Food & Wine

The good life: Siobhán Ní Gháirbhith of St Tola cheese on building a sustainable business, and life with 200 goats

The woman behind one of Ireland’s best-known food brands tells Brenda McCormick why she won’t expand for expansion’s sake

Siobhán Ní Gháirbhith of St Tola: “People have said ‘why don’t you move increase your production and set up a bigger premises?’ I’ve always said no.” Picture: Kirsty Lyons

When opportunity comes knocking it's worth taking a leap of faith - even if it involves leaving a safe, pensionable job to go and work with goats. Luckily for Siobhán Ní Gháirbhith and St Tola, an artisan Irish goats cheese, the leap proved to be a very successful one.

It saw Ní Gháirbhith take a much-loved Irish product created by Meg and Derrick Gordon in the 1970s and transform it into one of Ireland’s most ...