Lords & Ladles

The majestic Birr Castle in County Offaly is the home of the 7th Earl of Rosse and his wife. As Catherine goes hunting for pheasants, Paul contends with some strange ingredients in order to create a meal from a 17th-century cookbook, including a potato pie from a 1666 recipe.

This 120 room aging mansion is home to Thomas Pakenham a passionate gardener and author of "Meetings with Remarkable Trees", who has filled the estate with exotic plants from his world travels. Tullynally Castle Menu First course White Soup Roast Shoulder of Mutton Soused Turkey like Sturgeon Side dishes Boiled Cauliflower Sallad Water Souchy for Perch Second Course Pidgeons à la Braise Calf's Foot Mince Pies Cheesecakes Lamb Bits Lemon Pudding Apple Snow

The chefs serve up a variety of 1870s fare at County Monaghan's Castle Leslie, one of Ireland's most exclusive hotels and the home to Sir Jack Leslie. They fish for pike and stalk deer, as well as admire one of Winston Churchill's baby dresses and discover the best use for the discarded canopy of a Harrier Jump Jet.

At beautiful Westport House, the ancestral home of the Earls of Sligo, the chefs hear tales of sugar plantations and slavery from Sheelyn Brown, the many times great-granddaughter of pirate queen Grace O'Malley. They also attempt to catch salmon from the Delphi River and lobsters and oysters from the wild Atlantic Ocean.

The chefs travel to Ballywalter Park on the beautiful Ards Peninsula in County Down, the home of Lord and Lady Dunleath. Hands on food gathering includes plucking a turkey and hand churning butter.

Cappoquin House is home to Sir Charles Keane, whose family were forced from their native Derry estate during the 16th century and had their beautiful Waterford home burned by Irish Republicans during the civil war of 1922. At this storied structure, the chefs create a meal using recipes from a very famous cookbook written by a very famous chef, Hannah Glasse, in 1747.