Applications are now open for this year's Kerry Person of the Year and Laochra Chiarraí.
The individual selected as Kerry Person of the Year and the group selected as Laochra Chiarraí will succeed Louise Quill and the Kerry Ladies Senior GAA team respectively.
The award honours those who have shown leadership, brought honour to the county, and have gone above and beyond the call of duty to perform services for the county.
Chairperson of the Kerry Association in Dublin Mary Shanahan says the roll of honour of past recipients demonstrates the vast array of Kerry people from all walks of life:
Closing date for nominations is August 18th.
As well as this, poet and writer Gabriel Fitzmaurice has been awarded the Kerry Association in Dublin Arts Award.
The Association’s Arts Award, recognises excellence in the arts of an individual born in or who has lived a significant part of his/her life in Kerry.
Jimmy Deenihan, said "As Chairperson of the Kerry Association in Dublin Arts Sub Committee I am delighted that my former classmate in St. Michael’s College, Listowel, is the recipient of this prestigious award for 2025. Gabriel ranks among the most prolific author of poetry collections in both English and Irish in Ireland. His various publications of children’s verse are not only regarded as classics in Ireland but have attracted a global audience. He has been referred to as the Irish Beatrix Potter of children’s verse. Gabriel has been an integral part of the North Kerry literary phenomenon for the past fifty years and richly deserves this award".
In announcing the award at the Kerry Writers Museum in Listowel on Saturday 21st June, Mary Shanahan, Chairperson of the Kerry Association in Dublin said, "In Gabriel's poetry we find not just a skilled wordsmith but someone who captures all aspects of rural Ireland, with warmth, humour and honesty. The language he uses is generally plain and direct, which makes his poetry accessible to all. In particular, his verse for children respects their intelligence, while also capturing their youthful energy and humour, with warmth and mischief. His legacy is rich and will live on through the countless pupils he shaped and the countless he inspired and will continue to inspire".
The Kerry Person of the Year and Laochra Chiarraí will be announced at a ceremony in the Louise Fitzgerald Hotel on October 18th
