Please click to view testimonials form Top Chefs, Food Writers and, of course, Our Customers:
What Top Chefs Think
After visiting Achill Island just before opening Aimsir restaurant we knew we had to use their mountain lambs and sheep. The way they are raised in a truly free-to-roam manner, which allows them to have a unique diet of seaweed and heather is what gives them their superb flavour.
“You just know when eating the meat that the animals have had the best life being able grazing up the mountains and down to the beaches. For me, they have the perfect balance of fat, lean meat, tenderness and flavour. This is what puts them ahead of the rest, in my opinion.
Jordan Bailey, Aimsir, Kildare
I like the flavours, the rugged landscape, the shepherding, the Calvey family’s dedication to their heritage and the taste with a hint of sea saltiness to the fat. The smell of it cooking reminds me of my childhood.
Jim Mulholland, Chef/Proprietor, No 14, Comber, Co. Down
Achill Mountain Lamb is a fantastic sustainable local product with a great flavour that comes from the heathers and wild plants of Achill Island.
Barry Ralph, Chef/Owner, House of Plates, Castlebar
We use the rump in our restaurant. We marinade it for 24 hours in Jane Harnett’s rapeseed oil and garlic and thyme. Then we roast it in the oven. The flavour of Achill Mountain Lamb is unlike anything else you can get out there. It’s that salt in the air and the freedom they have to graze. There’s an all-round depth of flavour and a lovely richness from the fat.
Frankie Mallon, Head Chef/Proprietor, An Port Mor, Westport, Co Mayo
The most important thing about Achill Mountain Lamb for me is the husbandry. The Calvey family take such good care of their animals. There’s a real pride in what they do and the result is a superior product. The meat comes in to us in immaculate condition. We’re primarily a seafood restaurant but the fact that the lambs graze on the beach and munch on samphire means that there’s a real salty flavour almost like Welsh saltmarsh lamb. I could talk all day about how
good it is.
Niall Sabongi, Rock Lobster@ Harvey Nick’s
I like this service because we can buy the whole carcass of the lamb. I change the menu every day in summer and twice a week in winter. This gives me the freedom to use every part of the animal and make sure the menu is fresh and exciting. I love pairing the lamb with local produce and the stuff we grow on the estate like our chocolate mint herb.
Philippe Farineau, Executive Head Chef Ashford Castle
What Food Writers Think
It would be hard to think of a product with a stronger local voice than Calvey’s Achill Mountain Lamb. The unique flavour and texture is traced to the natural diet and rugged terrain of the sea-misted island habitat is the reason for the unique flavour and texture of the black faced Mayo sheep, passed down in Calvey’s case through seven generations. Since the 1960s lambs have been processed in Calvey’s Abattoir and Butchers at Keel and marketed as Achill Mountain Lamb. A real taste of Achill.
Georgina Campbell, Ireland Guides
Heather-sweet, seaside-salty lamb slicing onto plates in tender, pink slices.
Joe McNamee, The Irish Examiner
Whilst the location might be picturesque, it’s the terroir that matters.
Marie-Claire Digby, The Irish Times
The taste of Irish lamb is something quite unique and we have plenty of inspiring farmers producing the highest-quality meat, including Achill Mountain Lamb.
Donal Skehan, Irish Independent Weekender Magazine
Achill Mountain Lamb is bred, reared and butchered on the Calvey family farm off the west coast of Ireland.
Food and Wine Magazine
What Our Customers Think
My dad got it in work, and four other staff members started buying it. That’s how I got to know about it. The value for money and taste are both incredible. As a company, the Calvey family are so easy to deal with. They even threw some lamb and rosemary sausages in for repeat custom.
Hugh Magee, Kildare/Wicklow border
We just had some today actually. It’s such tender, flavoursome meat. We get it about every six weeks and really look forward to it.
Lilian McCabe, Dublin
It’s the most magnificent service I have ever had. Anyone I know who has ever tried it has loved it. It tastes amazing and it’s superb value.
Alan Lawless, Killarney, Co. Kerry
We buy the whole carcass and we are always delighted with it. The different cuts are labelled so you know how to cook them. My husband always comments on how different it tastes to any other lamb. I tell him that’s the sea-sprayed heather they eat.
Pat Burke, Dublin
