Women are making it to the top in an industry dominated by men, here are our female food champions who are blazing a trail in Ireland’s kitchens.

Clare Smyth

Northern Ireland native Clare Smyth, is the first female chef to run a restaurant with three Michelin stars in Britain and just one of seven women in the world with this prestigious accolade. In 2002, Clare joined Restaurant Gordon Ramsay working her way up to Senior Sous Chef before embarking on her journey to enhance her culinary expertise. Clare worked in Monte Carlo with Alain Ducasse’s Le Louis XV for two years and then returned to Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in 2007 as Head Chef. In 2012, Clare was appointed Chef Patron and the following year she was awarded anMBE for Honour services to the hospitality industry. Since opening her own restaurant Core in 2017, she has received numerous awards including the World’s Best Female Chef Award by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, a perfect 10/10 score in the Good Food Guide, the best restaurant at the GQ Food and Drink Awards and many more. She also found time to cater Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018.

Known for her unique dishes with simple ingredients, one of Clare’s signature dishes at Core has been the Charlotte spud, a slow-cooked potato marinated in butter and seaweed. 

Visit corebyclaresmyth.com.

Catherine Fulvio

Chef, author and television presenter, Catherine Fulvio, attributes her appreciation of locally sourced ingredients and sustainable food production to growing up on a working farm, Ballyknocken in Ireland. But the farmer's daughter has a love of all things Italian, authoring numerous books, recipes and television programmes on the subject. She even married an Italian (her husband is from Sicily). Catherine has an inherent knowledge and appreciation of food and artisan ingredients. She is the founder of Ballyknocken House & Cookery School in Wicklow, where she cooks and teaches. During the pandemic she launched online courses so she could continue to teach and cook alongside students. She is an award-winning author of six cookbooks and is a regular on our television screens. She is currently hosting a new RTÉ  show Catherine Celebrates, having presented her long running series ‘Tastes Like Home’ and co-presented ‘Lords and Ladles’, including numerous others over the years.

Visit ballyknocken.ie.

Anna Haugh 

London-based Anna Haugh was born in Tallaght and is the chef proprietor of Myrtle Restaurant, named after her food hero, the late Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe House. Anna first started her career in l'Ecrivain in Dublin with Michelin star chef Derry Clarke before venturing to London. There she worked with notable chefs such as Philip Howard, Shane Osborne and Gordon Ramsay and was previously Head Chef at Bob Bob Ricard in Soho. Anna helped launch Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant London House in Battersea, where she created her own menus, garnering three AA rosettes within her first year. Myrtle, Anna’s first solo venture, is in affluent Chelsea and offers modern European cooking while using the finest Irish produce. Anna won the Best International Chef at the 2019 FOOD&WINE Awards. Her TV work includes last year’s revival of the BBC’s Ready, Steady, Cook alongside Rylan Clarke-Neal and in 2021 Anna appeared on MasterChef as a guest judge. 

Visit myrtlerestaurant.com.

Jess Murphy 

Born in New Zealand, award-winning chef and food writer Jess Murphy has been working and living in Ireland since 2003. Jess and husband David Murphy opened the doors to their restaurant Kai, in Galway, in 2011 with a simple formula, ‘high-quality produce, preferably organic or wild, sourced locally and cooked intelligently’.  Kai holds multiple awards including a Bib Gourmand from the Michelin Guide,  Best Chef in Connaught at the Restaurant Association of Ireland awards. She was also named Blas na hÉireann Producers’ Champion in 2019.  Her writing contributions have appeared in The Irish Times, The Business Post, FOOD&WINE Magazine among others.  Jess also spends time campaigning for others. Working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Beirut and Jordan, she travelled to Lebanon, where she visited a family, set to be resettled to Ireland. She also campaigns for and works on food initiatives for people in direct provision. 

Visit ​​kairestaurant.ie.

