Trinity announces Book of Kells Creative Competition winners
Posted on: 01 February 2019
For the second year in a row Trinity College Dublin has been inundated with hundreds of incredible pieces of creative writing and art for the annual, nationwide, Book of Kells Creative Competition. The judges were astounded with the phenomenal talent that was shown by over 1,600 entries from budding artists and writers of all ages, with the most senior winner aged 82 years of age. Entries were received from across Ireland and also from the US, UK, throughout Europe and even as far as Australia!
Interestingly this year, two of the entrants, Noah Farrell from Clare and Niamh Ni Iceadha from Dublin, both of whom were winners in last year’s competition, also won merits for their entries in this year’s competition, with Niamh winning a merit in both adult writing and art. The six overall winners were announced at a special awards ceremony in Trinity’s prestigious Dining Hall, surrounded by family, friends and teachers.
The first prizes in art went to:
- Anna Dunlea, Fossa National School, Kerry in the primary school section.
- Adam O’Sullivan, Coláiste Íde agus Iosef, Limerick, in the secondary school section.
- Jolanta Kavalec, from Dublin in the adult section.
The first prizes in writing went to
- Juno O’Flanagan, Sarah Webbs Story Crew, Dublin in the primary school section;
- Poppy Crossland, Rugby High School, UK, in the secondary school section;
- Estelle Price from Cheshire, UK, in the adult section;
St. Joseph’s Boys National School teacher Anthony O’Flynn in Terenure Dublin whose students Conor Savage and Cathal Sean Kelly were 2nd and won a merit respectively in the competition, described the creative journey he and his students had in participating in the competition:
“The Book of Kells Creative Competition is the most worthwhile educational venture we have ever undertaken. With superb structure and organisation, it incentivizes all children and provides a positive goal for reading and creative writing. A competition not to be missed!”
Not surprisingly, the talent of all entries made it very difficult for the judges in choosing the overall winners.
Congratulating the winners on their great achievement, RTE news anchor and presenter Sharon Ni Bheolain, ambassador of the competition said:
“It was a pure delight to be an ambassador for this year’s Book of Kells Creative Competition, I was bowled over by the standard of entries. People from every walk of life put their heart and soul into interpreting and visualising our most celebrated of manuscripts. Animals, birds and gospel scenes have all been gloriously re-imagined by our finalists and the colours and artistry leap off the page.
The Book of Kells is a national treasure and it is so gratifying that Irish people retain such pride in its enduring charm.”
Trinity’s Professor Darryl Jones, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences who judged the writing section of the competition said:
“This was a truly wonderful competition to be a part of, to see how the extraordinary Book of Kells still manages to hold such inspiration for all ages even today. The talent shown by all our entrants was incredible and made the task of judging the entrants even more difficult. We are however very happy with the wonderful poetry and short stories that we have
chosen as our winners as they truly captured their own interpretation of animals in The Book of Kells, while adding their style and vision into each piece. “
The competition is now open for 2019 and the theme is going to be ‘Irish Culture and The Book of Kells’. The closing date will be November 30th 2019 and further information will be available in the coming weeks on the website https://www.tcd.ie/visitors/competition/
Writing Entries
Primary
| 1st Prize | Juno O’Flanagan | Story Crew Writing Club | Co. Dublin |
| 2nd Prize | Conor Savage | St Joseph’s Boys National School, Terenure, Dublin 6 | Co. Dublin |
| Merit | Cathal Sean Kelly | St Joseph’s Boys National School, Terenure, Dublin 6 | Co. Dublin |
| Merit | Grace Colville | Story Crew Writing Club | Co. Dublin |
Secondary
| 1st Prize | Poppy Crossland | Rugby High School | Rugby, UK |
| 2nd Prize | Rachel Thornton | Newbridge College | Co. Kildare |
| Merit | Vanessa Wanqiao Zhang | St. Andrew’s College | Co. Dublin |
| Merit | Ruby Murphy | Rugby High School | Rugby, UK |
| Merit | Laoise Hamill | Gorey Community School | Co. Wexford |
| Merit | Evan Skelly | Woodbrook College | Co. Wicklow |
Adult
| 1st Prize | Estelle Price | Cheshire, UK |
| 2nd Prize | Phoebe Brown | Co. Donegal |
| Merit | Elizabeth Oxley | Colorado, USA |
| Merit | Malachai Maguire | Co. Kildare |
| Merit | Niamh Ni Iceadha | Co. Dublin |
| Merit | Gabrielle Ulubay | Co. Cork |
Art Entries
Primary
| 1st Prize | Anna Dunlea | Fossa National School | Co. Kerry |
| 2nd Prize | Violet McGrath | St.Colmcilles Girls National School | Co. Dublin |
| Merit | Isobel Webb | Rathoe National School | Co. Carlow |
| Merit | Ruby Gallagher | St. Michael’s National School | Co. Cavan |
| Merit | Philippa McIntosh | Gaelscoil Chionn tSaile | Co. Cork |
| Merit | Noah Farrell | New Quay National School | Co. Clare |
Secondary
| 1st Prize | Adam O’Sullivan | Coláiste Íde agus Iosef | Limerick |
| 2nd Prize | Aoife Murphy | Laurel hill Secondary School | Limerick |
| Merit | Danny Zhou | St Vincent’s Castleknock College | Co. Dublin |
| Merit | Brenda Lim | Colaiste Nano Nagle | Co. Limerick |
| Merit | Ionut George Adadi | St. Vincent’s Secondary School | Co. Dublin |
| Merit | Oisin Mc Hugh | Colaiste Chomain | Co. Mayo |
Adult
| 1st Prize | Jolanta Kawalec | Opole, Poland |
| 2nd Prize | Elisa Markhoff | Pennsylvania, USA |
| Merit | Niamh Ni Iceadha | Co. Dublin |
| Merit | Kevin King | Co. Kilkenny |
| Merit | Doreen Mulroy | Co. Mayo |
| Merit | Belinda Deutinger | Co. Galway |