The Mustard Seed, Limerick: what organised chaos on a plate tastes like
Ballingarry, Co Limerick
★ 7/10
We covered Limerick this time last year at the Palladian pile that is Plassey House, where a fine-dining restaurant called the East Room comes housed in an Italianate mansion on the University of Limerick campus, led by Derek Fitzpatrick. Exactly 365 days later we find ourselves back in Limerick in another of the county's institutions: Echo Lodge in Ballingarry.
When you tell people you're going 'down to Adare to cover a hotel restaurant' they immediately assume Adare Manor, and funnily enough we find ourselves in the area a few days after the 'Ally & Sean wedding' went viral on TikTok. For those who weren't glued to the antics, an American couple privately hired the manor (and, by all accounts, the entire town of Adare) with the most lavish, 'money is no object' wedding imaginable.
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The Independent
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EXCLUSIVE Revealed: The idyllic farmhouse where Ed Sheeran holidayed with his grandparents to cement his Irish roots
This is the farmhouse home of Ed Sheeran 's grandparents in the Republic of Ireland where he spent idyllic childhood holidays. The superstar's regular visits to the secluded house, overlooking fields and pastures, are thought to have helped cement his love of the Irish countryside and culture. Treasured pictures from his late grandparents' family album have revealed images of a young Sheeran playing in their garden with his big brother, wielding a toy sword and showing off his painting skills. The singer faced a backlash earlier this month when he revealed on the Louise Theroux Podcast that he 'identifies culturally' as Irish, even though he was born and raised in the UK. Some fans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to accuse him of 'pretending' to be Irish, while one asked: 'Why can't he just identify as himself?' But Sheeran's stance was defended by his uncle Bill Sheeran who exclusively told MailOnline that the singer was 'not faking it' when claiming he felt Irish in some respects. The singer also responded with a statement on Instagram, saying: 'For anyone with an opinion after what I said about my heritage on the dad is Irish. 'My family is Irish. I have an Irish passport. The culture I was brought up around was Irish. Just because I was born somewhere else doesn't change my culture. I can be allowed to feel connection to a place half of my family is from.' Sheeran's grandmother on his father John's side was born Nancy Mulligan, a Catholic from the Republic of Ireland, while his grandfather William was a Protestant from Northern Ireland. His song Nancy Mulligan recorded in 2017 told the story about how his grandparents fell in love and married across the religious divide, despite family objections. Sheeran's grandmother whose real name was Anne was born in the rambling 18th century farmhouse near Gorey, County Wexford, where the singer would later spend his summer holidays. She left home during World War Two to train as a nurse in London where she met dental student William, known as Bill. The couple married and went on to have five girls and three boys before returning in 1983 to the 18th century farmhouse in Ireland where Nancy grew up. Sheeran, 34, who was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and famously raised in Suffolk where he still lives, has often recalled how he spent summer holidays at the Irish house of his beloved grandparents. His grandfather William died in 2013, while his grandmother passed away in April, 2023, at the age of 98. The couple who were considered pillars of the local community had 23 grandchildren. Sheeran's uncle Bill now lives in the house which is at the end of a long drive lined by a stone wall, and surrounded by mature trees, making it almost invisible to passers-by. The house which includes a range of old farm buildings is incredibly peaceful with the only sounds in the garden being birdsong. Pictures of Sheeran visiting as a child featured in a family album which Nancy proudly revealed when she was interviewed by Irish public broadcaster RTE in March 2017. The photographs showed Ed as a baby sitting with his big brother and grandfather, and as a young boy with a shock of ginger hair and outsize glasses, playing with a toy sword in a makeshift den and showing off a criss-cross pattern painting. Other pictures which appear to have been taken at the Wexford house showed an older Sheeran enjoying a family meal, having tea with his grandparents at an outside table, and cuddling a pet cat. Sheeran's then 92-year-old grandmother opened up about his links to Ireland in her interview with RTE News which included her reaction as she was played his Nancy Mulligan song for the first time. Talking about his visits to her home, she said: 'He was lovely as a kid. He came every year on holidays. I always loved seeing any of my children, grandchildren or great grandchildren. 'I shall never think of him as being famous, I have to say. He's exactly the same as he always is when he visits. 'And it's very rare because he's always working and when you think he was working from the age of 14, you'd have to feel sorry for him, you know he's so tired, but he loved it.' The singer's uncle Bill who was Nancy's carer in her later years, told MailOnline: 'All I will say is that he definitely does identify with his Irish family and there's no faking about that at all. 'Also , he has got very close contacts within the music industry with people like Johnny McDaid and Foy Vance from Northern Ireland. 'The thing is that everything he says and has said is true. He is not messing around. They did come over here on their holidays all of the time. 