The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature was created in 1976 by the Irish American businessman

Dan Rooney Daniel Milton Rooney (July 20, 1932 – April 13, 2017) was an American executive and diplomat best known for his association with the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American football team in the National Football League (NFL), and son of the Steelers ...

, owner and chairman of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers franchise and former US Ambassador to Ireland. The prize is awarded to

Irish writers Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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,"An Irishman's Diary", ''The Irish Times'', 7 May 1976. the current value of the prize is €10,000.Caroline Walsh, "Loose Leaves", ''The Irish Times'', 21 June 2008.

List of recipients

* 1976: Heno Magee * 1977:

Desmond Hogan Desmond Hogan (born 10 December 1950) is an Irish writer. Awarded the 1977 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and 1980 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, his oeuvre comprises novels, plays, short stories and travel writing. The ''Cork Examiner'' said: ...

* 1978:

Peter Sheridan Peter Sheridan (born 1952) is an Irish playwright, screenwriter and director. He lives in Dublin. His awards include the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. In 1980 he was writer-in-residence in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, and his short film, Th ...

* 1979:

Kate Cruise O'Brien Katherine Alexandra Cruise O'Brien (26 May 1948 – 26 March 1998) was an Irish writer. The third and youngest child of Irish politician and diplomat Conor Cruise O'Brien and Christine Foster, she was born in Dublin, and grew up in Howth. She went ...

, ''A Gift Horse'' (short stories) * 1980: Bernard Farrell * 1981:

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. His first book, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia'', won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian ...

* 1982:

Medbh McGuckian Medbh McGuckian (born as Maeve McCaughan on 12 August 1950) is a poet from Northern Ireland. Biography She was born the third of six children as Maeve McCaughan to Hugh and Margaret McCaughan in North Belfast. Her father was a school headmaster ...

; Special prize awarded to Seán Ó Tuama and

Thomas Kinsella Thomas Kinsella (4 May 192822 December 2021) was an Irish poet, translator, editor, and publisher. Born outside Dublin, Kinsella attended University College Dublin before entering the civil service. He began publishing poetry in the early 1950s ...

for ''An Duanaire / Poems of the Dispossessed'' * 1983: Dorothy Nelson, ''In Night's City'' (novel) * 1984:

Ronan Sheehan Ronan Sheehan (born 1953) is an Irish novelist, short story writer and essayist. He was an early member of the Irish Writers' Co-operative (founded in 1974 by Fred Johnston (writer), Fred Johnston, Neil Jordan and Peter Sheridan) and its Secre ...

* 1985:

Frank McGuinness Professor Frank McGuinness (born 1953) is an Irish writer. As well as his own plays, which include '' The Factory Girls'', ''Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme'', '' Someone Who'll Watch Over Me'' and ''Dolly West's Kitchen'' ...

, ''

Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme ''Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme'' is a 1985 play by Frank McGuinness. Plot synopsis The play centres on the experiences of eight unionist Ulstermen who volunteer to serve in the 36th (Ulster) Division at the beginning of ...

'' (play) * 1986: Paul Mercier * 1987:

Deirdre Madden Deirdre Madden (born 20 August 1960) is a novelist from Northern Ireland. Career Madden was born in Toomebridge, County Antrim and was educated at St Mary's Grammar School, Magherafelt. She proceeded to Trinity College, Dublin (BA) and then to ...

, ''Hidden Symptoms'' (novel) * 1988:

Glenn Patterson Glenn Patterson (born 1961) is a writer from Belfast, best known as a novelist. Biography Patterson was born in Belfast where he attended Methodist College Belfast. He graduated from the University of East Anglia (BA, MA), where he was a produc ...

, ''Burning Your Own'' (novel) * 1989:

Robert McLiam Wilson Robert McLiam Wilson (born Robert Wilson, 24 February 1964) is a Northern List of Irish novelists, Irish novelist. Biography He was born in the New Lodge, Belfast, New Lodge district of Belfast and then moved to Turf Lodge and other places in ...

, '' Ripley Bogle'' (novel) * 1990: Mary Dorcey, ''A Noise from the Woodshed'' (short stories) * 1991:

Anne Enright Anne Teresa Enright (born 11 October 1962) is an Irish writer. She has published seven novels, many short stories and a non-fiction work called ''Making Babies: Stumbling into Motherhood'', about the birth of her two children. Her writing expl ...

