Waterford's Áine Uí Fhoghlú has been announced as one of ten receipients of the 2023 Markievicz Awards.
The Markievicz Award is designed to support artists to develop their craft and ultimately produce great art that recognises and commemorates the role of women in the historical period 1912-1923 covered by the Decade of Centenaries Programme, and beyond.
Aine comes from the Gaeltacht of An Rinn. Her published works include poetry: Aistear Aonair (1999); An Liú sa Chuan (2007); Ar an Imeall (2011); adult fiction: Crúba na Cinniúna (2009); Uisce faoi Thalamh (2011); Éalú (2013); non-fiction: Scéalta agus Seanchas – Potatoes, Children & Seaweed (2019) – a bilingual memoir recorded from the older generation in her area; and teenage fiction: Pincí sa Ghaeltacht (2012); Labhairamach.com (2017). Her latest teenage fiction is due for publication in 2021.
Áine has won commissions and bursaries from The Arts Council, Ealaíon na Gaeltachta and Foras na Gaeilge. Prizes won for her writing include the Michael Hartnett Poetry Award, Oireachtas naGaeilge Literary awards, Strokestown Duais na Gaeilge award, Listowel Writers’ Week. Prescribed texts for the Junior Cycle include her work. She is a recent recipient of an Arts Council Literature Bursary which supports her as she now works on her fourth collection of poetry.
The 10 Awards announced are to the artists:
- Anne Crilly - Film
- Julie Feeney - Theatre
- Amanda Feery - Music
- Edwina Guckian - Traditional Arts
- Claire Keegan - Literature(English)
- Danielle McLaughlin - Literature(English)
- Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin - Traditional Arts
- Doireann O'Malley - Visual Arts
- Dawn Miranda Sherratt-Bado - Literature (English)
- Áine Uí Fhoghlú - Literature(Irish)
Awards under the scheme have been made each year since 2019. Since 2021 up to 10 artists (either individual artists working alone or in collaboration with others) have been supported up to a value of €25,000 per individual or group. The Minister’s department is partnering with the Arts Council on the administration of the scheme under the Decade of Centenaries Programme 2012-2023.
The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD said:
“The 10 artists announced today as Markievicz Award recipients join the 32 artists already in receipt of the Award since it began in 2019. The Award honours Constance de Markievicz – herself an artist – and provides valuable support to artists from all backgrounds and genres to develop their craft and produce new work that reflects on the role of women in the period covered by the centenary commemorations and beyond. This is the fifth year of the Award and I am grateful to the Arts Council for both administering the award and for providing additional support to facilitate access for artists to the Award.”
“Each of the artists I met in Dublin recognises the importance of acknowledging, understanding and highlighting the vital role played by women individually and collectively in our history. I look forward to following the progress of this latest group of Markievicz Award artists and to encountering the work they produce as a tangible legacy of the Decade of Centenaries Programme. Creative expression is a vital outlet and resource for our society, in articulating contentious history and informing our present thinking and future aspirations. We value this resource highly in Ireland and are fortunate to have over 100 years of artistic output that reflects us, challenges us and inspires us as an independent nation with our own distinct identity on the world stage.”
