Misunderstood Heron opens up new food venture in West Mayo

There is something quietly magical about the setting at Campbells at the Reek on a spring morning. Pilgrims pick their way up the grey slopes of Croagh Patrick in the distance, lambs baa and frolic in the neighbouring field, and The Misunderstood Heron has a new home.

For those who made the pilgrimage — of a different kind — to its original home beside the Killary Fjord, the sight of that steel container will carry a certain warmth. It is, as co-owner Kim Young confirms, the very same one. “It's the original, and it's a fully functional kitchen. It's all custom made — we designed it and had friends build it, and have used it since the second half of 2019.”

Now it sits in Murrisk, nestled behind Campbells pub and is a great addition to the food offering for pilgrims and adventurers alike, alongside the established Acushla Foods in the Croagh Patrick carpark. 

Kim Young and her partner Reinaldo Seco are the couple behind the venture, and their philosophy is as rooted in this landscape as the mountain looming behind them. Local food is at the core of everything on the menu.

“We try to get every element of the dish as local as possible,” Kim told The Mayo News. Native Irish clams from Clew Bay arrive in a chicken stock with homemade pork belly lardons and salsa verde. Killary mussels — a nod, perhaps, to where this whole journey began — come in the house dried chilli and onion preparation that has already earned its reputation. “Everybody always loves them,” Kim says, with the quiet confidence of someone who knows their food.

 Croagh Patrick Seafood's Padraic Gannon delivering fresh oysters, mussels and clams for the opening day.

Their pork comes from Andarl Farm out in Castlebar. All the cakes are homemade. And come May, the seasonal vegetable supply will ramp up, courtesy of Angus and his farm down in Inverin, in Connemara, who provides much of their Irish-grown produce. “It's a bit of a food gap at the moment until around May,” Kim acknowledges, “but that's when his stock really comes on.”

The menu itself will shift every month or two, breathing with the seasons and responding to what local growers have to offer — a living document rather than a laminated fixture.

First customers

Michelle Hughes from Westport was the first through, arriving on her bike. She told The Mayo News that the food is great, and she loves the pasties.

Breda Cummins, visiting the area with her family, had stumbled upon the news the previous evening while in Campbells pub. Someone had mentioned a new food truck was opening in the morning, and the name that followed stopped her in her tracks.

“Somebody said, 'God, it's hardly the Misunderstood Heron?' — and they said yes.”

Cummins had been a regular at the original Killary location and needed no further persuasion to return the following morning.

Local man Rupert Fabby also happened upon the opening “completely by chance” and grabbed a coffee with his daughter.

Kim Young, co-owner of The Misunderstood Heron

For Kim and Reinaldo, the move to a relaxed café-style format is a conscious and considered one. They dipped their toes into a more formal restaurant setting at P. Dans last year — successfully, by most measures — but it didn't sit right with the life they wanted to live as they have two young children at home.

“That was good for us, but it's just not really where our heart lies.”

This — the hatch, the container, the mountain view, the passing pilgrims — this is where their heart lies.

Richie McGreal, proprietor of Campbells, is delighted to have them. He told The Mayo News that having Kim and Reinaldo on board would be a huge addition to Murrisk, to Westport, and to Mayo in general.

It is hard to argue with that. With the Reek as a backdrop and clams from Clew Bay on the menu, the Misunderstood Heron has found, at last, exactly the right place to land.