From chefs and cheesemakers to historians, mixologists and restaurateurs, these 26 women are helping shape Ireland's food scene right now.
Ireland’s food scene has never been more dynamic. The women shaping Irish food today aren’t confined to restaurant kitchens; they are cheesemakers, organic farmers, chocolatiers, writers, historians, mixologists and entrepreneurs at the forefront of the industry.
To mark International Women’s Day 2026, we’ve gathered 26 women in Irish food who have made a notable impact over the past year or look set for a standout 2026.
From established icons whose influence has been felt for decades to emerging voices bringing fresh energy to Irish food culture, collectively they reflect the breadth of Ireland’s modern food landscape.
Eva Pau, Business Owner and TV Chef
The second generation leading Asia Market - Ireland’s largest Asian food retailer - Eva Pau oversees retail, wholesale and distribution operations as well as restaurants like Hong Kong Wonton. Pau has also brought Asian cooking to a wider audience through her RTÉ series Eva Pau’s Asian Kitchen, which returns for a second season this month.
Hilda Crampton, Castleruddery Organic Farm
A pioneer of regenerative agriculture in Ireland, Hilda Crampton has spent more than 35 years championing organic farming. Together with partner Dominic Quin, she stewards the land at Castleruddery Organic Farm in Wicklow, where their approach prioritises hand-planting, chemical-free growing and no-dig cultivation. The result is exceptional produce that finds its way into the kitchens of many of Ireland’s leading chefs.
Jianan Liu, Chef-owner, Janet’s Dumplings
The queen of Dublin’s dumpling scene and winner of RTÉ series Takeaway Titans in 2022, Jianan (known as Janet) Liu has served thousands of her perfectly pleated parcels to hungry customers at spots like Eatyard since switching from finance to street food in 2020. Now based at the Spade Enterprise Centre, fans can order her dishes for delivery or collection, while interactive cookery classes invite food lovers to roll up their sleeves and learn the art of dumpling-making themselves.
Jess Murphy, Chef-Patron and Author
In the City of Tribes, Jess Murphy is Chieftess of the city’s Westend. Her Michelin green star-awarded restaurant Kai, set along Sea Road and which she co-owns with husband Dave, celebrates 15 years this year. One of the city’s most emblematic restaurants, Kai defines Galway’s culinary scene by putting local producers on the plate, enhanced by global inspiration. Murphy penned her long-awaited Kai cookbook as "A Love Letter to the West of Ireland" last year with 100 of her signature recipes.
Ciara Shine, Director, Shine’s Seafood
Ciara Shine is helping lead her family’s Killybegs-based seafood business into the future while carving out new routes for Irish seafood. As a director of Shine’s Seafoods, she oversees brand development and marketing for the company, which specialises in premium products, particularly tuna. In autumn 2025, she published her debut cookbook, Ciara’s Catch, bringing together recipes from her family kitchen alongside contributions from fellow seafood producers, chefs and home cooks who champion Irish seafood.
Orla Drumgoole, Content Creator and Cookbook Author
In February 2021, as Ireland emerged from another lockdown, Monaghan teacher Orla Drumgoole posted her first recipe to Instagram. Five years later, her no-fuss, traditional Irish cooking has attracted almost 390,000 followers across social media. She has now turned that online success into print with the publication of her debut book, The Irish Mammy Cooks Cookbook, released by Gill Books this year.
Stefi Fletcher, Mixologist, Bar 1661
Basel-born and Dublin-based, Stefi Fletcher has become one of the standout talents in Ireland’s cocktail scene. An anchor within the award-winning Bar 1661 team and the Sidecar at The Westbury before that, Fletcher herself is multi-award-winning, having clinched the Campari Red Hands title in 2023 and Giffard West Cup in 2024, competing on behalf of Ireland in France and Italy. Precise and creative, Stefi has earned her place among the most respected bartenders shaping Ireland’s modern cocktail culture.
Barbara Nealon, Owner, Saint Francis Provisions
Irish hospitality is as much about our engaging style of service, punctuated by wit, charm and curiosity, as it is the produce presented on the plate. Barbara Nealon speaks that language of service fluently at her modern icon, Saint Francis Provisions, in the heart of Kinsale. The Michelin Guide calls her restaurant "a jewel of the Co. Cork dining scene… where you can feel the love poured into it" and awarded her the prestigious Service Award at the 2026 UK and Ireland awards, which took place in Dublin this year. The Guide remarked that Nealon personifies "Ireland’s famously warm hospitality" with her "relaxed, personal approach".
