GAA legend Seán Óg O hAilpín is double jobbing as a barista and serving coffee in the Kinsale and Innishannon areas.
The former inter county player’s wife Siobhan Quirke launched her new food truck business just before Christmas called The Quirkey Kitchen, and says hubbie Seán will be helping her out at weekends.
The food truck venture has been a long held dream of hers after a successful career both here and in the UK in the food and finance sectors.
She admits working in finance wasn’t an obvious match to her creative personality, but says that as a business owner she now feels the benefits.
‘Although this is where my husband comes in, he works full-time in the financial sector and
is great at reeling me in when it comes to finances.’
Siobhan serves locally-sourced West Cork Coffee from Innishannon and local homemade sweet treats from her unique van, which is currently based in Innishannon.
That’s where she grew up and it’s where she got her love of food and cooking.
‘I gained my baking and cooking prowess, really by osmosis in my granny’s kitchen on Farnahoe Farm in Innishannon. As a little girl, I would spend hours watching my mum and granny creating the most delicious cakes, breads and culinary delights.
‘Everything they made was packed full of local and natural ingredients, be it apples from the farm orchard, eggs from the hen coop in the backyard or butter from their herd of Friesians. I think this is where I learned of the importance of the provenance of local ingredients when producing exceptional food.’
For now the truck will be going between Kinsale and Innishannon but, Siobhan says they hope to establish a regular long-term spot. ‘This will depend on customer feedback, so feel free to suggest locations by emailing me @thequirkeykitchen and we will try to oblige,’ she said.
