Jenny and Neilus Flaherty are milking 140 cows with their two children just outside Listowel, in Moyvanne, Co. Kerry.

The farm operates a split calving system, with 60% of the herd calving in the spring and 40% in the autumn, although they are moving towards a 50/50 split.

This may all seem routine, but there is a twist to the farm, as not all of the milk is going to the co-op.

Jenny spent years working in the retail sector all over the country, which led her to notice a gap in the market.

Between Co. Kerry and Co. Limerick, there was nobody selling pasteurised, non-homogenised milk.

Milk vending machines were growing in popularity, but Jenny felt they were attracting a different consumer group.

With this gap in mind, an idea became reality, and Glenview Farm was born, supplying creamy farm fresh milk to shops and cafés across the two counties.

Bottling milk

Cups are on in the parlour at 6:00a.m each morning, and like any parlour the milk passes through the plate cooler and into the bulk tank for cooling.

But a portion of the milked is then piped into a separate holding tank, while the rest of the milk goes to the Flahertys' co-op, North Cork Creameries.

The milk that has been separated is then batch tested for the likes of antibiotics.

Once the raw milk has passed these tests, it is pumped into the pasteuriser, which processes 500L/hour.

Once in the pasteuriser, the milk is once again tested, this time for phosphatases.

After the gentle pasteurisation is complete, the milk is pumped up into a header tank, ready for bottling.

As it stands, bottling is done semi-manually, with the Flahertys filling four bottles at a time with the aid of gravity, before manually capping and dating them.

However, a new shiny piece of tech is due to land in the yard any day, which will automate the whole task of bottling, capping, and dating.

The fresh milk then goes out for delivery, with Jenny hitting the road six days a week, alternating days between the Kerry route and Dingle route.

The Kerry route covers everywhere from Tralee and Killarney, to Killorgin and Dingle.

Meanwhile the Limerick route consists of the coastal road, in around the city, and back out via Adare, Newcastle West, and Abbeyfeale.

For the last six months, Glenview Farm has only offered 2L bottles of milk, but as demand continues to build, the business is now set to offer 1L bottles, as well as both chocolate and strawberry flavoured milk.

Award-winning

This time last year, the Flahertys were going through the procedures to set up the business, from department paperwork, to building sheds in the dark with headlamps.

A whole new shed was erected, and made compliant with food safety regulations.

It features white rock cladding for easy and hygienic cleaning, a swing-over bench to ensure uncovered shoes do not get inside and contaminate the plant, a cold storage room, and of course the equipment such as the pasteuriser.

But all this work has paid off, with the six-month-old Glenview Farm already an award-winning business.

The farm achieved silver at the Blas na hÉireann awards in Dingle earlier this month.

Jenny said: "We only started in April, so to get that recognition so fast is fantastic, especially when we're such a small family business."

Jenny also won the One to Watch Award 2026 at the Connect Kerry Women in Business awards back in the summer.

If you are interested in hearing more about Glenview Farm, tune into episode one of Agriland's limited podcast series 'The Dairy Trail' here on Agriland or whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, as Jenny tells us all about their operation.