GHOSTBUSTERS star Bill Murray made a surprise visit to The Good Dairy Company over the weekend to sample some of its famous farmhouse ice cream.
The Hollywood legend, who also starred in Groundhog Day and Lost in Translation, was seen out and about in Cobh and Kinsale.
Murray, who has strong Irish ancestry with roots in both Cork and Galway, was in good company, joined by award-winning author Tom Coyne.
The pair previously teamed up in 2021 for their YouTube golf series, The Links Life, which saw them travel across Ireland visiting Druids Glen in Wicklow and Mount Falcon Hotel in Mayo.
His latest tour took him to the coastal town of Kinsale, where he delighted staff who described it as an evening they will ‘never forget’.
Sharing their experience on Facebook they wrote: ‘What an amazing evening we had. Such a lovely man. What a character.’
Murray’s trips to Ireland are becoming a regular thing.
In 2022 he was at the All-Ireland hurling quarter-final between Cork and Galway in Semple Stadium, and the semi-final between Limerick and Galway at Croke Park, in the company of JP McManus on both occasions.
Staff at The Good Dairy Company said the acting and comedy legend ‘loved our cluster lights and, of course, our ice cream’.
They continued: ‘He was so generous with his time… and was so kind to staff and customers. He timed it well to hear all about our nationwide launch with Aldi Ireland.’
The store has been announced as one of the 2025 Grow with Aldi finalists, meaning the ice-cream will now be stocked nationally.
Catherine Good, who runs the outlet along with running a dairy farm with her husband, spent ten years at home with her children but wanted to start her own business.
‘I wanted to diversify on the farm so I did a female entrepreneur course and found that nobody was making a farmhouse ice-cream made from source,’ she explained. Catherine developed a business plan and launched her business in 2021. A year later, when attending the National Ploughing Championships, she saw a stand for Acorns and applied to join.
She says she found she was instantly surrounded by a support network of female entrepreneurs from throughout rural Ireland. ‘Everyone had very different businesses, we were led by women who were more established in their business. They set us goals and held us accountable, but more importantly they listened to us,’ she said.
Catherine said the fact that the groups feature women at all stages of business start-ups was a great help. ‘Some were more established some were still teasing out their ideas. It’s a long road starting a business, four years down the line I’m still navigating that road. We all need that help and motivation to take the next step.’
Now with her own ice-cream shop in Kinsale, and a national listing in Aldi, she feels the support Acorns gives to female entrepreneurs in rural Ireland is crucial. ‘I enjoy living in rural Ireland, and I wanted to bring a product with its roots in West Cork to a wider market, but you need help along the way.
‘With Acorns you’re surrounded by your peers and you can see how they have created their business. I’ve made great friendships from the group and we’re still in contact. We all help each other and we’ve learnt to embrace and take everything that comes.”
Acorns, a scheme designed to support female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland, is now taking applications for its next cycle which will run from October 2025 to April 2026. For more information on the scheme, please see this week’s farming section.
