Mícheál Ó hAodha

Mícheál Ó hAodha was born in Galway, Ireland, the eldest of 11 children, Ó hAodha grew up between the west of Ireland and the north of England. He is one of the last of a very small group of poets who write in both Irish and English. The introduction to his first collection of poems (the bilingual collection Dúchas Dóchasach/Survivor (2007) was written by National Book Award Winner, Colum McCann. His second collection Slán le hÉireann (Coiscéim] 2012) (A Farewell to Ireland: Migrant Poems) on the experiences of Irish construction workers in England received high praise in Poetry Ireland and other publications and was launched at the Imram, Mountains to the Sea, Dublin Literature Festival in 2012 and featured on TG4 alongside the music of Sinéad O’Connor amongst others. The latter documentary was subsequently aired on various Aer Lingus transatlantic flights as part of The Gathering 2013. Ó hAodha has written dozens of books in Irish and English, sometimes under a range of pseudonyms, and has been short-listed for the Foras na Gaeilge Poetry Award at Listowel Writers’ Week.^[1][2]

From 2005-06 he was an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Social Work and Social Policy - University of Strathclyde Scotland. Between 2006 and 2008 he was an AHRC Research Scholar in the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures, University of Manchester. Most recently he has been a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Limerick and the UCD School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice. Over the years, he has been a regular contributor to the Beo.ie, Tuairisc.ie Feasta, An tUltach The Irish Times, Poetry Ireland, Dublin Review of Books etc.

His most recent collection Leabhar Dubh an tSneachta (2015) was profiled on Imeall, TG4’s flagship Arts programme in 2016. He has a particular interest in minority groups including Travellers and the Irish-speaking minority of the west of Ireland and has written many books in collaboration with Travellers, Roma, Fairground/Circus people and others. He has also written a good deal on the experiences of Irish emigrants, and the Irish working-class experience in Britain.

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