The Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards is Ireland’s biggest celebration of Irish books and authors. Last night saw the twelfth edition of the annual awards which celebrated the best fiction and non-fiction writers in Ireland, however the category we were most hungry to see who came on on top was that of Cookbook of the Year.
The awards, presented by Ryan Tubridy, saw Ballymaloe’s Rory O’Connell top the list of tasty titles for his book ‘Cook Well, Eat Well’.
Rory pipped family member Rachel Allen to be scoop the Cookbook of the Year 2017 award, sponsored by Eurospar.
Other books on the 2017 were The Cookery School, Donnybrook Fair by Niall Murphy, Neven Maguire’s Perfect Irish Christmas, Home Baking by Rachel Allen, Half Hour Hero by Roz Purcell, and Fearless Food by Dublin Cookery School’s Lynda Booth.
Elsewhere, David Walliams was awarded with an International Recognition Award.
Acclaimed poet Eavan Boland was the recipient of this year’s ‘Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award’.
Sports Book of the Year went to ‘The Choice’ By Philly McMahon with Niall Kelly.
The Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards was founded to celebrate and promote Irish writing to the widest range of readers possible.
Each year it brings together a huge community passionate about books – readers, authors, booksellers, publishers and librarians – to recognise and celebrate the very best of Irish writing talent.
To see the full list of 2017 winners visit www.irishbookawards.irish.