The county of Cork is at the heart of Ireland's gastronomic transformation and is bursting at the seams with gourmet delights, from the mouth-watering restaurants in the unofficial food capital, Kinsale, to the renowned cookery schools like Ballymaloe.

Cork is also home to many of the country's excellent artisan food producers, musicians, writers, chefs, traders. Meet the characters below!

Jeremie Legrand and Seamus Sands

Seamus O'Connell

Eithne Barry

Rupert Hugh-Jones

Philip Little

Declan Ryan

Dyane Hanrahan

Jeremie Legrand and Seamus Sands

Jeremie Legrand and Seamus Sands are traditional fiddle players living in Co. Cork. Jeremie came over from France 12 years ago due to a love of Irish music and it's here he's set up his workshop making violins. Seamus originally comes from Belfast and is from a long line of fiddle players. Both regularly take part in local sessions.

Seamus O'Connell

Seamus O'Connell is a chef who runs his own restaurant, The Ivory Tower, in Cork City. Seamus uses fresh and local produce which he buys daily in Cork's English Market.

Eithne Barry

Eithne Barry runs Jacques Restaurant with her sister Jacqueline in Cork City. Emphasis is always on good, fresh local produce, and you will often see Eithne in the farmers markets around cork county collecting the ingredients she will cook in her restaurant that day.

Rupert Hugh-Jones

Rupert Hugh-Jones is a small producer of organic vegetables, which he sells himself locally. He also supplies the Ballymaloe Cookery School, in the grounds of which his farm is based.

Philip Little

Philip Little runs The Little Irish Apple Company with an Orchard based in County Killkenny. Phillip sells his produce at Middleton Farmers Market in Co. Cork, something he would never miss! He also keeps bees for pollination, so if you're really lucky you might just be able to pick up some of his honey too!

Declan Ryan

Artisan Baker Declan Ryan is a former chef/restauranteur, once running the first Michelin star restaurant in Ireland. He gets queues around the corner for his traditional soda bread and uses his grannies recipe from west cork.

Dyane Hanrahan

Dyane Hanrahan is the manager of the Cork Midsummer Festival, a Festival of local, national and international arts.