel Planning
Please do not make any non-refundable travel arrangements before 8th August when we will be able to confirm the Food Writing Retreat is going ahead.
We would strongly advise you to take out comprehensive Travel Insurance in the event the Food Writing Retreat is cancelled after this date due to unforeseeable circumstances. This will also protect you and your belongings during transit and throughout your stay in Ireland attending the Food Writing Retreat.
For questions, email co-host Kate Ryan at kate@flavour.ie
To recieve updates on my latest Food Adventures, subscribe here.
web design and development by the designer of things