Micheál Ó Conghaile (writer)
Micheál Ó Conghaile is an Irish-language writer who lives in Indreabhán, County Galway, Ireland. He was born on the island of Inishtravin in Conamara and was raised in an Irish-speaking community.In 1985 Ó Conghaile founded Irish-language publishing company Cló Iar-Chonnacht. It publishes books, music and spoken word albums. It is one of the few such companies that employ full-time editors, and he founded it because many Conamara writers were still unpublished. He believes in the importance both of popular works and a high literary standard.
His own work includes short stories, a novel, drama, poetry and history. He has translated Martin McDonagh's plays The Beauty Queen of Leenane and The Lonesome West. Ó Conghaile's awards include The Butler Literary Award of the Irish American Cultural Institute and the 1997 Hennessy Literary Award for his short story "Athair".
He was writer in residence at Queen's University, Belfast, and at the University of Ulster at Coleraine between 1999 and 2002. His works have been translated into Romanian, Croatian, Albanian, German and English.
