Biddy Jenkinson (a pseudonym) is an Irish poet, short story writer and dramatist who writes in the Irish language. She was born in 1949 in Dublin and attended University College Cork. She has published several collections of verse, two collections of short stories and two plays.
It has been said of Jenkinson that she seeks to recreate a sense of the sacral world of nature and women’s role in sustaining it.[1] She has a deep interest in literary tradition. Her chosen creative language is Irish and she has expressed her opposition to ‘the insistence that everything written in Irish be translated immediately into English’.[2] Her work has been praised for its passion, humour and variety.[3]
↑ Quoted in Maureen E. Mulvihill, ‘Biddy Jenkinson (1949-),’ Irish Women Writers: An A-to-Z Guide, ed. Alexander G. Gonzalez, Greenwood Press 2006, ISBN0-313-32883-8.
Although Irish has been used as a literary language for more than 1,500 years, and modern literature in Irish dates – as in most European languages – to the 16th century, modern Irish literature owes much of its popularity to the 19th century Gaelic Revival cultural movement. Writers in Irish have since produced some of the most interesting literature to come out of Ireland, supplemented by work produced in the language abroad.
Máirtín Ó Cadhain was one of the most prominent Irish language writers of the twentieth century. Perhaps best known for his 1949 novel Cré na Cille, Ó Cadhain played a key role in reintroducing literary modernism into modern literature in Irish, where it had been dormant since the 1916 execution of Patrick Pearse. Politically, Ó Cadhain was an Irish republican and anti-clerical Marxist, who promoted the Athghabháil na hÉireann, . Ó Cadhain was also a member of the post-Civil War Irish Republican Army and was interned by the Irish Army in the Curragh Camp with Brendan Behan and many other IRA members during the Emergency.
Connacht Irish is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Connacht. Gaeltacht regions in Connacht are found in Counties Mayo and Galway. Connacht Irish is also spoken in the Meath Gealtacht Ráth Chairn and Baile Ghib. The dialects of Irish in Connacht are extremely diverse, with the pronunciation, forms and lexicon being different even within each county.
Munster Irish is the dialect of the Irish language spoken in the province of Munster. Gaeltacht regions in Munster are found in the Gaeltachtaí of the Dingle Peninsula in west County Kerry, in the Iveragh Peninsula in south Kerry, in Cape Clear Island off the coast of west County Cork, in Muskerry West; Cúil Aodha, Ballingeary, Ballyvourney, Kilnamartyra, and Renaree of central County Cork; and in an Rinn and an Sean Phobal in Gaeltacht na nDéise in west County Waterford.
Séamus Ó Grianna was an Irish writer, who used the pen name Máire.
Louis de Paor is a well-known poet in the Irish language. Born in Cork in 1961 and educated at Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh, de Paor edited the Irish-language journal Innti, founded in 1970 by Michael Davitt, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Liam Ó Muirthile and Gabriel Rosenstock. He was awarded a PhD in Modern Irish from the National University of Ireland in 1986 for his thesis on Máirtín Ó Cadhain.
Pádraig Ó Snodaigh is an Irish language activist, poet, writer and publisher. He worked for the Irish Electricity Supply Board, and later in the National Museum of Ireland. He is a former president of Conradh na Gaeilge, the Gaelic League.
Tomás Mac Síomóin was an Irish doctoral graduate of Cornell University, New York, who worked as a biological researcher and university lecturer in the US and Ireland. He worked as a journalist, as editor of the newspaper Anois and for many years was editor of the literary and current affairs magazine, Comhar. He wrote in Irish and published both poetry and fiction in that language.
Seán Ó Tuama was an Irish poet, playwright and academic.
Coiscéim is a prolific Dublin-based Irish-language publisher founded by writer, historian and language activist Pádraig Ó Snodaigh in 1980. With over 1,500 titles Coiscéim have published the largest number of titles amongst the 26 other Irish language publishers.
Pádraig Ó Siadhail was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1957, and now lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He is a scholar and writer and has published prolifically in the Irish language.
Seán Mac Mathúna is an Irish writer whose work has been published in both Irish and English.
Pádraig Mac Fhearghusa is an Irish language poet, magazine editor and language activist.
Diarmuid Ó Gráinne was an Irish-language writer and journalist from the County Galway Gaeltacht. He wrote for the newspaper, Lá and featured on Raidió na Gaeltachta. He released a number of books, perhaps best known works are his semi-autobiographical novel writings An Traimp and Muintir na Coille.
Diarmaid Ó Súilleabháin was an Irish language writer whose chosen theme was contemporary urban life. He is acknowledged as an important Irish language modernist. He was also active in the Irish republican movement and a member of Sinn Féin.
Pádraig Ó Cíobháin is an Irish-language novelist and short story writer.
Dairena Ní Chinnéide is an Irish poet and former broadcast journalist, interpreter, television producer and mother. She has published 12 books of mainly bilingual poetry in her native Irish language and one in English whose title is 'deleted' published by Salmon Poetry. One of her well known poems is Jeaic ar Scoil. She has received numerous awards for her writing, including The Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship, The Arts Council of Ireland and Éalaíon na Gaeltachta Literature Awards and was nominated Poet Laureate for Listowel during the Poetry Ireland initiative, Poetrytown 2021.
Cliodhna Cussen (1932-2022) was an Irish sculptor, artist and author. She was born in Newcastle West, County Limerick in 1932 to a prominent local family and died on August 2, 2022. She was married to Pádraig Ó Snodaigh, a poet, writer and publisher. She was mother of Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South Central Aengus Ó Snodaigh.
Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, Irish folklorist, was professor of Irish folklore at University College Dublin. Born in County Limerick, he was a writer well-versed both in English and Irish, as well as being an academic.
Deirdre Brennan is a bilingual Irish poet, playwright and short story writer who writes both in the Irish language and in English.
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