The top award for "outstanding journalism by women on the island of Ireland" was presented to Suzanne Breen of The Irish Times in Belfast last night.
The first award of its kind in Ireland, it was initiated by Women's News magazine, a Belfast feminist publication.
A spokeswoman for the magazine, Ms Carola Speth, said the ceremony was a celebration of women's representation in print media throughout Ireland in 1998. "The aim of the awards is to highlight the important contributions of women in the print media," she said.
In all, 45 women journalists were nominated, 23 from broadsheet and tabloid publications and 22 from alternative and community media. The awards were presented by Ms Patricia McKeown of Unison.
Suzanne Breen won first prize in the mainstream print media category for her article, "Long War Over", published in Fortnight magazine.
In the same category, special mentions were received by Brenda Power for an article about priestly celibacy in the Sunday Tribune and by Clodagh Finn for an article in the Examiner on Finnish women truck-drivers in Russia.
The winner of the alternative and community print category was Deborah Ballard for her media watch section in Gay Community News. Special mention went to Rita Simmons for her piece on women's employment in cleaning companies, published in Women's News.