Darina Allen

Darina Allen and her daughter in law Rachel are the driving force behind the extremely successful Ballymaloe Cookery School, which Darina and her brother, Rory O’Connell established in 1983. Darina is one of Ireland’s best-known chefs, best-selling authors and TV personalities, having published over 10 books and presented nine series of her cookery programme ‘Simply Delicious’ on Irish television. Darina is a passionate teacher, winning multiple prestigious awards like Good Food Ireland’s Cookery School of the Year and the José Navarro Foundation Award at the Green Awards. An Irish produce enthusiast, Darina has played a key role in setting up the Farmer’s Market Movement in Ireland (she chairs the Midleton Farmers Market) and a champion of the Slow Food Movement - she is President of East Cork Convivium of Slow Food. She was also named one of Blas na hÉireann 2020 Producers’ Champions. 

Visit cookingisfun.ie

Rachel Allen

Chef, author, teacher and television presenter, Rachel Allen is one of the talented trio of lecturers at Ballymaloe Cookery School along with Darina Allen and Rory O’Connell. Rachel attended Ballymaloe Cookery School herself, aged 18, and after graduating she spent some time working at Ballymaloe House Hotel. Afterwards, Rachel returned to Ballymaloe Cookery School to teach alongside her mother-in-law, Darina. In 2004, she published her first book and presented her own RTÉ series of the same name,  ‘Rachel's Favourite Food’. Since then she has sold 1 million copies of her books and her television shows have been shown in 27 different countries worldwide. Her popularity extends to Australia, Canada and Europe and she frequently appears on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen. Her book Easy Meals won an Irish Book Award.

Cooking and teaching are deeply-held passions and in 2020, Darina Allen, Rory O’Connell and Rachel Allen were voted Blas na hÉireann 2020 Producers’ Champions, an accolade that celebrates people who promote and support Irish food. 

Visit cookingisfun.ie.

Clodagh McKenna

Chef, author, entrepreneur and television presenter, Clodagh McKenna is the author of eight cookbooks, including most recently ‘Clodagh’s Suppers’ and ‘Clodagh’s Weeknight Kitchen’. 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 for three years.  Currently based in Britain, Clodagh lives at Hampshire's Broadspear House, a 300-year-old cottage on the grounds of Highclere Park (the setting of Downton Abbey) with her fiance , - the Queen's godson Harry Herbert. The grounds and their two dogs Alfie and Nolly regularly appear on her resident chef segment on ITV’s This Morning. She also regularly appears on The Marilyn Denis Show in Canada and The Today Show in the US. She writes on  all things food, lifestyle and travel for a range of publications. Clodagh is also well-known for her style and impressive tablescapes and this year launched her online store for kitchen essentials and curated items. On the website, Clodagh gives readers a comprehensive step-by-step on how to create the perfect table, whatever the occasion. Her forthcoming book In Minutes is available for pre-order.

Visit clodaghmckenna.com

Danni Barry

Ireland's only female Michelin star chef and multiple award winner (including being crowned Ireland’s Best Chef), Danni Barry began working in a professional kitchen at the age of 14. She embarked on her travels around South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Europe working in high-end restaurants and gaining priceless experience and knowledge about cooking and the industry. Danni worked for Simon Rogan at l’Enclume in Cumbria, one of the top restaurants in Britain before being appointed Head Chef of Rogan & Co in the pretty village of Cartmel in the Lake District where she stayed for two years. Danni joined Michael Deane’s team at Eipic in Belfast in 2014 and after only one year, landed a Michelin star. Danni has since begun a new venture. The Wicklow Escape (formerly The Elbowroom Escape), owned by Lisa Wilkinson with Danni Barry as Executive Chef, has opened its doors offering 2-night/3-day staycations in the exclusive lodge. It blends rustic luxury with sumptuous food, against the stunning backdrop of the Wicklow mountains and surrounding countryside. 

