Middle Country Cafe & Craft

My husband and I love going back to Ireland for holidays whenever we can – I was born in England but holidayed there every summer as a child, and hubby lived there from age 10 to 22. On this occasion, I was revisiting County Offaly where I holidayed as a child (staying with relatives in Dunkerrin who sadly passed away some years ago). We were wending our way back to where we were staying in Co Laois when we came across this cafe and craft shop on the main street at Cloughjordan. It made me chuckle as it was full of health conscious, hip and trendy vegetarians and vegans, and my memories of the area were of fry ups and endless cups of tea with 6 spoons of sugar! But the atmosphere was great, the food delicious and I went away with a real joy at the way Ireland seems to be focusing these days on the healthy, natural way of life which is a real antidote to the rampant greed and excess of most countries these days. Friendly too – we were offered a tour of the local eco village. Would sincerely recommend the quiche here. Needless to say, in a small town, parking not a problem.