Kenneally receives Irish Presidential Distinguished Service Award

3 October 2014 Books+Publishing

Irish-Australian author Thomas Keneally has been presented with one of Ireland’s 2014 Presidential Distinguished Service Awards.

The awards, which span numerous categories, including the arts, recognise the contribution of the Irish abroad to Ireland and to its international reputation.

‘Tom Keneally’s work has spanned many countries and peoples but Australians and the Irish are recurring subjects,’ said Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in a statement. ‘In 1992 he published Now and In Time to Be, a travelogue reflecting on Ireland and the Irish. In 1998 he published The Great Shame, his non-fiction work covering an 80 year period and charting the history of the Irish who were dispersed around the world during and after the Famine. Three Famines: Starvation and Politics, published in 2011, looks at the Great Famine in Ireland, the Great Famine of British-ruled Bengal in 1943, and the string of famines in Ethiopia during the 1970s and 1980s.’

The awards will be presented by Irish President Michael Higgins in October. Nominations were made by Irish communities abroad through Ireland’s network of Diplomatic Missions.

To see the full list of recipients, click here.

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