Behind the scenes at Bastion, Kinsale’s Michelin star attraction

Joe McNamee visits Paul McDonald and Helen Noonan at Bastion, as they enjoy their first Christmas with a Michelin star

When Ballymaloe House first earned a Michelin star back in the 1970s, Myrtle Allen years later recalled it merely meriting a mention on page seven of the Irish Times; in 2019, the latest Irish haul of 18 stars was splashed all over the front pages of the newspapers and dominated news bulletins on radio and TV while social media did what social media does best and entirely lost the run of itself, running naked through town with its head on fire.