OUR STORY

Founded by Pat Conway and Jim O’Brien, we design and manufacture a huge range of BBQs, Smokers, open fire cooking apparatus and grills

Specialising in the customisation and personalisation of our newly released range and our custom builds, we have developed working relationships with individual and corporate customers all over Ireland and the UK. Together we pool our experience to ensure overall quality. We finish each product by hand and take pride in everything that we make.

Our products are made using both traditional and modern manufacturing techniques. Our classic style is created by using traditional metal working skills while our customisation is carried out on state of the art Co2 laser machines by skilled graphic designers.

In the winter of 2013 we began handcrafting a range of bbqs, smokers and accessories in a humble workshop shed. We designed products that we wanted to use ourselves and had a lot of fun doing it. Later the same year, after some initial success, and a lot of hard work we converted old tack houses and coach sheds into kitchens, store rooms and a smoke house.

Over the next three years, we grew our capabilities, equipment, product range, and most importantly our team.

In 2019, we began our plans to launch our range of bbqs and smokers. While working and continuing our food trading, food demos, design and custom builds. This very website also being the culmination of work.

THERE IS A STORY BEHIND EVERY BBQ

The core idea behind Smokin’ Soul was to create a company that would ultimately breathe a new lease of life into the townland we live in, Cloonagh. Being very proud Wexford men but being typically Irish our real passion for our county lies in our homes in Cloonagh. Smokin’ Soul begun as love affair with fabrication, food and fire. We set out on a route to bring the real ethnically diverse world of fire cooking to the general public in Ireland.

We began to experiment with techniques used around the world for cooking over open fire and we added Irish produce, an Irish twist and flavour profile to all things we did. Our current menus see us open fire cooking and hot smoking the likes of Beef Brisket, Pork Collar, Beef Ribs, Pork Ribs, Jerk Chicken, Whole Chickens, Whole Lambs, Whole Pigs, Whole Goats, Large cuts of all types beef, pork lamb and game. The list and options depending on the setting and requirements are limitless.

Growing up we would explore every ditch line, field, river, out building and abandoned dwelling house. Sometimes in the summer months these adventures could last days.

Eventually with the passing of time the world itself beckoned for exploration but the scale of such exploration was much bigger than what we imagined compared to what we thought that was vast playground in Cloonagh. The experiences, people and places we visited have had a huge impact on our current ethos both in business and in life. 

Our goal is to have a business that creates employment, a way of life and a standard of living not only for us as the owners of Smokin’ Soul but for all future employees. We have been lucky enough to follow a path that allows us to begin to achieve our main goal. Along the way we want our employees to use our infrastructure and our experiences to follow their own dreams and have those journeys begin in Cloonagh and maybe stay in Cloonagh should we have the facilities to do so. 

Dating back to early 1700’s Cloonagh has had as many as 16 families living ,working and making a life in its borders, time and circumstance has seen that drop to the current 4 families who live in Cloonagh now. The majority of houses in Cloonagh are hundreds of years old and were the brainchild of Lady Jane Coakley, who during her time as landlord built the ‘Lady Jane’ houses to house her tenants in Cloonagh. In time we want to revive these houses from the disrepair and dereliction many of them find themselves in now and have our families and employees avail of them to begin their journey and follow their dreams just as we did from our ‘Lady Jane’ houses.

WE WORK WITH GREAT BRANDS