New role for Cork’s champion of Irish food

UNIVERSITY College Cork has appointed Dr Darina Allen, of Ballymaloe Cookery School fame, as Adjunct Professor to Adult Continuing Education and the Department of Folklore and Ethnology.

Through her food education programmes, writing, cookery books, television work, and ongoing food activism, Darina has revised and revitalised the ways in which we view, understand, and value Irish food.

As a champion of Irish food and Irish food culture for over 40 years, she has raised the profile and reputation of Irish food at home and throughout the world and has been a guiding light in learning to value Irish produce as some of the best the world can produce.

Darina’s extensive food knowledge and her in-depth understanding of the Irish food system will be of invaluable benefit to UCC’S MA in Food Studies and Irish Foodways and the students who undertake the programme.

Speaking of her appointment, Director of Adult Continuing Education, Dr Séamus Ó Tuama, said: “Darina is one of Ireland’s most esteemed food advocates. Her experience and work at grassroots level with food production and industry provides new and fresh inspiration and direction to guide our students on the MA in Food Studies and Irish Foodways.

Her advice and her sharing of her well-informed and on-the-pulse knowledge enables Adult Continuing Education to be best-positioned in aligning our MA programme with future food trends and industry needs.

To mark Darina’s appointment, University College Cork will host her inaugural lecture on Wednesday, June 5, from 6.30-8 pm, titled Do We Know the Story Behind the Food We Eat?

This year also marks the 100th birthday of Myrtle Allen and the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Yeats Room in Ballymaloe House.

After Darina’s lecture, a panel discussion of the contribution of Myrtle to Irish food and cooking with take place with Rory O’Connell, of Ballymaloe Cookery School; Wendy Whelan, Ballymaloe House, and Ballymaloe House Head Chef, Dervilla, O’Flynn.

In response to her appointment, Darina said: “I am honoured to be appointed as Adjunct Professor to UCC’s food studies programme. Food education has been at the heart of my work in both formal and informal settings for over 40 years. The cookery school provides students with essential life skills to choose and control how they build relationships with food and food producers.

“It is very encouraging to see that academic institutions are beginning to realise the crucial role food education plays in the health of students plus safeguarding the wellbeing of people and the planet as we face into a future of uncertainty.

“Our energy, vitality, and ability to concentrate and achieve is influenced by the food we eat. 

How wonderful would it be for UCC to lead the way with an organic food campus? Informed and powerful education results are best produced by combining the academic with the practical, and I am eager to contribute such insights to UCC’s Master’s programme and I hope that this reciprocal relationship will be of benefit to both our institutions.

The appointment will align to UCC’s MA, which has been running since 2019 and it has seen successive cohorts of students expand and professionalise their knowledge of economic, political, social, and cultural aspects of Irish food and food production.

Speaking of the unique nature of the MA in Food Studies and Irish Foodways, Programme Manager Regina Sexton says, the university took a unique approach in designing this food studies programme.

“As an emerging field of academic interest, food studies programmes are increasing in education institutions in the global north, but most spread the net very wide in attempting to explore food in a very general or global sense without delving deep into the intricacies of local and domestic aspects of food and food production.”

The UCC programme provides an in-depth analysis of Irish food culture by exploring how the Irish food system works; analysing the environmental dimensions of food production in Ireland; examining aspects of nutrition and health, alongside providing a deep exploration of Irish food history, folklore, tradition, and heritage.

The event, including Darina Allen’s inaugural lecture and the panel discussion, is a free event open to the public, but spaces are limited. Book your spot via Eventbrite.