Darina Allen: Go retro with my Ballymaloe cheese fondue — plus a tasty Cashel Blue salad

To honour the memory of Saint Brigid, I thought it would be appropriate to feature recipes using ingredients from some of the many Irish women food producers

Myrtle Allen devised this Cheese Fondue recipe made from Irish Cheddar cheese. A huge favourite at Ballymaloe.

Lá Fhéile Bríde is one of my favourite days of the year, a quintessentially Irish celebration. It marks the beginning of spring, the season of hope when nature wakes up and begins to leap back into life and seed-sowing begins.

This year, there is even more reason to celebrate, because Ireland has declared a national holiday to honour our beloved female patron saint. At last St Brigid has been elevated to her rightful place and has equal billing alongside Saint Patrick. Saint Brigid‘s Day on February 1 also coincides with the start of the Celtic festival of Imbolc, one of the four major fire festivals of the year.