Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill

Who is Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill?

Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill is an Irish poet.

Born in Lancashire, England in 1952, of Irish parents, she moved to Ireland at the age of 5, and was brought up in the Dingle Gaeltacht and in Nenagh, County Tipperary. Her uncle is Monsignor Pádraig Ó Fiannachta of An Daingean, the leading authority alive on Munster Irish. She studied English and Irish at UCC in 1969 and became part of the 'Innti' school of poets. In 1973, she married Turkish geologist Dogan Leflef and lived abroad in Turkey and Holland for seven years. Her mother brought her up to speak English, though she was an Irish speaker herself. Her father and his side of the family spoke very fluent Irish and used it every day, but her mother thought it would make life easier for Nuala if she spoke English instead.

One year after her return to County Kerry in 1980, she published her first collection of poetry in Irish, An Dealg Droighin, and became a member of Aosdána. Ní Dhomhnaill has published extensively and her works include poetry collections, children’s plays, screenplays, anthologies, articles, reviews and essays. Her other works include Féar Suaithinseach; Feis, and Cead Aighnis. Ni Dhomhnaill's poems appear in English translation in the dual-language editions Rogha Dánta/Selected Poems; The Astrakhan Cloak, Pharaoh's Daughter, The Water Horse, and The Fifty Minute Mermaid. Selected Essays appeared in 2005.