Cathal Ó Sándair (1922-1996) was the best-selling Irish language author of all time. He wrote more than 160 books in Irish and sold more than 500,000 copies. I have just written An Irish Diary in the Irish Times newspaper about Ó Sándair's life and work. Read it here.
His first book was Na Mairbh a d'Fhill. It was incredibly popular with its target audience, which was children and teenagers. Ó Sándair's Réics Carló series of books that followed the escapades of the star private detective Réics Carló were snapped up by his young readers.
It is fitting, therefore, that an award at An tOireachtas each year for the best children's book in Irish is called 'Gradam Réics Carló'. There are five books in the running for this year's award and you can find out more information about it here.
Apart from the detective series, Ó Sándair wrote a western-style series called Réamonn Óg and a series on interplanetary space travel called Captaen Spéirling. Copies of his books can be found in libraries all over Ireland and you can even find examples of his work in the British Library in London and the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.
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