Visit thewicklowescape.com

Lorraine Heskin

Lorraine Heskin, a Galway native and the woman behind Gourmet Food Parlour and Gourmet Gifts is celebrating a huge milestone for her business this month. Celebrating 15 years in business is a huge achievement for the restaurant group, having navigated its way through the pandemic, Gourmet Food Parlour has six locations nationwide, five across Dublin and one in Salthill in Galway.Lorraine studied at the University of Limerick before heading off to New York for three years, working in a diverse range of food businesses and on returning to Dublin, she opened the first restaurant in Dun Laoghaire in 2006. The restaurant group offers great dishes inspired by Lorraine’s time working in the food industry in New York City, taking NYC dining trends and fusing them with Irish produce to make for a dining experience to remember. During the pandemic, Lorraine and her fantastic team quickly pivoted offering home delivery and takeaway services. Lorraine also launched Gourmet Gifts, an artisan gifting service which offers ready-made and bespoke food, wine and homeware selections.  

Visi gourmetfoodparlour.com.

Food Entrepreneurs

Grainne Mullins, Chef and Proprietor, Grá Chocolates 

Grainne is an accomplished pastry chef named Euro-Toques Ireland Young Chef of the Year in 2019 and is the founder and head chef of Grá Chocolates. Grainne is also currently working at Jess Murphy's Kai in Galway, where her cakes and pastries are included on their famous cake menu.

Elaine Murphy, Restaurateur 

Elaine Murphy is a serial restaurateur behind some of Dublin's most outstanding eateries, including The Winding Stair, The Woollen Mills, The Yarn pizzeria, The Washerwoman and now The Legal Eagle Gastropub. Elaine is very passionate about food and bringing unique recipes and cuisine to life in her different restaurants.

Derval O’Rourke

Derval O’Rourke, who was originally known as a sprint hurdles athlete, has garnered success in the food industry in recent years. Derval released a book called Food for the Fast Lane. Derval is now a best-selling author and fitness coach. She has created an online community called Derval.ie, where she shares nutritious recipes, healthy meal plans and fitness tips.

Rozanna Purcell 

Rozanna Purcell is the former Miss Universe turned foodie who is a best-selling cookery author and entrepreneur. Rozanna currently runs her food blog, which she started in 2013 called Natural Born Feeder, which provides simple and healthy recipes. Rozanna has written three cookery books and has collaborated with the founder of The Happy Pear Company to promote healthy eating. 

Georgina Campbell, Georgina Campbell Guides

Georgina Campbell is the owner of the well-known Georgina Campbell Guides, a family-run hospitality guide and cookbook publisher specializing in Irish food, hospitality, and tourism. Georgina runs Ireland's leading independent hospitality guide, which she established in 1997. Georgina is Ireland's leading food and hospitality writer.

Ellie Kisyombe, Ellie’s Kitchen Home Edition 

Ellie Kisyombe arrived in Ireland from Malawi in 2010 and spent several years living in Direct Provision. In 2015 Ellie partnered with Michelle Darmody to create Our Table, a non-profit organisation that helps asylum seekers to meet, work, cook and receive catering industry training. Additionally, Ellie has created her own company called Ellie’s Kitchen Home Edition, which sells her condiments and sauces.

Ruth Hughes & Sarah Ferguson, Kellogg's

Last year Sarah took the lead at Kellogg's Ireland replacing Ruth Hughes, who stepped into the role of general manager for Kellogg's Nordics, Central and Eastern Europe and Mediterranean markets based out of Dublin. Top women.

Iseult Ward & Aoibheann O’Brien

This dynamic duo's enterprise has redistributed tens of thousands of tonnes of food every year to provide meals to those who need them, while also reducing waste. Enterprise with a heart.

Siobhan Talbot

Glanbia Siobhan is Group Managing Director at Ireland's largest food company. Glanbia, a global nutrition company, has over 5000 employees in over 32 countries worldwide.

Róisín Hennerty

Ornua Global Foods Division 1he managing director of the Ornua Global Foods Division, was responsible for the Kerrygold brand exceeding one billion in annual sales. She was also named the 2020 Irish Times Businessperson of the Year.