Tommy Murray published books on Local History, including Trim, looking back (Trim, Tommy Murray, 2004); as well as short stories and poetry. His main poetry collections are Counting Stained Glass Windows (Belfast, Lapwing Press, 2009); and Swimming With Dolphins (Lapwing Press, 2012). He won 40 awards for literature, including the Nora Fahy Prize. He lived […]
Joan Newmann was born in 1942. Originally from County Armagh, she was a member of the Philip Hobsbaum Belfast Group – which included James Simmons and Seamus Heaney – which was at the centre of the poetry renaissance in Northern Ireland in the 1960s. Her collections include Coming of Age (Belfast, The Blackstaff Press, 1995); […]
Kate Newmann was born in Co Down in 1965. Her poetry collection is The Blind Woman in the Blue House (Kilcar, Co Donegal, Summer Palace Press, 2001); and with Joan Newmann, Belongings (Galway, Arlen House, 2007). With musicians Deirdre McKay, Bill Campbell, and Elaine Agnew, she has recorded How Well Did You Love? which was […]
Nuala Ní Chonchúir was born in Dublin in 1970. Her poetry collections are Tatoo : Tatú (Galway, Arlen House, 2007, previously collected as Molly’s Daughter, in ¡DIVAS! Series (Galway, Arlen House, 2003); Portrait of the Artist with a Red Car (Templar Poetry, 2009); and The Juno Charm (Cliffs of Moher, Salmon, 2011). Her story collections […]
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin was born in Cork in 1942. Her poetry collections are Acts and Monuments (Dublin, The Gallery Press, 1972); Site of Ambush (The Gallery Press, 1975); Cork (The Gallery Press, 1977); The Second Voyage (The Gallery Press, 1977, revised edition 1986/Mass. Wake Forest University Press, 1991); The Rose Geranium (The Gallery Press, 1981 […]
Colette Nic Aodha was born in Shrule, Co. Mayo in 1967.Colette Nic Aodha A writer in both Irish and English, her poetry collections are Baill Seirce (Baile Átha Cliath, Coiscéim, 1998); Faoi Chrann Cnó Capaill (Coiscéim, 2000); Gallúnach-Ar-Rópa (Coiscéim, 2003); Sundial (Galway, Arlen House, 2005/New York, Syracuse University Press, 2006); Between Curses/Baine Géar (Arlen House, […]
Jim Norton was born in Dublin in 1947. He established HAIKU SPIRIT, Ireland’s international journal of haiku in 1992, and was its editor until 1997. He was a prize-winner in the Peterloo Poets Competition 1991 and BBC Wildlife Poets 1993. His main works are: WORDS ON THE WINDS – Haiku and Scroll-poems, with intro by […]
Christopher Nolan was born in 1965, and grew up in Dublin, overcoming cerebral palsy to write. He has published one collection of poems, Dam-burst of Dreams (London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1981). His autobiography, Under the Eye of the Clock (Weidenfeld and Nicholsan, 1987/New York, St Martin’s Press, 1988), won the Whitbread Award. His first novel […]
Jean O’Brien was born in Dublin. A founder member of the Dublin Writers’ Workshop, her collections are The Shadow Keeper (Cliffs of Moher, Salmon Poetry, 1997); Dangerous Dresses (Cork, Bradshaw Books, 2005); and Lovely Legs (Salmon Poetry, 2009). Amongst her awards is the Fish International Poetry Award, 2008, and the Arvon International Poetry competition, 2010, […]
Conor O’Callaghan was born in Newry, Co Down, in 1968. His collections are The History of Rain (Oldcastle, Co Meath, The Gallery Press, 1993); Seatown (Gallery, 1999); Fiction (The Gallery Press, 2005); and The Sun King (The Gallery Press, 2013). His first book was shortlisted for The Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and won […]
Julie O’Callaghan was born in Chicago in 1954. Her collections of poetry for adults include Edible Anecdotes (Mountrath, Dolmen, 1983), which was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation; What’s What (Newcastle Upon Tyne, Bloodaxe Books, 1991), a Poetry Book Society Choice; No Can Do (Bloodaxe Books, 2000), a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, for which she was […]
Clairr O’Connor was born in Limerick in 1951. Her poetry collections are When You Need Them (Galway, Salmon Publishing, 1989); Breast (Dublin, Astrolabe Press, 2004); and Trick the Lock (Astrolabe Press, 2008) Her novels are Belonging (Dublin, Attic Press, 1991); and Love in Another Room (Dublin, Marino Books, 1995). Her plays have been produced on […]
