Darach Ó Scolaí

Darach Ó Scolaí (Irish: [/ˈda.rax/ /oː/ /sˠkˠoː/l̪ˠəi/]; born 1963) is an Irish author, screenwriter, and producer of screen and stage. He works in a number of genres, from novels, plays and screenplays to illustrated books for children and adults. Nós magazine has described Ó Scolaí as "one of the great Irish language novelists" and Books Ireland described him as "one of the most important Irish language writers of his generation".

Much of his fiction is based on a knowledge of traditional Irish tales and narrative practices as well as Irish history. He specialises in literary and historical fiction. His retellings of old stories and tales from their original Middle and Early Modern Irish into Modern Irish (Gaeilge) are respected for their accessibility to students and language learners as well as for their artistry. He also regularly reviews books, and lectures and writes on literature and culture. He is also a publisher, and has co-produced a number of films, television shows, and stage plays.

In 1995 Darach Ó Scolaí and his brother co-founded the publishing house Leabhar Breac at Inverin, County Galway, and in 1998 Darach was co-founder of the film and television production company Rosg. He began his literary career in 1998 writing screenplays, stage plays, retellings and translations; he began to publish novels in 2008. Ó Scolaí founded the stage production company Salamandar in 2006.

Early life and education Darach Ó Scolaí was born in Dublin in 1963. He grew up in the Galway Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) regions of Cois Fharraige on the north shore of Galway Bay, in the Republic of Ireland. Irish was the language of his parents' home.

He graduated the University of Galway (then University College Galway) with a B.A. in 1983.

Career Writing and publishing Ó Scolaí writes in Irish. None of his works has been translated into English.

In 1995 Darach Ó Scolaí and his brother Caomhán Ó Scolaí — a typographer and designer — founded the publishing house Leabhar Breac at Indreabhán (Inverin), County Galway. Their father "Séamas Ó Scolaí was an editor at An Gúm and worked on the Irish-English dictionary team [bhí a n-athair Séamas Ó Scolaí ina eagarthóir sa Ghúm agus d'oibrigh sé ar fhoireann an fhoclóra Gaeilge-Béarla]." Darach Ó Scolaí has been publisher and literary editor at Leabhar Breac since its founding.

Named for An Leabhar Breac (The Speckled Book), Leabhar Breac publishing house has more than 140 books in print. Its books regularly win awards for literary and artistic quality. Leabhar Breac also publishes translations for children and adults from various early versions of Irish as well as from French and English (and has published translations of books for young readers from Spanish, Catalan, and Italian as well).

Leabhar Breac prints its books in Ireland.

Stage and screen In 1998 along with Ciarán Ó Cofaigh, Ó Scolaí co-founded the film and television production company Rosg, and was co-director until 2006. Rosg produced Ó ScolaÍ's films Cosa Nite (1999), An Leabhar (2001) and Na Cloigne (2010). He left Rosg in 2006 to devote his time to other artistic activities.

In 2004, along with Val Balance, Ó Scolaí co-founded the annual artists' symposium Ealaín ar Oileán ("Art on an Island"). The Irish-language symposium was held annually in the Áras Éanna arts and cultural center on Inis Oírr (Inisheer, the smallest of the Aran Islands) from 2004 to 2013. Ó Scolaí was its co-director from its founding until 2013.

Besides being its co-director, Ó Scolaí has taken part in this conference as an artist and writer.

In 2006 Ó Scolaí founded the stage production company Salamandar and directed his own play An Braon Aníos. His plays An tSeanbhróg (2009) and Craos (2008) were also produced by Salamandar.

Recognition and critical reception As a figure in contemporary Irish literature, Ó Scolaí has been described by Books Ireland as "one of the most important Irish language writers of his generation", and by Nós as "one of the great Irish language novelists". His writing has been called "the high literature of the Irish language."

Novelist Alan Titley wrote in 2020 that Ó Scolaí's "peak (for now), or at least his greatest imaginative interest, is the historical novel [tá an chuma air gurb é a bhuaic (go fóill), nó ar a laghad, a mhórspéis samhlaíochta, an t-úrscéal staire]."

Ó Scolaí's style has been called "crisp and elegant, and rich in language while being highly readable," with "an unsurpassed richness and precision of language."

Ó Scolaí's first novel, the 2007 An Cléireach (The Clerk) won two prizes and was described as "one of the great historical novels in the Irish language and among the best books written in the language since the beginning of this century."

