In 1880 a butcher called Phillip Harrington sold black pudding from his shop in the West Cork village of Clonakilty. The recipe was not his own. According to Great British Chefs, he inherited it from a local woman, Johanna O’Brien. Her recipe stayed in the Harrington family for a century, and in 1976 it passed to a new owner who kept it going. It is still the pudding on many an Irish breakfast plate today.
Why black pudding exists at all
Black pudding is a sausage made from meat, blood, oatmeal and onion, often with spices. It started as a way of not wasting any part of the animal. People all over Europe had the same idea: the French make boudin noir, the Spanish morcilla and the Germans blutwurst. Great British Chefs says you can find records of similar sausages as far back as Homer’s Odyssey, well over 2,000 years ago.
In Ireland it sits beside the rashers and sausages in the full Irish breakfast, and our piece on what the full Irish says about the country tells the wider story of that plate.
Johanna O’Brien and the shop on the high street
The Clonakilty story starts with those two names. Phillip Harrington was the butcher, and Johanna O’Brien was the local woman whose recipe he inherited. The Harringtons passed it down through the generations for a century, until the old butcher’s shop was put up for sale.
Edward Twomey bought the shop in 1976 and with it the recipe, which had been kept secret for 100 years. Great British Chefs says he chose to keep that piece of history alive, and that Clonakilty black pudding today is made to the same recipe Johanna O’Brien and Phillip Harrington used more than a century ago.
What makes it different
Great British Chefs describes Clonakilty’s pudding as unusual in two ways. It is made with beef rather than pork, and it has a low blood content compared with other black puddings, just three or four percent. The result, it says, is a very crumbly texture and a rich flavour with a distinct spice and warmth. The same piece says it has no additives, preservatives or artificial flavourings.
That crumbly texture is why it is worth cooking gently. Slice it thick, use a medium heat, and turn it once. If you want it with fruit, our pan-fried Clonakilty black pudding with Bramley apple sauce is the one to try, and if you would like to understand how a pudding is made, read our black pudding recipe.
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How to cook black pudding for breakfast (serves 2)
This is a plain pan-fried breakfast with the pudding as the star. It takes about 15 minutes. Use Clonakilty or any good butcher’s black pudding.
The plate above has no pudding on it, so add two slices beside the eggs and sausages.
Ingredients
- 4 slices black pudding, about 1 cm thick
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 tomatoes, halved
- 2 slices of soda bread or toast, buttered
- Salt and black pepper
Method
- Heat a heavy frying pan over a medium heat and add half the butter.
- Put the tomatoes in cut side down and cook for 3 minutes, then turn and cook for 2 minutes more. Keep them warm on a plate.
- Add the black pudding slices to the pan and fry for 2 to 3 minutes a side, until the outside is crisp and the middle hot. Turn them once only, as the pudding is crumbly.
- Move the pudding to the plate and add the rest of the butter. Fry the eggs to your liking.
- Serve at once with the buttered soda bread or toast, and season with salt and pepper.
Do you fry your black pudding in butter, or on a dry pan?
Sources
- Clonakilty Black Pudding, Great British Chefs
Checked November 2026.
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