Tall tales earn awards for Galway girls

IT was a night for the Galway girls as sisters from Seamount College took two out of the top three awards in junior section of The Clare Champion short-story competition.

At the prize-giving ceremony, held on Thursday night, a Gort student was also awarded second place in the senior category.
The McArdles, Laura and Niamh, from Kinvara were positioned first and third respectively in the junior section of the competition which was open to second-level students across County Clare and South Galway.
The two girls are originally from the United States but have been living in Galway for the past nine years. It is something in the family.
“Our grandfather in Vermont writes. He writes mystery novels,” Laura said.
The 15-year-old is very proud of her younger sister’s achievement coming third in the junior section of the competition after writing it when she was just 12.
Laura’s story, which scooped the top accolade in the junior section, details a mischievous tale.
“I wrote my article as a homework assignment. I got an A so the teacher, Alma Kavanagh, suggested I enter. It is not based on her though,” she assured.
Niamh’s story is in a different style to that of her sister but also impressed judges, ensuring she took home third prize in the junior category.
“I wrote mine at the end of the Christmas holidays. I kept putting it off but then I finally did it on the last day,” she recalled.
“Niamh and Laura are always so diligent and enthusiastic about things that are happening here in the school. Anything that is going on, they get involved in it. Other students entered the competition as well and showed great interest in writing their short stories and while they mightn’t have won this year, it is all about participating and the achievement is an added bonus for those who did well,” said school principal Margo Mhic Dhomhnaill.
The Clare Champion editor Austin Hobbs suggested that perhaps the McArdles might become the next Bronte sisters and in fact, there is indeed a third sister and a brother.
Both girls believe their siblings, eight-years-old twins Abbey and Mikey, have a great future in writing too.
“Abbey likes to write stories but doesn’t always finish them,” Niamh claimed.
Continuing in the literary tradition of South Galway, a Gort Community School student took second place in the senior category.
Emmanuelle Lydon, a fourth-year living in Gort, wrote It smells like sun, which greatly impressed the competition judges especially former Clare County librarian Noel Crowley. Noel explained that from an urban perspective, Emmanuelle’s descriptions of country life and farm animals stood out as particularly strong images from the shortlist of entries.
Emmanuelle’s narrative was also particularly unusual.
“It is very typical of my style. I’m better at writing descriptive stories rather than ones that revolve around plot. That is the sort of books I read too,” she revealed.
Emmanuelle’s English teacher Olive Duffy attended Thursday’s ceremony.
“This is Gort Community School’s second year entering The Clare Champion Short Story Competition and it is a great endorsement of the talent within the school itself to have a student in the top three. The competition is a great way to foster the creativity of teenagers and of developing students’ writing skills.” Ms Duffy commented.
“Emmanuelle loves reading which is great to see. She is a hard worker and entered of her own initiative. She is an excellent student, very creative and artistic and has an excellent command of the English language and that comes across in her work especially in this particular story,” she continued.
Emmanuelle’s accomplishment, along with that of Laura and Niamh, mean that South Galway girls took three of the top six honours in The Clare Champion Short Story Competition 2010.
To read the short stories, see Section 2 pages, one to five.