Catoca Cafe, Fine Food And Giftware at Emo Court

Ralph Quinlan Forde BSc Hons MA
3 minutes ago
4 min read

CaToCa Fine Food & Giftware is an Irish company that has an ethos on using fresh local produce and where possible organic.

We have been to Catoca Cafe and can tell you the food is super fresh and they do great quiches for lunch. They have a wide selection of cakes too.

So if you are ever out walking the grounds of Emo Court this is the place to rest your weary legs and get a good nosebag.

Artisan and Home Baked Delights

CaToCa Fine Food tea rooms pride themselves on using artisan and home baked products which is fresh, local , wild and where possible organic and they are members of Laois producers with their hand picked cold pressed apple juice from Heritage Trees at Emo Court orchard.

The menu offers customers a wide range of option from full Irish breakfast, light lunches to Afternoon Tea.

Afternoon Tea at Catoca Cafe

Afternoon tea which must be pre booked 24 hr prior to arrival by calling us on 057 8633964 we can cater for vegan gluten-free dairy free and vegetarian.

Open 7 days a week including bank holidays. March to October 10am to 6pm. November to February 10am to 4pm

Rave Reviews for Catoca Fine Food Cafe Emo Court

Use this as cycling stop. Great food. Clean and good selection

Bianca de Villiers

Dog friendly! Has ice cream for dogs (not sure if it’s human safe) lovely hot chocolate great walks

Aoife White

My cake was delicious, my coffee was good too. Staff was nice and helpful. Nice outdoor area

Amanda Buzzi

Had a lovely visit in November to Emo Court, lovely walk and great coffee & cakes in the cafe. Both of the members of staff were really friendly and helpful

An Cart

Wonderful cafe and friendly staff, they also have ice cream for dogs ... enjoying a warm cup of coffee or tea after a walk, birds are hopping around you!

Luxe Bites & Flights

Mindful Beauty at Catoca Cafe

Catoca stocks our Mindful Beauty range in their store. Check out the quality of the products via the testers. These are made in Ireland and are a lovely edition to the day out walking for your wellbeing.

Catoca Cafe at Emo Court

Emo Court is a quintessential neo-classical mansion, set in the midst of the ancient Slieve Bloom Mountains. The famous architect James Gandon, fresh from his work on the Custom House and the Four Courts in Dublin, set to work on Emo Court in 1790. However, the building that stands now was not completed until some 70 years later.

The estate was home to the earls of Portarlington until the War of Independence forced them to abandon Ireland for good. The Jesuits moved in some years later and, as the Novitiate of the Irish Province, the mansion played host to some 500 of the order’s trainees.

A Major Cholmeley-Harrison took over Emo Court in the 1960s and fully restored it. He opened the beautiful gardens and parkland to the public before finally presenting the entire estate to the people of Ireland in 1994.

Visitors to Emo Court can enjoy the lake and woodland walks or a meander through the gardens before relaxing in the charming tearooms run by Catoca Fine Food Cafe.

The guided house tour is particularly special, showcasing the beautifully restored ground-floor period rooms and providing access to the atmospheric basement, where visitors can explore the stories and working lives of the servants who supported this remarkable house.

Visitors to Emo Court can enjoy the lake and woodland walks or wander through the gardens before relaxing in the charming tearooms.

Emo Court Gardens - Excellent for Walkers

At the front of the house the Wellingtonia Avenue stretches for 1 mile. It is named after the Sequoiadendron giganteum, which line it. A beech walk behind the house leads to the nursery lake, which covers an area of 25 acres. Closer to the house there are formal lawns with a number of statues. The Four Seasons statues represent Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn.

The bronze statue of Polyhymnia sits near the house and is surrounded by catmint (nepeta). The Huntsman and His Dog can be found in the area known as ‘the Clucker’. Bacchus stands in ‘the Grapery’ while Ceres awaits visitors at the end of the yew walk.Behind the house, the arboretum covers approximately 20 acres. Here, grass pathways meander through an impressive variety of trees such as the Bhutan Pine, the Tulip Tree (Liriodendron Tulipefera) the Handkerchief Tree (Davidia involucrata) and cedars including the Blue Atlas Cedar and the Cedar of Lebanon.

A Walnut tree is a source of food for red squirrels, which live on the grounds. So is the large Spanish chestnut, which produces edible chestnuts. The bark of this tree has a wonderful texture.

Also interesting is the lime tree avenue. It pre-dates Emo Court and is testament to the original building, Dawson Court.