Jasmine Hughes
Lúnasa Farm: ‘What really drew me into farming was the community’
First-generation farmers Cass and Nick McCarthy are part of a growing wave of small-scale, organic producers proving that you can work in harmony with natural systems to create local, nutritious food.
Photography: Jasmine Hughes
Words: Megan Burns
Neither Nick nor Cass McCarthy grew up farming, but perhaps approaching an industry with fresh eyes is useful when daring to take a different approach. Nick is from Clare and was originally an engineer. He was working in Australia when he met Cass, who grew up in a suburb of Sydney, but had become interested in agriculture through the lens of nutrition and was working on an organic community farm in Byron Bay.
“Cass changed my paradigm with the idea that there’s potential to make a living out of farming in a way that’s good for the planet and good for the consumer,” Nick says. He spent the next few years gaining farming experience that alongside Cass’s has shaped what they’ve called Lúnasa Farm in Co Clare.
The farm is run organically, with regenerative agriculture and ethically raised livestock practices. Outdoor pigs are allowed to forage, and cattle have a holistic grazing plan, but the couple have taken the extra step to also butcher their own animals, selling them in their butcher’s shop in Clarecastle as well as shipping them nationwide. “I never set out to be a butcher,” Nick explains, “but back in Byron Bay I wanted to get farm skills and experience, and I was asked if I wanted to come and help out in the butchery. I never looked back.”
Having control over everything from rearing the animals to cutting and selling the meat – the only processes they outsource are killing the animals, and the making of their charcuterie – not only gives Cass and Nick a better margin on their produce, but also has the unexpected benefit of connecting them with their local community.
Opening the doors of their butcher’s on a Saturday, “We both feed off the energy of interacting with customers, people are just so excited about what we’re doing and the flavour of the produce,” Nick says. “I’ve cried because people are so nice,” Cass agrees.
The couple are passionate about using up every part of each animal. They make beef tallow, bone broth, suet, and a whole range of preservative-free sausages and meatballs. But this approach has also meant the need to educate their customers, Cass explains. “Because we are a whole animal butchery, we sell all of the unusual cuts. But I’m constantly surprised by how many people are coming in looking for the liver, the bone broth or the soup bones. We talk to people every Saturday about what to do with different cuts.”
A surprise hit has been their mince that’s made with 20 per cent organ meat, adding extra nutrients with very little difference in taste, while they’ve eventually brought the locals around to beef sausages, although it wasn’t an easy journey. “In Australia, beef sausages are really common,” Cass laughs, “but we had a lot of questions about them at the start. Our beef sausages have now won gold at the Blas na hÉireann awards two years in a row. We didn’t enter them to get into major supermarkets, we just wanted to show people that you don’t need a pork sausage!”
Farming of any kind is always challenging, and the couple readily admit that there are constant hurdles. But they have been heartened by the willingness of other regenerative and organic farmers to offer advice and help. “One of the things that really drew me into farming all those years ago was the community,” Cass says. “Everyone wants to see everyone else succeed. You all share this crazy passion, and a bigger purpose – we all understand how important local food systems are, in terms of resilient communities and more nutritious food. We’ve really been greeted with nothing but open arms.”
Lúnasa Farm might already be impressive in their efforts to produce meat with as little impact as possible, but they have plans to go even further. A course in Korean Natural Farming has led to using natural sprays and inoculants to increase the fungal ratio in the soil, while Cass is excited to get a beehive in the summer. The couple are also planning to share their vast knowledge through a series of workshops, from butchery to cooking with more unusual cuts of meat.
They may be the first farmers in their families, but they’ve already created a legacy that anyone would be happy to pass down. Kids Finn, 5, and Isla, 2, are already in amongst everything. “It’s been lovely having the kids in amongst the animals,” Nick says. “It’s very important to us that they see where their food comes from, they’re under no illusions. I brought Finn to check the cattle recently, and he was delighted that one of them started licking his boots. He asked, ‘When are we going to kill that one? Not, for another few months? Oh, that’s good.’ It’s just the reality of it all.”
Food to feel good about
Cass and Nick have taken advice from and connected with other regenerative farms .
This micro-dairy outside Cloughjordan is certified organic, and they also keep holistically raised and rotationally grazed poultry and pigs for meat. Head to their farm shop, their stall at Limerick Milk Market, or check their website for other stockists.
This mixed regenerative farm produce vegetables, lamb and beef that is holistically grazed, and eggs from pasture raised hens. You can find their products at their farm shop in Lackamore, at farmer’s markets in Ennis and Ennistymon, or buy online.
Producing high-quality eggs and vegetables while improving soil health and creating a resilient ecosystem, visit their farm shop in Craughwell, or buy their eggs in shops across Galway and Mayo.
Dairy farmer Thomas Stack took over his family farm and transitioned to organic farming, then to the Korean Natural Farming method, using microorganisms to create fertile soil that produces a high output without the use of synthetic fertiliser, herbicides or pesticides, and now teaches others how to do the same.
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of IMAGE.
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