'He was very close to his grandparents, very close. I will give you that much. He is not faking it. 'I know he doesn't spend all his time here when he's not touring. Locals are always saying, 'When's Ed coming over? But he hasn't got the time. He is a very busy guy. He comes over here occasionally, but he is all over the place. 'Sometimes he will be over in Ireland, and do an RTE interview and then he is out again.' He added: 'Edward is a real natural I remember when he was a kid, his ability with the guitar was quite striking.' Bill also pointed to Sheeran's links to Irish musician Gary Dunne who played at Ed's 15th birthday and taught him to use the loop pedal so he could play alone on stage He added that Sheeran had also been inspired by the legendary Irish singer Damien Rice. Pointing to the house, Bill who is a music lover and a big fan of his nephew, added: 'You can see it is a beautiful place'. But he said he doubted whether there was any truth to local rumours that Oliver Cromwell had once stayed on the farm with his horses before the current house was built. Bill said: 'Every family has its mythology. I'm not saying it isn't true. It is definitely true that Cromwell and his troops were around this part of the country. 'But it's a bit like, when I grew up in England and every family had a drummer boy at the Charge of the Light Brigade, or something like that.' Describing his mother, he said: 'She was actually a really great person. I know she is my Mum, so I would say that, but by any standards she was a gas.' Opening up on his heritage on the latest episode of The Louis Theroux Podcast, Sheeran explained: 'I class my culture as Irish. I think that's what I grew up with. 'My dad's family is ... he's got seven brothers and sisters. We'd spend all of our holidays in Ireland. 'My first musical experiences were in Ireland, I grew up with trad music in the house. So I identify culturally as Irish, but I was obviously born and raised in Britain.' Sheeran whose mother is British went on to say that he was 'really proud' of his Irish cultural roots, and that he didn't feel that he had to 'just be British', as it was down to 'how you feel'. He said: 'I don't overthink it but I do feel like my culture is something that I'm really proud of and grew up with and want to express. 'And I feel like just because I was born in Britain doesn't necessarily mean that I have to just be [British], there's loads of people I know that are half this or quarter this. 'I don't think there's any rules to it. It should be how you feel and how you were raised and what you lean into.' When asked whether he gets 'a lot of love' in Ireland, the chart-topping star also praised the country as being 'my second home'. He said: 'I'd say it's basically my second home, musically. I'd say Ireland is the place that I am most successful musically.' His comments led to criticism from some social media users with one saying: 'Identifies just means to pretend'. Another added: 'Does Ed Sheeran hold eligibility to start for the Irish national football team?', and a third said: 'They can have him'. One more commented: 'It's not where you're born. It's your bloodline that determines what you are. Cliff Richard was born in India. Is he Indian? You can be born anywhere in the World. That doesn't automatically make you part of that culture.' Others said: 'Whilst he's of the Irish diaspora, he's English', and 'That Galway Girl must've spun his head around.' Further comments stated: 'Ed Sheeran tour posters for the top of the bonfire' and 'Grand so. Tell him he's now eligible to join the Gardai.' Another uncharitably said: 'His song Galway girl has to be up there with the worst songs of all rubbish with all the usual Irish cliché only thing he missed in the lyrics was shouting 'up the ra'..seems a nice lad but terrible music.' But others understood Sheeran's point of view as they argued: 'Well his da is Irish so he's perfectly entitled to' and saying: 'You can be born and raised for some time anyway in England and still identify culturally as Irish. It's not unprecedented.' One other supporter said: 'He has roots. Nothing wrong with identifying with your heritage. He looks like us too.' Sheeran was unable to attend his grandmother's funeral, held in a church at Monaseed, County Wexford, as he was at a copyright trial in New York. His father John told mourners that the singer was 'upset' about not being there, but had to be at the trial to defend his 'integrity'. Sheeran later went on to win his court battle. Speaking at the service, Sheeran's father described the 'Romeo and Juliet' love story of his parents which was referenced in his son's Nancy Mulligan folk song John said: 'Mum met Dad, a dental student, at a Guy's nurses' home party. Friendship turned into love, but the Northern Ireland Presbyterian side of dad's family did their utmost to end the relationship. 'Their wedding was attended by only one family member – mum's twin sister Peggy. 'They lived above that dental surgery in South London with a growing family. Eventually five boys and three girls. Mum joked to us that she had originally wanted 11 children so she could feel the football or cricket team.' Sheeran has often reflected on his Nancy Mulligan song being about his grandparents being shunned for marrying outside their religions. The song tells how Sheeran's grandfather used gold teeth from his dental surgery to make a wedding ring for his bride, despite her father trying to prevent the marriage. Sheeran once said: 'They got engaged and no one turned up at their wedding. He stole all the gold teeth in his dental surgery and melted them down into a wedding ring, and they wore borrowed clothes to get married.
