BARD; THE ODYSSEY OF THE IRISH, published in 1984, told the story of the Milesian invasion of Ireland. BARD won the Poetry in Prose Award from the Galician Society and was a bestseller in Spain as well as the United States. Llywelyn also was named Woman of the Year by the Irish Heritage Committee.Next came Grania, which centred on the life and times of the Irish pirate, Grace O Malley. Llywelyn became a founding member of The Irish Writers’ Centre, and subsequently served as Chairman of the Irish Writers’ Union and as a trustee of The Irish Children’s Book Trust.

In 1986 Llywelyn published Red Branch, which was titled ON RAVEN’S WING in Britain, and is a critically acclaimed interpretation of the Cúchulainn legend. In 1989 DRUIDS was published, returning to documented history to detail from the Celtic point of view Caesar’s battle for control of Gaul. At this time Llywelyn also began writing books for children. Her BRIAN BORU for young readers, published by O’Brien Press in Dublin, won the Bisto Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature.

After DRUIDS came O’SULLIVAN’S MARCH, the story of Donal Cam O’Sullivan Beare, which was a Featured Selection of both the History Book Club and the Book of the Month Club. This was followed by another book for children, STRONGBOW, which won both the Bisto Award and the Readers’ Association of Ireland Award.Next was THE ELEMENTALS, a four-part ecological novel based on the invasions of Ireland, the destruction of Thera, modern-day New Hampshire, and the American southwest in the near future.  Llywelyn’s next Irish novel, FINN MAC COOL, published in 1994, focused on another mythical hero. more