The Guest Chefs

Joyce Carroll
Joyce has extensive experience in lecturing catering & hotel management and was head chef at Ghan House in 1997/8. She is now semi retired, occasionally holding cookery classes, which are a must if you want to take advantage of 45 years of experience!

She has a diploma in Vegetarian Cookery from the Vegetarian Society, has 6 children and is still very active with both Ghan House and her approximately 11 grandchildren.


Karyn Booth
Karyn has been teaching with us for over 6 years. She has an A-list of experience beginning with The Ritz Hotel, pastry chef with the Roux brothers, Sir Terrance Conran and Paul Rankin. Her expertise also involves styling for food magazines; and Karyn still manages to be a full-time mum!


Paula McIntyre

Paula used to be Head Chef here at Ghan House in 1999/2000.  She is a freelance chef and has been a guest chef on various TV & Radio cookery programmes:

BBC - ‘Ready Steady Cook!’
BBC – ‘A La Carte’ – which featured Paula & Ghan House
BBC -  ‘A Taste for Adventure’ was Paula’s own series.
BBC NI - ‘A Fish out of Water’ Paula swapped her daily working life for one day, with Walter Carr ~ a 4x4 off road instructor’.

Radio Ulster – her series ‘McIntyre Magic’ – a kaleidoscopic adventure following the origination of raw ingredients to the finished cooked article.
Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 2

Her new book ~ ‘Kitchen Year’, photographed at Ghan House is available to buy here.

Ursula Ferrigno
A regular & very popular guest chef – her 1st visit to Ghan House was back in 1994. With an Italian mother & Irish father she loves all things Italian!

She brings a massive amount of experience and enthusiasm to every course. She has written 9 books on Italian cookery and regularly appears on TV & radio.


Paul Merry
Paul is a craft baker for over 25 years, and is well known for the Leavens Above! Workshop series, which he created for the village bakery Melmerby and for the majestic wood-fired ovens which he was commissioned to build for London restaurants, Villandry and Moro. He has a passion to uphold the noble craft of baking where bread is properly fermented and is now nearly becoming an endangered species in modern day society.

Keen to promote and preserve the craft baking tradition, Paul has created a new series of classes for the enthusiastic amateurs and professionals, of which he has kindly agreed to do over a two day workshop at Ghan House.


Rosemarie Connolly
Rosemarie’s passion is Thai Cookery. With worldwide experience - from Interlacken in Switzerland across Europe to the Gold coast in Australia and eventually Chiangmai in the North of Thailand, where she lived for 9 years.

She now resides in County Monaghan and is involved in teaching Thai cooking classes through Monaghan VEC and An Grainan.

Her classes have become extremely popular making Rosemarie a lady in great demand!