Winners of the Secondary Schools' Competitions

Congratulations to the winners of our Poetry and Flash Fiction Competitions for Secondary Schools. We received entries this year from schools around the country and across the border. It’s great to see that our schools are brimming with talent. Well done to everyone who participated, and don’t forget to try again next year!

The awards ceremony for Secondary School students will take place in the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, on Saturday Nov. 9th at 1.40pm. We look forward to seeing you then!!

First & Second Year Poetry

1. Laura McCallan - “Drowning" (Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana)

2. Sophia Brock - “Everything Always Ends" (Buncrana)

3. Ruby Powell - ''Seasons'' (Crana College, Buncrana)

Third Year and Transition Year Poetry

1. Eimear Feeney - "Youthful Rose" (St. Clare's, Manorhamilton)

2. Rachel Conlon - "The Atlantic" (St. Clare's, Manorhamilton)

3. Petra Bodnar - "Tomorrow's A New Day" (Loreto, Letterkenny)

Fifth Year and Leaving Cert Poetry

1. Aoife Lennon - "Cliff Edge" (Scoil Mhuire, Buncrana)

2. Ciara Whoriskey - "Midnight Musing" (Buncrana)

3. Ciaran Alexander - "The Beaches of Sicily" (St. Columba’s)

First and Second Year Flash Fiction

1. Conor Boyle - ''Nuclear Winter'' (Abbey Vocational School, Donegal)

2. Patricia Poprawa - ''That Fairytale Look That Deceived Us'' (Loretto College, Letterkenny)

3. Catherine Brown - “Fainleog” (Coláiste Cholmcille, Ballyshannon)

Third Year and Transition Year Flash Fiction

1. Lakshmi Shaji - 'Tears of a Clown'' (Loretto, Letterkenny)

2. Amy Carney - “No Planet B'' (Coláiste Cholmcille, Ballyshannon)

3. Eva Carney - ''Frozen'' (Coláiste Cholmcille, Ballyshannon)

Fifth Year and Leaving Cert Flash Fiction

1. Aoife Devlin - ''In My Mind's Eye'' (Ursuline College, Sligo)

2. Ciara O Riordan - '' Out of that Place'' (Crana College, Buncrana)

3. Brendan Doherty - ''Purgatory'' (Crana College, Buncrana)

Poetry & Flash Fiction Shortlists Announced

The shortlists for both the Allingham Festival Poetry and Flash Fiction competitions have been announced. Many thanks for all the competition entries. We received a record number this year – 300 poems and 112 flash fiction pieces. There was some serious competition among many talented people! Our judges Jo Holmwood, Brian Leyden, Denise Blake and Annemarie Ní Churreáin certainly had their work cut out for them.

The winners of both competitions will be announced in the coming days. The awards ceremony will take place as part of the Literary Lunch on Saturday November the 9th.

Allingham Poetry Competition  2019 Shortlist 

‘A Final Summer Keeps to Other Shapes’ – Tammy Armstrong 

‘Animus’ – Attracta Fahey 

‘Footing Turf’ – Peggie Caldwell 

‘Harbour's Mouth’ – Annette Skade 

‘Like Hesperus o'er the western sea’ – Anne Casey 

‘Mermaid's Play’ – Blaire Bernstein 

‘On Sula Sgeir’ - The Gannet Rock – Lorraine Carey 

‘Poetry went into Owl’ – Deirdre Hines 

‘Somewhere in the Blue Majestic’ – Vincent Glynn-Steed 

‘The Children of Lir’ – Marah Curren 

‘The Gift‘ – Trish Bennett 

‘The song of lonely places (Hearing voices)’ – Sven Kretzschmar 

‘Walking to New Orelans along the banks of the Garavogue’ – Paula Lahiff 

‘wishbone’ – Sighle Meehan 

wormholes and paradox – Lucy Crispin 

Allingham Flash Fiction Competition 2019 Shortlist

‘A Drag Queen Named Lipstick’ – Conor Duggan 

‘Boy A and Boy B’ – Clodagh O'Brien 

‘Fear of the Known’ – Elizabeth Carter 

‘Horsemen’ – Mairead McCann 

‘Merrythoughts’ – Marie Gethins 

‘My Mr Shakespeare’ – Pauline Clooney 

‘Red Sky’ – Tina Pisco 

‘Return’ – Claire Loader 

‘Second Chances’ – Anne Marie Kennedy 

‘Testing’ – Louise G Cole 

‘The Mating Call of the Accountant’ – Julian Wakeling 

‘Yekaterinburg’ – Marion Coleman 

2019 Programme Available to Download

Our 2019 Festival Programme is now available to download, or you can pick up a hard copy from local businesses in the coming days. We have a handy one-page schedule which works well on phones. Many thanks to Lolene and the team at Erne Digital Print for another great design!

'EXTRA ORDINARY' added to Allingham 2019 Programme

We’re delighted to announce that our good friends at Wildcard Distribution have offered us a screening of the hilarious ‘EXTRA ORDINARY’, starring Maeve Higgins, Barry Ward and Will Forte. The Irish comedy, written/directed by Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, has been receiving both critical acclaim and audience praise since its release.

The film stars comedian/writer/actress Maeve Higgins (Naked Camera, Inside Amy Schumer), Barry Ward (Jimmy’s Hall, MAZE), Will Forte (Nebraska, Run & Jump, Last Man on Earth), and Claudia O’Doherty (Trainwreck, Love, Inside Amy Schumer) and tells the story of Rose, a sweet and lonely small town driving instructor who must use her supernatural ‘talent’ to save the daughter of a local man from a washed up rock-star looking to use her in a satanic ritual that will reignite his fame.

The quirky and irreverent Irish comedy has won praise from critics and audiences alike. The Sunday Times called it ‘A standout Irish film’, which is ‘special in its pure daftness; it's hard to resist falling under its quirky spell’. Variety’s critic noted that it is ‘Consistently funny in a pleasingly off-kilter way’.

A quick trawl of Twitter reviews shows Irish audiences appreciate the particular brand of humour:

@ExtraOrdFilm has to be the best film I've seen so far at @grimmfest hope it gets a national release so more can see it.#ExtraOrdinaryFilm #Grimmfest2019

— 🏳️‍🌈🎈🎈Scarecr0w__Z3r0🎈🎈🏳️‍🌈 (@marknbrandon) October 5, 2019

Extra Ordinary was brilliant. So brilliant that while the credit rolled, I was already trying to work out when I could see it again. @maevehiggins absolutely smashed it and I would enjoy seeing more of her please. Tbh, everyone smashed it, but she was my fave. #IrishCinema

— Tara Curtin (@TaraTalksAlot) September 16, 2019

Watching Extra Ordinary was the most I have laughed in a cinema in a long long time. Go see it! Support Irish film! (And laugh your hole off at the same time) https://t.co/PzwUjPOCUo

— Sean T. O'Meallaigh (@SeanT_OM) September 17, 2019

‘EXTRA ORDINARY’ will be screened in the Abbey Arts Centre at 3.15pm on Sunday 10th, €5 entrance fee. See you there!

Sandhouse Hotel Special Offer

Visiting Ballyshannon for the Allingham Arts Festival this November? Festival partner and sponsor, the Sandhouse Hotel & Marine Spa, is offering fantastic rates for festival-goers: one night B&B for €65pps, or two nights B&B for €120pps.