Catriona Lally Nominated for Biography of the Year at Irish Book Awards

The Irish book industry prepares to honor its writers, and one memoirist stands out for her candid portrayal of family life.

Catriona Lally has been nominated for the Biography of the Year award. Her book, Home Economics, is on the shortlist for the 2026 An Post Irish Book Awards.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony held on Tuesday, December 1, 2026. The event will take place at the Convention Centre in Dublin. RTÉ One will broadcast the ceremony on December 10, 2026.

Lally, 47, is the second of four children. She grew up in a household where her parents raised their offspring without obvious favoritism. She noted that the siblings were born within five years of each other, which prevented distinct birth-order archetypes from forming. Her middle name is Mary, a common choice for her generation in primary school during the 1980s.

Her path to writing began after a physical setback. Lally was a marathon runner in her youth. A torn meniscus and subsequent surgery ended her running career in her early 30s. To find a new hobby, she joined an evening writing course. She stated that she might not have become a writer if she had not stopped running. Her first novel, Eggshells, has been adapted into a screenplay. She identified Helena Bonham Carter as the actor who would play her character Vivian.

Lally reflects on her childhood in Ireland with a mix of nostalgia and self-awareness. She described her summers at her uncle’s house in Gladree, Co Mayo, as idyllic. The family would roam the fields and bogs, enjoying the remoteness of the location. She also recalled the agony of waiting on Christmas Eve, a memory so strong that she still looks for Santa’s sleigh when she visits her childhood home.

The author lives in a time of rapid change. She expressed a preference for the 1990s and early 2000s, a period she described as free from the complications of social media, climate change, and artificial intelligence. She felt able to spend four years studying English during a time of economic optimism. She questioned whether she would have chosen the arts if she were starting her career today.

Lally also shared personal details about her daily life. She admitted to not being good at arguing, though she makes an exception when defending her children. She recently felt anger when drivers raced through a red light. She does not drive and cannot carry tools by bus, which she said prevents her from learning a trade like plumbing or electrical work. She said she has enough to be doing by thinking about this world before contemplating what happens after death.