Georgia Quealy, Chocolatier and co-owner, Bon Chocolatiers
Founded by a chef couple in Westmeath in lockdown 2020, it only took five years for Bon Chocolatiers to rise through the ranks and clinch the highest prize at the equivalent of the Oscars for Irish producers. Georgia Quealy, alongside partner in life and business Daniel Linehan, scooped not only Best New Product and Best in Leinster at 2025’s Blas na hÉireann awards but also Supreme Champion, the highest scoring product of the year from over 3,000 entries. Along with running her own company, Georgia embraced another role within the last year, welcoming the couple’s first child, Fía.
Nell McCarthy, Chef, Dede**
A two-time Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year finalist, 23-year-old Nell McCarthy is one of the most promising young female chefs in Ireland. Chef Ahmet Dede mentored the young Kilcoe-born chef through the national competition in both 2024 and 2025, and Nell is central to his two Michelin-starred kitchen in Baltimore. Working at the sharpest end of Ireland’s fine dining scene, in a restaurant within touching distance of a third star, McCarthy is already emerging as one of the most exciting talents in Ireland’s next generation of chefs.
Paula McIntyre MBE, Broadcaster, Chef and Author
Chef, author and broadcaster Paula McIntyre is one of Northern Ireland’s most recognisable food voices. Awarded an MBE for her services to food and hospitality, she now also leads the Irish Food Writers’ Guild as chairperson, representing more than 75 food and drink writers across the island. Recently, she has also ventured into drinks, collaborating with Bushmills-based Basalt Distillery on her own rum and gin.
Maggie Roche, Chef-owner Little Acorn, TV Chef
Bringing a fine dining background to Little Acorn, her casual Baltinglass cafe, there’s a quality, provenance and care to Maggie Roche’s menu, which spotlights a lot of local west Wicklow produce like Coolattin Cheddar and Castleruddery organic veg. The multi-award-winning cafe celebrated five years in business late last year, having opened in the midst of the pandemic. Roche is also a staple in the RTÉ Today kitchen as well as being the resident chef at Iora, the dining and private catering arm of Ballybeg House in Wicklow.
Aisling Flanagan, Owner, Velvet Cloud
Just over a decade ago, Aisling Flanagan and her husband, Michael, started making sheep’s milk yoghurt and cheese. While the Flanagan family had been farming the land outside Claremorris in Co. Mayo for generations, the enterprising couple spotted a gap in the market for a more digestible dairy product with a higher nutritional value, when compared with cow’s milk. Today, their Velvet Cloud products are cherished by the best chefs in the country, regularly appearing on menus from casual cafes to Michelin-starred spots.
Alex O’Neill, Food Writer and Kaldero Restaurateur
Alex O’Neill helped weave Filipino flavours firmly into Ireland’s food landscape. Having built Bahay into one of the country’s most beloved street food operations, she and partner Richie Castillo stepped into full restaurateur mode in 2025, reimagining Kaldero on Dublin’s South King Street. Alongside this, O’Neill continues to write about food as culture for Image Magazine, winning two prizes at the Irish Food Writing Awards last year: Emerging Voice and Writing on International Cuisines.
Kristin Reagon, Head Chef, Lasair at Finn Lough Resort
South African-born chef Kristin Reagon leads an all-female kitchen as Head Chef of Lasair at Finn Lough Resort in the Fermanagh Lakelands. Her menu focuses on flavour-led sharing plates with global influences, organised by taste profiles such as salty, floral, bitter and umami. April will see Reagon step into the small screen spotlight when she competes in the Northern Ireland heat of Great British Menu on BBC Two.
Sinéad Germaine Smyth, Wine specialist and educator
Few people can demystify wine like Sinéad Smyth. An expert on the wine regions of Champagne, Spain and the Canary Islands, Smyth cuts through the snobbiness and technical jargon associated with wine communication and makes wine appreciation and education simple, fun and engaging. As well as leading Wine & Spirit Women, a grassroots collective of women in the drinks industry in Ireland, as Chairperson, Finglas-born Sinéad also whisks visitors and locals alike around Dublin city as a guide for Delicious Dublin Tours.
Tara Gartlan, Chocolatier and Pastry Chef
Putting Monaghan on the map, one delectable, hand-painted chocolate at a time, Tara Gartlan brings Michelin-starred pastry chef experience to her award-winning, eponymous chocolate brand. What’s even more special is everything she produces is gluten-free, from brown butter cakes and salted caramel brownies to bon bons and nutty rochers, as well as seasonal products like Easter Eggs.
