The Irish Food Writing Awards Winners 2026

A press release:

The Irish Food Writing Awards took place Thursday, 22^nd October, at O’Reilly Hall, UCD. Of note this year is the number of awards won by writers from international backgrounds, who now live, eat and drink in Ireland and write about it! Erick Carillo from Mexico, Giselle Makinde from Brazil, Matej Bloksa from the Czech Republic and Roxana Manouchehri from Iran were all recognised for their contribution to writing on food from their unique perspective.

This, the sixth year of the awards, was a night of celebrating wins, but also honouring legacies. Recipient of the 2025 Outstanding Achievement award, the late Ernie Whalley was remembered, having graced the stage just a year ago. Poignantly, the first award of the evening, the Food Writing Award, was won posthumously by Corinna Hardgrave of The Irish Times and presented to her husband Steve, with tributes from awards organiser Suzanne Campbell, and praise from the award category judge Hannah Twiggs, who had made her selection before Corinna’s recent passing.

The Belfast Telegraph takes home two awards, with Gary Law winning the Beer Writing Award, and his colleague Paula McIntyre winning for the Cookery Writing Award. Connemara native and a former chair of the Irish Food Writers’ Guild, Máirín Uí Chomáin is the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award. The award was accepted on her behalf by her son Cormac Commins, following a citation by Caroline Hennessy. Creative Director and Food Writer Conor Stevens won the Restaurant Critic Award, judged by renowned critic, writer and broadcaster Jimi Famurewa.

Founded by food writer and broadcaster Suzanne Campbell, the Irish Food Writing Awards recognise excellence, insight and creativity across food writing, broadcasting, podcasting, social media and photography. The Awards acknowledge both established voices and rising talent across Ireland’s vibrant food media community.

Irish Food Writing Awards 2026 – Full Results

Thursday, 22 October 2026 | O’Reilly Hall, University College Dublin

Award Category	Winner	Publication / Work	Judge	Sponsor
Food Writing Award	Corinna Hardgrave	The Irish Times	Hannah Twiggs	Bord Bia
Irish Food or Drink Podcast Award	Janine Kennedy	Food Island	Nigel Barden	Sharon Noonan
Writing on Food Heritage and History Award	Kitty Corrigan	Essays in The Irish Kitchen	Dr Neil Buttery	Ballymaloe Foods
Writing on Irish Food Producers Award	Sylvia Thompson	The Irish Times	Dan Saladino	Certified Irish Angus
Writing on Seafood Award	Ciara Shine	Ciara’s Catch	Charlotte Pike	Glenmar Seafood
Writing on Sustainability in Irish Food and Drink Award	Dee Sewell	—	Tom Hunt	&Smyth Communications
Irish Food and Drink Magazine Award	Guzzle Magazine	Guzzle Magazine	Felicity Cloake	Butlers Chocolate
Cookbook of the Year Award	Cherie Denham, Kitty Corrigan and Andrew Montgomery	The Irish Kitchen (photography by Andrew Montgomery)	Colman Andrews	Gather + Gather Ireland
Cookery Writing Award	Paula McIntyre	Belfast Telegraph	Rebecca May Johnson	Begleys Fresh Produce
Wine Writing Award	Aoife Carrigy	—	Oz Clarke	Whelehans Wines
Beer Writing Award	Gary Law	Belfast Telegraph	Richard Croasdale	Rascals Brewery
Drinks Writing Award	Shamim de Brún	—	Tim Hayward	Powerscourt Distillery
Culinary Student Award	Charlie Ward	—	Jess Murphy and Ed Cooney	Kerrygold
Food Photography Award – Amateur	Matej Bloksa	—	Issy Croker	Odaios Foods
Food Photography Award – Professional	Monika Coghlan	—	Issy Croker	Odaios Foods
Writing on International Cuisines Award	Roxana Manouchehri	—	Sejal Sukhadwala	Not specified
Restaurant Critic Award	Conor Stevens	—	Jimi Famurewa	Not specified
Food Blog Award	El Michelin; Erick Carrillo	El Michelin	Katy Everson	Pestle + Mortar
Emerging Writer Award	Giselle Makinde	—	Charlotte Pike	Ireland’s Blue Book
Irish Food on Instagram/TikTok Award	Chris Mellon	Dublin Social	Sandy Clarke	Coole Swan
Outstanding Achievement Award	Máirín Uí Chomáin	Lifetime contribution to Irish food writing	—	James Whelan Butchers

Press reelase ends. Feel free to play a game of spotting the nominative determinism with all the people above. Buttery, Mellon, Hunt, Pike, Saladino… That’s about it tbf. Here are shots of the winners and some socials: