I VISITED THE WORLD'S LARGEST BUTTER MUSEUM—HERE'S WHAT I LEARNED

Recently, I traveled to Ireland to learn about butter, one of the country’s most celebrated dairy products. When planning this trip, I knew I had to visit the Butter Museum in County Cork—because, obviously! Housed in the former Butter Exchange, which dates back to the mid-eighteenth century and facilitated the world's butter trade for over 150 years, the museum tells the story of "Ireland, Cork, and the Butter Trade." From ancient butter traditions to the modern way we consume butter today, let’s just say, Ireland has a rich history with butter.

Irish butter has gained notoriety thanks to internationally recognized brands like Kerrygold. I can attest that, after I tried Irish salted butter for the first time, my life was forever changed. Okay, that’s a little dramatic, but I grew up in a household where we typically had cold, unsalted American stick butter on the table during meals—not ideal for spreading on bread!

While many professional cooks advise against salted butter in cooking and baking—because you can't control the amount of salt that will go in the recipe—Darina Allen, the co-founder of Ireland’s Ballymaloe Cookery School and a renowned cookbook author, calls for Irish salted butter in most bread and baking recipes. In The New Ballymaloe Bread Book, she writes, "We are fortunate in Ireland to have beautiful butter."

When cookbook author Jessie Sheehan uses Irish butter stateside, she tells me that she’s drawn to its "beautiful yellow hue and creaminess." Sheehan also loves that it is "spreadable on toast and rich in flavor."

There’s a reason why Irish butter is beloved across the globe, and I learned all about it at the Butter Museum. Here are my top takeaways.

Happy Cows Mean Delicious Butter

When you think of Irish butter, green pastures and happy cows might come to mind. I can confirm that this image seems to be true in real life. I drove across the country from east to west, and all I saw were contented-looking cows and the greenest grass imaginable. Even as Ireland remains one of the world's biggest butter exporters, the demand for Irish butter does not appear to compromise the integrity of production.

"Well cared-for cows with a vibrant, grass-driven diet make the best milk for butter and cheese," Lauren Toth, Director of Curriculum & Talent Development at Murray’s Cheese, explains. She notes that this milk is "rich in the fats that get churned into solid butter and has more flavor."

At the Butter Museum, I learned that all dairy cows are grass-fed in Ireland. Irish butter, similar to other European-style butters with a higher fat ratio, tends to be more flavorful and creamy. "Cows eating fresh grass will produce milk that takes on the flavor of the grass and is golden in color thanks to all the beta carotene they are consuming," Toth says. "You can often see this coloring in butter from grass-fed cows."

This is where the golden hue of Irish butter comes from. When baking, Sheehan prefers butter with a high butterfat ratio. "Fat carries flavor, and I always like to add extracts or citrus to my butter when I bake, as the flavor I’ve added really pops when creamed together with the butter," she shares. Bottom line: Ireland’s centuries-old tradition of great-tasting butter starts with healthy, grass-fed cows.

Irish Butter Has Strong Roots

In Ireland, many families have a connection to agriculture. According to the experts at the Butter Museum, historians trace milk, cows, and dairy products back to ancient Ireland. For millennia, Irish dairy has been a valuable commodity. "Dairy cows had a very special significance for the ancient Irish," a placard about the history of Irish cattle informed me. "An individual's wealth was measured by the number of cows he owned."

Essentially, butter is a cottage industry turned global enterprise that is still rooted in producing top-quality butter. The Butter Museum features a robust collection of artifacts such as metal skimming pans, large wooden butter spatulas, and antique butter crocks from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, showcasing butter-making innovations for household and commercial use. Perhaps the most common household butter tool is the wooden butter churn, a unique tool that agitates the cream enough to turn it into solid butter.

One of my favorite exhibitions at the Butter Museum was their "Wrapper Collection" from the mid-twentieth century. Each label was uniquely decorated and indicated the origin of the butter. A spokesperson for Taste Cork, which organizes and promotes food and drink experiences in County Cork, shares that during the peak years of the butter exchange, there were butter trade routes in Kerry and Cork Counties called the "Butter Roads," which all led to the port city of Cork. I would like to live on a Butter Road!

The Irish Dairy Board Worked To Expand Butter’s Global Reach

Irish butter production and exportation are nationwide success stories. The renowned Irish chef, Rory O’Connell, says, "In Ireland, butter is our olive oil." This is a fair comparison to the importance of olive farming in Italy or Spain. At the Butter Museum, I also learned that in the 1960s, the Irish Dairy Board, a government committee, established the brand Kerrygold in order to better position Irish butter and milk in the global dairy market. Ireland remains a leading global butter exporter while supporting multi-generational family farms. There’s also a big market for butter byproducts, which have become as valuable as the butter itself, as demand grows for the excess whey to make powdered protein and baby formula.

A cherished ingredient for bakers and cooks alike, Irish butter is not only delicious for baking or spreading on toast, but also an agricultural product with a rich history. Its global success goes back to grass-fed cows, making the butter perfect for spreading on freshly made bread or incorporating into your favorite cookies or cakes.

2025-06-04T21:23:46Z