IN DONEGAL, two households are taking on a bold challenge in Slán go Feoil.
The new four-part series begins on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on Monday, March 16 at 8.30pm and follows a group of devoted carnivores as they give up meat for an entire month.
In Gaoth Dobhair, Fr Brian Ó Fearraigh, beloved parish priest of na Doirí Beaga, is going meat-free while rebuilding his chapel after a devastating fire.
Meanwhile, in An Fál Carrach, husband and wife Manus and Catriona take on the month long challenge.
A real estate agent and farmer, Manus is deeply rooted in local traditions, while retired teacher Catriona is a natural host with a strong community spirit.
Actively involved in their community, they open their home each year for Manus’s annual hunt and for Catriona’s much-loved family dinner gatherings.
Guided by nutritionists, chefs and food enthusiasts, seven contribuors based in Kerry, Donegal and Belfast discover new flavours, new habits and perhaps new versions of themselves as they explore vegetarian living, and put their routines, assumptions and beliefs to the test.
In episode one, we meet the contributors taking on the challenge.
In Belfast, a ‘real or fake’ meat taste leaves Storm and Conor second-guessing their senses.
Manus and Catriona are husband and wife from An Fál Carrach.
In Donegal, we meet Fr Brian Ó Fearraigh, who lost his church in the parish of Gaoth Dobhair in a devastating fire. Focused on rebuilding it, he has decided to take on another test of faith by going meat-free.
In An Fál Carrach, Manus and Caitríona bring home two pigs for slaughter, and find themselves questioning how they’ll feel about their fate by the end of the challenge.
In Daingean Uí Chúis, Kerry, we meet Clare and Helena, whose lives are shaped by food, place and community.
Dietician and sports nutritionist Nóra Ní Fhlannagáin lays out what might change over the month, and what will be tested along the way.
The contributors dive deeper into meat-free living in episode two. In Daingean Uí Chúis, Clare explores vegetarian alternatives and learns how to make kombucha in a local café.
Fr Brian visits Krishna Island in Fermanagh, and naturalist Éanna Ní Lamhna examines the environmental impact of the meat industry.
In Kerry, Helena meets her old friend Toose Mac Gearailt, who discusses how people ate in the past, while Professor Jens Walter explains the microbiome how diet can reshape it.
In episode three, sport, science, sustainability and foraging collide as the contributors discover how plant-based living can fuel performance, protect the environment, and reshape Irish farming.
The final episode brings the experiment to its conclusion, and the contributors reflect on how a month without meat has changed them, and what they’ll carry forward.
The series was produced by Ronin Films for RTÉ and was supported by Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund (ILBF).
Slán go Feoil begins on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on March 16 at 8.30pm.