Conleth O’Connor was born in Co Kildare in 1947. His plays were produced in the 1970s by the Lantern Theatre, Dublin, including The Reincarnation of Mr Dogsbody; Two Letters; and Overtime. His novels are the unpublished Manus, and the unfinished Peregrine St John Corcoran. His poetry collections are Trinities (Dublin, Profile Press, 1976); The Judas […]
Karen O’Connor was born in Millstreet, Co. Cork in 1965. Her collections are Fingerprints (On Canvas) (Tralee, Co Kerry, Doghouse, 2005); and Between The Lines (Doghouse, 2011). She is winner of the Nora Fahy Literary Award (short story), the End of Festival Slam at the West Cork Literary Festival and the Listowel Writers Week Single […]
Tommy Frank O’Connor was born in Currow, Tralee, Co Kerry in 1944. His novel is The Poacher’s Apprentice (Dublin, Marino, 1997). His poems are collected as Attic Warpipes (Cork, Bradshaw Books, 2004); Loose Head (Tralee, Doghouse Books, 2004); and Meeting Mona Lisa (Doghouse Books, 2011). His work for the stage includes the pageant Breanainn, at […]
Ulick O’Connor was born in Dublin in 1929. His plays include The Dream Box (1972); The Dark Lovers (1975); The Emperor’s Envoy (1976); The Grand Inquisitor; Submarine; and Deirdre (Dublin 1977, New York 1980); Execution (1985); The Oval Machine (1986); A Trinity of Two (1988); Joycity (1989); Deux de la Trinite (translated by Ramond Gerome, […]
Michael O’Dea was born in Roscommon in 1955. His collections are Sunfire (Dublin, The Dedalus Press, 1997); and Turn Your Head (The Dedalus Press, 2003). A bilingual, Galician/English chapbook, Felos ainda serra, was published in Galicia in 2005 by Amastra-N-Gallar. He lives in Dublin. Michael O’Dea’s Blog Michael O’Dea’s Homepage Michael O’Dea at Dedalus Michael […]
Mary O’Donnell was born in Co Monaghan. Her poetry collections are Reading the Sunflowers in September (The Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare, Salmon, 1991); Spiderwoman’s Third Avenue Rhapsody (Salmon Poetry, 1993); Unlegendary Heroes (Salmon Publishing, 1998); September Elegies (Belfast, Lapwing Publications, 2003); The Place of Miracles: New & Selected Poems(Dublin, New Island Books, 2006); and […]
John O’Donnell was born in 1960. His collections are Some Other Country (Cork, Bradshaw Books, 2002); and Icarus Sees His Father Fly (Dublin, Dedalus Press, 2004). He won the Hennessy/Sunday Tribune Award for Poetry in 1998 and the Listowel Writers’ Week Prizes for Best Poem and Best Collection in 2001, and was awarded first prize […]
Bernard O’Donoghue was born in Co Cork in 1945. His poetry is collected as The Weakness (London, Chatto & Windus, 1992); Gunpowder (Chatto & Windus, 1995), for which he was awarded the Whitebread Prize; Here Nor There (Chatto & Windus, 1999); Poaching Rights (Loughcrew, Co Meath, Gallery Books, 1999); and Outliving (Chatto & Windus, 2003); […]
Liz O’Donoghue was born in North Cork in 1960. Her debut collection is Train to Gorey (Galway, Arlen House, 2008). In 1991 she founded the Live Poets Society, a pub-based live poetry performance group.Her anthology of Cork poets, In the Hands of Erato, which she produced and directed, was screened at the Cork Film Festival […]
Gregory O’Donoghue was born in Cork in 1951, where he studied in UCC under Sean Lucy and John Montague. After some years as an academic in Canada, in 1980 he moved to Lincolnshire where he worked freight trains between South Derbyshire and King’s Cross, Nottingham and Skegness. He then moved back to Cork. The youngest […]
Mary O’Donoghue was born in 1975 and grew up in Co. Clare. Her collections are Tulle (The Cliffs of Moher, Salmon Publishing, 2001); and Among These Winters (Dublin, The Dedalus Press, 2007). Her debut novel is Before the House Burns (Dublin, The Lilliput Press, 2010). Her awards for fiction include Hennessy/Sunday Tribune New Irish Writer […]
John O’Donohue was born in Co Clare in 1953. An ordained priest with a Ph.D in philosophical theology from the University of Tubingen, his books on philosophy and wisdom include Anam Cara: Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World (London, Bantam Press, 1997/New York, Cliff Street Books, 1997); Eternal Echoes: Celtic Reflections on Our Yearning to […]
