Rath Chairn writers among prizes at literary contest

Three writers from Rath Chairn won awards at the Foras na Gaeilge Irish Language Book of the Year Awards (Leabhar na Bliana), announced at the Oireachtas na Gaeilge Literary Competition Awards Ceremony at Croke Park. Liam Mac Cóil won an award in the light fiction category for his piece 'An Litir’. Áine Treasa Ní Dheirg and Máire Ní Ghealbháin won an award for their drama, 'Reicsí sa Ritz’. The Book of the Year awards, which were presented by Eibhlín Ní Chonghaile from RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, aim to encourage excellence in the standard and quality of both writing and publishing in the Irish language. The Oireachtas na Gaeilge Literary Competition is the biggest competition of the year for Irish language writers. All aspects of Irish language literature are included with over 35 categories, including fiction, short stories, songwriting, short film production and even blogging as Gaeilge. Amongst the winners this year are Pádraig ” Siadhail who won the prize for the best literary fiction, Anna Heussaff who won first prize for best light fiction and Caitríona Ní Chleirchín who came first in the new writers’ category. “The Oireachtas Literary Competition provides great inspiration for Irish language writers to showcase their talent,” said Liam ” Maolaodha, director of Oireachtas na Gaeilge. “The works which featured this year show that there’s still a lot of talented writers out there and we believe that fostering such talent is essential to the growth and future of Irish language writing” he said.