Congratulations, Monica

For those of you who have been following our updates on the Carousel Aware Prize for Independent Authors, we have been remiss in not passing on the exciting news of the final result. We are delighted to announce that our good friend, Monica Corish, not only took the prize for best Fiction novel, but also received the overall Golden CAP Award for the best independently published book. Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch announced the Golden CAP award in a short video

LeafLight Moon evokes the story of the fateful encounter between the First Farmers and the hunter-gatherers who had lived in Ireland for thousands of years.

Copies are readily available from A Novel Idea, Ballyshannon; Liber Books, Sligo; Four Masters Bookstore, Donegal Town; and Chapters Bookstore and Books Upstairs, Dublin. On-line sources include The Lulu Bookstore and Amazon.ie for paperback and Kindle versions.

Monica will read from LeafLight Moon on Saturday, 1 November in the Glens Centre, Manorhamilton. She will also launch the novel in conversation with another old friend of the festival, memoirist Olive Travers at the 2025 Allingham Festival on Sunday 9 Nov at 1:30 pm in the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon.

New Atlas for a Very Old Town

Is Ballyshannon the “Oldest Town in Ireland”?

Don’t ask us but come along to this year’s Hedge School for a genuinely learned discussion.

History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham will be talking to Angela Byrne, author of the recently published Ballyshannon edition of the Royal Irish Academy Irish Historic Towns Atlas Series. Pauric Travers will join them for a fascinating conversation carrying us all back to the earliest days of “The kindly spot, the friendly town.”

Thursday, November 6, Abbey Arts Centre admission free.

Excitement Mounting

As the clock ticks down to the Grand Opening of Allingham 2025 you can expect a flurry of reminders of wonderful elements in this year's program.

Where better to start than Opening night, Wednesday November, 5th? Ballyshannon Samba band will kick things off in style as they have done for several years, outside the Abbey Arts Centre before Donegal Arts Officer, Traolach Ó Fionnáin performs the official opening.

This will be followed by the much-anticipated Allingham Lecture, Age of Chaos: The New World Order. This will see the return to Ballyshannon of Nelofer Pazira, the Afghan-Canadian author, journalist and filmmaker who last year lit up the Abbey as guest of the Fifth Court podcast. Those who were present will need no reminding of her eloquent insights into the history and current state of affairs in the Middle East. Much has happened in the interim but how much has changed? This will be an enthralling evening. If your appetite needs to be further whetted, check out this column by Nelofer, recently published in the Sunday Independent discussing October 7th, two years on.

Manchán Magan, R.I.P.

Bhí Manchán Magan i láthair ag Féile Allingham in 2015… Fear uasal ó dhúchas a bhí ann. Cuimhníonn gach duine ag an bhféile ar a ghreann agus a stíl. Phléigh a sheimineár cuid dá spéiseanna móra: taisteal, scríbhneoireacht taistil, déanamh scannán faisnéise agus cultúr an domhain.

Ach inniu agus an ghrian ag dul faoi ar a ranníocaíocht mhór do shaol cultúrtha na tíre, is é an rud a lasann a oidhreacht ná a dhíochracht dá theanga dhúchais. Bhí sé an tugtha dá theanga dhúchais. Ach ní bhfaighfí riamh é i gcleachtaí acadúla seanchaite ag scrúdú na Gaeilge ná fiú ag úsáid na Gaeilge. D’fhéach sé thar theorainneacha geografacha agus polaitiúla na tíre agus na cruinne. D’fhéach sé thar chultúr na hÉireann,a hinstitiúidí agus a rialtais, a thug seirbhís béil don teanga dhuchais agus a chothaigh caidreamh contrártha idir mian agus éacht.

Bhí an chumas air, an taiféiseach ó thaobh an teanga, a fheiceáil agus é a thabhairt amuigh faoin solas chun díospóireacht faoi. Thug sé an chomhrá faoi úsáid na Gaeilge chuig áiteanna nua agus neamhchoitianta. Bhí dearcadh úr idirnáisiúnta aige ar na hÉireannaigh agus ar a dteanga. Agus má thug sé dúshlán do gach duine leanúint leis isteach sa domhan nua cróga a shamhlaigh sé, rinne sé iniúchadh níos doimhne ná riamh ar bhunús agus ar fhréamhacha na teanga scríofa agus labhartha a bhí ann leis na blianta fada anuas.

Chuir sé ceisteanna aisteacha agus chuir sé iallach orainn go léir aghaidh a thabhairt orthu, ar bhealach greannmhar, caoin ach cumhachtach. Bhí an tarraingteach a bhí aige don ghnáthduine i bhfad níos faide ná aon ghníomhaí eile ar son na teanga riamh.

Nuair a fógraíodh a bhás, ba é uachtarán na hÉireann , M.D. O hUigín é féin , cuid den chéad dream a chuir a bhrón in iúl faoina bhás anabaí agus ag an am céanna, lean an triúr hip hop Kneecap (a bhí mar phríomhcheoltóirí ag Glastonbury in 2025, agus a chríochnaigh sna cúirteanna dlí dá bhar) é seo, le hómós a thabhairt. Cosúil leis na laochra móra cáiliúla go léir, tá sé imithe ró-luath ach creidimidne i bhFéile Allingham go leanfaidh a oidhreacht ar aghaidh i bhfad amach anseo. Cuirimid ár gcomhbhrón ó chroí in iúl dá bhean chéile Aisling a mhathair Chroine agus an chlann sínte.

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Manchán Magan was present at the Allingham Festival in 2015… He was a born gentleman. Everyone at the festival remembers his humour and his style. His seminar discussed some of his major interests: travel/travel writing, documentary filmmaking, and world culture.

But today, as the sun sets on his great contribution to the country’s cultural life, the thing that illuminates his legacy is his dedication to his native language. He was so devoted to it. But you would never find him engaged in outdated academic exercises examining Irish, nor even just using Irish. He looked beyond the geographical and political borders of the country and the world. He looked beyond Irish culture, its institutions, and its government, which paid lip service to the native language and fostered a contradictory relationship between aspiration and achievement.

He had the ability to see the absurdity of language and bring it out into the light for discussion.He brought the conversation about the use of Irish to new and unusual places. He had a fresh, international perspective on the Irish people and their language. And if he challenged everyone to follow him into the brave new world he envisioned, he also explored the origins and roots of the written and spoken language that had existed for many years more deeply than ever before.

He asked challenging questions and forced us all to face them, in a humorous, gentle, yet powerful way. His appeal to the ordinary person was far greater than that of any other language activist ever before.

When his death was announced, the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, was among the first to express his sorrow at the untimely passing, and at the same time, the hip-hop trio Kneecap (who were main performers at Glastonbury in 2025, and subsequently appeared in legal courts because of it) followed this with a tribute.

Like all great famous heroes, he is gone too soon, but we at the Allingham Festival believe that his legacy will continue far into the future. We express our deepest condolences to his wife Aisling, his mother Croine, and the extended family.

Literary Competitions Deadline Extended

The deadline for the 2025 Allingham Poetry and Flash Fiction Competitions is being extended to Sunday, 12 October at 23:59 / 11:59 pm.

This extension applies to both on-line and postal submissions. All other competition rules and guidelines remain in effect.

Contact the Competitions Organiser via allinghamfest@gmail.com with any questions.