All Ireland Scholarships Creative Writing award winners announced

Winner of the All Ireland Scholarships Creative Writing Competition, Holly Langan from Meath, with Sponsor JP McManus at a celebratory awards ceremony in Adare Manor on Tuesday. Pic. Brian Arthur

All-Ireland Scholarships Creative Writing Competition winners announced from ‘a substantial and impressive’ group of applicants

The All Ireland Scholarships provide financial support to gifted students pursuing third-level education. Each year, 125 scholarships are awarded across the 32 counties of Ireland, from 2008 the scholarships have highlighted and awarded the work of creative writers from its Alumni.

Now in its sixth year, the All-Ireland Scholarships Creative Writing Competition, sponsored by JP McManus, is open to recipients of the All Ireland Scholarship, from 2008 to present.

This year’s competition focused on the short form written word (max 600 words) with prose and poetry categories with entrants asked to focus on short-form fiction, non-fiction, and op-ed.

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Speaking about the work of first-prize Prose winner, Holly Langan’s ‘Primordial Soup’, the judges said, “A late August day by the sea becomes something rich and transcendental as a group of schoolgirls momentarily dissolve in the water before emerging renewed, leaving the reader with the precise feeling of summer-holiday release.

“The writing is tactile and vivid, its sensory detail capturing the heat, salt, and textures of the shore with great immediacy and fidelity.”

All Ireland Scholarships Awards noted that this year’s competition received “a substantial and impressive response”, saying the work displayed a diversity of themes and “a strong commitment to craft among entrants”.

Coming out with first prize in the Poetry competition, Ross Gallagher’s ‘Calling Back’ was described as a “tender, richly evocative poem.”

The judging panel said, “This is a tender, richly evocative poem. Capturing the speaker’s close relationship to their granddad, through the gesture of a hug, and vividly conjuring the domestic setting of his cosy home, the poem also chimes with melodic half-rhymes and internal rhymes.

“Calling back is heartfelt and full of affection, memory and love, delivered with real perceptiveness and anchored with authentic detail.”

Speaking about the acclaimed judging panel, they said, “We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our judging panel – Donal Ryan, Paul Lynch, Emily Cullen, EmerRose Kealy, – and to our chair, Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, for their time, expertise, and thoughtful evaluation of the submissions.”

From a very strong pool of entries, the judges selected eight outstanding pieces in each category – Poetry and Prose – which formed the official shortlist for 2026.