Fruit Cultivar Crop Trials Nursery

Boleysillagh Farm is driven by two interrelated goals: conducting research trials on fruit cultivars and enhancing food security through local fruit nursery production and distribution.

We grow a wide range of soft fruits and stone fruit trees, with a focus on Irish heritage apple varieties, in challenging conditions such as highly acidic, low-fertility, waterlogged bogs with fluctuating water tables. Our goal is to identify cultivars suitable for cultivation and distribution. Trials and data collection focus on genetic potential, stress tolerance, yield, flavour, nutrient content, fruit fibre mass and density, disease and pest resistance, and climatic adaptation.

Our work has been a process of trial and error. We began in late 2019 by planting several common apple trees from a nursery in different locations using various methods, but none survived. In 2020, we tried new apple varieties with different methods and rootstocks; many survived, though only marginally. Currently, we are trialling hundreds of cultivars of soft fruits, stone fruits, and especially named varieties of hazelnuts. While a few are available in Ireland, most plants at Boleysillagh Farm are sourced internationally, including from Latvia, New Zealand, and Canada.

We are still in the early stages of horticultural exploration, and the learning process continues.

Niab UK Fruit Industry Review 2025