In the Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish Fiction Pádraig Ó Siadhail analyses rather than reviews An Cléireach: In An Cléireach, Ó Scolaí revisits the trauma of Cromwellian Ireland. The primary narrative device is once again the first-hand account, in this case by Tadhg Ó Dúbháin, a clerk and quartermaster in the Confederate Army in 1650. We sample the hardships, the friendships, the tensions, the rivalries, and the petty jealousies amongst comrades in arms, including remnants of the Gaelic literary class, as the Confederate soldiers, increasingly a rabble more than a cohesive unit, retreat in advance of Cromwell's forces. An Cléireach concludes with the narrator and his family in exile in continental Europe. But along the retreat route, and central to the novel, members of the Confederate army camp, rest up, and tell versions of a story about the keeper of the treasured manuscript "Saltair an Easpaig" (The Bishop's Psalter). Their versions raise issues about memory construction, the limitations of individual perspectives, personal agendas, and how minor changes in the telling of a story can alter our understanding of history.

Of Súil an Daill, in Nós, Cathal Seoighe wrote: "The book deserves a significant place among the collection of high-quality books published in recent years that would make you feel sorry for someone who does not speak Irish [Tá áit shuntasach ag dul don leabhar i measc an chnuasaigh leabhair ar ardchaighdeán a foilsíodh le roinnt blianta anuas a d'fhágfadh trua agat don té atá gan Ghaeilge]."

Táin Bó Cuailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley) is a modern edition of an 11th-century epic into modern Irish.

Cathal Poirtéir wrote: "The freshness and richness of Ó Scolaí's version are a joy... The author delights us with the linguistic and stylistic richness of the ancient epic in a modern-Irish version that reflects the original's spirit and language". Novelist and academic Alan Titley calls Ó Scolaí's "a wonderful gutsy telling" of Táin Bó Cuailnge.

Marie Whelton, in "Léann Teanga" ("Language Studies"), in the 2024 An Reiviú says,this version [of Deirdre] by Darach Ó Scolaí succeeds in skillfully capturing and portraying the complexity of gender and power issues in the 'Deirdre' tradition [éiríonn leis an leagan seo le Darach Ó Scolaí castacht cheisteanna na hinscne agus na cumhachta i dtraidisiún scéal Dheirdre a ghabháil agus a léiriú go sciliúil]. … There is no doubt that this new version greatly contributes to the legacy of the story and that it revives that legacy thoughtfully and artistically [Níl amhras faoi ach go gcuireann an leagan úr seo go mór le hoidhreacht an scéil agus go ndéanann sé an oidhreacht sin a athbheochan go tuisceanach agus go healaíonta.].

Meadhbh Ní Eadhra said of Bodach an Chóta Lachna that it was "Beautiful Irish, but easy to understand for young readers."

Ó Scolaí's 2024 novel, Bódléar, was well-reviewed by Éilis Ní Dhuibhne in the Irish Times, who called it "Whimsical, hilarious, and subtly learned... delightful!"

Awards and honours Oireachtas Prize The Oireachtas Prize is the literary prize awarded by Oireachtas na Gaeilge, the annual arts festival dedicated to Irish language, arts and culture. Ó Scolaí has been awarded this prize for three works: 2007, for An Cléireach ("(a special prize commemorating the 400th anniversary of the foundation of Coláiste na nGael in Louvain, awarded under the auspices of the Franciscan Province of Ireland).) The prize of €10,000 was the largest prize ever awarded to an Irish language novel [(duais speisialta chomórtha 400 bliain bhunú Choláiste na nGael i Lobháin a bronnadh faoi urraíocht Phroibhinse Phroinsiasach na hÉireann). Ba é an duais €10,000 sin an duais ba mhó a bronnadh riamh ar úrscéal Gaeilge]." Ó Scolaí has been awarded this prize for three works: 2008: An Cléireach (2007) Na Comharthaí (The Signs), Leabhar Breac, 2014. Súil an Daill (The Eye of the Blind), Leabhar Breac, 2021. The Oireachtas Prize for Literary Fiction, 2019. Bódléar, Leabhar Breac, 2024. Winner of The Oireachtas Prize for Literary Fiction, 2024 Listen-Up Irish featured Bódléar in its 2025 Summer Challenge for students of the Irish language, and will feature it again in its winter 2026 "Bódléar: A Listening and Reading Challenge".

Retellings, translations, and editions Ó Scolaí is known for his retellings of old stories and tales from their original Middle and Early Modern Irish into Modern Irish (Gaeilge).

Feis Tigh Chonáin (The Feast of Conán's House), Leabhar Breac, 2000; a retelling of a 15th-century tale from the Fenian Cycle. An Ceithearnach Caolriabhach (The Narrow-Striped Kern), Leabhar Breac, 2002; a retelling from c. 1500, also illustrated by Darach Ó ScolaÍ. Táin Bó Cuailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), Leabhar Breac, 2017, both a modern edition of an 11th-century epic and an annotated edition. "Táin Bó Cuailnge won the Aodán Mac Poilín Memorial Prize 2017." Part of the Ulster Cycle, Deirdre is a retelling of the story of possibly the most widely known Irish figure from the early tales and sagas. Bláthnaid, Leabhar Breac, 2024, a "picture book for adults" with artist Anastasia Melnykova; "one of the great stories of the Ulster Cycle." Eoghan Béal, Leabhar Breac, 2025, a picture book for adult readers illustrated by Alé Mercado; The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn (Macgnímartha Finn) is a medieval story in the Fenian Cycle.

