Shipton Mill Real Bread Hero and Republic of Ireland Tiptree World Bread Awards Hero with Brook Food 2021

Joe Fitzmaurice of Riot Rye Bakehouse Bread School and Store in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary has been crowned Ireland’s Bread Hero by the Tiptree World Bread Awards with Brook Food.

In addition to being crowned Ireland’s Bread Hero, Joe won the Shipton Mill Real Bread Hero award.

Joe was lauded for his efforts to make his bread baking more environmentally friendly and his mission to empower Ireland to make Real Bread.

Since 2011, Joe has been making bread in a wood-fired oven in his Cloughjordan bakery. The wood for the oven is sourced exclusively as thinnings from local broadleaf forests or windfall. So for the last decade, the energy Joe has used to bake bread for the 200 local households he supplies has been totally fossil fuel free.

As part of his mission to ‘empower Ireland to make Real Bread’, Joe has established a Bread School, which delivers courses focused on naturally fermented sourdough breads. His award winning courses are attended by people from all over Ireland and abroad. Joe is keen to make Real Bread accessible to all, so he also offers free online tutorials on how to make ‘The Common Loaf’ sourdough bread.

In addition to his teaching, Joe has also set up the ‘Real Bread Ireland’ network, which supports Ireland’s Real Bread bakers, millers and growers.