The Perishable Picnic

A celebration of the history of fruit growing in North County Dublin.

“They’d plant you if they thought you’d grow.” – A Rush saying

The Perishable Picnic, celebrating the history of fruit growing in North County Dublin, was the outcome of a research residency in Lynders’ Mobile Home Park, Portrane, County Dublin, as part of Fingal Arts Office’s Resort Residency programme. Roger Lamb of Lamb’s Fruit, Ray McLoughlin, Gerry Clabby, Heritage Officer for Fingal and Deirdre discussed the impact of Quaker Farming practices, ethics and investment in the area through an industry that once played an important role in the local economy and community. The discussion was accompanied by a screening of archival film footage from the Lamb Family collection and a reading by local author Peig McManus on her experience of strawberry picking in the area as a child.

Food was devised with local chef Wayne Hand using locally sourced ingredients. A giant ceramic, strawberry jam pot commissioned by O’Mahony and made by Glasgow-based artist Garnet McCulloch was the centrepiece of the feast.

Participants: Roger Lamb (Lamb’s Fruit), Ray McLoughlin, Gerry Clabby (Fingal Heritage Officer), Peig McManus, Wayne Hand, Garnet McCulloch

Funded by the Fingal Arts Office Resort Residency programme.