Longford Arts Recognition Awards 2026
Seven Longford artists to be honoured at Backstage Theatre
Press Release: Monday, 31 August 2026
County Longford Arts Service, in collaboration with Longford County Council and media partner The Longford Leader, is proud to announce the seven recipients of the inaugural Longford Arts Recognition Awards. The awards will be presented at a special ceremony in the Backstage Theatre on Friday, 25 September at 7pm, bringing together artists, their families and supporters from across the county for an evening celebrating Longford's creative community.
Longford's cultural life has long been shaped by the imagination of its people. The literary legacy of Maria Edgeworth, Oliver Goldsmith and Padraic Colum runs alongside the work of today's writers, musicians, dancers and visual artists, showcased through Backstage Theatre, local galleries, community arts groups and traditional music sessions in towns and villages across the county. The Longford Arts Recognition Awards have been established to give that ongoing contribution the recognition it deserves.
Over the past two months a public campaign in the Longford Leader and online encouraged citizens to nominate artists and creatives that have contributed substantially to the arts scape of the county. Ninety-six nominations were received. A selection committee then had the difficult task of choosing seven recipients from these nominations based on a number of criteria including the scale and quality of nominee's contribution in Longford and beyond. Ceramic artist Michelle O'Donnell from Glass Hammer Studios has been commissioned to create unique award sculpters that will be presented to recipients on the night.
A perpetual memorial award honouring the lifetime contribution to the arts of the late Gus Hanley will be presented to emerging Longford Artist and will include a €1,000 prize bursary. Gus was very active in theatre and music, winning several national awards as an actor and director and was a founder member of Backstage Theatre and Backstage Youth Theatre.
Cathaoirleach of Longford County Council, Cllr Gerry Hagan who will preside over the inaugural Longford Arts Recognition Awards 2026 said, “These seven recipients reflect the depth and range of talent we are fortunate to have in County Longford, from dance and sculpture to poetry, music and performance. Each of them has contributed a great deal to our community, and it gives me enormous pride to see their work recognised in this way. I commend Longford Arts Office for organising these awards and look forward to joining the artists and their friends at Backstage Theatre to celebrate with them on the night.”
Chief Executive of Longford County Council, Samantha Healy said, “These awards are about celebrating the people whose creativity, dedication and generosity have enriched life in County Longford. Through their work, our recipients have inspired audiences, nurtured talent, strengthened communities and helped showcase Longford far beyond our county boundaries. It is fitting that we take this opportunity to acknowledge their achievements and thank them for the lasting contribution they have made to our cultural life.”
The Longford Arts Recognition Awards ceremony takes place at Backstage Theatre on Friday, 25 September at 7pm. All of Longford’s Art community are invited to attend and join in celebrating the achievements of these seven artists. Please book your place at Backstage Theatre Box Office on 0433347888 or www.backstage.ticketsolve.com.
For further information on the Longford Arts Recognition Awards, or on County Longford Arts Service more visit longfordarts.ie or follow County Longford Arts Service on social media. For more on Longford County Council, visit longfordcoco.ie or contact the Arts Office on 043 334 3410.
Longford Arts Recognition Awards Recipients 2026
Anica Louw
Anica Louw was born and raised in South Africa. She obtained a BA Dramatic Arts degree and her H.Dip. While teaching in Sutherland, in the Karoo desert, she met Philip Dawson, who was working for a mining company.
Not long afterwards, Anica travelled through South America, and USA. Before carrying on with her travels, she wondered if she could take a break and work on a farm called Shawbrook. Philip’s Mother Silvia and Anica immediately struck a lifelong friendship, Anica fell in love with Shawbrook and Ireland and marriage followed in 1978.
Since then she has dedicated her life to dance and dancers in Ireland. First her school called Shawbrook School of Ballet started in Legan, where the legendary Marguerite Donlon was enrolled. As the school grew and her students excelled in RAD Ballet exams, she slowly realised after teaching in every town in the Midlands, she needs a base. Her farmer husband came to the rescue and slowly changed a dairy farm into an international dance performance centre.
