The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media has announced the recipients of the 2023 Markievicz Award. The award was established in 2019 in honour of Constance de Markievicz and supports artists in developing new work that reflects on the role of women in the historical period of 1912–1923. 

Ten awards of €25,000 have been granted in the fields of music, traditional arts, theatre, film, literature and visual arts. Among the recipients are singer-songwriter Julie Feeney, composer Amanda Feery, traditional singer Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin and sean-nós dancer Edwina Guckian. 

Feeney will develop a new music theatre show focusing on the historic role of women in Ireland regarding births and death rituals, and Ní Uallacháin will use the bursary to work on a project on female singers in the Ulster Gaeltacht and Oriel region.

The full list of awardees includes Anne Crilly (film), Claire Keegan (literature), Danielle McLaughlin (literature), Doireann O’Malley (visual arts), Dawn Miranda Sherratt-Bado (literature), and Áine Uí Fhoghlú (literature). 

Commenting on this year’s recipients, Minister Catherine Martin said:

Each of the artists I met in Dublin recognises the importance of acknowledging, understanding and highlighting the vital role played by women individually and collectively in our history.  I look forward to following the progress of this latest group of Markievicz Award artists and to encountering the work they produce as a tangible legacy of the Decade of Centenaries Programme.

Previous recipients of the Markievicz Award include theatre and opera director Aoife Spillane-Hinks; pianist, vocalist and composer Olesya Zdorovetska; uilleann piper Louise Mulcahy; singer-songwriter Gemma Dunleavy; and singer-songwriter Cal Folger Day.

The award is administered by the Arts Council on behalf of the Department.

For more, visit: www.gov.ie.

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