Gubbeen Farm: A Family, a Farm, and a Whole Lot of Magic

Editorial note: All information in this article is based on our June 2025 visit, as part of a larger article on Irish Cheese to be later featured in the Winter 2026 issue of Culture: The Word on Cheese Magazine. Please fact-check all details, figures, technical descriptions, and current business information directly with the cheesemaker before sharing or publishing.

In West Cork, Ireland, the Ferguson family has spent generations building something that goes far beyond cheese. We visited Gubbeen Farm to meet the makers, explore their many talents, and discover what happens when an entire farm works together.

More Than Just Cheese

There are cheese producers we love for their cheese. And then there are the producers we visit and leave wondering, What else can these people possibly do?

Gubbeen Farm in West Cork, Ireland, firmly falls into the second category.

For years, we’ve been grateful to feature Gubbeen Cheese in our shop, sourced through our friends at Neal’s Yard Dairy, and it’s even made appearances in our Cheese Club. We knew and loved their washed-rind cheese, with its distinctive character and beautiful rind. But visiting the farm gave us an entirely new appreciation for the people, place, and philosophy behind it.

The Ferguson family has lived at Gubbeen for six generations, farming dairy cows in this corner of West Cork. Tom and Giana Ferguson began making cheese in the 1970s, becoming part of an early wave of Ireland’s artisanal cheesemakers. Today, Gubbeen remains one of the relatively few family farms making cheese with milk from its own herd.

When we arrived, Giana—the original cheesemaker and family matriarch—was sitting at the counter, wrapping and applying labels to wheels of Gubbeen. There was something wonderfully fitting about finding her right there, hands-on with the cheese she helped bring into the world decades ago.

Meanwhile, her son Fingal paused his work in the knife-making workshop to become our unofficial tour guide. His sister Clovisse and other members of the extended family have their own projects and passions, too. As we discovered, at Gubbeen, everyone seems to have a craft, a calling, or another fascinating project underway.

A True Taste of Place

Gubbeen sits near Schull in County Cork, in a landscape shaped by the Atlantic Ocean and Mount Gabriel. Its coastal position brings a relatively mild climate, helping the farm's pastures green up early and giving the cows a longer grazing season.

That connection between land and food is what cheesemongers mean when we talk about terroir: the particular character a place lends to what is produced there.

At Gubbeen, that idea begins with the milk. The family’s herd of approximately 200 Friesian, Jersey, and Kerry cows grazes on the farm, supplying the milk for the cheese. Rather than buying milk from elsewhere, the family works with the milk their own animals produce, season after season.

And that consistency of place doesn't mean the milk itself stays the same. Grass changes. Weather changes. The cows’ feed and milk composition change. All of that influences the cheesemaking process.

As Fingal explained to us:

“Cheesemaking is really simple. Consistency is bloody hard. What we find is the milk changes, the protein, the feed for the cows, the weather…Cheese is a temperamental son of a … so you have to give a damn.”

We couldn't agree more. Cheese may start with a handful of simple ingredients, but turning those ingredients into something delicious, day after day, requires skill, attention, and a healthy respect for the variables nature throws your way.

The Cheese We Know—and the Cheese We Didn't Expect

Gubbeen makes two cheeses: its traditional washed-rind Gubbeen and a gently smoked version, both made with milk from the farm’s own cows. Each comes in three sizes, offering different stages of maturation.

The washed-rind cheese develops its distinctive rind through a carefully managed community of microorganisms. Regular washing helps shape the rind's appearance, aroma, and flavor as the cheese matures. The result is a cheese with real personality—one that reflects both the cheesemaker’s hand and the living process of affinage.

The smoked version is a thoughtful extension of that same cheese, rather than a vehicle for smoke alone. The family gently smokes the wheels on the farm, using a traditional smoking system passed along to Fingal. As the Gubbeen website puts it, the goal is to make a cheese with smoked flavor, not a smoked cheese that loses its cheese flavor.

That distinction says a lot about the care that goes into their work.

But the cheese is only one piece of the picture.

Fingal began making cured meats in the early 1990s, expanding the farm’s offerings into charcuterie and salami. The family raises pigs and processes the meat on the farm, with the smokehouse playing a role in both the meat and cheese operations.

Clovisse tends the garden, growing herbs and seasonal vegetables that feed the family and contribute to their food production. There are free-range chickens, fermented foods, and even a partnership with a baker to create custom, cheese-y oatcakes.

And then there’s the knife-making.

Yes, knife-making!

As we took in the sheer breadth of what this family produces, we found ourselves asking the same question again and again: What else can these magicians do?

The answer seemed to be that, given enough curiosity and commitment, the possibilities are endless.

Everything Comes Back to Gubbeen

What makes all these projects feel connected rather than simply impressive is the way they work together.

Milk from the cows becomes cheese. Pigs become charcuterie. Herbs from the garden become ingredients. Hardwoods are used to smoke the cheese and meats. Skills are passed between family members, and knowledge accumulates through years of practice.

It’s an interconnected way of thinking about food that feels both traditional and remarkably relevant. Instead of treating each product as a separate business, the family has built a network of complementary crafts rooted in the same place.

Fingal summed it up beautifully:

“Everything from Gubbeen goes back into Gubbeen.”

It’s a simple statement, but one that captures a philosophy we deeply appreciate. The farm isn't just a setting for production; it is the foundation of the whole operation. Each enterprise draws from the same landscape, shares in the family’s knowledge, and contributes to what comes next.

For us, visiting producers like Gubbeen is a reminder that the best food stories rarely end with what's on the plate. Behind a wheel of cheese is a whole world of decisions, relationships, skills, and care.

Passing Something Better Forward

Perhaps the most meaningful thing we took away from our visit wasn't a particular cheese or technique, but Fingal’s perspective on the future.

“Our goal is to pass forward something better than we got ourselves. Pass on something better to the next generation.”

That sentiment resonates with us. Building a business around food is about more than making a great product. It’s about caring for the land, developing skills, supporting a family and community, and leaving something worthwhile for the people who come after you.

At Gubbeen, that commitment is visible in the everyday work: Giana wrapping cheese at the counter, Fingal moving between the smokehouse and his workshop, and family members cultivating their own passions while contributing to the larger whole.

There is no single magic trick behind Gubbeen. There is a family that cares deeply about what it does, a place that shapes the food it produces, and generations of knowledge that continue to evolve.

We left West Cork with an even greater appreciation for the Gubbeen Cheese we’ve been lucky enough to share with our customers—and a long list of reasons to admire the people behind it.

Next time you see Gubbeen in our cheese case, know that you’re getting more than a delicious Irish washed-rind cheese. You’re getting a little taste of a family, a farm, and a philosophy built over generations.

And if the Fergusons have another project up their sleeves, we wouldn't be surprised in the least.

Do Good. Eat Good.

— Kendall, Antonelli’s Cheese