Deirdre Brennan (born 1934) is a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

Irish poet, playwright and short story writer who writes both in the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

and in English.

Biography

Brennan was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and was raised in

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

where she attended schools in

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

and

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles (Roman Catholic parish), Thurles. The cathedral ch ...

. She studied English and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, then undertaking a Higher Diploma in Education. She moved to

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

in 1965. Brennan taught at St Patrick's College, Carlow. She began writing in Irish after co-founding the Éigse

Arts Festival in 1979. She has published sixteen books to date, including twelve collections of poetry. She was awarded an Oireachtas Prize for , and was shortlisted for the Farmgate Café National Poetry Award in 2023 for ''Medea's Cauldron''. She collaborated with writers Máighréad Medbh and

Nuala Ní Chonchúir Nuala Ní Chonchúir (born 14 January 1970) is an Irish writer and poet. Biography Born in Dublin in 1970, Nuala Ní Chonchúir is a full-time fiction writer and poet, living in County Galway. She holds a BA in Irish from Trinity College Dub ...

on ''Divas!'' (2003), a volume of poetry, which was launched during Éigse by

Olivia O'Leary Olivia O'Leary (born 1949) is an Irish journalist, writer and current affairs presenter. Education Educated at St Leo's College, Carlow and at University College Dublin (UCD), she worked with the ''Nationalist'' and ''Leinster Times'' in Carlo ...

. Her poem ''At Home'' was included in The Works anthology of women's poetry, ''Women's Work VII''. Her poetry is included in The Great Book of Ireland, ''The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, Volume 5,'' ''Eating her Wedding Dress'' (Ragged Sky Press, 2009), ''Catullus Gaelach'', edited by Pádraig Ó Laighin (Coiscéim, 2010), and is widely anthologised. Brennan's work is featured on the Irish post primary curricula and in the courses and textbooks of

Royal Irish Academy of Music The Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in Dublin, Ireland, is one of Europe's oldest music conservatoires, specialising in classical music and the Irish harp. It is located in a Georgian building on Westland Row in Dublin. An institution which ...

. Her two collections of short fiction were published as (Coiscéim, 2009) and ''Staying Thin for Daddy'' (Arlen House, 2014). Her short stories have appeared in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', ''Passages'', ''

Anois ''Anois'' (Irish: ''Now'') was an Irish-language weekly newspaper, published in Dublin, Ireland, by Gael Linn from September 1984 until June 1996.Koch, John Thomas. ''Celtic culture: a historical encyclopedia''. ABC-CLIO, 2006. , . p76 It was th ...

'', ''

Comhar ''Comhar'' (; "partnership") is a prominent literary journal in the Irish language, published by the company Comhar Teoranta. It was founded in 1942, and has published work by some of the most notable writers in Irish, including Máirtín Ó Cadha ...

'', ''

Feasta ''Feasta'' is an Irish-language magazine that was established in 1948. Its purpose is the furtherance of the aims of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), an objective reflecting the cultural nationalism of the language movement, and the promotion ...

'', and ''

Foinse ''Foinse'' (; Irish for "''Source''") was an Irish-language newspaper in Ireland. It was first published October 1996 and had both print and online editions until September 2013 when its publisher, Móinéar Teo, announced that it would become ...

'' and have featured on

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Campus Radio,

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for th ...

, as well as a six-part drama series, ''Go to Blazes''. Her work is represented in , selected by Séan Ó Mainnín (

Cló Iar-Chonnacht Cló Iar-Chonnacht (CIC; ; "West Connacht Press") is an Irish language publishing company founded in 1985 by writer Micheál Ó Conghaile, a native speaker of Irish from Inis Treabhair in Connemara. He set the company up while still a student. ...

, 2005), ''Twisted Truths'', selected by Brian Ó Conchubhair (Cló Iar-Chonnacht, 2011), , selected by Micheál Ó hAodha (Coiscéim, 2015). Brennan served as chair and secretary of the Éigse festival during its early years. She was also a founder member of

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (; meaning "Society of the musicians of Ireland") is the primary Irish organisation dedicated to the promotion of the music, song, dance and the language of Ireland. The organisation was founded in 1951 and has pr ...

in Carlow, serving as chair and secretary.

Published works

Poetry collections

* ,

Coiscéim Coiscéim (; "Footstep") is a prolific Dublin-based Irish-language publisher founded by writer, historian and language activist Pádraig Ó Snodaigh in 1980. With over 1,500 titles Coiscéim have published the largest number of titles amongst the 2 ...

, 1984 * , Coiscéim, 1989 * , Coiscéim, 1993 * , Coiscéim, 2000 * ''The Hen Party'', Lapwing Publications, 2001
9781898472551
* ''Beneath Castles of White Sail'', in ''Divas'', Arlen House, 2003

* ''Swimming with Pelicans: Ag Eitilt fara Condair'', Arlen House, 2007

* ''Hidden Places: Scáthan Eile'', Arlen House, 2011
9781851320318; 9781851320318
* , Coiscéim, 2015 * , ''Rogha Dánta: Wild Pulses, Selected Poems'', Arlen House, 2017
9781851321574
* , Coiscéim, 2019 * ''Medea's Cauldron'', Arlen House, 2022
9781851322916

Prose Collections

* ''An Banana Bean Sí agus Scéalta Eile'', Coiscéim, 2009 * ''Staying Thin for Daddy'', Arlen House, 2016

Plays

* ''Smideadh: Makeup'', Arlen House, 2020

* ''Cuma agus Claochmú: Mutagenesis: a bilingual play'', Arlen House, 2022
9781851322398

Awards and distinctions

Poetry Ireland Poetry Ireland ( ga, Éigse Éireann) is an organisation for poets and poetry, in both Irish and English, in the island of Ireland. It is a private nonprofit organisation that receives support from The Arts Council of Ireland and The Arts Council of ...

‘Choice of the Year’, 1989 for ''Scothanna Geala'' (Coiscéim, 1989). * Oireachtas Literary Award, 2000 for ''Ag Mealladh Réalta'' (Coiscéim, 2000). * Winner of The SHOp Translation Award, 2002 The SHOp: a magazine of poetry, vol.10, Autumn/Winter, 2002 for ''Stillbirth : Marbhghin''.

Biography

Published works

Poetry collections

Prose Collections

Plays

Awards and distinctions

See also

References

Further reading