You could be a published writer!
Enter your story for a chance of featuring in our new book, Bedtime Stories: Incredible Irish Tales from the Past
Find out more about the competition, including some helpful story-starters for inspiration, here.
Examples
Grace O’Malley
From Queens: 3,000 Years of the Most Incredible Women in History by Victoria Crossman, Scholastic 2020
The daring Grace O’Malley was a sixteenth-century pirate queen who fought for her rights and ruled the waves off of the west coast of Ireland.
Grace was born into a great seafaring Irish family. She was desperate to join her chieftain father on his adventures and cut her hair short as she was told it would get caught in a ship’s ropes. Her father gave her the nickname Gráinne Ní Mháille, coming from ‘mhaol’, the Irish word for ‘bald’.
In 1546, Grace married Donal O’Flaherty and learnt the art of pirating from him. When Donal was murdered, she made herself chief and returned home with his troops. She remarried in 1566. According to legend, despite having given birth to her son hours before, Grace once led her troops to defeat Algerian pirates who had invaded her ship.
Hearing of Grace’s pirating exploits, the English governor in Ireland, Sir Richard Bingham, made it his mission to capture her. He had her locked up in in gaol, where she narrowly escaped the death penalty. On her release, Grace discovered she had been left penniless as English power in Ireland had increased whilst she was in prison. Her sons and brother had attacked Bingham in retaliation and also been imprisoned.
A furious Grace wanted her property back, as well as the freedom of her sons and brother. In 1594, she set sail for England to meet Queen Elizabeth I.
At the historic meeting, Grace and Elizabeth spoke in Latin as neither spoke the other’s language. Stating that she was a queen herself, Grace refused to bow to Elizabeth. Bingham was ordered to return the stolen land and release the prisoners – on the condition that Grace supported the queen. The courageous Grace went on to live a secure life under the queen’s patronage.
Grace is thought to be buried on Clare Island, where she grew up. She is entwined in Irish folklore and still sung about and spoken of today.
Dara McAnulty
From Generation Hope: You(th) Can Make a Difference! by Kimberlie Hamilton, Scholastic 2020
Dara devotes all his spare time to helping nature and wildlife, but it is far more than just a hobby. He has Asperger’s and being in nature makes him feel more connected to a world that can often seem confusing and overwhelming.
When Dara’s family moved from Belfast to the countryside, he started a blog to share his love of nature. He also produces videos, gives talks and does beach clean-ups. He once did a thirty-mile mountain trek (in the winter!) to raise money to prevent wildlife crime.
Dara is the youngest recipient ever of the RSPB Medal, awarded by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. He has also been featured on Blue Peter, the British kids’ TV programme. Somehow he still found time to author a book, Diary of a Young Naturalist.
Fionn Ferreira
From Generation Hope: You(th) Can Make a Difference! by Kimberlie Hamilton, Scholastic 2020
Fionn’s light-bulb moment came when he found a rock covered in oil near his small coastal town. He noticed bits of microplastic stuck to the oil. Too tiny to be removed by filters at waste-processing plants, these microplastics end up in waterways, and
eventually into wildlife and humans.
The rock reminded Fionn of something he’d learned in chemistry class: ‘like attracts like’. What if microplastics had something to stick to? He came up with a solution: a liquid that attracts plastic particles and can be removed with a magnet, leaving clear water behind. Fionn entered this project in the 2019 Google Science Fair and came away with the
$50,000 top prize! He hopes his solution can be used at wastewater treatment facilities to prevent microplastics from reaching the ocean.
Maeve Higgins
From Dream Big by Sally Morgan, Scholastic 2019
Maeve Higgins had a happy childhood, growing up in a big family in Country Cork, Ireland. She’d spend hours climbing trees, picking fruit and baking with her siblings. She loved to read and would tell funny stories to anybody that would listen. When she was nine, the family moved to Zimbabwe for her father’s work. For the first time, Maeve experienced a way of living that was very different from the one she’d known in Cork.
After a couple of years, Maeve moved back to Ireland. As she grew up, she still loved telling funny stories and was able to start making a living as a stand-up comedian. Maeve built a successful career in Ireland, performing, writing for newspapers and even creating a TV series with her sister, Lilly. But soon Maeve wanted a change,
so she moved to London and then New York, taking on the comedy scenes there.
Now settled in New York, Maeve presents the popular podcast ‘Maeve in the United States: Immigration IRL’ where she talks to other immigrants about their experiences of moving to the US.
She wants to share their stories with the world, discovering why they left their places of birth and what happened once they reached the US. She uses the podcast to shine a light on the issues facing immigrants today.