Athlone Community College student, Caoimhe McIntyre, secured third place in the Schools Playwright Competition at an awards ceremony at the Dean Crowe Theatre on May 2.
The competition for Transition Year students involved the creation of a one-act play on the theme of ‘Identity’ using a maximum of 2,000 words. Seven counties - Galway, Laois, Leitrim, Meath, Offaly, Roscommon, and Westmeath - were represented in this competition as part of the RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival.
Caoimhe, daughter of Damian and Mary McIntyre from Lecarrow, Roscommon, received the award for her play Identity Defined, which deals with the changing, dramatic relationship identities that must be accepted when a family member suffers from Alzheimer’s.
The winner of this year’s competition was 16-year-old John Croghan, a student of Glenamaddy Community School, for his play The Yearning. The play highlights the essential connection, tradition, and sense of belonging that made life more bearable for our emigrants when Irish identity was not fashionable.
Second place went to Muireann Carton from the Sacred Heart Secondary School, Tullamore for her play The Back Row.
In fourth place behind Caoimhe McIntyre was Irla Butler from Banagher College with her play A Greater Purpose; fifth place was shared by Katie Brady from Glenamaddy Community School, with her play The Years Between, and Dennis Lawless from Saint Mary’s Secondary School, Edenderry, with his play Murderous Maid.
Two local playwrights shared sixth place. Aoife Sidaway from Schoil Mhuire, Mackney, Ballinasloe, received recognition for her play Friends Forever, a play where friendship restores a positive identity in a circle of life, as did Rosie O’Mara from the Mercy Convent Secondary School, Roscommon, for Blotted Out, a play about a crisis of identity following the aftermath of a car crash.
