De Búrca’s Traditional Butcher Shop on Main Street, Castlebar, has been announced as one of the regional finalists in the Bank of Ireland Start-up of the Year Awards 2014 in the category of Food and Drink Entrepreneurial Start-up.
Three finalists emerged from Connacht/Ulster region, with De Búrca’s representing Connacht. The other finalists are Kinnegar Brewing Ltd based in Rathmullan and the Hatter Tea Room based in Stranorlar, both in Donegal.
The shop opened in April on the site of McHale’s Butcher Shop. The owners are Seán Bourke, a local from Breaffy, and his wife Sarah Ní Shúilleabháin, originally from Loch Con Aorthain, Connemara. They spent the last 12 years in Nenagh, Tipperary, but felt that their shop should be opened back home in the west and in Castlebar. Seán worked as a butcher with Vincent Irwin on Ellison Street and with Howly’s on Hopkins Road before moving away to work with Hanlon’s Butchers in Nenagh. Sarah was a medical scientist with the HSE in Nenagh and Limerick. Finalists for the national phase of the competition will be announced on October 14.
