‘We spotted a gap in the market..and went for it’: Cork siblings making ice-cream on their home farm

Dream of ice cream, dream of seaside days and picnics in the park, backyard barbecues or summer shows. But dairy farms and farmers?

Probably not, yet without them, we wouldn’t have the fresh, cream-rich milk needed for making the most iconic summertime treat of all.

Once, milking alone was enough to sustain a family dairy farm, enabling families to stay together farming on their land. Today, this is the exception rather than the norm.

However, the fourth generation of the Ryan family, based on their dairy farm in Ballinascarthy, has found a way by diversifying into farmhouse ice cream inspired by their own cream-rich milk.

Ryan’s Farm Ice Cream is the brainchild and passion project of brother and sister, Aidan and Megan Ryan.

It was Aidan who first recognised the potential for a farm-to-tub farm fresh ice cream. Megan, qualified in nutritional health, was quick to join him in creating an ice cream brand founded on principles of all-natural ingredients, own farm milk, small batch, artisanal, and collaboration with other small on-farm businesses around West Cork.

I spoke with Aidan to learn more about the story behind their venture and their vision for creating the ice cream.

“My brother, Eamonn, is the fourth generation on the farm,” says Aidan. “We are farming 180 acres between our own farm and rented ground; around 20 acres of this I rent myself to keep a few beef calves from the dairy herd. The rest is used for the main dairy enterprise on the home farm where we milk 130 crossbred cows on two Lely robots which enables us to calf year round.

“Dad was farming up to about ten years ago. Originally, the herd was all pedigree Holstein, but we were having issues with fertility and milk solids in the herd.”

For anyone wondering what milk solids has got to do with anything, they are essential for ensuring the best possible price for milk. When solids go down, so does farm income.

“When my brother took over after my dad retired about ten years ago, he crossed most of the herd,” says Aidan. “Now we have Jersey-crosses, which has improved milk solids and fertility.

“Myself and Meg always had an interest in utilising the milk from our family farm. Meg did nutritional health science in college, and I always loved farming and the idea of further processing the raw milk into a finished product. Fast forward a couple of years ago, we spotted a gap in the market for ice cream and went for it.”

The siblings juggle their ice cream business with off-farm employment working at the same local pharmaceutical company, so it took a few years to begin selling their ice cream in summer, 2025.

“If it wasn’t for the help and support of our family and friends, we probably would never have got going,” says Aidan. “Even my two little nephews show an interest in the business – mostly ice cream tasting really, but nevertheless it’s great to have the family business working in association with the family farm.”

Long-term farming was never on the cards for Aidan, with his brother, Eamonn, destined to take over from their father.

“With farming being so volatile, there wasn’t room for two of us,” says Aidan. “At that time, milk quotas were being abolished, and farmers were advised to get big or get out. Even back then, I could see that going big wouldn’t actually mean a profit increase at the farmgate.

“I started dreaming about the idea of taking the raw milk produced on the farm and adding value by further processing it. I didn’t know if we wanted to bottle milk or make cheese, yogurt or ice cream. We didn’t have the know-how, finance or anything else, but that’s where it started.”

For Aidan, farming is in his blood and very much a part of who he is, but as a young adult, he struggled with his mental health, and farming often felt like his only place of sanctuary.

“I dropped out of school when I was around 15 due to crippling mental health issues. I suffered very badly with depression and anxiety; a lot of days I couldn’t really get out of bed. I’m also dyslexic, so for the most part, school felt like prison. Because of that, I pretty much gave up everything I loved like hurling and football.

“Back then, mental health wasn’t really talked about, which made it ten times worse, and I felt very outcasted. Instead of people asking if I was alright, they made fun of it and thought I was odd, lazy or a waster.

“I didn’t really have anywhere else to turn, so the farm became an escape; a place I wouldn’t be judged or embarrassed.”

Aidan gained confidence working the farm with his brother and dad. When, in 2018, the family were recognised with a Milk Quality Award, it was a turning point for the Ryans - and for Aidan.

“We knew we could produce quality milk,” he says. “We then put in two Lely robotic milking systems two years ago and that freed up more time to put into the ice cream. Everything started falling into place.”

