Recipe for Watercress Soup

There are references to watercress in many early Irish manuscripts. It formed part of the diet of hermits and holy men who valued its special properties.

Legend has it that it was watercress that enabled St Brendan to live to the ripe old age of 180. In Birr Castle in Co Offaly, Lord and Lady Rosse still serve soup of watercress gathered from around St Brendan’s well, just below the castle walls.

Serves 6-8