The menu: Mighty mussels

The Connemara Mussel Festival (May 1-3) picked up one hell of an accolade last year.

Winning the McKennas’ Guides Food Festival of 2014, and this year the little community festival punches once again above its weight with a packed programme including an Amateur Chef Competition for the best mussel recipe; Chef Martin O’Donnell and Sally McKenna on ‘Sea Seaweed and All Things Green’; Renvyle House Hotel Chef Tim O’Sullivan’s ‘Sunday Seafood Secrets’; and chef JP McMahon on ‘Contemporary Irish Cuisine’; along with the usual random grab-bag of entertainment including archaeological trips, dancing and literary events ( www.connemaramusselfestival.com )

There’s also a whole heap of things going on at the Roscommon Lamb Festival (April 29-May 4) including a Brazilian Lamb BBQ and an Irish-Maltese Lamb Dinner ( www.roscommonlambfestival.com ) and if you’ve still got the stamina, the Dublin Bay Prawn Festival (April 23-26) is in full swing this weekend, in Howth, offering all manner of magnificent means of digesting splendid Irish seafood with myriad ancillary entertainment, historical, and cultural options to boot, www.dublinbayprawnfestival.ie