Dennis O’Driscoll was born in Thurles, Co Tipperary, in 1954. A former editor of Poetry Ireland Review, he was one of Ireland’s most widely published and respected critics of poetry. His poetry volumes include Kist (Mountrath, Dolmen Press, 1982); Hidden Extras (London, Anvil Press Poetry/Dublin, The Dedalus Press, 1987); Long Story Short (Anvil Press Poetry/ […]
Tony O’Dwyer was born in Ennistymon, Co. Clare. His collection is Off Guard (Cork, Bradshaw Books, 2003). His awards include Samhlaiocht Chiarrai 1995 and 1997, and the Cork Literary Review Manuscript Competition, 2002. He is co-founder of Crannóg Magazine and lives in Galway. Crannóg Magazine Wordsonthestreet Tony O’Dwyer at The National Library of Ireland
Desmond O’Grady was born in Limerick in 1935, and spent many years living in Paris, Rome, Cairo and Alexandria. His collections include Chords and Orchestrations (Limerick, 1956); Reilly (London, 1961); Separazoni (Rome, 1965); The Dark Edge of Europe (London, MacGibbon & Kee, 1967); The Dying Gaul (MacGibbon & Kee, 1968); Hellas (Dublin 1971); Separations (Dublin […]
Sheila O’Hagan’s began writing in 1984 while studying at Birkbeck College, London University. In 1988 she won the Goldsmith Award for Poetry, and in 1990 returned to her native Dublin. Her collections are The Peacock’s Eye (Salmon Publishing, 1992); The Troubled House (Salmon Publishing, 1995); and Along the Liffey: Poems & Short Stories (Salmon Poetry, […]
Michael O’Loughlin was born in Dublin in 1958. His poetry collections are Stalingrad: The Street Dictionary (Dublin, Raven Press, 1980); Atlantic Blues (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, 1982); The Diary of a Silence (Raven Arts Press, 1985); Another Nation, New & Selected Poems (Dublin, New Island Books, 1994/UK Arc Publications, 1996); and In This Life (New […]
Nessa O’Mahony was born in Dublin. Her poetry is collected as Bar Talk,* (Dublin, iTaLiCs Press, 1999); Trapping a Ghost (Bristol, Bluechrome, 2005); and Sight of Home (Salmon Poetry, 2009). In 1996 she was joint winner of the Kerry International Summer School Poetry Competition and was short-listed for The Patrick Kavanagh Award. In 1997 she […]
Mary O’Malley was born in 1954 in Connemara, Co Galway. Her collections are A Consideration of Silk (Galway, Salmon Poetry, 1990); Where the Rocks Float (Salmon, 1993); The Knife in the Wave, (Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare, Salmon Publishing, 1997); Asylum Road (Salmon Publishing, 2001); The Boning Hall (Manchester, Carcanet Press, 2002); A Perfect V […]
Caitriona O’Reilly was born in 1973 and grew up in Wicklow. Her collections are The Nowhere Birds (Tarset, UK, Bloodaxe Books, 2001), which was was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature; The Sea Cabinet (Bloodaxe Books, 2007). She has been contributing editor of Metre, […]
Micheal O’Siadhail was born in Dublin in 1947. His collections are An Bhliain Bhisigh (Baile Átha Cliath, An Clóchomhar, 1978); Runga (An Clóchomhar, 1980); Cumann (An Clóchomhar, 1982); The Image Wheel (Dublin, Bluett, 1985); The Chosen Garden (Dublin, Dedalus, 1990); Hail! Madam Jazz: New and Selected Poems (Tarset, UK, Bloodaxe Books, 1992); A Fragile City […]
Maeve O’Sullivan was born in Dublin in 1963. Her collections are Double Rainbow [with Kim Richardson](Uxbridge, UK, Alba Publishing, 2005); Initial Response, An A-Z of haiku moments (Alba Publishing, 2011); and Vocal Chords (Alba Publishing, 2014). She is a winner of the Listowel Writers’ Week poetry competition for a single poem, and conducts haiku workshops […]
Leanne O’Sullivan was born in 1983 in the Beara peninsula of West Cork. Her collections are Waiting for My Clothes (Northumberland, UK, Bloodaxe Books, 2004); Cailleach. The Hag of Beara (Bloodaxe Books, 2009); and The Mining Road (Bloodaxe Books, 2013). She has been awarded the 2009 Ireland Chair of Poetry bursary, and The Rooney Prize […]
