Old Bawn native Olivia Nash with her family after winning the National Brown Bread Baking Competition
Baker Olivia rises to national glory with gold winning loaf
OLD BAWN native Olivia Nash took home gold at the National Brown Bread Baking Competition at the National Ploughing Championships on Thursday.
29-year-old Olivia won first prize at the revered competition held every year at the championships in Offaly, and was awarded €5,000 for her spoils.
Her bread was made with Guinness and honey and treacle were also important parts of the prize-winning recipe.
The victory came as a surprise for Olivia, who runs the Instagram account ‘@loavesbyolivia’, but not to her husband Colin.
She said: “I was actually shocked that I even got that far but my husband kept egging me on, being like ‘You’re definitely going to win, you’re definitely going to win.’
“But when they called my name, I was just genuinely in shock. I didn’t realise how big of a deal it was down at the ploughing – the whole tent was completely full!”
Olivia’s time at the Tullamore site she likened to the “Electric Picnic” of the farming world was something she will cherish after her win.
Her family back in Tallaght were shocked at the news, and were much the same as Olivia as they did not realise how big of a deal it is.
Her in-laws are from Tipperary and would be well aware of the national championships and their stature in communities across Ireland, and were very pleased also.
She travelled up to the local area to see her father and mother, and both were delighted to see their daughter with her blue and gold sash.
“I went to see my dad afterwards, and he was like so emotional over it. My mom works in The Square in Boots, so I went into her with my sash on.
“She was like, ‘Oh my god look at this like showing me off to all her colleagues.”
