The Culinary Celt is Cork’s Solo Businesswoman of the Year
Cathy Fitzgibbon, aka The Culinary Celt, who hails from Castlekevin near Killavullen, was one of nine women to be honoured at the Network Ireland Cork Branch Businesswoman of the Year Awards 2022.
The Culinary Celt is a brand born in 2018 as a creative outlet to promote the areas of sustainability and wellbeing through Cathy’s food writing contributions and educating consumers in terms of embracing more mindful food-related lifestyles that work in harmony with our natural environment resources.
On Friday, May 27, Cathy was named the Solo Businesswoman of the Year, sponsored by Ardin Career Development at the annual awards ceremony held at Fota Island Resort.
“It was a bit of a shock really, but it was a great evening. It was really well attended and it was the first in-person event since Covid so everybody was really excited to be able to celebrate in person again.
“Winning the award amongst an amazing network of peers in this category and recognition for my work in food education means the world to me,” Cathy told The Avondhu.
The eight winners, honoured on Friday for their professional achievements, were chosen from 31 finalists and were announced at the Network Ireland Cork Branch’s annual blacktie dinner and winners will now proceed to the national awards ceremony in Galway in October.
“The award I got was in relation to The Culinary Celt and my work in relation to food education. It was lovely to get that validation as I had spent so much time working on my book ‘Eat With The Seasons’,” Cathy added.
MAGIC OF THE COUNTRYSIDE
Cathy’s debut book was released earlier this year and was researched and written during the lockdown.
‘Eat With The Seasons’ takes the form of a Mindful Eating and Gratitude journal where readers embark on their own personal mindful eating journey throughout the seasons of the year and is themed using a seasonal approach.
“I‘ ve personally started to re-discover the magic of the countryside since I’ve been based back, where I grew up near Killavullen here in North Cork. Immersing myself in it, better connecting with it, and learning from it, allowing me to experience the differences in the four varied seasons.
“Over the years I’ve begun to nurture seasonal eating patterns and thoughtfulness into my daily relationship with food,” she said.
The Castlekevin native has also contributed to a number of book series, including the ‘Mental Health for Millennials’ and ‘Exploring Connectedness’, in the areas of wellbeing, sustainability and marketing.
Receiving the award on Friday, Cathy said, was the culmination of ‘a lot of good things’, as she also recently completed the Department of Agriculture’s ACORNS programme, a six-week programme for rurally based women entrepreneurs.
Looking to the future, Cathy is now preparing to launch wellness retreats which she announced at the awards ceremony on Friday.
The wellness retreats are to take place in Autumn, the harvest season for local produce, and Cathy is currently looking at North Cork venues in the hope of hosting the retreats locally.
“Autumn is the harvest season for local produce and these retreats will be something unique and different for people. Getting the award of Friday was the culmination of a lot of good things,” she said.