People who are enthusiastic about their work spread that sense of positivity and joy to everyone they meet. Darina Allen is just such a person.

Thirty five years after establishing the Ballymaloe cookery school she still skips across the yard to work each morning.

“I still love it. I’ve had a fantastic, fun and fulfilled career all because I could cook a bit.”

Before settling in Ballymaloe, Darina grew up in Cullahill, Co Laois where her parents Dick and Lily O’Connoll owned a shop, an undertaking business, a pub plus a lot more.

Even though it would be decades later before she heard and understood the word ‘entrepreneur’ she now says the family were steeped in entrepreneurship.

“Around the kitchen table all the talk was about what new lines we should stock and what news was happening in the community. Was there an opportunity? And if there was, well then just go and do it.”

Remarkable woman

Family life changed utterly when Darina’s dad died when she was just 14. He left behind a widow and nine young children. “Mummy was just fantastic. She devoted herself to her home and family and when dad died she took over management of the business. She was remarkable. My parent’s work ethic is the greatest gift I inherited from them.”

All I wanted to do was cook or garden but the nuns said I could hire someone else to do that work

For secondary school Darina was sent to the Dominican’s in Wicklow town.

The nuns were all for their girls having proper careers and the emphasis was on academic skills. But that didn’t suit Darina.

“All I wanted to do was cook or garden but the nuns said I could hire someone else to do that work. Eventually, they gave up and directed me towards a horticulture degree or hotel management in Cathal Brugha Street.

"I went for the latter and was presented with an IQ test, the likes of which I had never seen in my life. I didn’t get into Cathal Brugha Street until the second round offers. So there’s hope for everyone.”

Desperate times for desperate remedies

With her course completed, Darina had no intention of ending up as a junior manager in a hotel. She wanted to cook.

However, she found it incredibly difficult to break into the top hotel and restaurant kitchens because she was a woman. So she couldn’t get a job.

That’s when one of her lecturers stepped in and told her about this extraordinary woman who had set up a restaurant on a farm, of all places.

She made her own ice cream and stranger still, changed the menu every day to suit what was in season or available.

“She got me her name on a scrap of paper and it was Myrtle Allen. That scrap of paper totally changed my life.”

Darina married into the family and four babies later she and her husband Tim were faced with serious choices.

I intended it to be as good if not better than any cookery school in the world

“I had no interest in having a career. I wanted to be with the children, doing the school runs and taking them on picnics. Nor did I want to commute to work in Cork city.

"But this was 1983 and we were getting less and less for our farm produce. We were facing losing the roof over our heads. We were desperate and desperation is a great motivator.

"So the decision to open a cookery school just had to work.”

While fearful of losing everything, Darina says the penny dropped that it was a real advantage to establish a cookery school on a working farm.

And she was ambitious for the school from the word go.

“I intended it to be as good if not better than any cookery school in the world. I visited cookery schools in the UK and decided to charge the same prices as they did from the start. I had no business training but I knew we must charge enough to do a good job.

Students must feel they have gotten value for money so in my book it is always better to promise less and deliver more.”

With little money to advertise, Darina’s parents-in-law Ivan and Myrtle Allen came to the rescue and let her use Ballymaloe in the name of the school.

“What an act of faith. It was a motivator for me as I just had to live up to their faith in me.”

Lucky break

She had a lucky break when RTÉ commissioned a cookery series with Darina as the presenter.

“At the time, RTÉ was facing a lot of criticism for not having an Irish-presented cookery programme. Both Myrtle and I were asked to do it. Even though I was terrified I went ahead with it and it worked.

“I have always believed that in life we all get handed opportunities. They could be something small, but they have the potential to change lives. You can ask will I? Won’t I? But I firmly believe you are always better to take the opportunity.”

News of the cookery school spread by word of mouth and not only across Ireland but across the world. On the current course there are students from 11 countries.

Creating employment in the countryside is a passion of Darina’s and she is proud that the school alone employs between 55-68 people depending on the season.

She is also exceedingly proud that many of her former students have made their careers in food businesses of every description.

She is a great believer in starting small. Only buy what you really need and don’t drown yourself in debt. Manage for as long as you can on a small amount and she says there is nothing wrong with staying small.

“Look at Ballymaloe. It has spawned up to 16 businesses both big and small. There is room for everyone and there are lots of opportunities.

"If starting a business is on your mind, stop thinking about it and get up and do it. You can wait forever for the right time. In my case it was gut instinct and desperation and it worked.”

Mentors and motivators

Along the way, Darina has been influenced by her parents and parents-in-law. Food writers, farmers, chefs and cooks have also influenced and motivated her.

People such as Isabella Tree who wrote Wilding the story of the ‘rewilding’ of the Knepp Estate in West Sussex. Darina can’t put this book down. Another is Alice Waters an American chef, activist and author. “We are soul sisters,” says Darina.

Patrick Holden, a British farmer who campaigns for organic and sustainable farming and is the founding director of the Sustainable Food Trust also motivates her as does Joanna Blythman who is a British investigative food journalist.

“I’ve learned so much from all these people. But the best learning is in the doing and I hope I’ve motivated people to give it a go and employ one or two people in the countryside. What a great thing to do.”