Vineyard overlooking Lough Derg
There is something particularly enterprising, maybe even audacious, about opening your own vineyard on the hillsides overlooking Lough Derg, but then again, Liam Barry comes across as a particularly enterprising man. The Nenagh native – who grew up in Melrose and owns a house in Garrykennedy but now lives with his wife and two kids in Portmarnock, Co Dublin – has a stunningly in-depth and extensive knowledge of wine and viticulture. He is evidently passionate about the subject, and passionate about this project, which consists of a compact but dense network of vines and passages (with a few apple trees thrown in for good measure) on the slopes above the Portroe-Ballina road (the R494), about 8km from Ballina itself.
The vineyard peers down on the waters of Lough Derg, which actually reflects the rays of the sun and makes the atmospheric conditions that bit warmer and more suitable for growth. It may not be the largest vineyard in Ireland, but it is surely among the most scenic and spectacular. Liam is affable, cultured and very much dedicated to this project. Both he and his wife spent a good chunk of time living in Switzerland, where he worked in financial services. With a young family, the time eventually came when a decision had to be made. His wife was enthusiastic to move to Ireland. He wasn’t so sure. So she came up with a rather novel suggestion. “She wanted to entice me back to Ireland,” Liam explains. “So she said: why don’t you set up a vineyard in Ireland? And I thought, ok, we can give it a try.”
A sparkling variety
They first planted a series of apple trees, with the ambition of brewing cider. That was not successful due to the sheer volume of deer in the area, who apparently have a taste for apples. Vines were next on the agenda. “Originally, we put in different pilot plots, to see what worked and what didn’t,” Liam says. “We didn’t know how successful it would be. We had read an awful lot about English and particularly Welsh wine. And so then we managed to get some Welsh wine and it was really outstanding quality. It was a sparkling variety. Basically, we said we would try to copy them.” Due to the higher acidity level, they too are focusing on sparkling wine, which is generally more revenue-lucrative and also doesn’t require the grapes to be fully ripe.
If you want an indicator of how popular an industry wine and viticulture is in these parts, you need only look at Liam’s page on Instagram. ‘De Barra Vineyards’ (the name is as-Gaeilge, a nod to Liam’s father, a Corkman who was a strong Gael in terms of both the GAA and Irish culture) has amassed around 5,600 followers and Liam regularly posts pictures and short video clips from the vineyard. There is a family element to this venture too. He praises his two kids as being brilliantly efficient workers when they travel down, and also for their environmental focus. “My kids help us here in the vineyard, and they’re quite ecological – they like to see the butterflies and the wildlife. And I like to see it too, to be honest,” he says.
Everybody is benefitting from this project. The vineyard is an obvious draw for any visitors to the area, and Liam has linked with local tourist organisations and initiatives. It is also a hugely productive use of land that might otherwise be left idle, and that is part of the reason why an increasing number of farmers and landowners are exploring the option of setting up vineyards of their own. Liam stresses that he isn’t the only person pursuing such a project around these parts. He says that there are actually a number of small vineyards scattered around North Tipperary.
Going commercial
It is a remarkable project, but it hasn’t been without its challenges. Liam says that grass management is one of the biggest issues in any vineyard, and weather conditions, particularly drought, can wreak havoc. There are also air-borne threats. “Our big challenge is protecting the vines from the birds. We’ve managed the deer, and now we have the birds,” he adds. In terms of actually producing the wine, the dining room of Liam’s house in Garrykennedy has been turned into a miniature winery. Liam says they are becoming more “scientific” in terms of the process of fermenting the wine and blending the different grape varieties. However, because they’re dealing with sparkling wine, caution is required. “With sparkling wine you can have twice the pressure of the tyre in your car,” he says. “Two years ago we had an issue with exploding bottles, and we ended up with wine everywhere.”
They don’t yet have a commercial license, but he predicts that in the next six months, they’ll start going more commercial. Liam thinks they’ll produce somewhere between 500 and 1,000 bottles this year, a significant output. He describes their 2025 vintage as “very encouraging” and sounds optimistic about their prospects for this year. The next time you pop open a bottle of sparkling, it might just be one of Liam’s.