Christmas Eve, the fire is lit, the turkey is prepped and ready to go. All is calm and bright. On Hogan’s Farm, just outside Kells in Co Meath, brothers Fintan and Paul are relaxing after another busy Christmas season. And although Christmas is busy for many working in retail and other areas, it takes on a whole new meaning when you run a turkey farm in December.

In the days and weeks leading up to Christmas, over 30,000 turkeys make their way from Hogan’s Farm to Dunnes Stores and to homes throughout Ireland. About 20,000 are whole turkeys, while the remaining 10,000 are boned and rolled along with added-value turkey joints.

Final Moments

“The night of 19 December is always one of the busiest, making sure all the orders are met and shipped,” says Paul. “We are working around the clock but then there comes a moment on Christmas Eve where you stand and say: ‘Well the ship has sailed now, what will be will be.’”

“We just hope the chef in the house does our turkeys justice,” laughs Fintan.

Neven Maguire, who has accompanied us on the tour of the farm, joins in joking: “My recipe is foolproof, I promise.”

Although preparing that many turkeys for the festive season is something you never really get used to, if anyone can take it in their stride then it’s these two brothers. In fact, it turns out they have never known anything different, as we embark on an interesting family history lesson. “My mother and father met in Dublin. She was a nurse and he was a waiter in Jurys Inn in Ballsbridge,” says Paul. “In 1955 they got married and in the same year my mother was left the farm, about a mile down the road, by her uncle who never married. They moved down with little experience of running a farm. Dairy was their focus and over the years my mother started keeping chickens and hens.

“Then in the ’70s, two factors came into play – my father bought this farm and the herd went down with brucellosis. From there on out, the Christmas turkeys became bigger and bigger.”

Hand Plucking

Fintan remembers the years of hand plucking. “We could have had 50 people from the area all here hand plucking the turkeys. Mothers, teenagers, locals trying to save a bit for Christmas, many would come in the evenings when kids were in bed. They were paid per piece and we used to have cloakroom tickets – a blue ticket if you plucked a stag and a pink ticket if you plucked a hen. You would get maybe 70p for the stag and 50p for the hen. One of the best years here, there was about 12,000 turkeys plucked. That must have been 1982 or ’83.”

The business model has evolved in recent years from rearing turkeys on the farm all year round to rearing turkeys for peak seasonal periods such as Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving.

Unique Bird

This year, Dunnes Stores and Hogan’s Farm are celebrating their 10th Christmas in business together and they have a special bird to celebrate. “For the first time ever for Dunnes Stores, we have a free-range outdoor-reared bronze turkey,” says Paul. “These are exclusively for the Simply Better range and are quite unique, as only 350 of them will be available. These birds, which are a breed descended from the original American black turkey, start developing on our farm in the middle of summer and mature for six months. Compare this to a standard turkey which might only be 12 to 20 weeks.

“They are reared outside, all day and night. They can come indoors if they want to but, to be honest, when they start growing, you couldn’t get them in if you tried. We have a small forest on the perimeter of one of the fields and from dust until dawn you’ll find them all there together, nestled and sheltered from the elements.”

This natural, slow development results in a turkey with a smaller carcass and very high-quality meat on the breasts and, of course, a really unique taste.

Fintan says: “We have over 5,000 turkeys for the Simply Better range, which includes their Simply Better bronze turkey crown with cranberry, apricot and clementine stuffing, which tastes fantastic and won the Christmas award in the turkey category at this year’s Irish Quality Food Awards. However, this is our first year developing these really unique slow-rearing birds. It’s a very exciting venture.”

Alternative Options

Although the majority of houses are still opting for the traditional whole turkey, each year more and more go for the bone and rolled, or the crown. “It’s an ongoing rate of about 2% to 3% each year. Dunnes Stores was the first big retailer to come on board with us to give consumers these options. That was about 10 years ago and there was a bit of nervousness that first Christmas, but it’s all about meeting the consumer’s needs and many families want the more convenient option. Some want the easier option on Christmas day and the other factor to consider is that many families have more than one Christmas dinner – for example, a family celebration on Stephen’s Day or a New Year’s dinner. The crown or bone and rolled option works great for those evenings.”

Neven adds: “Cooking for a large number of people can be quite an undertaking and many aren’t used to preparing a meal for such big numbers. This type of Irish turkey can add to the enjoyment of the day for everyone. There is a reason that my buttermilk brined turkey crown is my most popular Christmas recipe.” CL