Ken Hennelly, Creative Writing Award 2025/26
Winner: Fionn Albert, 5th Year – An Experience that changed my life.
You can download Fionn’s work by clicking on his name above or read below.
The prestigous ‘Ken Hennelly Creative Writing Award’ is presented annually at this time in memory of our colleague and teacher.
Ken was an inspiration to students and teachers alike, always encouraging creativity and debate in his students. He is fondly remembered by past pupils of his as ‘Ken Hen’ and we are honoured to be in a position to remember his contribution to the College in this way.
We thank Ken’s family for the beautiful perpetual cup that was presented to Fionn Albert, 5th Year, for his short essay. You can read Fionn’s piece below or download it here. We look forward to presenting this great award to more aspiring creative writers in the coming years.
Well done to all who entered!
An Experience that changed my life.
By Fionn Albert
I didn’t find out the way you’re normally supposed to.
There was no quiet room. No discreet conversation. No clear warning that something in my life was about to shift drastically.
It all unfolded because of one simple question that shouldn’t have mattered.
“Did your father run away before you were born, because he knew you’d be born black?”
Everybody laughed. It was the kind of laugh that echoed longer than it should. I didn’t react, it just stuck in my head indefinitely.
It wasn’t the insult itself that stayed, but the question behind it. What really happened to my father?
That night, the noise at home seemed louder than usual. My thoughts wouldn’t settle. Even though most people would have moved on by now, I decided I wasn’t going to.
I typed his name into my browser.
At first, no results, just the usual irrelevant images and sites.
Then one result stood out, clear as day. I clicked the link, completely oblivious to what may come up.
And that’s when everything changed.
There was no intense build up, no knock on the door, no dream to wake up from, but most importantly, no time to prepare myself for what was before my eyes.
Just a few lines of text and an image.
A name I recognised. A date. Four years ago. My mind couldn’t comprehend that this was the truth. “Surely not” I said to myself.
He hadn’t run away. He had died. Four years ago. And somehow, I am only finding out now, at 16 years of age, halfway through transition year in secondary school.
I read the page, over & over again hoping it would say something different. It never did.
My whole life felt like a lie. This kind of news landing at a young person’s feet is something I hope none of you experience. My mother and sister are still yet to find out.
I still have questions about this, that are unanswered. The realisation that something terrible had happened and I wasn’t there for it still haunts me.
Four years had passed like nothing.
I had sat there staring at the screen learning something about my own life from a search bar. It didn’t feel real, but it was.
And that’s what changed everything, an experience that had changed my life forever.
It wasn’t just the fact he was gone, but the way I found out. On my own. Too late. Through a question that was never supposed to be asked
I have never been the same since.
