All mainstream Irish Whiskeys, except Bushmills, are made in Middleton, Co. Cork. The Distillery there offers tours, and has an impressive visitors center. You should contact them to see if you can set up something.

Middleton has a great Farmers' Market which runs year-round and is near the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry. It is also a short distance from Cork City where the famous English Market should be on every culinary hedonist's tour.

Forget Dublin and head South to where the food is fresh, local, and valued.

I live in Tullamore. Whislt no longer brewed here, the Tuallmore Dew distillery is now an interesting museum about the industry and brand. It tells a whole different story about the invention of Irish coffee than anyone else does! ;-) I'll be there tomorrow night, drop me an email if you want and I can pick up some documentation and send it your way. Best of luck with the book!

If you are in Leitrim you are welcome to visit our smallholding!

You could ask around and try to sample some illegal Irish potato whiskey while here... poitin. In these parts there is whats known as Arigna Dew, I'm told.