Our family has been interested in chocolate factories ever since the Theo Chocolate factory opened in our Seattle neighborhood ages ago and we learned about the bean-to-bar process. Since then our kids have been to Costa Rica to see chocolate, and visiting chocolate factories have been a big part of our family holidays. Most recently we visited chocolate farms on the Island of Hawaii. So of course I was interested in Irish chocolate shops when we visited Ireland in November too.
Butlers Chocolate Shops
When I booked our stay in Dublin and read that you have to wander Grafton Street, I did what I do for all the trips I book: I zoomed into the street using Google Maps to get a feel for the shops, restaurants and stores in the area. This is when I noticed there were lots of Butlers Chocolate shops. And then I saw pictures of the hot chocolate. So this ended up being the first place we ate at when we arrived in Dublin.
Butlers chocolate shops have a factory in Clonshaugh where you can book a tour, and visit. We did not have plans to visit the area so we didn’t go to the factory this time. We did however visit Butlers Chocolates more than once during our stay in Dublin. Every time we bought a hot chocolate drink it came with a choice of chocolate from the glass case. Not many places do something like this so it felt very special. We tried a few different hot chocolate drinks and loved them all. Walking the brightly lit streets with a hot cocoa in hand also felt really festive in November-I wish we did hot chocolate like this in Seattle.
Bean And Goose
We never visited Bean and Goose but I saw their chocolate in a few coffee shops and in a speciality food shop in downtown Dublin called Fallon and Byrne (you need to go to Fallon and Byrne in you love food!) and I wish I picked some up. Their factory is in Gorey, Ireland and they have tours you can book ahead if you think you want to visit. The Bean and Goose chocolate packaging is really beautiful too.
Hazel Mountain Chocolate
Hazel Mountain Chocolate is a chocolate factory I designed one whole morning of our 5 day Ireland trip on because I wanted to make sure we made it there for opening and also be able to stop at Sean’s Bar before we got to Dublin too. This chocolate factory is in Oughtmama, Bellharbor, County Clare and we used it as a stop on the way back from the Cliffs of Moher to Dublin. We stayed near Doolin and drove along the coast.
We found a couple notable things between Doolin and Hazel Mountain Chocolate. One neat thing along the highway was the Pinnacle Well. While we were stopped, we faced an epic hail storm and sheltered in the well area. We didn’t know much about this stop but it was neat for us.
We were told to stop in Ballyvaughan by our Airbnb host as well but we were too early for anything so we just walked along the pier and it was a nice place to stretch our legs. From the pier one of the guys saw Finvarra Martello Tower so we looked it up on a google maps and decided to go there. This ended up being one of our most epic moments of our Ireland trip. We drove over some really beautiful narrow roads that separated farmland from the sea. And we got stuck behind a cow traffic jam. It’s pretty amazing that stops you don’t really plan end up being the ones we remember most from trips.
We still had a few minutes before the chocolate factory opened when we got there so we saw that there is an Abbey called Corcomroe Abbey about 5 minutes from the chocolate factory. It is an absolutely beautiful and peaceful place and I’m glad we stopped there for a bit. When we got to the chocolate factory someone there also told us it’s a good place to visit-with spectacular light in the morning so it’s something to note if you’re in the area too.
I was so disappointed that the cafe was not open when we got to the chocolate factory but that’s what happens sometimes with travel schedules. I can tell without even tasting them that the pastries here will probably be perfect. So this will be a place I hope to go back again. And if you go and try them I would love to hear if they are truly incredible and what you tried. But just being in the factory and seeing the chocolates being made here was good enough for me.
And we were given a few suggestions on coffee shops to visit as we left. We ended up going to Wild Beans in Kinvara where the kids’ hot chocolates were heaped with mini marshmallows (the other suggestion was Siar, and this place apparently has epic pastries too but that was closed the day we visited as well. Make sure you always check opening times these days and everything since 2020 is unpredictable.)
Hazel Mountain Chocolate has beautiful bean to bar chocolates, inventive flavors, vegan selections and its factory has a modern-rustic, artistic aesthetic. We really enjoyed our visit here and we bought so many chocolates they will last us well into 2023 I hope too.
Do you travel to for chocolate? If you have a favorite chocolate factory you’ve visited, I’d love to hear more about it in the comments below.
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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