If there is one thing that Karen Coakley has realised, it’s that life is short. So you better make the most of it.
“My attitude is you live in the moment and that probably has stood to me – even when it comes to TV,” says the Kenmare Foodie blogger and home chef, who got her big break earlier this year when she made her debut cooking on RTÉ’s Today Show.
“Even the first live show, I was thinking: ‘This might never happen again, so you are just going to enjoy it.’”
And while her no-fuss, family friendly recipes have earned Karen a loyal following, it is perhaps the mother of four’s frankness when it comes to her own journey that makes her so relatable.
The Kenmare Foodie Karen Coakley. \ Lynda Kenny
Family first
Despite the name of her blog, Karen is originally from Bantry and attributes her food philosophy to her west Cork roots.
“When I was growing up back in the 1970s and the 1980s, you had Gubbeen and you had Durrus cheese and you had all these people doing all this wonderful stuff with food that we just took for granted,” she explains.
Not that she saw her future in food at that time, however.
“I wanted to be an air hostess because I wanted to travel the world,” she recalls, but life took a different but rewarding path when she discovered that she was expecting a baby with her now husband, Vincent, who was an apprentice solicitor at the time.
Having a child at 19 in rural Ireland in the early ’90s, however, was not without its challenges.
“There was a few weeks when people were talking about it, but I remember one day somebody said to me: ‘Next week it will be somebody else’s story.’ And it’s true,” she reflects.
“Thankfully times have changed but the one thing that we decided on from the beginning was on a united front, so it stood to us.”
Indeed, the couple soon had the money put together for a deposit for their first home and married in an intimate ceremony surrounded by close family and friends when their son, Caolann, was nearly three, with their second son, Aodhán, following later.
Easy chicken ramen with soft-boiled egg and pak-choi. \ Lynda Kenny
A work opportunity for Vincent brought them over the border to Kenmare, and while Karen worked as a waitress locally to get to know people, her priority was to be at home with her young family – especially when she discovered that she was expecting twins, Ruairí and Conor (now 11).
Complications after a difficult birth, however, almost left her fighting for her life.
“The nurses said to Vincent they were actually watching me for organ failure; they didn’t actually know if I’d pull through,” she explains, adding how friends and family rallied round to care for the babies while she made a slow recovery after her ordeal.
Life-changing decisions
With four children at very different ages and stages, family life was full on – but there were two decisions that were to prove life-changing for Karen.
The first was taking up running – having been “allergic to exercise” – starting with a slow walk-jog with her dog until she built up to running a three-mile route near her house.
The second was giving up cigarettes, having smoked up to 30 a day at one point. Admitting that she didn’t think she’d last “three days”, it opened up a whole new world; including taking part in a 15-mile road race that would have been inconceivable a year earlier.
The Kenmare Foodie Karen Coakley. \ Lynda Kenny
“The moment when I crossed that line was the moment that changed my life,” says Karen, who explains that up to that point, she had always felt like “a quitter” because she had not gone to college. “And all of a sudden, it was just like: ‘Oh my God, you’ve quit smoking and you just ran 15 miles, there’s nothing you can’t do.’”
Kenmare foodie
Indeed, Karen went on to complete the Cork City Marathon and also represented Templenoe in the All-Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships. But as well as her newfound love of sport, a long-held passion for food had started to come to the fore; especially as one of the key organisers of the “Kenmare Food Carnival” in 2012 and 2013.
“I realised, ‘OK, this is my thing, this is my corner of the world and I’m really loving having this,’” she reflects on the experience, which led to her starting her own blog, Kenmare Foodie, sharing the family-friendly meals she loved to make from scratch.
However, it was harnessing social media tools – such as Snapchat and Instagram – that really got her name out there; especially as they allowed her to post step-by-step cookery demos.
“I realised, ‘I can cook for people on this and they can see what I’m doing,’” she explains.“That’s all I ever really wanted to do, to talk to people about food, share food with people, educate people about food and show people how easy home cooking is.”
While entirely self-taught, she believes that this is actually central to the appeal of “Kenmare Foodie” for her followers.
“I’m doing it at home in my kitchen and they can see that I am just a mum and I’m not selling them anything,” she explains, adding that she only uses ingredients that are easy to access and, crucially, “that my kids will eat”.
The Kenmare Foodie Karen Coakley. \ Lynda Kenny
But while Kenmare Foodie started as a hobby, in the last year, Karen has seen her star rise after making several appearances cooking live on the Today Show with Maura Derrane and Dáithí O Sé. Moreover, she also started her own business with the launch of her “Kenmare Foodie Tours”, showcasing local products, ranging from cheese and black pudding to ice cream, chocolate, French-style pastries and much more in Kenmare.
