18 March, 2025
Three writers awarded Notre Dame Kylemore Residencies 2025
The Irish Writers Centre and Notre Dame Kylemore are delighted to announce that three writers have been awarded a five-day residency on the beautiful grounds of Kylemore Abbey (Co. Galway) this April. The writers are Sadhbh Moriarty, Róisín Ní Neachtain and Michelle Nic Pháidín.
Headshots of awardees, 2025: Sadhbh Moriarty, Róisín Ní Neachtain and Michelle Nic Pháidín
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 three 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.
Kylemore Abbey and grounds
About the awardees:
Sadhbh Moriarty is a bilingual writer, musician and theatre maker from Kerry expatriated in Cork City. She is recipient of Duais Foras na Gaeilge and The Eamonn Keane Full-Length Play Award and has been published by Mslexia, Arlen House, Bloomers, and Époque Press. Her writing reflects the nuances of Irish life and is often tinged with magical realism. She is currently completing her debut novel, supported by Skein Press.
Róisín Ní Neachtain is a writer and artist living in Kildare, Ireland. Her third collection is forthcoming with Broken Sleep Books. She has been published by Abridged, Firmament (Sublunary Editions), The Honest Ulsterman and with Poetry Jukebox at IMMA as part of the Poetry as Commemoration project. Her work was awarded the Dennis O’Driscoll Literary Bursary Award and has been placed and shortlisted in a number of competitions. Róisín was also recently awarded a mentorship with the Irish Writes Centre National Mentoring Programme and is a professional member of the Irish Writers Centre.
Tá trí leabhar foilsithe le Michelle Nic Pháidín, An tIriseoir, Fuascailt an Iriseora agus Súile Éisc. D’éirigh le Fuascailt an Iriseora agus Súile Éisc ainmniúchán a fháil do Love leabhar Gaeilge. D’éirigh leis An tIriseoir an dara áit a bhaint i gcomórtas litríochta Oireachtas na Gaeilge agus ghnóthaigh sé áit ar ghearrliosta Uí Shuilleabháin an bhliain chéanna. Beidh an tIriseoir ar scrúdú na hardtéistiméireachta amach anseo. Bhain sí an dara háit i gcomórtas litríochta Oireachtas na Gaeilge leis an ngearrscéal, ‘Baile na mBlaincead’ agus ‘Súile Éisc’. Bháin a gearrscéal, Leaspáin, an chéad áit i gcomórtas scríbhneoireachta Manchain.
Michelle Nic Pháidín has written three books to date, An tIriseoir, Fuascailt an Iriseora agus Súile Éisc. Fuascailt an Iriseora and Súile Éisc were both shortlisted for the Love Leabhar Gaeilge awards. An tIriseoir won second place in the Oireachtas na Gaeilge fiction writing competition and was also shortlisted for Gradam Uí Shuilleabháin. The book will feature on the Leaving Certificate Irish Paper from 2027. Her stories ‘Baile na mBlaincead’ and ‘Súile Éisc’ both won second place in the short story writing competition at Oireachtas na Gaeilge. Her short story ‘Leaspáin’ secured first place in the Manchester Irish language competition.
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.
