Grace Shanahan bee-dazzles the competition to be crowned Sligo’s Spelling Bee champion

Following a tense competition in which she faced nine fellow students, Grace, triumphed in the Sligo final correctly spelling the word ‘pandemonium’. Grace will now represent the county in the Provincial Spelling Bee in May.

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Celebrating its 11th year, the Eason Spelling Bee is part of an overall literacy and reading drive to encourage and inspire children to develop their spelling and pronunciation skills. Over the years the competition has helped school children gain a greater appreciation of words and fosters vocabulary growth and self-confidence for children.

Group Head of Marketing at Eason, Brendan Corbett, said; “We are thrilled to be kicking off the 2024 Eason Spelling Bee with such accomplished children taking part in Sligo – they are a great testament to the talent of the children of Ireland. I am certain that this year we will be successful in building on 2023’s triumph and inspire everyone to support their local schools, and especially, their bees!”

The All-Ireland winning bee will get a selection of books for their school library valued at €7,500, in addition to the coveted title of Eason Spelling Bee 2024 Champion. The winner themselves will also receive a goodie bag packed of books worth €500.

This year, over 525 schools nationwide will compete against each other in a bid to win the prestigious prize. The Eason Spelling Bee team will be travelling around the country to host County Final Bees, and then progressing to a Provincial Bee contest. The champions from these will then go head-to-head in the All-Ireland Final Bee, taking place in June 2024, with the lucky winner being crowned King or Queen Bee.