An Tearmann

A young language activist from Co. Clare, Eoin Ó Síocháin, travels to Brazil to learn more about a violent conflict between a native tribe and landowners. As he comes to learn more about the local people he comes to an understanding that the story is not as straightforward as it first appeared to him – but by the time he realises this, it is too late. Despite his misgivings, Eoin finds himself in the eye of the storm as the conflict comes to a head.

‘The reader is engulfed by this story and swept along to the very last page and the book’s stunning conclusion. I welcome a story in Irish that is set, not only so far away from Ireland, in Brazil, but that, very successfully, ties the circumstances of the Irish language and Ireland with the circumstances of a tribe in Brazil. I must praise the finesse and subtlety used to this end by the author, which illustrates the danger of naivety and lazy comparisons. — An tOll. Máire Ní Annracháin.