13 Amazing Women Making Waves In The Irish Food Industry

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Considering today is International Women’s Day, we thought we’d celebrate some of the best women in the Irish Food Industry. We’ve got chefs, athletes, writers and entrepreneurs on the list, and they’re all women who are flourishing in an otherwise male-dominated field. Today in particular we raise a glass of bubbly to you ladies, keep up the good work!

Siobhan Talbot

Siobhan is the Managing Director of the Glanbia Group, and is one of the few female board directors of an Irish listed company. She is part of Ireland’s largest food company that employs over 5,000 people worldwide, which is no mean feat!

Darina Allen & Rachel Allen

Darina, and her daughter in law Rachel are the driving force behind the extremely successful
Ballymaloe Cookery School. They’ve both published numerous books, and are seen as real wholesome foodies in Ireland.

Daniella Moyles

As the daughter of a chef, Daniella is no stranger to food and has had a great interest in it from a young age. She is the brain behind
The Breakfast Club at Yogism in the George’s Street Arcade where you can get heaps of healthy offerings like buckwheat pancakes, chia seed porridge and matcha lattés with almond milk all day long.

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Derval O’Rourke

Originally know for her success as a sprint hurdles athlete, Derval, is now focusing on the food side of things. After devising a nutritionally balanced training menu, she gained endless amounts of energy and a better ability to focus, both on and off the track. Her book “Food For The Fast Lane” was published last September, and she reveals the recipes that helped her reach her professional goals so is well worth the read!

Clodagh McKenna

Having studied in France and New York, Clodagh then trained as a chef at Ballymaloe Cookery School, before working as a chef in Ballymaloe House in Cork for three years. She’s an excellent writer and contributes to loads of Irish publications, and has just brought out a brand new book called
Clodagh’s Irish Kitchen.

clodaghs irish kitchen cook book available to order here

Peaches Kemp and Domini Kemp

Way back in 1999 the Kemp sisters opened the first hugely popular itsa Bagel on Abbey Street, Fast forward fifteen years and they now have 11 different outlets including itsa at The Irish Museum of Modern Art, and an itsa café in Sandymount. The sisters are also doing catering in Dubh Linn tea rooms in Dublin Castle and the Café in the National Gallery of Ireland, so we don’t know how they even find time to think!
Their most recent venture is a healthy food café in BT2 called Alchemy, which we’re massive fans of.

Rozanna Purcell

Former Miss Universe is now focusing on all things foodie, through her blog
Natural Born Feeder, as well as doing a few bits and bobs with the Happy Pear guys. Her blog provides simple, low fat recipes that are insanely tasty so definitely check them out!

Grainne O’Keefe

This young lady hailing from Blanchardstown studied at DIT Cathal Brugha St and is now Senior Sous Chef in
Pichet Restaurant where she can be seen whipping up some of the tastiest and most skillful dishes you’ll find in the capital every night of the week.

Katie Sanderson

Born in Hong Kong, Katie attended the Ballymaloe School when she was only 17 years old, and her work has centred around food ever since. She’s extremely creative, and this comes through in her food. A member of the Fumbally Co-Operative, and curator of Living Dinners, she is a big fan of inventing experiences which can never be recreated again – a Happening, if you will. One such Happening took place last Summer over 40 sell out nights, when herself and her cooking partner Jasper O’Connor curated The Dilisk Food Project in a converted boat shed on the shoreline in Connemara, and we’re looking forward to see what her next project will be!

Erika Doolan

Erika is a Nutrition practitioner, fitness coach, and writer. She created Rustic Stone Restaurant’s Raw Menu with alongside Dylan McGrath, and the menus is based on using raw food ingredients in a way that enhance and complement the dishes’ flavour and nutritional value. She’s a massive advocate of healthy eating, and sees the direct correlation between a good diet and a clean bill of health.

Iseult Ward

Iseult a Business and Economics graduate of Trinity, in the class of 2013. Her startup
FoodCloud specialises in preventing food waste through charity, and collects unwanted food from supermarkets across the city before redistributing it to charities. Extremely inspiring stuff!