Olivia Duff is a woman who is always on the go. As well as managing her family-owned hotel, The Headfort Arms in Kells, Co Meath, which re-opened on 29 June, and promoting the Boyne Valley as a “Food Champion” with Fáilte Ireland, she and her husband, Eoin Sharkey, run Maperath Farm, rearing free-range turkeys and geese for the Christmas market. Eoin also operates an educational mobile farm, and pre-COVID, was giving talks everywhere from pre-schools to nursing homes, with amazing reaction especially from patients with dementia. The couple have three daughters: Anna (10), Kate (seven) and Sage (five).

1 When I was a child, I wanted to grow up to be… a horse producer, but Dad said, “You’ll never have a penny, but if you find yourself a solid job, you’ll always be able to keep a horse.” He was right! Thank God, I still have a horse.

2 My first job was… working in the hotel with the maintenance man Liam, who was a pure genius and taught me so much. I was such a tomboy as a teenager, so my parents put me working outside.

3 I spent my very first pay cheque on… my first record, a long player, Nina, 99 Red Balloons. My mother still has it!

4 Growing up in the hospitality industry, the most important thing I learned was... the customer is always right!

5 If I wasn’t working in the hotel industry, I think I would be… a writer because I love language and analysing situations. Or a chef for my love of food, but I was too small to reach the salamander (large overhead grill) in a working kitchen and got many a burn!

6 The best way that the Irish Government can support the hospitality industry right now is… to provide emergency aid packages to the industry to help recovery and other sustainable supports such as longer term waivers on commercial rates and VAT reduction. This would make it commercially viable to reopen hospitality and tourism, whilst still adhering to and respecting the guidelines on social distancing and capacity.

7 If there is one positive lesson that we take from the COVID-19 crisis, I hope that it… has been a chance to stand back, reset and realise what is important, life priorities and goals. Instead of looking on this time as one of crisis, which of course it was initially, that it is a time to innovate, reimagine and adapt to the new norm that we will all experience over the journey of the coming year. We have pivoted a small portion of our business to take away food, but now realise that “Headfort at Home” will now remain a core piece of our product offering and we are looking at other ways to create new “sub brands” and experiences to adapt to the new circumstances. It has also been the best quality time I’ve ever enjoyed with my family, realising that the best things in life were within that 5km and appreciating what we have.

8 On our family farm, Christmas starts in… April with the arrival of the goslings, who are super cute on arrival, but grow so quickly and remain like a pack of watch dogs. Every time our gates open, you can hear them from afar! The turkey chicks arrive in the last few days of June, and that’s when it ramps up for the festive time. We’ve now also got a Christmas tree plantation on the farm, so hopefully in a few years, it will become part of our farm shop experience for Christmas. It is really important to us that the customer is part of the food story and that there is a connection to the source.

9 An interesting fact that most people don’t know about turkeys is… the “bronze” was the original Christmas turkey in Ireland. The white turkey only arrived in the 1960s from the US as a commercial option. We take great pride in rearing five different breeds of bronze, which finish at different weights and so for that reason we take orders within 2lb of weight as they are totally free-range and heritage breeds.

10 Growing up on the farm, I hope that my three daughters will always remember… the real value of food and what it takes to produce it well. I also hope they will remember our “Isolation Project”, which has been the addition of an “honesty box” at the roadside selling our lovely heritage breed eggs, salad, plants and last year’s conkers that were planted, now being sold as “COVID-19 Memorial Horse Chestnut Trees” by the girls.

Olivia Duff on the family turkey farm in the lead up to Christmas.

11 Post- COVID-19, my perfect day in the Boyne Valley involves… going to Sheridan’s Market in Carnaross on a Saturday morning, enjoying a lovely breakfast bap from Cathy and Declan of Floods Butchers, a nice coffee and some cheese recommendations from Franck Le Moenner of Sheridans. Then it would be to Girley Bog for the Girley Loop walk into the beautiful wilderness. It is truly special and somewhere to forget about your worries for a while. Then a picnic at the Spire of Lloyd with the girls. It’s Ireland’s only in-land lighthouse and on a clear day you can see seven counties. Then maybe a visit to Martry Mill to my good friend James Tallon, to pick up some beautiful wholemeal flour and experience one of the oldest working watermills in Ireland. And I have to be biased, but I would finish with a Dan Kelly Cider and a steak on the stone in the Kelltic Bar (part of the Headfort Arms Hotel) in Kells.

12 My local food hero is…closest to me geographically, it would be Kevin Sheridan. He’s so true to the values of great Irish food and its producers and always championing others. Nationally it would be Jacinta Dalton, head of culinary arts at GMIT in Galway, who is the most inspirational person I know in food education in Ireland. I’m proud to call her a friend.

13 My mid-week go-to recipe is…sausage and bean bake! Our own sausages baked in spiced tomato sauce, mixed beans, pickled onions, topped with parmesan, mozzarella and coriander, lots of garlic bread required to scoop it up and always better the second day…if there’s some left!

14 The best advice I ever got was… “This too shall pass”.

15 The best book I read recently was… The Third Plate by Dan Barber – field notes on the future of food.

16 The song that I have on repeat is… Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald.

17 My favourite film is… Dirty Dancing for teenage memories and soundtrack alone!

18 The app that I use most is…Instagram or Pinterest.

19 The five things you will always find in my handbag are… my phone, keys, hairbrush, lip balm, hand cream; or hand sanitiser now!

20 Most people don’t know this about me, but… I rode the winner in the charity race at Bellewstown five years ago on a horse called the Bank Man, owned and trained by Peter Mooney. So I can say that I may be the first person to have ever ridden the Bank man and won!

For further information, visit headfortarms.ie and maperathfarm.ie