2024 Award Winners ‘MOVERS & SHAKERS’ AWARD 2024

Sally Barnes, Woodcock Smokery, Skibbereen, Co Cork

A passionate believer in the value of tradition when it comes to indigenous food – and especially fish - the legendary West Cork fish smoker and educator, Sally Barnes, is one of the most remarkable women behind the Irish food renaissance that we have all enjoyed in recent decades. Her story is far from unknown but, like her own message, it is always very well worth passing on to a new cohort or, most importantly, a new generation. Sally began traditional smoke-curing as a means to preserve the bounty that she and her husband at the time were catching from the Atlantic waters of the West Cork coastline. Working as a fisherwoman and commercial fisherman’s wife, she smoked her first fish in 1979 and, through endless trial and error, supplying the local community with preserved fish, established a famously unique recipe that began winning awards and accolades. As a member of Slow Fish, Sally is also a world-renowned ocean activist, educator and speaker, and her tireless dedication to the messages of conservation and preservation have ensured that Ireland's indigenous food culture can be celebrated and experienced by locals, visitors, and international tourists. Most recently, her educational activities have extended to The Keep, a fish-smoking school and events space that she has opened beside the Smokery. Sally set up the Keep to exchange knowledge and traditional skills through master classes, coastal foraging workshops, and events. Other producers, chefs, and craft makers are invited to share their expertise throughout the year and this fish school, which is open to all, provides a unique insight into how we can revive the knowledge of wild food preservation. https://www.woodcocksmokery.com/events What a woman.