Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire is an Irish lecturer and professional

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

. He was awarded Ireland's first PhD on

food history Food history is an interdisciplinary field that examines the history and the cultural, economic, environmental, and sociological impacts of food and human nutrition. It is considered distinct from the more traditional field of culinary history, w ...

, in October 2009.

Life

A native of

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

, he attended Coláiste Eoin secondary school in Stillorgan finishing his Leaving Cert in 1986. He went on to UCD where he spent one academic year. In that time, Mac Con Iomaire was a keen member of UCD Boxing club. In his college summers, he worked on Cape Cod in the famous Kennedy Compound.

Education

Mac Con Iomaire trained at

Dublin Institute of Technology Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT, ) was a major third-level institution in Dublin, Ireland. On 1 January 2019 DIT was dissolved and its functions were transferred to the Technological University Dublin, as TU Dublin City Campus. The insti ...

, Cathal Brugha Street. From there, he began working in Dublin restaurants specialising in haute cuisine. He was the first Irish chef to earn a PhD for his Oral History of Dublin Restaurants 1900–2000 titled 'The Emergence, Development and Influence of French Haute Cuisine on Public Dining in Dublin Restaurants 1900–2000: An Oral History'.

Career

Mac Con Iomaire is well known as an award-winning chef, culinary historian, food writer, broadcaster and ballad singer. A native Irish speaker, he has presented two six-part series of cookery programmes 'Aingeal sa Chistin' for TG4, and has featured on numerous other food-related radio and television programmes for RTÉ, TV3, Radio na Gaeltachta, and Canvas TV (Belgium). Since 1999 he is a lecturer at the School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology,

Technological University Dublin Technological University Dublin () or TU Dublin is Ireland's first technological university. It was established on 1 January 2019, with a history going back to 1887 through the amalgamated Dublin Institute of Technology which progressed from t ...

(formerly

), where he now chairs the first MA in Gastronomy and

Food Studies Food studies is the critical examination of food and its contexts within science, art, history, society, and other fields. It is distinctive from other food-related areas of study such as nutrition, agriculture, gastronomy, and culinary arts in tha ...

in Ireland. Along with his Ph.D. candidates, Mac Con Iomaire is building a research cluster around Ireland’s culinary past and heritage. In 2012 he chaired the inaugura
Dublin Gastronomy Symposium
in the School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology, DIT, Cathal Brugha Street, bringing together a hundred food lovers to discuss all things food. A total of 30 papers were delivered by Irish and International speakers. Together with Dr Dorothy Cashman (independent scholar) and Dr Michelle Share (

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

), he is co-founder and editor of the ''European Journal of Food, Drink, and Society''. The journal aims to stimulate debate and progress research on the study of food and drink at global and local levels.The first edition of the journal was published in early 2021. In December 2021, the

Irish Research Council The Irish Research Council () was an associate agency of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, under the aegis of the Higher Education Authority. In November 2023, Simon Harris, the Minister for Fu ...

awarded Dr Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire a Research Ally Prize as part of the IRC Researcher of the Year 2021 awards. This new national award category, the Research Ally Prizes celebrate the role of supervisors, mentors, and research officers in supporting and sustaining the Irish research community, and how they help to foster a positive academic culture based on equality, inclusivity, and respect.

Oxford

Mac Con Iomaire is a regular contributor at the

Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery The Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery is an annual weekend conference at which academics, food writers, cooks, and others with an interest in food and culture meet to discuss current issues in food studies and food history. Overview The Sympo ...

and in 2010 designed and produced th
Gala Irish Banquet
along with Pádraig Óg Gallagher, Pauline Danaher, and Dave Power for over two hundred of the world's leading chefs, food writers, culinary historians, academics, scientists, and general

foodie A foodie is a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food, and who eats food not only out of hunger but also as a hobby. The related terms "gastronome" and "gourmet" define roughly the same thing, i.e. a person who enjoys food for pleasur ...

Publications

Books

*Mac Con Iomaire, M. and Maher, E., eds. (2014). ''Tickling the Palate: Gastronomy in Irish Literature and Culture''. Oxford: Peter Lang.

Articles

* Mac Con Iomaire, M. (2018).
Recognizing food as part of Ireland’s intangible cultural heritage
. ''Folk Life,'' 56 (2), pp. 93–115. DOI: 10.1080/04308778.2018.1502402 * Healy, J.J. and Máírtín Mac Con Iomaire, M. (2018).
Calculating restaurant failure rates using longitudinal census data
. ''Journal of Culinary Science & Technology.'' DOI: 10.1080/15428052.2018.1459999 * Keating, M. and Mac Con Iomaire, M. (2018).
Tradition and novelty: food representations in Irish Women’s magazines 1922–73
. ''Food, Culture & Society'' 21 (4), pp. 488–504. DOI: 10.1080/15528014.2018.1480642 * Allen, H. and Mac Con Iomaire, M. (2017).
Secrets of a Head Chef: Exploring Factors Influencing Success in Irish Kitchens
. J''ournal of Culinary Science & Technology'' 15 (3), pp. 187–222. DOI: 10.1080/15428052.2016.1225538 * Mac Con Iomaire, M. (2016).
Food on the Edge: The future of food is a sustainable future
. ''Research in Hospitality Management'', 6 (1), pp. 107–111. DOI: 10.2989/RHM.2016.6.1.15.1303 * Allen, H. and Mac Con Iomaire, M. (2016).
"Against all odds”: Head chefs profiled
. ''Journal of Culinary Science & Technology'' 14 (2), pp. 107–135. DOI: 10.1080/15428052.2015.1080645 * Mac Con Iomaire, M. (2011).
The Changing Geography and Fortunes of Dublin's Haute Cuisine Restaurants, 1958–2008
. ''Food, Culture & Society'' 14 (4), pp. 525–545, DOI: 10.2752/175174411X13088262162631 * Mac Con Iomaire, M. and Óg Gallagher, P. (2011).
Irish Corned Beef: A Culinary History
. ''Journal of Culinary Science & Technology'' 9 (1), pp. 27–43, DOI: 10.1080/15428052.2011.558464 * Mac Con Iomaire, M. and Óg Gallagher, P. (2009).
The Potato in Irish Cuisine and Culture
. ''Journal of Culinary Science & Technology'' 7 (2-3), pp. 152–167. DOI: 10.1080/15428050903313457 * Mac Con Iomaire, M. (2008).
Understanding the Heat—Mentoring: A Model for Nurturing Culinary Talent
. ''Journal of Culinary Science & Technology,'' 6 (1), pp. 43–62. DOI: 10.1080/15428050701884196

Sports

Mac Con Iomaire is also a keen sportsman and coach of juvenile

camogie Camogie ( ; ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game "hurling" (which is played by men only), it is organised ...

and ladies'

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams at th
Na Fianna GAA club
in

Glasnevin Glasnevin (, also known as ''Glas Naedhe'', meaning "stream of O'Naeidhe" after a local stream and an ancient chieftain) is a neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the River Tolka. While primarily residential, Glasnevin is also home to ...

where his daughters play.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Con Iomaire, Mairtin Irish chefs Academics of Dublin Institute of Technology People from County Dublin Living people Food historians 21st-century Irish people Year of birth missing (living people)