A heart-wrenching poem by Killygordon writer Niall Gallen has won the top prize in a national poetry contest.
Gallen’s ‘Tombstone In the Shade’ was the overall winner in the Luain Press Poetry Competition.
The verses are a harrowing depiction of grief and pain following the loss of a child.
Niall explained: “This poem was written about the death of my English teacher’s daughter who died in a cot death I as a student attended the funeral in Letterkenny and to see this man broken carrying a little white coffin down the church was heartbreaking.
“The man was a great teacher and an inspiration to students to write freely.”
The poem was entered into the contest by Niall’s niece Luíseach Alexander, who also loves to write.
Listen to the poem here:
