Apple growing is now James’s core business

There is a sign for Kilumney on the N22 from Cork to Killarney, just before Ballincollig.

At the brow of the hill, there is a T junction. No signpost, but instinct tells me to go left. A man standing at a funeral outside Ovens church confirms I’m on the right road.

I drive into an empty farmyard at Mealagulla Orchards, Knockane. The yard is full of old cattle sheds with curved, corrugated steel roofs, beautifully kept and built around the farmhouse.