With the idea for adding value to their award-winning milk by making farmhouse ice cream set, Aidan and Megan began developing their flavours and in doing so went against the grain.

“We decided to go with all natural flavours even though we were strongly advised to buy flavoured powders and add it to our milk, otherwise it would be too much effort. But there was stuff in these bases that I couldn’t even pronounce, and if you can’t pronounce them then I think they shouldn’t be an ice cream,” Aidan says.

“If we weren’t doing a natural ice cream, I don’t think I would want to do it. There’s no point doing a natural high quality ice cream if you’re not going to use high quality local ingredients as well. The goal for us has always been to keep our ice cream artisan, homemade, small batch, using our own quality milk, as much local ingredients as possible, and work with as many local businesses as possible.”

The duo developed a range of four flavoured ice creams: Vanilla, Cookies & Cream, Mint Choc Chip, and a Salted Caramel Brownie made using Salt of Kinsale sea salt and chocolate brownies made by Anna O’Leary of The Flour Patch.

“I was working with Anna before we even launched the business, and I’d say we built the chocolate ice cream around her brownie because it is so nice. Her views on local and natural products are like ours as well, so it works great,” says Aidan.

“We always wanted to use the highest quality ingredients possible, natural was key, and keep it West Cork if we can at all. Our vanilla paste, Valrhona cocoa powder and Luker chocolate of course isn’t Irish, but we source all single origin, top quality products.

“We don’t use any food colouring in our ice cream, which is pretty strange when you’re trying to sell a mint choc chip ice cream at a show – people get awfully confused thinking it’s not mint because it’s not green!”

Talking to Aidan about ice cream is an education – who knew there was more than one type? But there is! The duo discounted Philadelphia-style (egg free) and gelato-style (more milk, less cream) ice creams in favour of a luxuriously rich French-style ice cream.

“French style ice cream has a custard base, and we use only free-range egg yolks,” explains Aidan. “Incorporating egg yolks into the base as a natural emulsifier results in an incredibly smooth creamy texture to our ice cream. When it comes to the churning process, we have no overrun in the ice cream. That means we don’t incorporate any excess air into the ice cream during churning, and this, coupled with the egg yolks, means our ice cream delivers an extremely dense, velvety mouth-feel.”

In many ways, Aidan and Megan have taken a slow food ethos to creating their ice cream business: eschewing short cuts and quick fixes for carefully sourced, high quality ingredients that are natural and showcase the quality of the farm’s own milk and cream. The family even built their own ice cream factory themselves.

It has taken time and money to get here – neither of which they have had in spades.

“A lot of times we’d have been flat out trying to make money to put into the business, but when you’re away from the farm trying to make money, you’re not actually doing anything in the business.

“Everything was done in dribs and drabs, and there were times when we felt we were going backwards. We were pumping money into it – spending €9,000 on a freezer – when we hadn’t even finalised our base recipes just to get over the line with our approvals. There were a lot of sleepless nights alright.”

But, by summer, 2025, after nearly four years in the planning, they were ready to get out and start selling their ice creams, popping up at summer and vintage shows around West Cork, and finding their first stockists at Clonakilty Cinema and a couple of local shops, including their village shop in Ballinascarthy, with 20ml and new 480ml large tubs of their artisan ice cream.

Looking ahead for this year, work is already underway ahead of the 2026 summer show season.

“Right now, we’re prepping for summer because we want to get into as many summer shows as we can. We have a new vintage-style ice cream trike which can be hired for weddings and events, and we’re looking at getting one or two more shops, restaurants, and cafes on board to stock our ice cream.

“The dream would be to find a way to sell our tubs of ice cream directly to consumers, whether that’s an honesty box system, online shop or collection service.

“On top of that, we want to continue developing new flavours with a massive emphasis on using local ingredients.”

This isn’t any ice cream; this is Ryan’s Farm Ice Cream!

“We’re constantly trying to get our ice cream just right,” says Aidan. “Hearing back from people that have had our ice cream, I think we are going the right way. We hope someone else will find inspiration in our story and feel encouraged to pursue their own passion.”

• For news about stockists and where Aidan and Ryan will be popping up over the summer, follow their Instagram @ryans_farm_icecream.