During the Emergency, everything from butter to boxes of matches was rationed, but the people of Glounthaune, Co Cork, could get whatever they needed at Fitzpatrick’s. In those days, the little shop on the old Cork-to-Youghal road stocked everything from boots and paraffin to candles, but over the past 70 years, across four generations, Fitzpatrick’s has evolved into one of Cork’s finest food stores, with its own bakery, delicatessen and catering service.
You won’t get a lump hammer at Fitzpatrick’s any more, but you will find what many consider to be the best 99 in the Rebel County, if not the whole of Ireland.
The business was set up by Kinsale woman Margaret Fitzpatrick in 1942, and is now managed by her great-granddaughter Kerri O’Neill.
“My parents would still be involved in the shop. We all have our duties to keep the ship running. I have two sisters and a brother who work here part time. And my aunt looks after the purchasing. So we very much try to keep the family business feel, which is getting harder and harder to find in some places.”
Fitzpatrick’s is easy enough to find: it’s just a five-minute drive from Fota Wildlife Park, and, although it was bypassed by the N25 a number of years ago, it hasn’t stopped people from making it a regular stopping-off point for 99s. On a sunny day, says O’Neill, the picnic benches outside the shop will be filled with people enjoying a 99 and the view of the water alongside Little Island.
The secret to their 99s is simple, says O’Neill. “It sounds so basic, but when you have the right cone shell, and a really good-quality mix, and a good chocolate and toppings, that makes all the difference. And people notice that.”
With a staff of 35 baking cakes from scratch and preparing up to 1,200 lunches a day, all from their own ingredients, Fitzpatrick’s is shaping up to be a food lover’s paradise.
“We’ve been working at this for years and years, and we’re very much foodies, extremely focused on quality and consistency, giving value for money, and putting the best of everything into it.”
Having weathered the recession – and the bypass – the shop is planning to expand. “We want to be Cork’s destination food store,” says O’Neill.
It is already a serious 99 destination, which is a good start.
99 updates
Sharon Baxter of Richmond, Virginia, emails: “Last month, my entire family (25 of us parents, siblings, spouses and grandchildren) spent a week travelling around southern Ireland. It was the trip of a lifetime, made possible by my parents’ generosity. We saw places related to our heritage and met relatives, but most of all, we thoroughly enjoyed all that Ireland has to offer, including 99s. The youngest among us, my nephew Nate, became a connoisseur of sorts. His best 99 was at the Beshoff Bros fish and chips shop on Mespil Road in Dublin.”
To get involved, email best99@irishtimes.com, tweet or Instagram your photos using #best99 and download Showoff’s free 99 Finder app