, ''The Portable Virgin'' (short stories) * 1992: Hugo Hamilton * 1993: Gerard Fanning (poet) * 1994:

Colum McCann Colum McCann is an Irish writer of literary fiction. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, and now lives in New York. He is a Thomas Hunter Writer in Residence at Hunter College, New York. McCann's work has been published in over 40 languages, and h ...

, ''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 Mark O'Rowe is an Irish playwright and screenwriter. Life Mark O'Rowe was born in 1970 in Dublin, Ireland, to parents Hugh and Patricia O'Rowe (to whom he dedicated his 1999 play, ''Howie the Rookie''). He grew up in Tallaght, a working class s ...

, ''Howie the Rookie'' (play) * 2000:

Claire Keegan Claire Keegan (born 1968) is an Irish writer known for her short stories, which have been published in ''The New Yorker'', ''Best American Short Stories'', ''Granta'', and ''The Paris Review''. Biography Born in County Wicklow in 1968, Keegan i ...

, ''Antarctica'' (short stories), Special award presented to David Marcus. * 2001:

Keith Ridgway Keith Ridgway (born 2 October 1965) is an Irish novelist. An author, he has been described as "a worthy inheritor" of "the modernist tradition in Irish fiction." Writings ''Horses'', Ridgway's first published work of fiction, appeared in ''Faber ...

, ''Standard Time'' (short stories) * 2002: Caitríona O’Reilly, ''The Nowhere Birds'' (poems) * 2003: Eugene O'Brien, ''Eden'' (play) * 2004:

Claire Kilroy Claire Kilroy (born 1973) is a contemporary Irish author. She was born, and currently resides, in Dublin, Ireland. Background Early life Born in Dublin in 1973, Claire Kilroy grew up in the scenic fishing village of Howth, north of the city. Edu ...

, ''All Summer'' (novel) * 2005: Nick Laird, ''To a Fault'' (poems) * 2006:

Philip Ó Ceallaigh Philip Ó Ceallaigh (born 23 March 1968) is an Irish short story writer and translator who lives in Bucharest. Ó Ceallaigh won the 2006 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and was shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Awar ...

, ''Notes from a Turkish Whorehouse'' (short stories) * 2007:

Kevin Barry Kevin Gerard Barry (20 January 1902 – 1 November 1920) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier who was executed by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence. He was sentenced to death for his part in an attack upon a Brit ...

, ''There Are Little Kingdoms'' (short stories

* 2008: Leontia Flynn, ''Drives'' (poems) * 2009:

Kevin Power Kevin Power (born 19 August 1981) is an Irish writer and academic. He currently teaches in the School of English at Trinity College Dublin. He writes regularly for The Sunday Business Post. His novel ''Bad Day in Blackrock'' was published by T ...

, '' Bad Day in Blackrock'' * 2010:

Leanne O'Sullivan Leanne O'Sullivan is a poet from the Beara Peninsula in Cork, Ireland. She is the author of three collections of poetry. Writing career O'Sullivan's first collection of poetry, ''Waiting for my Clothes'' (2004), was published by Bloodaxe Book ...

, ''Cailleach: The Hag Of Beara'' * 2011:

Lucy Caldwell Lucy Caldwell (born 1981) is a Northern Irish playwright and novelist. She was the winner of the 2021 BBC National Short Story Award. Biography Born in Belfast in 1981 in what she later described as into one of the darkest and most turbulent y ...

* 2012:

Nancy Harris Nancy Harris is an Irish playwright and screenwriter. She was given the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2012. Early life and education Harris is the daughter of Anne and Eoghan Harris. She was educated at Trinity College Dublin, earning a B ...

* 2013: Ciarán Collins * 2014: Colin Barrett * 2015: Sara Baume * 2016: Doireann Ní Ghríofa * 2017: Elizabeth Reapy * 2018:

Caitriona Lally Caitríona Lally is an Irish writer. She has published two novels: ''Eggshells'' (2017) and ''Wunderland'' (2021). In 2018 she was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Biography Lally studied English literature at Trinity College Dub ...

* 2019: Mark O'Connell *2020: Stephen Sexton, ''If All the World and Love Were Young'' *2021: Niamh Campbell, ''This Happy'' *2022: Seán Hewitt

References and footnotes

{{Rooney Prize for Irish Literature Awards established in 1976 Irish literary awards Literary awards honouring young writers Political book awards 1976 establishments in Ireland