04 February, 2026
Four Writers Awarded Notre Dame Kylemore Residencies 2026
The Irish Writers Centre and Notre Dame Kylemore are delighted to announce that four writers have been awarded a five-day residency on the beautiful grounds of Kylemore Abbey (Co. Galway) this April. The writers are Rachel Gough, Shane Larkin, Anne Tannam and Aisling Walsh. About the residency
The Kylemore residency is an incredible opportunity for writers to set aside time to develop their projects from one of Galway’s most distinctive locations.
Kylemore Residencies are fully catered and will take place over five days in April. The four writers will also have access to the Kylemore Estate, the Victorian Walled Gardens, Gothic Chapel and museum. One of the residency places is reserved for a disabled writer who may require wheelchair access and accessible toilets.
About the awardees:
Rachel Gough is a writer and academic from Cork. Her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and published in The Waxed Lemon, Bealtaine, The National Flash Fiction Anthology, Best Small Fictions and Quarryman. In 2025, she was awarded first place for flash fiction at the Write by the Sea Festival.
Shane Larkin is a writer and editor from Meath, currently living in Dublin. His work has been published in Banshee, Sans Press, Splonk, Best Small Fictions 2024 and others. He was the winner of the 2023 New Flash Fiction Prize. He is working on his first short story collection.
Anne Tannam is the author of four poetry collections; the latest, ‘dismantle’, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2024, thanks to a Literature Bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland. Anne was Poet in Residence with Poetry Ireland from 2023 to 2025. To learn more about Anne’s work, visit www.annetannampoetry.ie
Aisling Walsh (she/her) is an award winning writer and researcher based in Co. Clare. Her work has been published in New Irish Writing, Channel Magazine, New Island’s Wired Our Own Way anthology, the 2024 From the Well anthology, Púca, The Guardian, The Irish Times, Electric Literature, Literary Hub and others.
In 2015, the University of Notre Dame and the Benedictine Community at Kylemore Abbey formed a partnership which would further their shared spiritual, cultural, and educational missions. Today, Notre Dame Kylemore is a Centre for Education and Growth where the Notre Dame family and the wider Irish community engage in meaningful and authentic ways. Together with our local partners, we strive to provide multi-disciplinary programming for leaders, thinkers, and creators with a focus on nourishing the mind, body, and spirit.