An Bradán Feasa (The Salmon of Knowledge), Leabhar Breac, 2010, "shortlisted for the Réics Carlo award 2010." Dóiteoir na Samhna (The Halloween Burner), 2010.

The Scéalta Staire (Historical Stories) series

Hugo Pratt, Corto: Port na Farraige Goirt, Leabhar Breac, 2013. Hugo Pratt, Corto: The Golden House in Samarkand, 2014. Hugo Pratt, Corto: Na Liopard-Fhir ó Rufiji (trans. of Corto: The Leopard Men of Rufiji), Leabhar Breac, 2014. Hugo Pratt, Corto: In Ainm Dé Uilthrócairigh (trans. of Corto: In the Name of God All-Merciful), Leabhar Breac, 2014. Hugo Pratt, Corto: Tóraíocht Eile (trans. of Corto: Another Quest), Leabhar Breac, 2014. Hugo Pratt, Corto: Sa tSibéir (trans. of Corto: In Siberia), Leabhar Breac, 2016. Other Translations for Children

Ó Scolaí has translated into Irish six books from the Le Pavillon Noir (Jolly Roger) series by Alain Surget; four books from the Catalan First Steps series by Enric Lluch Girbés and the Caitlín & Cormac series by Joan Carles; three books from the Louisette le Taupe series by Bruno Heitz, and three books from the Loup series by Orianne Lallemand.

Plays and Screenplays Stage Plays Ó Scolaí was writer and director of the original productions of two plays in the Trí Bhraon (Three Drops) trilogy; Coinneáil Orainn was directed by Darach Mac Con Iomaire and staged by An Taibhdhearc. All three plays have been published in book form by Leabhar Breac.

Coinneáil Orainn (We'll Keep Going), 2005. The first play in the Trí Bhraon (Three Drops) trilogy. An Taibhdhearc, the national Irish-language theatre of Ireland, toured the country in 2005 with Coinneáil Orainn. Walter Macken Prize, 2005; BBC Stewart Parker Award, 2006. Branwen, 2006, by Darach Ó Scolaí and Ifor ap Glyn, in Irish, Welsh and English, co-produced by Project Arts Centre and Llwyfan Gogledd Cymru, toured the Republic of Ireland and Wales. An Braon Aníos (Rising Damp), 2006, directed by Ó Scolaí. The second play in the Trí Bhraon (Three Drops) trilogy. "The Salamandar company toured the country in 2006-07 with this play, and Salamandar also produced a radio version of the play for RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta in 2009." Craos (Gluttony), 2008, directed by Ó Scolaí. The third play in the Trí Bhraon (Three Drops) trilogy, it toured to Cork and Belfast. A+E, 2008, by Ríonach Ní Néill and Darach Ó Scolaí, "dance and music drama", co-produced by Ciotóg and Salamandar. An tSeanbhróg (The Old Shoe), 2009, produced by Salamander and staged in the Axis Arts Centre, Dublin, and the Letterkenny Arts Centre.

Screenplays Cosa Nite (tWashed Feet), short film, 1998 (dir. Dearbhla Walsh, prod. Ciarán Ó Cofaigh, Rosg); "a prose version of Cosa Nite was published (Rosg 2000)." co-directors Ciarán Ó Cofaigh & Darach Ó Scolaí, prod. Ciarán Ó Cofaigh, Rosg. An Leabhar (The Book), short film, 2000,

"Ceol Ciúin na nÉagmaise" ("The Silent Music of Absence [the Fall?]"), an essay on the 2014 Nobel Prize winner for literature, Patrick Modiano, Comhar, December 2014. The Ó Cadhain Lecture 2014 : "Cuimhne agus Díchuimhne ("Memory & Forgetfulness") "Rithim agus Réim" ("Rhythm and Register"), a public lecture in the University College Dublin lecture series "Ó Thrácht go Twitter" ("From Talk to Twitter"), 2014. Review of Pádraig Ó Cíobháin's Dréachta Chrích Fodla, Comhar?. "Na Geilt i mBun an Tí" ("The Madmen in Charge"), a talk at the Merriman Winter School, Comhar April 2012. The EFACIS podcast: Síle Ní Choincheannain talks to Darach Ó Scolaí about the historical novel.

Footnotes