# Rooney Prize for Irish Literature

The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature was created in 1976 by the Irish American businessman Dan Rooney, owner and chairman of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers franchise and former US Ambassador to Ireland. The prize is awarded to Irish writers aged under 40 who are published in Irish or English. Although often associated with individual books, it is intended to reward a body of work. Originally worth £750, the current value of the prize is €10,000.

## List of recipients

* 1976: Heno Magee
* 1977: Desmond Hogan
* 1978: Peter Sheridan
* 1979: Kate Cruise O'Brien, A Gift Horse (short stories)
* 1980: Bernard Farrell
* 1981: Neil Jordan
* 1982: Medbh McGuckian; Special prize awarded to Seán Ó Tuama and Thomas Kinsella for An Duanaire / Poems of the Dispossessed
* 1983: Dorothy Nelson, In Night's City (novel)
* 1984: Ronan Sheehan
* 1985: Frank McGuinness, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (play)
* 1986: Paul Mercier
* 1987: Deirdre Madden, Hidden Symptoms (novel)
* 1988: Glenn Patterson, Burning Your Own (novel)
* 1989: Robert McLiam Wilson, Ripley Bogle (novel)
* 1990: Mary Dorcey, A Noise from the Woodshed (short stories)
* 1991: Anne Enright, The Portable Virgin (short stories)
* 1992: Hugo Hamilton
* 1993: Gerard Fanning (poet)
* 1994: Colum McCann, Fishing the Sloe-Black River (short stories)
* 1995: Philip MacCann, The Miracle Shed (short stories)
* 1996: Mike McCormack, Getting It in the Head (short stories); additional Special Award presented to Vona Groarke and Conor O'Callaghan
* 1997: Anne Haverty, One Day as a Tiger (novel)
* 1998: David Wheatley, Thirst (poems)
* 1999: Mark O'Rowe, Howie the Rookie (play)
* 2000: Claire Keegan, Antarctica (short stories), Special award presented to David Marcus.
* 2001: Keith Ridgway, Standard Time (short stories)
* 2002: Caitríona O’Reilly, The Nowhere Birds (poems)
* 2003: Eugene O'Brien, Eden (play)
* 2004: Claire Kilroy, All Summer (novel)
* 2005: Nick Laird, To a Fault (poems)
* 2006: Philip Ó Ceallaigh, Notes from a Turkish Whorehouse (short stories)
* 2007: Kevin Barry, There Are Little Kingdoms (short stories)
* 2008: Leontia Flynn, Drives (poems)
* 2009: Kevin Power, Bad Day in Blackrock
* 2010: Leanne O'Sullivan, Cailleach: The Hag Of Beara
* 2011: Lucy Caldwell
* 2012: Nancy Harris
* 2013: Ciarán Collins
* 2014: Colin Barrett
* 2015: Sara Baume
* 2016: Doireann Ní Ghríofa
* 2017: Elizabeth Reapy
* 2018: Caitriona Lally
* 2019: Mark O'Connell
* 2020: Stephen Sexton, If All the World and Love Were Young
* 2021: Niamh Campbell, This Happy
* 2022: Seán Hewitt
* 2023: Michael Magee, Close to Home
* 2024: Suad Aldarra, I Don't Want to Talk About Home

