Donegal poet Annemarie Ní Churreáin to launch new book early next month

A new poetry collection by Donegal native Annemarie Ní Churreáin will be published by The Gallery Press on November 6.

In Hymn to All the Restless Girls the poet celebrates the spirit of the restless girl, who is often known as a rebel and a truth-speaker. With the force of folkloric charms, the poems trace the personal in public tragedies, casting their gaze in all directions as they castigate the history of the Irish State (the ‘Free’ State) and give voice to the mistreatment of women and girls by institutions of the Catholic Church.

Annemarie, who is originally from northwest Donegal is also author of Bloodroot (Doire Press, 2017), The Poison Glen (Gallery Press, 2021) and Ghostgirl (Donegal County Archives, 2023).

Her work has been shortlisted for the Shine Strong Award for Best Debut Collection (IRE) and for the Ledbury Hellens Best Second Collection (UK). She is the recipient of the Irish Arts Council’s Next Generation Artist Award, The Markievicz Award and The Patrick Kavanagh Fellowship. She is the current Arts Council/Writer in Residence at University College Dublin and the poetry editor at The Stinging Fly Magazine. Her opera libretto has been highly acclaimed and she is presently working with composer/director Michael Gallen on a new opera, The Curing Line, which has received The Fedora Prize, an award of €100,000 euro which constitutes the largest opera prize in the world.

Annemarie Ní Churreáin, said: “Hymn to All the Restless Girls celebrates the girl who is often, necessarily, a troublemaker. She has been greatly inspired by recognisable public figures like Bridget Cleary, Sinéad O'Connor and Annie Murphy but also by women like my grandmother, Mary Thaidhg, who had endless grit and imagination and whose life was full of béaloideas, piseoga and leigheasanna. Mary taught me everything I need to know about the power of story. She gave me a great love of language and a deep appreciation of the beauty and wildness of Donegal. Drawing light into dark corners of Irish history, the book offers ‘prayers of defiance, sacraments of identification and howls of protest for the daughters and mothers who tended a sacred flame as many in Ireland were figuring out who we are and what we stand for’.

Hymn to All the Restless Girls draws from the Donegal County Archives, particularly histories of the Stranorlar County Home which the poet explored during her time as 2022-23 Donegal Decade of Centenaries Writer in Residence. It is also influenced by her discoveries at the National Folklore Collection where she spent much time researching folk magic.

The book is coloured by the scenic surrounds of her new home in Loch na nDeorán in the Donegal Gaeltacht, where she is renovating the old Irish College known as Coláiste Phádraig, and the poems are delicately stitched, here and there, with Irish-language words. A central poetry sequence explores the Irish tradition of ‘fiachairecht’, the ancient art of looking to ravens for omens and prophecy.

READ NEXT: Regional Cultural Centre appoints new Marketing and Communications Officer

“It’s a strange thing to put your name to a book, knowing that such a project comes out of a lot of collaboration. These poems have been greatly energised by my quests through opera and documentary-making with composer Michael Gallen in our work together to uncover and record traditions of folk medicine in Ireland.

Many poems have benefitted hugely from exposure to the marvellous work of Lucy Ní hAodhagáin, of Wild Awake Ireland, and her teachings around ceremony, ritual and respect for the land. It’s my hope that Hymn to All the Restless Girls will be read as a handbook of care and healing and, ultimately, reclamation. Essentially, it’s a praise song for the strength and resilience of Irish women and girls. Annemarie Ní Churreáin is the 2025 UCD/Arts Council Writer in Residence. Hymn to All the Restless Girls is now available to order at www.gallerypress.com.