The Irish American Cultural Institute (IACI) is pleased to announce the opening of submissions for the Bohola (Mayo) McGowan Prizes for Distinguished Books on Irish American History. The prizes are awarded every other year for distinguished books in any field of Irish American history since 1800. The prizes, in the amounts of $5,000 and $2,500, have been made possible by a generous benefaction from Thomas McGowan, whose ancestors immigrated to the United States from Bohola in County Mayo. The winners will be selected by an independent committee of three scholars chosen by editors of the journal Éire-Ireland. The committee will consider any book published since the beginning of 2025.

To make a nomination, the name of the author and book should be submitted to Professors Nick Wolf ([email protected]) and Jim Donnelly ([email protected]) in the first instance. Instructions and mailing addresses for submitting copies of the books to the three prize-committee members will then be forwarded to the nominator. The book publisher will be asked to submit either an e-book or a print copy depending on the preference of each committee member. The deadline for nominations is December 22, 2026.