When I was in Ireland Dusty and Michelle LOVED to get ice cream at least once a day, and especially as a breakfast dessert. Let me tell you, I was 10000% supportive of this idea! After cruising around Western Ireland we were definitely ready for some ice cream, so we pulled up Google Maps and found a couple places nearby. For some reason we were drawn to Linnalla, so we got in the car and headed that way.
Located off the beaten path and with picnic tables overlooking the Galway Bay, this ice cream shop in the Burren looked like it was straight out of story book. Apparently, the Burren is an ecosystem and provides a nice walk-through for those who have the time and want to wander for a bit. We didn't know about that, and tired from our adventures all day, we just sat at those picnic tables and gazed at the water while we chatted and ate our ice cream. Speaking of the Burren, this is where Brid and Roger (owners of Linnalla) source many of their ingredients and the milk comes from their own Burren native shorthorn cows.
Linn-ealla means swan lake and is aptly named for the many swans that inhabit the Flaggy Shores near the shop. Here the ice cream has no artificial colors or flavors, gluten, eggs, or preservatives; so its allergy friendly for many. The flavors at Linnalla change with the seasons, as they love to source their ingredients locally, and have a wide range of options available. Besides your standard chocolate, vanilla, cookies and cream, etc, they also use ingredients like blackcurrant, rhubarb, hazelnut, fresh raspberries, and something called sea buckthorne. That latter of which was the flavor I tried. I figured it was something I couldn't get anywhere else and that it would be unique, though I got a scoop of raspberry too...one because its my favorite flavor and I knew that it would be made with the freshest ingredients and two I needed a backup in case the sea buckthorne was too wild for my palette. Turns out I didn't need it for the second reason, but it paired very well with the bright, almost citrus-y flavor of the sea buckthorne scoop. It had a different, yet somehow familiar flavor to it and was just delightful!
Linnalla is located in New Quay, the Burren, Co. Clare and has been churning out ice cream since 2006. The location itself is picturesque, the ice cream was superb, but the service was a bit lacking if I remember correctly. Not overly friendly like we had gotten used to in Ireland, but not rude either. Just sort of lackluster. The ice cream more than made up for that though! There's a reason that they are considered one of the top 10 places to eat in West Ireland, one of the 50 secretes of the Wild Atlantic Way, Irish Times number 21 of 50 ways to go green, and part of the Burren food trail. If you're in West Ireland, definitely give them a visit. During the summer (May-September) you can find them cooling their customers 7 days a week from 11am-7pm and in the winter (October-May) they're open on the weekends from noon-5pm!
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