Michael 0’Sullivan was born in Cork City in 1959. His collections of poetry include The Physics of Parting (Indiana, Wyndham Hall Press/Cloverdale Library, 1993); Mornings of the Oresteia, New & Selected Poems 1978-2008 (Belfast, Lapwing Publications, 2008); and The Judge Who Sentenced You to Your Own Destiny (Lapwing Publications, 2008). His work has won many […]
Frank Ormsby was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, in 1947. His books of poetry include the collections Ripe for Company (Belfast, Ulsterman Publications, 1971); A Store of Candles (Oxford University Press, 1977); A Northern Spring (London, Secker & Warburg, 1986); and The Ghost Train (Oldcastle, Co Meath, The Gallery Press, 1995). He has edited a […]
Basil Payne was born in Dublin on June 23, 1923. His collections include Sunlight on a Square (Dublin, John Augustin,1961); Love in the Afternoon (Gill and MacMillan, Dublin, 1971); Another Kind of Optimism (Gill and MacMillan, 1974); and Voyage à Deux (Geneva, Perret-Gentil, 1974 [French translation by Chantal Béal, preface by Pierre Emmanuel of the […]
Paul Perry was born in Dublin in 1972. His collections are The Drowning of the Saints (The Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare, Salmon, 2003); The Orchid Keeper (Dublin, The Dedalus Press, 2006); The Last Falcon and Small Ordinance (The Dedalus Press, 2010); and Gunpowder Valentine: New and Selected Poems (The Dedalus Press, 2014). He has […]
Justin Quinn was born in Dublin in 1968. His collections are The O’o’a’a’ Bird (Manchester, Carcanet Press, 1994), which was short-listed for the Forward Prize in 1995; Privacy (Carcanet, 1999); Fuselage (Oldcastle, Co Meath, The Gallery Press, 2002); Waves and Trees (The Gallery Press, 2006); and Close Quarters (The Gallery Press, 2011). His novel is […]
Leeanne Quinn was born in Drogheda in 1978. Her first collection is Before You (Dublin, Dedalus Press, 2012). She lives in Dublin. Leeanne Quinn at Dedalus Press
Billy Ramsell was born in Cork in 1977. His first collection is Complicated Pleasures (Dublin, Dedalus Press, 2007). Shortlisted in 2005 for a Hennessy award, he lives in Cork. Billy Ramsell at Dedalus Press Billy Ramsell at The National Library of Ireland
John Redmond was born in Dublin in 1967. His collections are Thumb’s Width (Manchester, Carcanet Press, 2001); and MUDe (Carcanet, 2008). His non-fiction is How to Write a Poem (Oxford, Blackwell, 2005); and Poetry and Privacy (London, Seren, 2011). He has edited James Liddy’s posthumous Selected Poems (Dublin, Arlen House, 2011), and is a regular […]
Nell Regan was born in London and grew up in Dublin. Her collections are Preparing for Spring (Galway, Arlen House, 2007/New York, Syracuse University Press, 2008); and Bound for Home (Arlen House, 2011). She has also published a chapbook, Underworld (Belfast, Lapwing, 2004). Among her non-fiction publications is the first biography of Helena Molony, (Female […]
Adrian Rice was born in Belfast in 1958. His first sequence of poems appeared in Muck Island, a collaboration with the artist Ross Wilson. Copies of this limited edition box set are in the collections of The Tate Gallery, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Lamont Library, Harvard University. A second sequence was […]
Gerard Reidy was born in Co Mayo. His collection is Pictures from a Reservation (Dublin, The Dedalus Press, 1998). He has won numerous national poetry competitions including The Allingham Prize. He lives in Westport, Co Mayo Gerard Reidy’s Website Gerard Reidy at The National Library of Ireland
Maurice Riordan was born in Lisgoold, Co Cork, in 1953. His collections are A Word from the Loki (London, Faber and Faber, 1995), which was a Poetry Book Society Choice; Floods (Faber & Faber, 2000), which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize; The Holy Land (Faber, 2007); and The The Water Stealer (Faber, 2013). He […]
Aidan Rooney (var. Aidan Rooney-Cespedes) was born in Monaghan in 1965. His collections are (as Aidan Rooney-Cespedes) Day Release (Oldcastle, Co Meath, The Gallery Press, 2000); and (as Aidan Rooney), Tightrope (the Gallery Press, 2008). In 1997 he received the Sunday Tribune/Hennessy Cognac New Irish Writing Award for Poetry. Since 1988 he has taught French […]
