Irish Chiefs' and Clans' Prize in Gaelic History 2027
Clans of Ireland (Finte na hÉireann) together with the Standing Council of Irish Chiefs and Chieftains (Buanchomhairle Thaoisigh Éireann) in association with the History Department ofTrinity College, Dublin, and History Ireland magazine, are offering a prize of €500 for the winning entrant in an essay competition on Gaelic Ireland. The winner will also be presented with the Ó Ceallaigh Dal gCais Perpetual Cup at the Clans of Ireland Cultural Summit and may be offered the opportunity to read the winning essay.
Entry is open to all persons over 18 years who are NOT on the academic staff of a history department in any third-level institution.
Essays must be on a topic dealing with any aspect of the political, social or cultural history of Gaelic Ireland (within the date-range AD 400 to 1690), such as Irish kingship, lordship, landholding, genealogy, family history, etc. They should be c. 2,000 words in length and accompanied by full footnote references to sources used, with a bibliography at the end (footnotes and bibliography will not be counted as part of the word-length). Essays may be written in English or in Irish.
Entrants should be warned that the use of AI is deleterious to a competitor’s chances, not only because it might be regarded as cheating, but it does not in practice produce work in line with research requirements.
Entries, with candidate's name, address and contact details should be emailed to: mksimms@tcd.ie by 1st June 2027
The prize will only be awarded for an entry deemed to be of publishable standard. Subject to editorial approval, a version of the paper will appear in the Nov./Dec. 2027 issue of History Ireland. Both the winner and other entrants whose papers are deemed of publishable standard may be invited to contribute their work to a projected volume of essays on Gaelic Ireland, which is a central goal of the Chiefs’ and Clans’ competition.