Shawbrook School of Dance, Shawbrook Youth Dance, Shawbrook Summer School, Shawbrook Residential Dance Centre, the Irish National Dance Awards sprung and grew, resulting into today’s professional dance history.
Although she retired from teaching ballet in 2016, she has not stopped, working full time with her husband Philip managing LD Dance Shawbrook a strategic funded charity company while also enjoying working with community dance groups performing in local festivals.
Shelley Corcoran
Shelley Corcoran is a photographer, poet and children's author. Shelley has a distinction in her Fine Art Photography Degree from IADT.
She has been chairperson of Longford art festivals W.A.L Fest and Expressions. Two and three person shows in Longford include Three Thoughts, One Breath and Blood Sisters. She delivered photography workshops to TY students in all secondary schools in Longford for 14 years. Her art photography has been published in journals worldwide.
Shelley has exhibited internationally in China, USA, Bath, Italy and Paris and in Ireland in Dublin, Limerick, Roscommon and Leitrim with a solo exhibition in The Joinery, Dublin.
Shelley’s poetry has been published in journals in the USA, UK and Europe and she was the compiler for Chasing Shadows Anthology, Lapwing Publications.
Shelley’s published children’s books are The Most Irish Person, Currach Books, Hidden Wonders, Little Beetle Press and Bridget’s Bright, Tiny Tree Books. She has facilitated workshops in Spain and schools and festivals across the country including Dublin, Kildare, Leitrim, and Granard Booktown Festivals and has appeared on RTE’s news2day.
Shelley’s most recent book is Redheads, Library Tales Publishing; a photography book with 159 portraits of Redheads, many being from County Longford.
Shelley also runs Tabitha & Norah, a fine art print business with artwork from seven Longford artists.
Michael Casey
Michael Casey is regarded as one of Ireland's foremost sculptors. His pieces are found in private collections, institutions and galleries all over the world. His workshop and studio are situated beside Lough Ree at Barley Harbour in Newtowncashel where he has worked all his life. He shares his workshop with his son Kevin who is also a gifted sculptor.
In his early years, Michael worked in elm, but when the elm tree disappeared from Europe, he discovered bog oak, a semi fossilised wood buried deep in the Irish Bogs for thousands of years. The landscape near Michael’s home is covered in ancient bogs that contained large pieces of preserved oak. This became the main raw material that Michael used as his chosen medium.
Michael is a true craftsman who, having mastered his materials, began to express himself artistically, turning folk art into fine art. His technical skills and his unique vision transform the ‘peasant material’ into art works that range from the classical to the contemporary. He recognised early that bog wood was not simply a nuisance to the turfcutter, suitable only for burning, but rather a valuable medium for carvers and sculptors all over the country.
Michael Keegan-Dolan
Michael Keegan-Dolan is an international choreographer and director who describes Longford as home, his father having come from Bornacoola. As founder of Teac Damsa Michael is known for raw, visually arresting works that blend dance, theatre, and music. Formerly director of Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, his acclaimed productions include Giselle, The Bull, Rian, Swan Lake/Loch na hEala, MÁM, Nobodaddy, and How to Be a Dancer in Seventy- Two Thousand Easy Lessons. His work has toured globally and received major recognition, including a Bessie, Irish Times Theatre Awards, UK Dance Awards, a Sky Arts nomination, and four Olivier nominations.
Teac Damsa is an internationally acclaimed dance theatre company based in the Kerry Gaeltacht. The company was founded in 2016 by Michael as the next chapter after Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, and has created productions that tour globally and receiving multiple awards, including Irish Times Theatre Awards, Olivier nominations, and a New York Bessie. Teac Damsa exists to allow dancers to access a way of working that counters the agenda of others’ expectations, values or aesthetics and permits one to discover and engage with your own self. Recent work includes 1975 - Naoi Déag Seachtó a Cúig (2025) Nobodaddy (2024), How to Be a Dancer in Seventy-Two Thousand Easy Lessons (2022), MÁM (2019)
Raised in Dublin and currently living in Kerry, his father is from Bornacloola and Michael describes Longford as ‘home.’
