The Whole Hoggs was founded by Peter & Susan Whelan in 2010.

The journey started with Peter’s interest in rare breed pigs, in actual fact if you go back far enough, it probably started when Peter at the age of 4, was brought on a farmhouse holiday and ended up bottle feeding piglets just born on the farm.

By talking to butchers and chefs, Peter realised there was a shortage of genuine free-range pork.  With this in mind he decided to start producing a range of products using every part of the pig.  The main ethos of The Whole Hoggs operation  is to use traditional artisan methods to re-produce the tastes of old.  Similar to the days when every small farm had their own pigs and made their own black pudding and cured their hams up the chimney. We have an on-farm smokehouse using turf from a local bog to smoke our dry cured bacon.  The cure is made each week by Peter with no nitrates or nitrites.

All of the pigs are born on the farm and live a long and happy life in a 60 acre natural woodland which is their natural environment.  Welfare of the pigs is foremost in our system.  The pigs do not get any injections and the land gets no artificial fertilisers unlike many who over-use the word “artisan”, we produce our own produce in small batches using local ingredients.

We regularly invite customers to join us for pre-arranged farm visits and see for themselves the methods used to keep the tradition going. We attend The Honest2Goodness market in Glasnevin every Saturday and we have an on-line shop.  Our products are available locally at our farm shop, in Smyth’s Garage, Slane and Gerry’s Fresh Foods in Drogheda and Skerries.