“It’s the food but more than that – or as much as that – it’s the stories,” she says of the unique experience.
Staying positive
Not that the last year hasn’t been without its challenges, however. When her hairdresser spotted an unusual mark on the back of her head about 18 months ago, Karen thought it was nothing to worry about, but when she finally got around to getting it checked out, it turned out to be a stage one melanoma.
“What a wake-up call,” she exclaims, explaining that while doctors were able to remove it with a clear margin, she decided to share her story through “Kenmare Foodie” to raise awareness of the importance of having any abnormalities investigated.
Moreover, in the last year, she also had to take a step back from her beloved sports having been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat that her doctor warned could have serious long-term consequences.
The Kenmare Foodie Karen Coakley. \ Lynda Kenny
“As he said to me: ‘It’s not going to kill you short-term, but long-term, it will,” explains Karen, though she is confident she will be back to full health following an ablation just a few weeks ago. I went into it thinking it was a minor procedure and the reality hit me in the hospital when I had to face it. An ablation is where they put a rod in through your groin to your heart and burn whatever it is that is causing your irregular beats. My ablation took three hours, which I was awake for with very mild sedation and I wasn’t even allowed twitch,” says Karen of the process, but is already feeling a difference.
“I can feel my energy coming back and I’m excited to see all the benefits over the coming weeks in how I feel. My heart was irregular on every second beat, I had damage to my heart muscle, so it was struggling, which had numerous knock-on effects.
“Onwards and upwards now, I’m back to running and I’ve a crew together for some winter rowing, which I have really missed,” she continues.
“I really can’t wait to get the ‘old me’ back.”
Having Kenmare Foodie to work on, however, has been a hugely positive focus.
“I absolutely love it, so I guess it distracts me when needed. I think there’s comfort in there too in that I cook to make me happy and relaxed and totally absorb myself in it,” says Karen, who also credits her followers for all their support during the recent challenges.
“They support me in everything I do, which is great, and they love my positive outlook – and that keeps you positive.”
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If there is one thing that Karen Coakley has realised, it’s that life is short. So you better make the most of it.
“My attitude is you live in the moment and that probably has stood to me – even when it comes to TV,” says the Kenmare Foodie blogger and home chef, who got her big break earlier this year when she made her debut cooking on RTÉ’s Today Show.
“Even the first live show, I was thinking: ‘This might never happen again, so you are just going to enjoy it.’”
And while her no-fuss, family friendly recipes have earned Karen a loyal following, it is perhaps the mother of four’s frankness when it comes to her own journey that makes her so relatable.
The Kenmare Foodie Karen Coakley. \ Lynda Kenny
Family first
Despite the name of her blog, Karen is originally from Bantry and attributes her food philosophy to her west Cork roots.
“When I was growing up back in the 1970s and the 1980s, you had Gubbeen and you had Durrus cheese and you had all these people doing all this wonderful stuff with food that we just took for granted,” she explains.
Not that she saw her future in food at that time, however.
“I wanted to be an air hostess because I wanted to travel the world,” she recalls, but life took a different but rewarding path when she discovered that she was expecting a baby with her now husband, Vincent, who was an apprentice solicitor at the time.
Having a child at 19 in rural Ireland in the early ’90s, however, was not without its challenges.
“There was a few weeks when people were talking about it, but I remember one day somebody said to me: ‘Next week it will be somebody else’s story.’ And it’s true,” she reflects.
“Thankfully times have changed but the one thing that we decided on from the beginning was on a united front, so it stood to us.”
Indeed, the couple soon had the money put together for a deposit for their first home and married in an intimate ceremony surrounded by close family and friends when their son, Caolann, was nearly three, with their second son, Aodhán, following later.
Easy chicken ramen with soft-boiled egg and pak-choi. \ Lynda Kenny
A work opportunity for Vincent brought them over the border to Kenmare, and while Karen worked as a waitress locally to get to know people, her priority was to be at home with her young family – especially when she discovered that she was expecting twins, Ruairí and Conor (now 11).
Complications after a difficult birth, however, almost left her fighting for her life.
“The nurses said to Vincent they were actually watching me for organ failure; they didn’t actually know if I’d pull through,” she explains, adding how friends and family rallied round to care for the babies while she made a slow recovery after her ordeal.
