The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature is a literary award conferred each year recognising an outstanding body of work by an Irish writer under forty years of age.
The award was created in 1976 by the Irish American businessman Dan Rooney, owner and chairman of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers franchise and former US Ambassador to Ireland. The prize is administered by the Oscar Wilde Centre. Although often associated with individual books, it is intended to reward a body of work. Originally worth £750, the current value of the prize is €10,000.
Daniel Rooney, whose correct middle initial, by the way, is M, confirmed that his family annually awards a prize of $2,000 to an Irish writer. The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, he explained, has been given for the last seven years to a native of Ireland who must be under 40 years old and writing in either English or Irish.
