Ireland’s family farming heritage holds crucial elements of rural sustainability – established networks of social support; cultural traditions resourcing ethno-industries such as tourism and  draft; and localised human-ecological knowledge important for environmental custodianship. The ‘small, not multinational’ symbolic value of family farming is strategically used to authenticate the ‘brand-centred, consumer focused’ marketing ‘story’ of Irish food and drink internationally (Food Harvest 2020), as well as other rural products and services. Family farming is an institution that is particularly enduring in the Irish countryside and this article presents insights from recent Teagasc sociology research on the resilience strategies of family farms. What are the characteristics of these strategies, which have achieved extraordinary resilience throughout periods of intense change and challenge? A fundamental component of Ireland’s agri-food industry, there is a clear argument for paying closer attention to the adaptive strategies of family farmers, and for policy and extension to engage with and develop these strategies in furthering the sustainability of Irish agriculture. A range of sociology projects led by Teagasc, including projects on collaborative ventures, gender specific issues in agriculture, and farmers’ technology and business decision-making, all shed light on the make-up of family farm resilience strategies.