Ireland's Own

Here are the latest guidelines for Ireland's Own. (Yes, that is me with Sean in the Ireland's Own office. I snuck in one day and he's too polite to throw people out)

Ireland’s Own includes a short story and a number of non-fiction items in the regular weekly issue. Each month, we produce a Special issue devoted to a particular theme (i.e., Christmas, New Year, St. Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Spring, Summer and Winter, etc).

Material with a seasonal theme should be submitted three months in advance to accommodate publishing schedules.

In general, we favour fictional stories of a maximum of 2,000 words, written in the ‘straight forward’ style, typifying the ‘good yarn’. The magazine is not an outlet for experimental or impressionistic writing. Tales should reflect the magazine’s ethos, having good general appeal developed through a well-explored story-line, with an Irish orientation where possible.

Non-fiction items of 750-900 words, accompanied if possible by a reproducible illustration, are also used, especially informative articles with a strong Irish background and general appeal.

Memoir pieces of about 800 words are quite popular and general interest and historical articles are also used.

We have no requirements for poetry.

The editor reserves the right to alter scripts if editorial adaptation is required.

Email copy may be sent to the addresses at the end.

Emails should be just typed in a straightforward manner, with no unnecessary capitals or spaces between paragraphs or lines.

We endeavour as far as possible to return all unused scripts, but we do not take responsibility for mislaid or lost texts and we urge all contributors to retain copies of their work. Please ensure that your name and address appears on all submissions as covering letters can become separated from articles/stories in the sometimes long interval between submission and usage. We need those details for the despatch of voucher copies and cheques in the event of acceptance.

We generally pay €65 per 2000 word short story, €50-€60 per article and €15 - €20 per filler piece. Voucher copies are despatched; cheques are issued a few weeks after publication.

While we do not wish to discourage anyone, it should be noted that we have a large corps of regular contributors who look after most of our needs, and we have a considerable stockpile of accepted material on hands. Even when material is accepted, there is likely to be a lengthy delay before publication.

Sean Nolan, Editor.

email: sean.nolan (@) people news.ie or write to Ireland’s Own, Channing House, Rowe Street, Wexford.