Soft yoghurt cheese — labne

If you would like to learn how to make butter, yoghurt, labne, paneer and lots of simple cheeses, check out the Ballymaloe Cookery School website www.cookingisfun.ie for the next dates.

Like many of our saints, including Patrick, there seems to be considerable confusion about the background facts, nonetheless I’ve always loved St Brigid, who, I understood, was the patron saint of dairy.

Every year, children’s nimble fingers weave green rushes into the little cross while listening to the colourful story of Ireland’s female patron saint, Bridget, who was born in 451 in Faughart, near Dundalk, Co Louth.