Address at the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award for Poetry
Trinity College Dublin, 14 April 2026
A Chairde Uaisle, a Fhilí agus a Lucht Léinn, tá fíor-áthas orm, mar Uachtarán na hÉireann, a bheith i bhur gcomhluadar anseo don 30ú comóradh ar Ghradam Filíochta Lawrence O’Shaughnessy.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Dr. David Gardiner as ucht cuireadh a thabhairt dom an Gradam a bhronnadh i mbliana ar an bhfile agus ball de chuid Aosdána, Enda Wyley.
Is suntasach go bhfuileamar anseo i gColáiste na Tríonóide, i gcroí-lár ionad ársa léinn na tíre, i leabharlann atá anois ainmnithe in onóir Eavan Boland, banfhile ar a bronnadh an gradam seo 30 bliain ó shin agus an Gradam á bhronnadh tráthnóna ar bhanfhile eile Enda Wyley.
Tréaslaím leat, Enda, mar is mór an onóir é Gradam Filíochta Lawrence O’Shaughnessy a bhaint amach.
Is aitheantas é seo ar an méid ómóis agus urraime atá saothraithe agat le do chuid filíochta agus do ainm anois curtha le cuisle na héigse ar a bronnadh an Gradam Filíochta seo le 30 bliain anuas, agus go leor acu bailithe anseo tráthnóna le do ghradam a cheiliúradh leat.
Indeed, what is significant about this award and what was highlighted in the invitation, is that it is not a competition, but a recognition of the literary achievements of the poet and their cultural contribution to Ireland and abroad.
Tonight, Enda is being honoured with this prestigious award.
From her debut collection of poetry, with a title that immediately captures your attention – “Eating Baby Jesus” to her seventh and most recent collection, entitled “Sudden Light”, Enda’s body of work has encompassed so many themes, drawing inspiration from a range of sources, including the “tangled undergrowth of childhood”, photos and paintings by artists spanning a number of centuries, lived and shared experience, collaboration with public entities such as the Department of Education and Dublin City Council, and of course, with other artists. It would be remiss of me not to mention your collaboration with Rachel Joynt on Dearcán na nDaoine, the People’s Acorn, on the grounds of the Áras.
What a wonderful gift your body of work has given us.
Of course, you yourself have acknowledged, Enda, that central to your success as a poet was the encouragement you received along the way. Two powerful vignettes capture this beautifully.
The first is of your Mother, who rescued your poem from the bin, ironed it, and sent it off, leading your 10 year old self to win first prize in a poetry competition. That encouragement and support was matched equally by your Father, who, as well as providing a steady stream of notebooks, gifted you a book by Ted Hughes containing invaluable advice on the importance of valuing our senses and imagination.
The second vignette was at 15 years of age, when you won a poetry competition held by RTE Radio 1, and were invited on air to discuss your poem with Eavan Boland, who had judged the competition. As well as being a poet you greatly admired, you have paid tribute to her generosity and encouragement at that formative point in your life.
Another public acknowledgement from you also caught my attention. In an interview, you said, “writing becomes exciting at that very point when the words survive without us and yet because of us.” But the culmination of that process is equally exciting for us, the reader. The words then belong to all of us. Each reader takes what they will from the poem, but what sends us to the world of poetry in the first place is the same impulse that led you to write, and that is our desire for meaning, our desire to make sense of the world. Poetry is all the more important at a time when the language of the powerful has become so misused and debased to feed the narrative of “might is right”.
For me, poetry at its best pares back language to its essence. It provides us with a window into the world of imagination, it gives us solace and comfort, joy and humour, and opens our eyes to different perspectives. In the words of Pádraig Ó Tuama, “poetry is about the human condition; as everything from the kitchen drawer to the state of the world can be subject matter for a poem.”
Or, put another way, in the words of the American poet Christian Wiman,
“… in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so that we might more fully inhabit our lives and the world in which we live them, and that if we more fully inhabit these things, we might be less apt to destroy both.”
Tá sé níos tábhachtaí ná bhí riamh anois agus an domhan agus an cine daonna faoi bhagairt agus scrios, go mbeadh ní amháin aitheantas á thabhairt daoibhse, a fhilí agus do chuile dhuine atá ag saothrú leis na healaíona, ach go mbeadh tacaíocht leanúnach ar fáil daoibh.
Is sibhse atá ábalta agus atá de chrógacht agus de dhánacht agaibh fírinne an tsaoil, idir shúgradh is dáiríre, idir bhrón is áthas, idir ár agus síocháin a chur os ár gcomhair ar bhealach machnamhach, dúshlánach.
Is sibhse atá ábalta cinntiú go n-osclófar ár gcuid súl, go bhfeice muid an saol ar bhealach nach féidir linn a shéanadh.
Is sibhse a shoilsíonn lóchrann an dóchais agus a chuireann síolta an mhisnigh inár gcroíthe agus inár n-anamnacha.
Nár lagaí lúth bhur bpeann, a chairde, anois agus bhur bhfocal cumhachtach de dhíth go géar orainn.
In this context, I can’t but re-echo the words of Theo Dorgan in his editorial in the Poetry Ireland Review, “poetry endures because humanity as a whole has a need of it.”
Ba mhaith liom tréaslú le hOllscoil St. Thomas Minnesota as an aire agus meas ar leith atá tugtha acu do Bhailiúchán Speisialta Ceilteach Scríbhneoireacht na hÉireann agus as ucht Comhaltacht nua a bhunú chun deis a thabhairt do scoláire dul i mbun oibre i nGaeilge le cúnamh ó Údarás na Gaeltachta, Consalacht na hÉireann agus Gael Linn.
Is cinnte go mbeidh muid ag tnúth go mór leis an saothar sin nuair a bheidh sé ar fáil.
Enda, I am delighted to present you with the Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award.
Comhghairdeas ó chroí leatsa arís.
Tá súil agam go mbainfidh tú sult as ceiliúradh an tráthnóna le do chlann, do chairde agus do chomhfhilí.
Go mba fada buan tú i mbun do cheirde.
Go raibh maith agaibh uilig.