About

Hi there! I’m Donal, a self taught home cook who writes and photographs food for a living. I’ve been cooking from an early age and inspired by a family of foodies, food quickly became a way of life. During my teens I worked with my aunt Erica Ryan, one of Ireland’s top food stylists, and got the chance to work alongside some of Ireland’s top food photographers including Jocasta Clarke and Walter Pfeiffer.

After a brief stint in a restaurant on an island off the west coast of Sweden, I came back to Ireland full of ideas and ready start my very own food blog, thegoodmoodfoodblog.com where I wrote about my food adventures and recipes. After only 6 months blogging, I was approached by Irish Publishing house, Mercier Press to write a cookbook based around the recipes on the blog.

Good Mood Food was released in October 2009 and received fantastic reviews from editor of Food & Wine magazine, – Ross Golden-Bannon – “Good Mood Food is a new breed of cookbook that springs from the talent of a passionate home cook. A truly scrumptious read.”, Paulo Tulio – “At last… Simple, easy recipes that are healthy and interesting. Donal Skehan’s book reclaims good food from the convenience of supermarket shelves and puts it back where it belongs – in the domestic kitchen.” and RTE.ie, “Ireland’s answer to Jamie Oliver”.

The success of the book lead on to the world of TV and radio appearances which include Ireland AM, The Afternoon Show, ICE, Nationwide and Market Kitchen in the UK, The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show and The Tubridy Show.

In March 2010, I was asked to fly to Paris to cater for 700 people at an event called Vielle Foodstock organised by Parisien magazine, Le Fooding sponsored by Bord Bia and Jameson Whiskey. The event was a huge success and was widely covered in the French media. The same week I flew back to Ireland just in time to win the award for Best Food/Drink Blog at the Irish Blog Awards in Galway. Phew that’s a lot to take in right?!

My brand new book Kitchen Hero was released in March 2011 and a the 13 part television series which accompanies it airs in May 2011.  I write a regular column for the Irish Independent Weekend Magazine and a weekly column in The Cork News.

Stick around, have a cupcake or two, because we have so much more to cook!