Tallaght Writer Named Second Place Winner of the Prestigious 2011 Patrick Kavanagh International Poetry Award

Local author and historian Michael Whelan MA has been awarded ‘Joint Second’ place in the prestigious Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award for his collection of poems titled Against the Black Sky, We Listen: An Irish Peacekeepers Poems, inspired by his experiences while serving as a Peacekeeper in South Lebanon and Kosovo with the Irish Defence Forces.

The late Patrick Kavanagh, regarded as one of the foremost Irish poets of the 20th century, is known for such works as the epic poem, “The Great Hunger” (1942), and the classic novel Tarry Flynn (1948). Named in his honor, the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award is bestowed upon a poet born in Ireland, of Irish nationality or a long term resident of Ireland. Poet, playwright, screenwriter, art critic and novelist Brian Lynch served as the adjudicator of the Kavanagh Award this year.

The Kavanagh Award has recognized many artists who have gone on to great success as poets and authors. Previous winners include Harry Clifton, the current Ireland Chair of Poetry; Eileán Ni Chuilleanáin, this year’s International Griffin Poetry Prize winner; Paul Durcan, the Whitbread Poetry Award and Irish American Cultural Institute Poetry Award recipient; Joe Woods, the Director of Poetry Ireland; and Sinead Morrissey, a Lannan Literary Fellowship winner.

Michael is also the author of two works of non-fiction, The Battle of Jadotville and Allegiances Compromised , both published by South Dublin Libraries.

Congratulations Michael!

Talk by ‘Allegiances Compromised’ author Michael Whelan

Award winning local historian and author Michael Whelan will give a lecture entitled Allegiances Compromised: Ex-British Soldiers in the Irish Army 1913-1924 at the County Library, Tallaght next Tuesday evening, 27th September at 7:00 p.m.

South Dublin Libraries published Michael’s book of the same title this summer, and it explores the stories of Irish men who fought in the British Army in World War I, and then returned home and joined the effort to fight for Ireland’s independence. Their military expertise and war experience were invaluable to the Volunteers and the Irish Army, yet they were treated with suspicion and, in some cases, contempt by their fellow Irishmen for their perceived disloyalty.

Michael Whelan has been a serving member of the Irish Air Corps for twenty-one years. He was served with the United Nations Peacekeeping forces in Lebanon and with the Peace Enforcement forces in Kosovo. He works at Casement Aerodrome where he is the curator of the Air Corps Museum and Heritage Project. He is also the author of The Battle of Jadotville: Irish Soldiers in Combat in the Congo, 1961 published by South Dublin Libraries in 2006.

All are welcome to this event!