Eman Alkarajeh, Co-owner, Izz Cafe
Palestinian couple Eman and Izzeddeen Alkarajeh arrived in Ireland a decade ago with their four children and, after navigating the Direct Provision system, settled in Cork. Encouraged by Darina Allen, they began cooking at Mahon Point Farmers’ Market before opening their much-loved cafe, Izz, in 2019. In 2025, Eman added author to her achievements with Jibrin, part of the Blasta Books series celebrating emerging and underrepresented voices in Irish food.
Funké Egberongbe, Chef-owner, Funké
Funké, an Afro-Caribbean restaurant in Sligo, was a dream almost 20 years in the making for Nigerian-born Funké Egberongbe. A self-taught cook and entrepreneur who has called Ireland home since 2005, her restaurant on Grattan Street opened in late 2023. Her jollof sauce has also been turned into a product, available on selected supermarket shelves and also directly ordered from her site.
Melissa McCabe and Roisin McCaffrey, Chef co-owners, Feast
A pair of enterprising chefs with different backgrounds in kitchens and street food, Melissa McCabe and Roisin McCaffrey cleverly joined forces to open Feast in Rostrevor, overlooking Carlingford Lough, in late 2024. In 18 months, they have won legions of loyal fans and critical acclaim for their signature bakes and elevated comfort food dishes, with travel writers John and Sally McKenna even awarding their chowder the best in Ireland last year.
Santina Kennedy, Food Consultant and Food Tourism Specialist
Few bring Irish food and culture to life like Santina Kennedy, a food consultant and food tourism strategist based in Wicklow. With a grá for Irish produce and producer underpinning everything she does, from guided tours and storytelling talks to immersive dining events, her unique approach puts Irish food and culture on various stages to shine a light on our little island. A rising figure in Irish food-led tourism, she was awarded Producer’s Champion 2025 by Blas na hÉireann, an accolade voted for by producers themselves.
Anna Darling Hevers, Private Chef
Kinsale-based chef Anna Darling is a rising talent to watch. Formerly Aishling Moore’s right hand in the kitchen at Goldie and a Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year finalist in 2024, she is striking out on her own in 2026 with private dining and workshops celebrating West Cork produce. For a chef already respected within the industry, 2026 looks set to be her breakout moment.
Eunice Power, Restaurateur, TV Chef, Festival Director
The dame of the Déise, Eunice Power is a force of the Waterford food scene. Not only director of the Waterford Festival of Food and proprietor of the contemporary chipper AndChips, Eunice has spent decades at the top of the catering industry. A passionate supporter of local produce and a regular in the kitchen on RTÉ’s Today show, 2025 saw the long-awaited publication of her debut cookbook, My Irish Kitchen Table.
Ali Honour, Chef-restaurateur, Author, Activist
Trends come and go, and while beans may be "big for 2026", Cork-based chef and restaurateur Ali Honour believes beans are much more than an ingredient, rather a backbone of a better way to eat. From skin to stalk, tinned to dried, and root-to-tip, beans anchor her food manifesto for a "pulse-powered future", and legumes provide the bulk of her debut book, simply titled Beans, published in January 2026 as part of the award-winning Blasta Books series.
Siobhan Ni Ghairbith, Cheesemaker, St. Tola Irish Goat Cheese
Set in the beautiful, bucolic Burren, St Tola has gone from humble goatherd beginnings in the early 1980s to becoming a force in Irish food today. Owned by Siobhán Ní Ghairbhith, the range spans from soft to hard cheeses; logs to crottins, Greek-style to Divine cream cheese. Late last year, her signature Karst, a soft-ashed, grey-wrinkled raw milk log reminiscent of the Burren’s karst landscape, won Best Irish Cheese at the World Cheese Awards and a Super Gold status, which only 1-2% of entries achieved.
Dr Christina Wade, Beer Historian and Author
Dr Christina Wade is a beer historian specialising in the hidden histories of the brewing trade, particularly the unique role women have played across centuries. A well-known beer writer, Beer Ladies podcaster, speaker and judge, Wade has authored two books in the last two years: The Devil's in the Draught Lines in 2024, tracing the role of women in Britain’s brewing industry, and Filthy Queens: A History of Beer in Ireland in 2025, winner of an Irish Food Writing Award the same year.
