Why is our cheese called St Tola?

Oct 20 2021

St Tola Goat Cheese was made originally by Meg and Derrick Gordon.  After a lifetime of living and working abroad, Meg and Derrick Gordon settled in the village of Inagh in the late 1970s. They wanted to make goats cheese! Cheese making had all but died out in Ireland at this time, so Meg went to Normandy in France to learn cheese making. She noticed at the time, many French cheeses were named after saints (Saint André,  Saint Nectaire, Saint Marcellin etc) This is because the beautiful art and craft of making cheese, beer and wine were really developed in monastries and abbeys in medieval Europe. Close to Inagh village, there is an archaelogical site called Dysert O'Dea. On this site there is the ruins of a 12th century church, a holy well and a fine stone cross all dedicated to St Tola,. So Meg brought back the tradition of saints and with St Tola, she tied it to the land here.