Local Faces – Olly Nolan

Olly and his partner Chris moved onto eight acres of land in Allagour, Glenasmole, in 2012, and now produce everything they eat – including the award-winning, Olly’s Honey.

From Monday to Thursday I have a normal job, I work as a landscaper, so I’m up at 6am to feed my animals and my hens before I head to work. 

I’m home at around 4.30pm and its back to my animals, and my dog and cat.

I spend my evenings feeding my animals, collecting the eggs and doing some garden work – weeding, watering and harvesting.

We produce all of our own meat, fruit and veg. 

We have grass-fed Irish Dexter cattle and a dairy shorthorn cow called Vesta, who I milk and we make dairy products like butter and yogurt.

I’ve also a goat called Archie. He was the first animal we had on the farm when we arrived in 2012.

He’s a pet and our unofficial gardener, he keeps all the hedges trimmed.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday I’m full time on the farm and I also make my honey.

I got my first hive only six years ago and now I have around 60 hives, with Olly’s Honey in around 13 stockists across Dublin. 

We took part in SuperValu’s Food Academy and locally are stocked in SuperValu stores in Knocklyon, Firhouse and Palmerstown. 

We’re pretty much self-sufficient now, we go to the shops once every two or three weeks – and wouldn’t even fill a small basket!

Sometimes we produce a lot more than we could ever possibly eat, so we sell or barter produce. 

All images by Aidan O’Neill 

This is a way of life for us and it’s hard to believe that our farm is a very short drive from Tallaght Village and only 20 minutes from St Stephen’s Green, outside of rush hour.

Olly’s Farm is located in Glenasmole and anybody interested in visiting the farm can do so by messaging Olly’s Farm Facebook page HERE or by calling 087 7747169.