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food-drink · Monday 27 July 2026 · 9:00am 
Cooking for Friends and Family with Rachel Allen - Ballymaloe
At Ballymaloe Cookery School · Shanagarry, Midleton, Co. Cork
At Ballymaloe Cookery School · Shanagarry, Midleton, Co. Cork
A 2.5-day cookery course at one of Ireland’s most respected food schools, taught by Rachel Allen, who has been part of the Ballymaloe family since her own student days. The course is aimed at confident home cooks who want to get genuinely good at feeding a crowd - covering the kind of food that works for dinner parties, family gatherings and relaxed entertaining, rather than restaurant techniques that rarely translate to a domestic kitchen. If you have been cooking for years but feel your repertoire has gone stale, or if you want to feel properly organised when guests arrive rather than panicked, this is the kind of course that changes the way you cook.
The format mixes demonstration with hands-on practice. Rachel cooks in a purpose-built demonstration kitchen - equipped with overhead mirrors and close-up monitors so you see exactly what she is doing - then you move into the teaching kitchen and cook yourself, with one tutor for every six students. The recipes draw from Rachel’s own books and television work: fish, meat and vegetarian dishes across starters, soups, salads, mains, stews and puddings. Many of the ingredients come directly from the Ballymaloe estate’s own organic farm and gardens, which you tour during the course. There is also a visit to the school’s micro-dairy.
Breakfast and lunch are included each day, eaten together with the teachers and staff - which is, in itself, part of the education. You leave with a full recipe pack covering every dish you made and watched. The course runs Monday 27 July from 9am through to approximately 2pm on Wednesday 29 July, so you are in East Cork for the better part of three days.
Ballymaloe Cookery School is at Shanagarry, about 35 km east of Cork City on the R629. By car, take the N25 towards Midleton, then follow signs for Cloyne and Shanagarry - the Eircode is P25 R274. If you are coming without a car, Bus Eireann runs to Midleton from Cork City (Cork Kent station has a direct rail link from Dublin Heuston, under three hours), and from Midleton a local taxi to Shanagarry takes around ten minutes. The 240 bus from Cork also serves the Ballycotton direction, stopping near Shanagarry. On-site and nearby accommodation is available - contact the school directly to arrange it alongside your booking.
Midleton town is worth arriving a day early or lingering after the course finishes - it is home to the Jameson Distillery Midleton, the East Cork Food District’s market on Saturday mornings, and easy access to the Ballycotton coastal walk along the cliffs. There is more to see in Midleton and across Co. Cork.
Heading to Ballymaloe Cookery School in Midleton? Cork has plenty more to see. Read the Midleton area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.