Master butcher, Sean Kelly, of Kelly’s Artisan Butchers in Newport, Co. Mayo will hide 20 of his prized black puddings along the Great Western Greenway in Co. Mayo, with each pútog garnering a prize worth at least €200.
The treasure hunt, which is free to enter, will run from August 19 to August 24 across the greenway connecting Westport to Cashel on Achill Island, and is open to all walkers, cyclists and runners alike.
The vast array of prizes available have all been gifted by 22 local business in the area, ranging from hotel breaks to food, oil and furniture vouchers, with a mountain bike valued at €750 taking the top prize spot.
“This is Kelly’s Butchers way of saying thank you to all the greenway users who have called into our shop and Kelly’s Kitchen in Newport over the years,” said Kelly.
“Two million people have done the greenway in the last 13 years and if they only spent one euro in west Mayo, that’s a lot of money. We can’t be always taking, you have to say thanks to them, haven’t you? That’s the way I look at it.”
The idea originally began on a smaller scale with just the mountain bike up for grabs, but later flourished when other businesses in the town received word of the treasure hunt and were inspired to make a contribution.
The Kelly family have their own farm and adjacent abattoir, producing meat from a combination of their own herd and livestock bought from local marts.
Local sponsorship
“I mentioned it [the treasure hunt] to the general manager at Mulranny Park Hotel, Dermot Madigan and he said ‘I want some of that, I’ll give you a weekend for two people with an evening meal worth €500’.
“So then I said, two is no good and I asked other businesses around the greenway, and every one of them said yes,” he said.
The kidney-shaped black puddings will be hidden along the physical greenway, as opposed to behind fences or walls, so there is no need to venture off track and attendees are encouraged to check Kelly’s social media for daily clues.
Each pútog has a unique identification number on it, with a description of how to redeem the corresponding prize. Anyone who finds a putóg should take it to Kelly’s Butchers in Newport to retrieve their prize.
Every prize will include an additional gift bag from O’Hara’s Bakery and a bottle of wine from J.C Kenny’s.
Pútog
“It’s a daft idea yes, and for god’s sake I get more comments about the pútog – who the hell wants to find a pútog? But, if you find a pútog, the least you’ll get is €200, and there’s one prize per putóg, so you have 20 chances.
“It’s all about fun, I just hope families will buy into the reason it’s being held and really enjoy it. So hop on your bike, lace up those walking shoes and get yourself, your friends and your family on the Kelly’s Putóg Hunt,” Kelly said.
The putóg, which derives from the Irish word for gut, is a traditional Irish black pudding made in the time-honoured casing of a sheep’s stomach from a combination of oatmeal, onions, suet, blood, salt and pepper.
Kelly’s Butchers is keeping the tradition alive by producing the ‘putóg’ in its original form based on a secret family recipe.
The third-generation family enterprise led by Kelly, have been serving customers in the locality since 1930 and employ over 30 people across their shop, restaurant and factory.
“That’s me, as daft as a ha-penny brush, I enjoy doing what I’m doing and I found out one thing – the harder you work, the easier it gets,” Kelly stressed.