Noel Monahan
Noel Monahan is a native of Granard, County Longford. He is the author of ten acclaimed collections of poetry. His work has earned widespread critical acclaim and has been translated into: French, Italian, Russian and Romanian.
His many prestigious honours include: The Poetry Ireland Seacat National Poetry Award, The RTE PJ O'Connor Award for drama, The ASTI Achievements Award, The Irish Writers Union Poetry Award, The Hiberno-English Poetry Award.
These accolades reflect the high regard in which his work is held throughout Ireland. His poetry was selected as a prescribed text for the Leaving Certificate English syllabus, 2011 & 2012. No less a critic than John Montague has praised Monahan for "Colonising the ground once ploughed by his predecessor, Patrick Kavanagh and in transforming the everyday surroundings by his poetic vision.”
Much of Monahan' s literary work is related to Granard and Longford. He has given poetry readings and poetry workshops throughout the county, resulting in the publication of literary anthologies like: "Ring Around The Moon, 2014, "Chasing Shadows" 2022. He has adjudicated literary competitions at The Goldsmith Summer Schools and Maria Edgeworth Festivals. "Diary of a Town" based on Noel's growing up in Granard in the 50s had been performed by The Granard Writers Group on several occasions. Noel Monahan has featured at Granard Booktown Festival and was the first writer in residence there.
Paul Gurney
Paul Gurney has spent more than three decades at the heart of Irish traditional and country music as a musician, recording engineer and producer. Paul is an All-Ireland Champion on both accordion and piano and represented Ireland at the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, in Dublin.
Since beginning his career in 1990, Paul has worked with some of the biggest names in Irish traditional, folk and country music, including Matt Molloy of The Chieftains, Frankie Gavin, De Dannan, Stockton’s Wing, Four Men and a Dog, Arty McGlynn, Nollaig Casey, Eleanor Shanley, Shay Healy, Charlie McGettigan, Patrick Feeney, The Three Amigos, Declan Nerney, Mick Flavin and Paul Harrington.
Paul’s musical talents have also taken him into the world of film and television. He played on five pieces of music featured in the Grammy-nominated movie Brooklyn, starring Saoirse Ronan. His television appearances include The Late Late Show, Kenny Live, Gerry Kelly and various appearances on RTE, UTV and BBC.
Away from music, Paul gives his time generously to supporting charitable causes and community events.
With a career that has taken him from North Leitrim to some of Ireland’s biggest stages, studios and TV programmes, Paul continues to make a significant contribution to Irish music as a performer, producer and recording engineer.
Luke Casserly
Luke Casserly is a multidisciplinary performance maker from Longford, Ireland. His work weaves together ecological research, autobiography, sound art, and place as a way of carving out space for new possibilities to emerge between live performance and physical landscapes. His projects have brought audiences through city streets, back gardens, train stations, beaches, and a bog in the Irish Midlands which have led to the creation of a network of wildflower meadows across Ireland (1000 Miniature Meadows, 2020-23), the planting of 1000 indigenous trees (Root, 2021), and the development of an organic perfume made using botanicals from the Irish bog (Distillation, 2023).
Luke is a recipient of the Arts Council’s Next Generation Award and was selected for the Norman Houston Multidisciplinary Commissioning Award with Solas Nua (Washington DC), as well as the International Forum at Theatertreffen (Berlin Festspiele). He was recently appointed as a Biodiversity Artist in Residence with Dublin City Council, and worked with the Irish Architecture Foundation and 12th Field as the Bog Bothy Artist in Residence throughout 2025. He holds a BA in Drama and Theatre Studies (Trinity College Dublin) and a Diploma in Art and Ecology (NCAD). Luke is currently the Creative Placemaking Associate with Workhouse Union in Callan, County Kilkenny.
Luke is receiving the Gus Hanley Memorial award recognising his emergence as a theatre practitioner of great talent and potential.
