A Lifetime Achievement Award In Listowel

The Listowel Food Fair began in 1995. In 2025 it celebrated its 30th anniversary^[1]. On the night of its gala banquet, the big prize went to Kevin Dundon^[1].

On Saturday 8 November 2025, at the Listowel Arms Hotel, he received the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award^[1]. Mairead Moriarty and Jimmy Deenihan presented it^[1].

Why Him

Festival chairperson Jimmy Deenihan said they were honouring his passion and dedication, not only his career^[1]. He said Dundon had inspired a generation of chefs and food lovers^[1].

His Message

Dundon used the moment to talk about producers. Strong local food networks, he said, are the lifeblood of Irish cooking^[1]. He thanked his team at Dunbrody, his family and the producers he has worked with over the years^[1].

At home in Wexford, Dunbrody is still his base. He is managing director of the house and runs its Harvest Room Restaurant^[1][2]. The hotel now has 22 rooms and a cookery school, and the Dundons have lived there for more than thirty years^[2].

Dancing With The Stars

He has never been afraid of a new stage. At 59 he joined RTÉ's Dancing with the Stars, partnered with professional dancer Rebecca Scott^[3]. Viewers who knew him from cookery shows now watched him chase the Glitterball^[3].

The award looked back over a long road: a mother's kitchen in Dublin, a scholarship in Switzerland, Canadian hotels, the Shelbourne, Dunbrody, Raglan Road and many years on television^[1][3].

Still Cooking

A lifetime award can sound like an ending. For Dundon it is not. The kitchen at Dunbrody is still open, the cookery school still teaches, and he still cooks^[1][2].

Thirty years after the Listowel festival began, it chose to celebrate a chef who has spent his life telling the world that Irish food is worth the trip^[1].