Carrigaline baker rises to the top of National Brown Bread Baking Competition

Marie McCarthy will receive a guaranteed cash prize of €15,000 and her bread will be available in store in the coming weeks. Photograph: Leon Farrell / Photocall Ireland

Marie McCarthy has been selected as the winner of The National Brown Bread Baking Competition. 

The Carrigaline baker will receive a cash prize of €15,000 and her award-winning loaf will be available in 143 Aldi stores across the country.

The competition, which is run by the supermarket in association with the National Ploughing Association and the Irish Countrywomen's Association, received over 7000 entries this year.

Marie McCarthy was among four other finalists, Aisling O’Toole, Marie Doherty and Kathrina Ruddock, to be selected to compete in the final at Cooks Academy in Dublin.

Marie said the time spent at home this spring worked in her favour, saying: "I spent much of the lockdown perfecting my brown bread and it has certainly paid off."

Group Buying Director at Aldi Ireland, John Curtain said: "Even though the competition couldn’t take place at the National Ploughing Championships, we still wanted to ensure that Ireland’s best bakers had the chance to take part in this fantastic competition."