Liam Ó Muirthile (1950-2018)
‘A writer of great diversity and breadth, Liam Ó Muirthile pushed the boundaries of Irish language literature through his dynamic prose, poetry and his writing for stage . . . His work made an enormous impact on our cultural landscape.’
— Sheila Pratschke, The Arts Council
Liam Ó Muirthile was born in Cork City in 1950. He learned Irish at school and in the Irish speaking region of West Kerry. His first collection of poetry was Tine Chnámh in 1984 which received the Irish-American Cultural Institute’s literary award and the major Oireachtas prize for poetry.
He was a member of Aosdána and received the Butler Award in 1996 for his novel Ar Bhruach na Laoi, and both the Arts Council Prize and Gradam Chló Iar-Chonnacht for his third collection of poems Walking Time: agus Dánta Eile.
His published works include: Tine Chnámh (1984), An Peann Coitianta (1991), Ar Bhruach na Laoi (1995), An Peann Coitianta 2 (1997), Liodán na hAbhann (1999), Fear an Tae (1999), Walking Time: agus Dánta Eile (2000), Gaothán (2000), An Seileitleán (2004), Sister Elizabeth ag Eitilt (2005), Ar an bPeann (Winter 2005), Dánta Déanta (Winter 2005) and ÁÉÍÓÚ (Spring 2006).
Dialann Bothair (Poems in Irish) was published by The Gallery Press in 1992.
He died in Dublin in 2018.
