Goose back on the Christmas table as austerity takes flight

The plump goose is returning to the Christmas table after years of austerity.

Co Kilkenny goose producer Mary Walsh sold her last goose last week and is planning to increase bird numbers next year.

“We’ve never been sold out before as quickly,” she said. “There seems to be a great interest in geese this year.”

Ms Walsh and her husband Tony keep geese, ducks and chickens in Shellumsrath, Co Kilkenny, and supply restaurants such as Chapter One, Thornton's, Campagne and the Hot Stove.

“I think the goose is getting more popular,” she said. “We could have done with another 100 geese this year. We just had 300. There’s definitely a big improvement in the trade. We’re flat out, taking the geese to Dublin every week.”

Mallow goose producer Tony O'Regan has also noticed the increased demand for the bird.

Rising economy

“I think it’s because of the economy picking up. During the days of austerity, people weren’t inclined to spend so much but, in the boom times, people couldn’t get enough of them. Everyone wanted two or three but when the bang came, people were afraid to spend their money.”

He used to produce about 1,500 geese at his Woodbrook farm for the Christmas market but has scaled back to under 200 to concentrate on other work. “I know there is a big hole in the market this year because the butcher we were supplying is out looking for geese and there will be a shortage I think,” he said.

There are just a handful of commercial goose producers in the State, producing about 2,000 geese for the Christmas market. Ms Walsh is an enthusiastic champion of the goose, describing it as a very friendly little animal. “They are a happy bird, really and truly. They are very sociable. When a shower comes, they all look up at the sky. They love the rain,” she said.

“Now they are definitely noisy, as my neighbours tell me. But the neighbours miss them when they are gone because when they hear the geese out in the morning, they know it’s time to get up.”

Curious creatures

The family dog gets even more attached to the geese than the neighbours. “We had an episode about three years ago when the dog, a Labrador, got sick in January. He wouldn’t eat or anything. We took him into the vet and the only thing we could come up with was that he was pining for the geese. He used to lie in the middle of them and he missed them when they were gone.”

She said the geese were “very set in their ways. They come in at the same time every night, one after the other or two abreast. And they have their moods too. They could go off their food very easily if something changes, maybe if a different person feeds them. They get to know the sound of your voice”.

She dry-plucks geese in the old-fashioned way, unlike the modern method involving water. “There’s nothing wrong with wet-plucking but dry-plucking gives goose a more mature taste.”