Kildare Readers Festival in association with the Irish Writers Centre presents Theo Kirwan, author of Sprout & Co Saladology

Kildare Readers Festival in association with the Irish Writers Centre are delighted to welcome Theo Kirwan to Celbridge Library. Theo will be interviewed by Kate Ryan of Flavour.ie on the night on his book Sprout & Co Saladology followed by a Q and A.

About the speakers

Theo Kirwan and his brother Jack are the co-founders of Sprout & Co. With seven restaurants in and around Dublin, Sprout is a leading brand in Ireland for local, seasonal and flavorful food. The brothers launched the business on Dublin’s Dawson Street in 2015. In 2018 they started their own organic farm in County Kildare, cutting their supply chain from farm to restaurant to just 24 hours. Theo, a former actor, has led Sprout& Co’s online presence with his recipe videos, gaining a loyal following of people who get just as excited about food as he does. Theo trained at the Ballymaloe Cookery School and Darina Allen, Ballymaloe founder, has declared: ‘Love, love, love the fresh‐ness and creativity on these pages.’ The Irish Times have praised Sprout for its ‘Ottolenghi-style food… as good as it gets. Very tasty food that just happens to be health.

Kate Ryan is a multi-award-winning food writer and founder of Flavour.ie, a platform dedicated to promoting Irish Food. Kate is a food features writer for The Echo and The Irish Examiner newspapers, and her articles have also featured with BBC, Vittles, Food & Wine Magazine (Ireland), The Irish Times, Scoop Food Magazine, among many others in print and online. She also writes on her blog, The Flavour Files. In 2017, she was commissioned by A Taste of West Cork Food Festival to author and publish an “Artisan Food Guide” featuring small, medium and craft food and drink producers from across West Cork and encouraging visitors to explore their own self-guided taste journey through the region. The project was funded by Cork County Council and Taste Cork. She is a member and current Treasurer of the Irish Food Writers’ Guild, a judge for Blas na hÉireann, Great Taste Awards, Irish Quality Food Awards, National Dairy Awards and Restaurant of the Year Awards. In 2021, Kate graduated with a First Class (Honours) for UCCs Postgraduate Diploma in Irish Food Culture and is currently studying for an MA in Food Studies and Irish Foodways. In 2023, Kate was named the Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Producers Champion and bestowed the inaugural award for Food Storyteller of the Year by Listowel Food Fair. In 2022, she was awarded an Irish Food Writing Award for the Food Writing category.

Kildare Readers Festival is brought to you by Kildare County Library and Arts Service in association with the Irish Writers Centre. Our ethos is to connect our readers with authors and artists, working to bring the very best from the world of literature to our audiences through the provision of exciting, innovative and accessible events. Since its inception in 2010, our festival audiences have continued to grow and we look forward to presenting you with the very best from the world of literature and the arts.