Life-changing decisions
With four children at very different ages and stages, family life was full on – but there were two decisions that were to prove life-changing for Karen.
The first was taking up running – having been “allergic to exercise” – starting with a slow walk-jog with her dog until she built up to running a three-mile route near her house.
The second was giving up cigarettes, having smoked up to 30 a day at one point. Admitting that she didn’t think she’d last “three days”, it opened up a whole new world; including taking part in a 15-mile road race that would have been inconceivable a year earlier.
The Kenmare Foodie Karen Coakley. \ Lynda Kenny
“The moment when I crossed that line was the moment that changed my life,” says Karen, who explains that up to that point, she had always felt like “a quitter” because she had not gone to college. “And all of a sudden, it was just like: ‘Oh my God, you’ve quit smoking and you just ran 15 miles, there’s nothing you can’t do.’”
Kenmare foodie
Indeed, Karen went on to complete the Cork City Marathon and also represented Templenoe in the All-Ireland Coastal Rowing Championships. But as well as her newfound love of sport, a long-held passion for food had started to come to the fore; especially as one of the key organisers of the “Kenmare Food Carnival” in 2012 and 2013.
“I realised, ‘OK, this is my thing, this is my corner of the world and I’m really loving having this,’” she reflects on the experience, which led to her starting her own blog, Kenmare Foodie, sharing the family-friendly meals she loved to make from scratch.
However, it was harnessing social media tools – such as Snapchat and Instagram – that really got her name out there; especially as they allowed her to post step-by-step cookery demos.
“I realised, ‘I can cook for people on this and they can see what I’m doing,’” she explains.“That’s all I ever really wanted to do, to talk to people about food, share food with people, educate people about food and show people how easy home cooking is.”
While entirely self-taught, she believes that this is actually central to the appeal of “Kenmare Foodie” for her followers.
“I’m doing it at home in my kitchen and they can see that I am just a mum and I’m not selling them anything,” she explains, adding that she only uses ingredients that are easy to access and, crucially, “that my kids will eat”.
The Kenmare Foodie Karen Coakley. \ Lynda Kenny
But while Kenmare Foodie started as a hobby, in the last year, Karen has seen her star rise after making several appearances cooking live on the Today Show with Maura Derrane and Dáithí O Sé. Moreover, she also started her own business with the launch of her “Kenmare Foodie Tours”, showcasing local products, ranging from cheese and black pudding to ice cream, chocolate, French-style pastries and much more in Kenmare.
“It’s the food but more than that – or as much as that – it’s the stories,” she says of the unique experience.
Staying positive
Not that the last year hasn’t been without its challenges, however. When her hairdresser spotted an unusual mark on the back of her head about 18 months ago, Karen thought it was nothing to worry about, but when she finally got around to getting it checked out, it turned out to be a stage one melanoma.
“What a wake-up call,” she exclaims, explaining that while doctors were able to remove it with a clear margin, she decided to share her story through “Kenmare Foodie” to raise awareness of the importance of having any abnormalities investigated.
Moreover, in the last year, she also had to take a step back from her beloved sports having been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat that her doctor warned could have serious long-term consequences.
The Kenmare Foodie Karen Coakley. \ Lynda Kenny
“As he said to me: ‘It’s not going to kill you short-term, but long-term, it will,” explains Karen, though she is confident she will be back to full health following an ablation just a few weeks ago. I went into it thinking it was a minor procedure and the reality hit me in the hospital when I had to face it. An ablation is where they put a rod in through your groin to your heart and burn whatever it is that is causing your irregular beats. My ablation took three hours, which I was awake for with very mild sedation and I wasn’t even allowed twitch,” says Karen of the process, but is already feeling a difference.
“I can feel my energy coming back and I’m excited to see all the benefits over the coming weeks in how I feel. My heart was irregular on every second beat, I had damage to my heart muscle, so it was struggling, which had numerous knock-on effects.
“Onwards and upwards now, I’m back to running and I’ve a crew together for some winter rowing, which I have really missed,” she continues.
“I really can’t wait to get the ‘old me’ back.”
Having Kenmare Foodie to work on, however, has been a hugely positive focus.
“I absolutely love it, so I guess it distracts me when needed. I think there’s comfort in there too in that I cook to make me happy and relaxed and totally absorb myself in it,” says Karen, who also credits her followers for all their support during the recent challenges.
“They support me in everything I do, which is great, and they love my positive outlook – and that keeps you positive.”
Read more
Real food for real life with Sinead Delahunty
Sinead’s Curvy Style
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