The simple allure of eating outside can charm even the most unromantic among us when the sun shines, but for food truck owners, it’s so much more than a fair-weather affair.
Perched at the top of this occasionally precarious tree is the Misunderstood Heron, which last year flew its original coop and landed at the foot of Croagh Patrick in the Co Mayo village of Murrisk.
The Heron, as it is known locally, is now located in a sylvan site behind Campbell’s pub, a watering hole at the bottom of the Reek for pilgrims climbing the holy mountain since the 1740s.
While there are many creative culinary flourishes to Kim Young and her partner Reinaldo Seco’s menus – the couple are committed to using the best of local produce at the truck, whether it be flora or fauna from the land or the seas along the Wild Atlantic Way.
RM Block
It is almost a decade since they started their business in a horse box with a second-hand coffee machine across from Young’s parents’ business, Killary Adventure, near Leenane.
However, the award-winning food trailer – feted by The Lonely Planet in 2019 and as food truck of the year at the Irish Restaurant Awards in 2024 and 2026 – was forced to relocate last year due to a planning issue with Galway County Council.
“At short notice we moved over beyond Louisburgh to the coastal village of Killadoon and P Dan’s pub and restaurant but it was only for the summer and our aim has always been to elongate our season,” says Young.
“We would like to be open almost year-round. When we were younger it was nice to have the seasonal business and then head away travelling but now we’ve got responsibilities with two small kids.
“The longer season means we can hold on to our great staff too, so with Croagh Patrick’s huge popularity as a destination, we are very positive about the future,” Young adds.
With social media acting as the Heron’s main marketing tool, Young put up a post last winter stating the business was looking for a new home.
“And Richie McGreal, who leases Campbell’s, came back to us. It’s a beautiful pub with real character on the inside and we can serve the food there as well as here in the big beer garden and barn, so we are less weather-dependent,” says Young.
Since the holy mountain attracts about 120,000 pilgrims and climbers annually from all over the globe, footfall is not an issue.
“Although I haven’t noticed any barefoot customers yet, there are lots of groups climbing for various charities, as well as parish outings,” she says, pointing to a priest from the Philippines booking for a group visit at the end of June.
There has been a revolution in food trailers since Young and Seco cobbled together their savings of €10,000, applied for a grant from Bord Bia, and renovated and upgraded a shipping container.
Young had just completed a degree at Dublin Business School and desperately wanted to move back to Connemara.
“We opened in June 2019 and by the time Covid hit that winter we were primed and ready to go. We quickly became a destination, as during the pandemic there were so many staycations and holiday homes filled all year-round,” she recalls.
With a huge fleet of food trailers popping up in Ireland since – anecdotal figures suggest about 300 – this pioneer stresses that “you need passion and perseverance”.
“You have to persevere. It is a great entry-point into developing a business if you don’t want to lease a place for five years. People who don’t have the capital can put their feet into it slowly and it allows them to develop organically, grow and nurture their small business. I mean our whole economy is built on SMEs in this country so why would we not be supporting them?” Young asks. She highlights particular support from Fáilte Ireland and BIM.
“They have been amazing and without them we wouldn’t be here.”
On the east coast of the country, Ciara Kennedy from Castleknock in Dublin set up Goats Gruff food truck on the banks of the Liffey in Strawberry Beds in 2019 with her husband Brian Kennedy, originally from Longford. They had previously operated a pub in New York but wanted to run their own business at home, with two children having arrived along the way.
Goats Gruff operates as a drive-through coffee dock in the early mornings and sells wood-fired sandwiches and pizzas later in the day.
The business started as a horse box on the land of Ciara’s family pub, The Strawberry Hall, in Castleknock. At first, trade was a slow burn but, over time, “it didn’t stop and it just got busy”, says Brian.
In June 2020, just as the pandemic had taken hold, he left his job as a general manager in hospitality to give the food truck “a proper go”. They upgraded the horse box to a bigger unit.
Today, the business employs 25 people and is on track to open a bricks and mortar restaurant nearby. The Kennedys are not saying goodbye to their food truck roots, however; despite ongoing planning issues, they want to keep it open to honour bookings out to 2028.
The Covid years also birthed the Little Catch food truck, which Waterford-based Denise Darrer opened in 2021.
Despite studying animation at college, Darrer has always had “a real interest in cooking”.
Her chef career began in 2011 at Johnny Fox’s in Dublin and in 2016 Darrer moved from the capital back to her native Tramore, where she continued to work in kitchens.
When restaurants were closed during the pandemic, “the timing was right” to set up a food truck showcasing “incredible seafood”.
At first, Darrer considered setting up her truck in Tramore but after seeing “how much was out there, festival wise”, she decided to travel to different festivals across the country, which she loves as it’s “something different every week”.
