The Best Irish Foodie Gifts to Bring Home (Tastes Better Than a Keyring)

I'm Courtney, Founder of Dublin Heritage Tours, and my proudest travel skill is fitting an alarming amount of delicacies into hand luggage. Ireland makes playing packing tetris worth the effort, because what we lack in good weather we make up for in extremely good things to put on bread. While some countries are reknownedfor particular dishes, I call Ireland an ingredients country. Into dairy? Ireland has world-class butter (even the French agree) and a wide variety of cheeses. Staunch carnivore? We've got some of the best beef & lamb you'll ever taste, raised on stretches of green pasture. Pescatarian? Wait until you try our oysters or Dublin Bay prawns. Vegetarian? All of the rain means our island is very lush and fertile, producing the most divine seasonal fruit & veg.

But you don't need a suitcase full of fresh oysters to take a bit of that home (your fellow passengers will thank you). The trick is the cupboard staples: the jars, bars and bags that capture all that flavour and survive the flight. You can grab everything on this list in one short stroll, between my favourite foodie institution, Fallon & Byrne, and the Dunnes (kind of like our version of Target) right across the street. And since every bit of it is non-perishable, you can pack it and forget it, no melting, no leaking, no customs drama.

Here's what I'd pack in my own suitcase - or happily raid from yours!

1. Irish Black Butter

Not butter, despite the name. This is a dark, glossy apple preserve made with Armagh Bramley apples, cider, treacle and spices, and the recipe goes back centuries. It's the sweet-savoury hero of any cheeseboard and makes a brilliant glaze on ham too. One jar and you'll be the most interesting person at the next dinner party you're invited to.

Bring it home for: The friend who thinks they've tasted everything.

2. Achill Island Sea Salt

Hand-harvested off the wild Atlantic coast of Achill Island in County Mayo, this is proper flaky, mineral-rich sea salt. It's the kind of finishing salt that makes a tomato taste like a special occasion. Light to pack, impossible to mess up, and a lovely little reminder of the Irish coast every time someone seasons their chips. It travels beautifully, so buy a couple. I loved the smoked version!

Bring it home for: The person in your life who loves savoury snacks.

3. Highbank Orchard Syrup

Ireland's answer to maple syrup, made by the Calder-Potts family on their fifth-generation organic farm in Cuffesgrange, County Kilkenny. This is a pouring syrup pressed from nothing but their own organic apples, with no pesticides and no shortcuts. It goes on porridge, pancakes, ice cream and roast veg, or into a glaze for ham, and it keeps for over two years so there's no rush to use it up. We don't have maple trees, but we have very stubborn apples and a family who knew what to do with them. If you can make it out to their farm they do wonderful tours & tastings and have a very well stocked shop!

Bring it home for: The brunch enthusiast who takes their pancakes seriously.

4. Skelligs Chocolate

Handmade out at Ballinskelligs in County Kerry, about as far west as you can go before you're swimming. It's properly good chocolate made on the edge of the Atlantic, near the Skellig islands, and if you make it down that way you can actually visit the factory and watch them make it. For the rest of us, a bar in the suitcase is the next best thing. I love their dark chocolate bar with achill island seaweed salt but there are less adventurous flavours, too. It's stocked at Dublin airport, so great for any last-minute panic buys before you board your flight.

Bring it home for: The person who "doesn't really do sweets" and then eats the whole bar.

5. Sheridans Brown Bread Crackers

Sheridans are Ireland's cheesemongers of choice, and these crackers were basically designed to be the supporting act to a great wedge of Irish cheese. They've got that nutty, brown-bread character that goes with everything from a sharp cheddar to a soft, oozy round. Pack a box, pick up some Irish cheese at home, and you've got a gift that assembles itself. Sheridans on South Anne Street is the spiritual home if you can stop by, but they're stocked in good delis and Dunnes supermarkets nationwide.

Bring it home for: The host who always does the best charcuterie boards.

6. Ballymaloe Relish

If Irish cupboards had a flag, it would feature a jar of Ballymaloe. Made in East Cork, this tomato relish goes on cheese toasties, burgers, sausages, eggs and, in moments of weakness, a spoon. It's the taste of every good Irish kitchen and a near-universally beloved gift, because absolutely everyone finds a use for it.

Bring it home for: Literally anyone. This is the safe bet of the list.

7. Taytos

You cannot leave Ireland without a bag of Taytos, our national crisp and arguably our national treasure. Cheese & onion is the one true flavour, Mr Tayto is on the packet looking delighted with himself, and the whole thing tastes like an Irish childhood. Now, a warning: there are two Taytos on this island, yes - we partitioned the crisps too. Northern Ireland has its own version, same name, different bag, and while I'm sure it's perfectly nice, accept no substitutes. You want what we call Free Staytoes.

Bring it home for: Everyone. Especially any Irish person abroad, who will openly weep with gratitude.

Safe travels (and happy hoarding)!

Want to taste your way around the city before you stock up? That's exactly what I do. Come join me on a tour and I'll bring you to all of my favourite spots.

xx Courtney