Rosemarie Rowley was born in Dublin in 1942. Her poetry publications include The Broken Pledge (Dublin, Tallaght, 1985); The Sea of Affliction (Dublin, Rowan Tree Press, 1987); Flight into Reality (Rowan Tree Press, 1989), a long poem written terza rima and issued, read by the poet, on audio cassette in 1996; Hot Cinquefoil Star (Rowan […]
Oran Ryan was born in Dublin. His novels are The Death of Finn (Dublin, Seven Towers, 2006); Ten Short Novels by Arthur Kruger (Seven Towers 2006); and One Inch Punch (Seven Towers, 2012). His plays for the stage are Don Quixote has Been Promoted (Dublin Ranelagh Arts Festival, 2009); and for the Radio, Preliminary Design […]
Blanaid Salkeld was born in Chittagone, India (now Pakistan), where her father was a friend of Rabindranath Tagore, and grew up in Ireland. She returned to India with her husband in 1902, and spent a further six years there. On her husband’s death in 1909, she she returned to Ireland and joined the Abbey Theatre. […]
Eva Salzman grew up in Brooklyn and on Long Island, USA. Her collections are The English Earthquake (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, Bloodaxe, 1992), which was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation; Bargain With The Watchman (Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press, 1997), which won a Special Commendation; and Double Crossing: New & Selected Poems (Bloodaxe, 2004). Among her awards […]
Maurice Scully was born in Dublin in 1952. From 1981 – 2006 he was engaged on a single project, the 8-book Things That Happen, currently available in 4 vols as 5 Freedoms of Movement (Devon, etruscan books); Livelihood (Wicklow, Wild Honey Press); Sonata (London, Reality Street Editions); and Tig (Exeter, Shearsman Books). A selection of […]
John W. Sexton was born in London, of Irish parents, in 1958. He is the author of one collection, The Prince’s Brief Career (Cairn Mountain Publishing, 1995). He has published two children’s novels, The Johnny Coffin Diaries & Johnny Coffin School-Dazed (The O’Brien Press). He has also recorded an album with legendary Stranglers front man, […]
Lorna Shaughnessy was born in Belfast. Her poetry collections are Torching The Brown River (Cliffs of Moher, Salmon Poetry, 2008); and The Witness Tree (Salmon Poetry, 2011) She has published two translations of contemporary Mexican poetry, Mother Tongue: Selected Poems by Pura López Colomé (Galway, Arlen House, 2007); and If We Have Lost our Oldest […]
Eileen Sheehan was born in Scartaglin, Co Kerry, in 1963. Her poetry is collected as Song of the Midnight Fox (Tralee, Doghouse, 2004); and Down the Sunlit Hall (Doghouse, 2008). She is the winner of Listowel Writers’ Week inaugural Poetry Slam 2004, and The Brendan Kennelly Poetry Award 2006. She lives in Killarney. Eileen Sheehan […]
John Desmond Sheridan (John D. Sheridan) was born in 1903. His novels include Vanishing Spring (Dublin, The Talbot Press/London: Rich ∓ Cowan, 1934); Paradise Alley (The Talbot Press, 1945); and The Magnificent MacDarney (The Talbot Press, 1949). His short fiction includes The Right Time (The Talbot Press, 1951/London, Dent 1952). His poetry includes Joe’ No […]
James Simmons was born in Derry in 1933 and educated at Campbell College, Belfast, and at Leeds University. He taught in Northern Ireland and for three years in the sixties at Ahmadu Bellow University, Nigeria. On his return he lectured in drama and Anglo-Irish literature and the New University of Ulster, and founded and edited […]
Peter Sirr was born in Waterford in 1960. In 1982 he won the Patrick Kavanagh Award and in 1983 the poetry prize at Listowel Writers’ Week. His collections of poetry are Marginal Zones (Loughcrew, Co Meath, The Gallery Press,1984); Talk, Talk (The Gallery Press, 1987); Ways of Falling (The Gallery Press, 1991); The Ledger of […]
Knute Skinner was born in 1929 in St. Louis, USA. His collections include Stranger with a Watch (Francestown, NH, The Golden Quill Press, 1965); A Close Sky over Killaspuglonane (Dublin, Dolmen Press, 1968; 2nd edition: St. Louis, Burton International, 1975); Hearing of the Hard Times (Stafford, VA, Northwoods Press, 1981); Selected Poems (Isle of Skye, […]