She hasn’t had to apply for planning permission but says she could imagine there are a “few loops to jump” for those who have to.
The reality of running a food truck “is far more than just cooking”, says Darrer, highlighting sourcing seafood, preparing food, ordering stock, managing social media and travelling to events. This means that even though she is open only at festivals, the job fills five days.
Darrer says family members help her out at festivals and at larger events she will recruit additional help.
“No two days are ever really the same ... you’re constantly wearing multiple hats,” she says.
One of her favourite parts of her job is getting to interact with customers and working with “fantastic” local suppliers.
Julia Hemingway, originally from England, has lived in Co Clare for 30 years. In 2017, she set up Julia’s Lobster Truck, specialising in seafood.
Cooking from the age of 18, she has worked as a private chef, in restaurants and bars and in a tea room. Hemingway says she knew she wanted to do her “own thing” and showcase seafood as she lived along the coast; nine years ago, there were “hardly any” food trucks in Co Clare, she says.
“I thought it would be really cool to start something ... that looked beautiful and served really fresh, delicious food.”
At first, Hemingway set up on private land at a local pub but after it closed, she shifted her focus. She now trades at a number of festivals, caters for private events and holds pop-up events, even sometimes from her home near the Burren.
Hemingway says the day-to-day running of the truck depends on where she is heading. For an upcoming festival where she has to be on-site from the Friday, preparation begins on Sunday. However, she says this can be “difficult” as she works with fresh seafood and can only collect it on the morning of sales. For general weekend pop-ups, she would start preparing on Wednesday.
Her husband Chris Hemingway helps with the logistics and when she is “desperate” he would also work in the truck. Her sons Freddie, Malachy and Taidgh assist too.
Using local Irish produce is key for Hemingway, with her seafood caught “two bays over” from where she lives and her vegetables grown by local women.
“It’s really important to me because then I can stand behind it and be proud of it.”
In 2025, Julia’s Lobster Truck was named as food truck of the year, which made it “feel like it was all worth it”.
Back in Co Dublin, Damien Smyth opened La Papessa Pizza in the car park of St Colmcille’s GAA Club in Swords four years ago, but has since been served with an enforcement notice by the local council to close.
Smyth, who has lived in Swords for 26 years, also set up two other trucks, one based in Raheny, Dublin 5, where he is originally from, and the other in Drogheda, Co Louth, as “we want to keep growing our brands, but also it was to secure what income we had because if we’re forced to close one, then we’re not completely out of business”.
However, Smyth says that the truck in Swords is the “backbone”. He says it is a family business with his children, their friends and partners working. “The thoughts of closing and seeing them all out of work is tough.”
The highs of running a food truck are the recognition and working with his family and the lows are how expensive everything is, says Smyth.
How does planning permission work?
As food trucks moved out of the Covid era and numbers exploded, the planning permission underlying their existence came into greater focus.
In Dublin, Goats Gruff received an enforcement notice from Fingal County Council (FCC) against its Strawberry Beds structure, having been informed in 2024 that it needed planning permission.
“The rug is completely pulled from under you,” says Brian Kennedy, citing worries for his own livelihood and those of his employees.
“At the time, [it] was absolutely devastating. But now I think ... our skin is thicker coming out of it,” says his wife, Ciara Kennedy.
The couple are now at the end of the planning road, with retention permission having been refused by FCC and An Coimisiún Pleanála having backed this. Refusal grounds included proximity to the river and the site’s status as an area of natural beauty.
“We’re communicating with them [the council] at the moment. We’re asking for more time to figure out how to kind of restructure the business. It’s a bit complicated,” says Brian. The couple are now in the throes of opening a restaurant nearby.
Likewise, Damien Smyth’s La Papessa Pizza in Swords has been served with a planning enforcement notice to close. In March last year, he received a letter from FCC saying he needed planning permission to operate the food truck. FCC also rejected his planning retention request and this decision was backed by An Coimisiún Pleanála on appeal.
“When we didn’t get it, we were devastated,” Smyth says, adding that his “only solution” is to set up a restaurant.
A spokesman for FCC, in response to a number of queries on matters including operators saying they were orally informed that they did not need planning permission, said: “Food trucks operating on privately owned sites would be subject to the relevant planning legislation, as they would fall outside of the council’s casual trading byelaws.
“Under the casual trading framework, the council grants licences to businesses to operate at designated sites that are under council ownership.
“This approach allows food trucks, coffee carts and other vendors to trade. Trading in a public place without such a licence is an offence.”
Elsewhere, a spokeswoman for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said food or coffee trucks “when operating on private property, require the benefit of a planning permission or an occasional trading permit”.
A spokesman for Waterford City and County Council said where a food truck operator has obtained a casual trading licence and the food truck is situated in a designated casual trading area, it would not need planning permission.
The spokesman said regulations for food trucks were not more relaxed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
