The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature is a literary award conferred each year recognising an outstanding body of work by an Irish writer under forty years of age.
The award 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 administered by the Oscar Wilde Centre. 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 HoganJames McElroy, Ireland: A Traveler's Literary Companion, (Whereabouts Press, 2007), page 147."The Hogan File", The Irish Times, 2 April 2005. 1978: Peter Sheridan"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) 1979: Kate Cruise O'Brien, A Gift Horse (short stories)"Writer and editor Kate Cruise O'Brien dies in Dublin aged 49", The Irish Times, 27 March 1997 1980: Bernard FarrellMary O'Donnell, "A scathing scourge of suburbia", The Irish Times, 1 February 1992 1981: Neil Jordan"Neil Jordan Gets Rooney Prize", The Irish Times, 7 October 1981 1982: Medbh McGuckian; Special prize awarded to Seán Ó Tuama and Thomas Kinsella for An Duanaire / Poems of the Dispossessed"Poet wins £1,000 Rooney Prize", The Irish Times, 17 September 1982 1983: Dorothy Nelson, In Night's City (novel)"Irish Literature Prize Awarded", The Irish Times, 30 August 1983 1984: Ronan SheehanCaroline Walsh, "Rooney writing prize awarded", The Irish Times 25 October 1984 1985: Frank McGuinness, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (play)Elgy Gillespie, "Literature prize for Buncrana writer", The Irish Times, 14 June 1985 1986: Paul MercierDavid Nowlan, "Playwright wins £2,500 award", The Irish Times, 13 June 1986 1987: Deirdre Madden, Hidden Symptoms (novel)Mary Leland, "No Cheap Thrills", The Irish Times, 20 February 1988 1988: Glenn Patterson, Burning Your Own (novel)John Kenny, "Building the structure", The Irish Times, 5 April 2003. 1989: Robert McLiam Wilson, Ripley Bogle (novel)"Judges shortlist 11 authors", The Irish Times, 2 September 1997 1990: Mary Dorcey, A Noise from the Woodshed (short stories) 1991: Anne Enright, The Portable Virgin (short stories)"The Irish Times / ESB Theatre Awards: The Judges", The Irish Times, 8 February 1999 1992: Hugo Hamilton"Dublin writer receives award", The Irish Times, 16 June 1992 1993: Gerard Fanning (poet)"Dublin poet wins Rooney Prize", The Irish Times, 17 June 1993 1994: Colum McCann, Fishing the Sloe-Black River (short stories)"McCann wins Rooney Prize", The Irish Times, 18 June 1994 1995: Philip MacCann, The Miracle Shed (short stories)Robert O'Byrne, "With a swansong in her Hart", The Irish Times, 17 June 1995 1996: Mike McCormack, Getting It in the Head (short stories); additional Special Award presented to Vona Groarke and Conor O'Callaghan"Special award presented to two poets", The Irish Times, 6 February 1996 1997: Anne Haverty, One Day as a Tiger (novel)"Haverty wins literature award", The Irish Times, 14 June 1997 1998: David Wheatley, Thirst (poems)"Rooney Winner", The Irish Times, 4 June 1998 1999: Mark O'Rowe, Howie the Rookie (play)"Mark of success", The Irish Times, 10 June 1999. 2000: Claire Keegan, Antarctica (short stories), Special award presented to David Marcus."New man in Galway", The Irish Times, 10 June 2000 2001: Keith Ridgway, Standard Time (short stories)"Loose leaves", The Irish Times, 9 June 2001 2002: Caitríona O’Reilly, The Nowhere Birds (poems)"Poem of the week", Guardian, 21 April 2008Fiona Smith, "Stacking myths, making meaning", The Irish Times, 20 May 2006 2003: Eugene O'Brien, Eden (play)"O'Brien captures the Rooney", The Irish Times, 10 May 2003 2004: Claire Kilroy, All Summer (novel)"Kilroy wins Rooney", The Irish Times, 12 June 2004 2005: Nick Laird, To a Fault (poems)"Laird wins Rooney Prize", The Irish Times, 4 June 2005 2006: Philip Ó Ceallaigh, Notes from a Turkish Whorehouse (short stories)"Ó Ceallaigh wins Rooney", The Irish Times, 17 June 2006 2007: Kevin Barry, There Are Little Kingdoms (short stories) Caroline Walsh, "Loose Leaves", The Irish Times, 10 October 2007 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 2025: Ferdia Lennon, Glorious Exploits
References and footnotes
External links