## References and footnotes

* 1 2 McDonough, Tim (2 January 1981). "Irish Tales Have Rooney Angle". Pittsburgh Press. Daniel Rooney, whose correct middle initial, by the way, is M, confirmed that his family annually awards a prize of $2,000 to an Irish writer. The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, he explained, has been given for the last seven years to a native of Ireland who must be under 40 years old and writing in either English or Irish.
* 1 2 "An Irishman's Diary", The Irish Times, 7 May 1976.
* 1 2 Caroline Walsh, "Loose Leaves", The Irish Times, 21 June 2008.
* ↑ James McElroy, Ireland: A Traveler's Literary Companion, (Whereabouts Press, 2007), page 147.
* ↑ "The Hogan File", The Irish Times, 2 April 2005.
* ↑ "Judges shortlist 16 authors", The Irish Times, 4 September 1999 (NB article dates the prize as 1977 but other sources confirm Hogan as 1977 winner)
* ↑ "Writer and editor Kate Cruise O'Brien dies in Dublin aged 49", The Irish Times, 27 March 1997
* ↑ Mary O'Donnell, "A scathing scourge of suburbia", The Irish Times, 1 February 1992
* ↑ "Neil Jordan Gets Rooney Prize", The Irish Times, 7 October 1981
* ↑ "Poet wins £1,000 Rooney Prize", The Irish Times, 17 September 1982
* ↑ "Irish Literature Prize Awarded", The Irish Times, 30 August 1983
* ↑ Caroline Walsh, "Rooney writing prize awarded", The Irish Times 25 October 1984
* ↑ Elgy Gillespie, "Literature prize for Buncrana writer", The Irish Times, 14 June 1985
* ↑ David Nowlan, "Playwright wins £2,500 award", The Irish Times, 13 June 1986
* ↑ Mary Leland, "No Cheap Thrills", The Irish Times, 20 February 1988
* ↑ John Kenny, "Building the structure", The Irish Times, 5 April 2003.
* ↑ "Judges shortlist 11 authors", The Irish Times, 2 September 1997
* ↑ "The Irish Times / ESB Theatre Awards: The Judges", The Irish Times, 8 February 1999
* ↑ "Dublin writer receives award", The Irish Times, 16 June 1992
* ↑ "Dublin poet wins Rooney Prize", The Irish Times, 17 June 1993
* ↑ "McCann wins Rooney Prize", The Irish Times, 18 June 1994
* ↑ Robert O'Byrne, "With a swansong in her Hart", The Irish Times, 17 June 1995
* ↑ "Special award presented to two poets", The Irish Times, 6 February 1996
* ↑ "Haverty wins literature award", The Irish Times, 14 June 1997
* ↑ "Rooney Winner", The Irish Times, 4 June 1998
* ↑ "Mark of success", The Irish Times, 10 June 1999.
* ↑ "New man in Galway", The Irish Times, 10 June 2000
* ↑ "Loose leaves", The Irish Times, 9 June 2001
* ↑ "Poem of the week", Guardian, 21 April 2008
* ↑ Fiona Smith, "Stacking myths, making meaning", The Irish Times, 20 May 2006
* ↑ "O'Brien captures the Rooney", The Irish Times, 10 May 2003
* ↑ "Kilroy wins Rooney", The Irish Times, 12 June 2004
* ↑ "Laird wins Rooney Prize", The Irish Times, 4 June 2005
* ↑ "Ó Ceallaigh wins Rooney", The Irish Times, 17 June 2006
* ↑ Caroline Walsh, "Loose Leaves", The Irish Times, 10 October 2007
* ↑ "Novelist Kevin Power is awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature 2009". Trinity College, Dublin. 8 October 2009.
* ↑ "Cork poet O'Sullivan wins Rooney prize". The Irish Times. 10 October 2010.
* ↑ "Novelist and Dramatist Lucy Caldwell Awarded Rooney Prize 2011". Trinity College, Dublin. 26 October 2011. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
* ↑ "Dramatist Harris wins Rooney Prize". The Irish Times. 10 October 2012.
* ↑ "Poet Doireann Ní Ghríofa awarded €10,000 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature 2016". The Irish Times. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
* ↑ "A Dublin janitor wins the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature from the university she cleans". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
* ↑ "Author Mark O'Connell awarded €10,000 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature 2019". The Irish Times.
* ↑ "Stephen Sexton awarded Rooney Prize for Irish Literature 2020". 26 November 2020.
* ↑ Doyle, Martin. "Niamh Campbell awarded 2021 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
* ↑ Doyle, Martin. "Seán Hewitt awarded 2022 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature". The Irish Times. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
* ↑ "2023 winner". Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
* ↑ "Suad Aldarra awarded Rooney Prize for Irish Literature". Irish Times. Retrieved 5 November 2024.