The Gathering is narrated by Veronica, as she prepares for the funeral of Liam, one of her many larger-than-life, unruly siblings. The novel casts back down the generations as Veronica - apparently leading a calm, stable, successful life as a well-off wife and mother - attempts to make sense of her turbulent, fragile history and that of her dysfunctional clan. AL Kennedy, reviewing the book in the Guardian, wrote: "Enright's work is neither mindless nor inhuman; it is clearly the product of a remarkable intelligence, combined with a gift for observation and deduction. She has uncovered the truth that sometimes our great adventures are interior."

A Dubliner - and the second Irish writer in three years to win the prize after John Banville took it in 2005 - Enright studied philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin before working for Ireland's national broadcaster RTE as a producer. These were stressful years and Enright struggled with depression. She has said: "I heartily recommend having a breakdown young: then you make your decisions and get on with it. I see people who are in permanent crisis, like a chronically faulty car. The exhaust is permanently hanging off the back of their life. If the car broke down completely, they'd have to get it fixed. There would be no more messing."

She made the decision to leave her job and and began to write, publishing her first book in 1995. She now joins previous Irish Booker winners John Banville who won two years ago, Roddy Doyle in 1993 and Iris Murdoch who won in 1978.