Irish Book of the Year Nominees

One by one, she undid each event, each decision, each choice.
If Davy had remembered to put on a coat. If Seamie McGeown had not found himself alone on a dark street.If Michael Agnew had not walked  through the door of the pub on a quiet night in February in his white shirt.
There is nothing special about the day Cushla meets Michael, a married man from Belfast, in the pub owned by her family. But here, love is never far from violence, and this encounter will change both of their lives forever. As people get up each morning and go to work, school, church or the pub, the daily news rolls in of another car bomb exploded, another man beaten, killed or left for dead. In the class Cushla teaches, the vocabulary of seven-year-old children now includes phrases like ‘petrol bomb’ and ‘rubber bullets’. And as she is forced to tread lines she never thought she would cross, tensions in the town are escalating, threatening to destroy all she is working to hold together.

Tender and shocking, Trespasses is an unforgettable debut of people trying to live ordinary lives in extraordinary times.



Author Profile 
Louise Kennedy grew up in Holywood, Co. Down. Her short story collection The End of the World is a Cul-de-Sac was published in 2021. Before starting her writing career, she spent nearly thirty years working as a chef. She lives in Sligo.

Book Profile
In 2021, Charlie Bird was diagnosed with motor neurone disease – a man whose voice was so
synonymous with his career faced losing it completely. Yet knowing he had just a short time left with
family and friends, what emerged was a great sense of resilience and motivation to take advantage
of every moment.
Here, Charlie reflects on his life and phenomenal broadcast career through the lens of his diagnosis,
as he ponders the big questions and takes stock of the small moments that we so often overlook.
Written over the course of 2022 as his health deteriorated, with the help of long-time friend and
fellow journalist Ray Burke, this is a candid and unforgettable story about the triumph of the human
spirit and, ultimately, what it means to be alive.


Author Profile
Charlie Bird is one of Ireland’s best-known and beloved broadcasters and journalists, with a stellar
career spanning almost forty years. In 2021, he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, and he
has since worked tirelessly for charities across Ireland to increase awareness about this illness, while
raising millions of euros for organisations such as Pieta and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease
Association.

Ray Burke is from Galway and a graduate of University College Galway. He was News Editor of the
Irish Press and Chief News Editor of RTÉ News. He is the author of critically acclaimed books on the
Irish Press and on James Joyce. Since retiring from RTÉ News he has written for the Century Ireland
website and for the Irish Times and the Connacht Tribune.

Book Profile

After Kellie Harrington won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, the Irish public recognized her as not merely a sporting hero, but a deeply inspirational human being. Now, Kellie tells the story of her unlikely journey to the top, and of the many obstacles and setbacks she overcame along the way. Growing up in Dublin’s north inner city, Kellie was in danger of going down the wrong path in life before she discovered boxing. The local boxing club was all-male and initially wouldn't let her join, but she persisted. She was not an overnight success. For years she struggled in international competition. At times she felt unsupported by the national boxing set-up. More than once she considered giving up the sport. But some spark of ambition and love for boxing kept her going, and gradually she made herself world class. Writing with Roddy Doyle, the award-winning author of The Commitments, Kellie tells the story of her unlikely rise to greatness and her continuing commitment to living a normal life - which has involved remaining an amateur boxer and keeping the job she loves, at a Dublin psychiatric hospital. She shares exceptionally vivid and revealing details about being a woman in a historically male sport, and about how she manages her body and her mind. It is a vastly inspiring look inside the life and psychology of a woman who is both brilliantly ordinary and utterly exceptional.

Author Profile

Kellie Harrington was born in 1989 and grew up in Dublin's north inner city. She has won gold as a 60kg boxer at both the World Championships and the Olympic Games. Roddy Doyle is the Booker Prize-winning author of many celebrated works of fiction, and co-author of Roy Keane's bestselling 'The Second Half'.

Book Profile
Back in the long ago nineties, Rachel Walsh was a mess.
 
But a spell in rehab transformed everything. Life became very good, very quickly. These days, Rachel has love, family, a great job as an addiction counsellor, she even gardens. Her only bad habit is a fondness for expensive trainers.
 
But with the sudden reappearance of a man she'd once loved, her life wobbles.
 
She'd thought she was settled. Fixed forever. Is she about to discover that no matter what our age, everything can change?
 
Is it time to think again, Rachel?


Author Profile
Marian Keyes is a phenomenon. The multimillion copy, internationally bestselling author of some of the most widely loved, genre-defying novels of the past thirty years - including Rachel's Holiday, Anybody Out THere and Grown Ups - has millions of devoted readers around the world.
 
In addition to her fifteen novels, Marian has also written two collections of journalism, upon which the recent hit BBC Radio 4 show Between Ourselves is based.
 
Marian lives in Dún Laoghaire, Dublin.

Book Profile

The Western world has turned its back on refugees, fuelling one of the most devastating human rights disasters in history. In August 2018, Sally Hayden received a Facebook message. ‘Hi sister Sally, we need your help,’ it read. ‘We are under bad condition in Libya prison. If you have time, I will tell you all the story.’ More messages followed from more refugees. They told stories of enslavement and trafficking, torture and murder, tuberculosis and sexual abuse. And they revealed something else: that they were all incarcerated as a direct result of European policy.
From there began a staggering investigation into the migrant crisis across North Africa. This book follows the shocking experiences of refugees seeking sanctuary, but it also surveys the bigger picture: the negligence of NGOs and corruption within the United Nations. The economics of the twenty-first-century slave trade and the EU’s bankrolling of Libyan militias. The trials of people smugglers, the frustrations of aid workers, the loopholes refugees seek out and the role of social media in crowdfunding ransoms. Who was accountable for the abuse? Where were the people
finding solutions? Why wasn’t it being widely reported?
At its heart, this is a book about people who have made unimaginable choices, risking everything to survive in a system that wants them to be silent and disappear.


Author Profile
Sally Hayden is an award-winning journalist and photographer focused on migration, conflict and
humanitarian crises. She is currently the Africa correspondent for the Irish Times, and has also worked with VICE News, CNN International, the Financial Times, TIME, BBC, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the New York Times, Channel 4 News, Foreign Policy, Al Jazeera and Newsweek, among others. Sally has reported across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, from countries including Nigeria, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Jordan, DR Congo, the Gambia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Uganda. Her writing has been translated into nine languages and she has appeared on national and international media.

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There was a time when tales of Ireland’s mythical goddesses – their astonishing powers, bravery, and unbreakable bonds with nature – were famous, in Ireland and beyond. But over time, these stories were lost, often replaced or rewritten to make room for male warriors and kings, until now.
Girls Who Slay Monsters brings these heroes of Irish mythology back to vibrant, magical life. From Éire, Ireland’s fierce namesake, and Bé Binn, a giant who overcame her bullies, to Badb, a gleefully
gruesome death prophet, and Bé Mannair, a gender-fluid spy who challenged an entire army. These are goddesses of many shapes, skin shades and sizes, from every corner of ancient Ireland, whose daring still inspires today.
Stand by their sides as they wield magic, fight monsters, and protect the powerless – and you might just discover that you, too, are a force of nature.

Ellen Ryan is a UCD masters graduate, trained in journalism, with a ten-year youth-comms career based in the UK and Ireland. She is a features contributor to the Irish Independent and other publications. While writing this book, she was often asked if she would sign her name as Ellen Ryan – daughter of her father – or Ellen Maonaigh – wife of her husband. But she is also Ellen, daughter of Paula the artist, daughter of Carmel the scholar.