Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Colcannon - Traditional Autumn recipe from Co. Wexford
No I'm no celebrity chef but I know how to cook colcannon and have been eating it every Hallowe’en for the past 45+ years. As you can see I'm a hairy looking hoor but I said I'd make this video as I am tired of seeing fancy chefs putting up and sharing recipes of colcannon and I know in my heart they are only making it up or they read about in a book or the like.
So this morning, I made this video with the help of my daughter Eppie to show you to make it. I make in the exact same way as my mother and grandmother did in Ballygarrett in Co. Wexford and the people before them.
Ours was and still is a simple, one pot dish and the ingredients changed slightly from village to village here in Wexford but not much. Here in Wexford the parsnip is the key to a good colcannon but you’d also get carrot or turnip used instead.
I’ll throw the recipe in the comments but watch this and you will see how it was made and what you need. A very simple dish and the smell signals Halloween for me as smell of the cabbage, onions and parsnips fills the kitchen.
By the way, a pot of colcannon was always put on in our house on Halloween night to feed the family and also enough to be given out to any of the quare hawks or shite hawks that call to the house that night.
This is the real deal.
Text: Michael Fortune
Colcannon - Traditional Autumn recipe from Co. Wexford
No I'm no celebrity chef but I know how to cook colcannon and have been eating it every Hallowe’en for the past 45+ years. As you can see I'm a hairy looking hoor but I said I'd make this video as I am tired of seeing fancy chefs putting up and sharing recipes of colcannon and I know in my heart they are only making it up or they read about in a book or the like.
So this morning, I made this video with the help of my daughter Eppie to show you to make it. I make in the exact same way as my mother and grandmother did in Ballygarrett in Co. Wexford and the people before them.
Ours was and still is a simple, one pot dish and the ingredients changed slightly from village to village here in Wexford but not much. Here in Wexford the parsnip is the key to a good colcannon but you’d also get carrot or turnip used instead.
I’ll throw the recipe in the comments but watch this and you will see how it was made and what you need. A very simple dish and the smell signals Halloween for me as smell of the cabbage, onions and parsnips fills the kitchen.
By the way, a pot of colcannon was always put on in our house on Halloween night to feed the family and also enough to be given out to any of the quare hawks or shite hawks that call to the house that night.
This is the real deal.
Text: Michael Fortune
