Updated 28 July 2026
When is the best time to find Penny bun (cep) in County Mayo?
Penny bun (cep) usually come up in County Mayo from August to November, and right now they’re at 41% and looking good.
Porcini is really a small group of closely related boletes. The summer cep (Boletus reticulatus, also called Boletus aestivalis) fruits in warm broadleaf woodland from late spring into summer, well before the main autumn flush of Boletus edulis, so an early-season find is entirely natural. The forecast reflects this wider group.
Grows in mycorrhizal partnership with trees, especially under pine, spruce, birch, beech and oak, on well drained soil. Found in conifer and broadleaf woodland and along woodland edges and tracks.
Check around the bases of host trees and along sunlit forest edges, returning to productive spots a few days apart through the flush. Cut or twist the stem cleanly, slice each cap to check for maggots, and take only young specimens with white firm flesh.
Can be confused with the bitter bolete (Tylopilus felleus), which has a darker net on the stem, pinkish pores when mature and a strongly bitter taste, and with red pored boletes. Avoid any bolete with red or orange pores or flesh that stains strongly blue, and taste a tiny piece of any doubtful bolete to detect bitterness.
County Mayo is a wild, windswept corner of Ireland’s Atlantic west, where the drumlin-studded waters of Clew Bay, the cone of Croagh Patrick and the Nephin Beg and Mweelrea mountains give way to vast open blanket bog. Much of the interior is treeless moorland and peatland, broken by the large lakes of Lough Conn and Lough Mask and a deeply indented, exposed coastline. Native woodland is scarce here, surviving mainly as small pockets of oak, birch, hazel and rowan in sheltered valleys and along lake shores, while much of the timber is in Coillte conifer plantations of Sitka spruce. Look for mushrooms at woodland edges, in mossy birch and oak stands, and on the grassy, well-grazed pastures and bog margins that cover so much of the county.
Mayo has a cool, hyper-oceanic climate and is one of the wettest parts of Ireland, with frequent rain, high humidity and strong Atlantic winds throughout the year. Mild winters and damp, cloudy summers keep the ground moist and create excellent conditions for fungi over a long season. Expect a landscape better suited to grassland and bog fungi than to deep woodland species, with waxcaps thriving on the old unimproved pastures and hill grazing for which the west of Ireland is known. The remoteness rewards those willing to walk, but always tread carefully on wet bog and respect that much land is grazed and privately held.
FAQ
Where do penny bun (cep) grow in County Mayo, Ireland?
Grows in mycorrhizal partnership with trees, especially under pine, spruce, birch, beech and oak, on well drained soil. Found in conifer and broadleaf woodland and along woodland edges and tracks. They tend to come back to the same kinds of ground year after year, so once you find good cover it is worth checking again. ShroomCast does not share exact spots; it tells you the timing for County Mayo, Ireland so you know when it is worth heading out.
How do I know penny bun (cep) season has started in County Mayo, Ireland?
Season usually kicks off after a warm spell followed by steady rain, with the first flushes appearing somewhere in the August to November window. The clearest sign is the live forecast lifting off zero into ‘just starting’ or ‘building’. For County Mayo, Ireland it currently sits at 41% and is looking good.
Are penny bun (cep) out near me right now in County Mayo, Ireland?
Today the penny bun (cep) forecast for County Mayo, Ireland is 41% and conditions are looking good. That is a live read for the region this July, and it shifts with the weather rather than following a fixed calendar. It tells you if it is worth heading out in County Mayo, Ireland right now.
What should I look for this week for penny bun (cep) in County Mayo, Ireland?
This week in County Mayo, Ireland the forecast is 41% and looking good. Grows in mycorrhizal partnership with trees, especially under pine, spruce, birch, beech and oak, on well drained soil. Found in conifer and broadleaf woodland and along woodland edges and tracks. The 14-day outlook on the page shows whether conditions are climbing toward a flush or easing off, so you can pick your day.
Is it mushroom season in County Mayo, Ireland right now?
For penny bun (cep) in County Mayo, Ireland, the typical season is August to November, and today the live forecast reads 41% with conditions looking good this July. So yes or no depends on the day and the weather, which is exactly what the forecast tracks.
See the live regional forecast in the ShroomCast app.
Scale: 0-20% very low · 20-40% low · 40-60% moderate · 60-80% high · 80-100% excellent. ShroomCast forecasts fruiting probability from weather, soil, forests and years of observations – a guide, not a guarantee of finds.