The Story of Boyne Valley Cheese

Michael and Jenny Finegan established Boyne Valley Farmhouse Cheese in 2010 on the family farm in Co. Meath. Michael is a 3^rd generation farmer in partnership with his father. They farm cattle, tillage and dairy goats outside Slane in the heart of the Boyne Valley. After setting up the dairy goat business in 2008 to supply Glenisk with milk they quickly decided they wanted to produce their own product too. Milking 250 goats meant they had plenty of milk that could be used for something. This is when the idea of making cheese was born.

Since 2010 the cheese business has gone from strength to strength. The first product made was Boyne Valley Blue, a semi-hard blue goats cheese. This was the only blue goats cheese being made in Ireland so it was able to fill a gap in the market. Boyne Valley Blue has many awards in Ireland and the UK. In The British Cheese Awards, International Cheese Awards and the Artisan Cheese Awards in Melton Mowbray.

In 2016 a 200 year old stone building on the farm was converted in to a cheesemaking facility. This allowed the business to grow and expand. More cheese could now be made more efficiently. So in 2017 a new cheese product was developed. Boyne Valley Bán is a white goats cheese similar in style to the French Tomme cheese. There are very few cheesemakers producing goat tome cheese on a commercial scale in Ireland. So again a perfect fit for the market. In 2018 Boyne Valley Bán won gold and ‘Best Irish Cheese’ in the British Cheese Awards, received 3 stars and was nominated for a ‘Golden Fork’ award in the Great Taste Awards,  In a relatively short space of time Boyne Valley Bán has grown and now outstripped Boyne Valley Blue in sales.