Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin is a writer, musician and publisher, originally from

Aghamore Aghamore () is a townland in County Leitrim, Ireland, located on the main N4 national primary road between Dublin and Sligo. See also *List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland This is a link page for cities, towns and villages i ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

in Ireland.

Biography

Born in 1961 and educated in St Louis Community School,

Kiltimagh Kiltimagh () is a town in County Mayo in Ireland. As of the 2022 census, the town had a population of 1,232 people. Although there is no river going through the town, three rivers flow around the town: the Glore River, Yellow River and Pollag ...

, he graduated from

St Patrick's College, Dublin St Patrick's College (), often known as St Pat's, was a third level institution in Ireland, the leading function of which was as the country's largest primary teacher training college, which had at one time up to 2,000 students. Founded in Drum ...

, in 1982. He taught in

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

for five years in Gaelscoil Uí Dhálaigh, an Irish-medium primary school in

Leixlip Leixlip ( or ; , ) is a town in north-east County Kildare, Ireland. Its location on the confluence of the River Liffey and the Rye Water has marked it as a frontier town historically: on the border between the ancient kingdoms of Leinster and ...

. In 1984, Mac Dhonnagáin was invited to present children's programme '' Dilín ó Deamhas'' on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

Television and in 1987 he left teaching to become a presenter/reporter on the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

features programme, '' Cúrsaí''. In 1995, a weekly arts edition of the show '' Cúrsaí Ealaíne'' began to air, with Mac Dhonnagáin co-presenting. Cúrsaí Ealaíne won an

Irish Film and Television Awards The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...

award in 2000 for best TV Features series. Mac Dhonnagáin, a guitarist and singer, also recorded two albums while living in Dublin: '' Solas Gorm'', a tongue-in-cheek

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

collection, and '' Raiftéirí san Underground'', a collection in Irish and English. With the creation of

TG4 TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...

in 1996 and the concomitant rise of an Irish-language television industry in the West of Ireland, Mac Dhonnagáin resettled in the Conamara

Gaeltacht A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The districts were first officially recognised ...

in 2000, where he continues to work freelance as a screenwriter, most notably the

and Celtic Media Festival, award-winning teenage drama show Aifric. The show has been dubbed and broadcast in seven languages worldwide.

Author and publisher

Mac Dhonnagáin is the author of a number of award-winning books, including ''Gugalaí Gug!'' a CD/book collection of traditional children's rhymes from the Conamara tradition, awarded a Gold Disc in 2013. His book, ''Madame Lazare'', won 'Irish Language Book of the Year' at the 2021 Irish Book Awards. His literary biography for adults of Antaine Ó Raiftearaí, ''Mise Raiftearaí an Fíodóir Focal'', was awarded Gradam Uí Shúilleabháin, Irish-language book of the year award, 2015. The project began life as a drama-documentary script, for TG4 television, which Mac Dhonnagáin also presented. The film, ''

Mise Raiftearaí an Fíodóir Focal Mise or Miše may refer to: * Mise (mythology), a deity addressed in the ''Orphic Hymns'' * Ante Miše (born 1967), Croatian footballer * Jerolim Miše (1890–1970), Croatian painter, teacher, and art critic * MISE, an abbreviation for Mean integ ...

'', produced by Léirithe Sónta, was broadcast on TG4 in December 2010. 'Bliain na nAmhrán', a song collection for children, published in book/CD form, won the Children's Books Ireland Judges' Honour Award at the Children's Book of the Year Awards, 2017. Mac Dhonnagáin is also the owner/director of a book publishing house, Futa Fata, which publishes in the main material for children. The company has over 100 books in print, a mix of work originated by Irish writers and illustrators as well as inward translations from French, German and English. Futa Fata also sells rights of its original publications internationally; its book have been published in eleven languages across the world. In 2007 Mac Dhonnagáin was named Uachtarán an Oireachtais, an honorary title given by the Irish language festival

Oireachtas na Gaeilge Oireachtas na Gaeilge (, "The Irish (language) Gathering") is an annual arts festival of Irish culture, which has run since the 1890s. Inspired by the Welsh eisteddfodau, the festival has included different events connected with Irish langua ...

, which was being held in Westport that year. Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin lives in

An Spidéal Spiddal, also known as Spiddle ( Irish and official name: , , meaning 'the hospital'), is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. It is west of Galway city, on the R336 road. It is on the eastern side of the county's ...

, Conamara.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Dhonnagáin, Tadhg 1961 births 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Living people Irish language activists People from County Mayo People from Spiddal RTÉ television presenters 21st-century Irish-language writers Broadcasters from County Galway Broadcasters from County Mayo