Geraldine O'Neill is an internationally published author living in Ireland since 1991, but originally from Scotland. She primarily writes historical fiction novels.

Biography

Geraldine O'Neill grew up in

Cleland, North Lanarkshire Cleland is a village near Motherwell and Wishaw in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. As of 2018, it has a population of about 3,000. The village has a strong coal mining heritage, and is a typical example of a working class village in North Lanarksh ...

in Scotland, born to an Irish mother and Scottish father. She was the second of six children. She was educated at St Mary's Primary School in Cleland and then at Holy Cross High School, Hamilton. While training to be a teacher in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

she met her future husband. They married in 1977 and had two children while living in Scotland. During the eighties the family moved to her husband's home town of

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

for a number of years. They moved to live in Ireland in 1991 and settled in

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

, where her mother, Bridget O'Neill, was born and raised. It was then that O'Neill began to write seriously. O'Neill worked for a number of years as a school teacher in

Daingean Daingean (; or ), formerly Philipstown, named after King Philip II of Spain, is a small town in east County Offaly, Ireland. It is situated midway between the towns of Tullamore and Edenderry on the R402 regional road. The town of Daingean ...

National school. O'Neill has published 15 novels and numerous short stories and some poems. Her work is sold internationally and has been translated into a number of languages. Her historical fiction books often feature places she lived in such as County Offaly, Stockport and Lanarkshire in Scotland. O'Neill had

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

as a child which left her with a weakened arm. In 2002 she was diagnosed with Post Polio syndrome; she lives a full and active life. She is a member of the support group Polio Survivors Ireland.

Bibliography

* ''Aisling Gayle'' (2003) * ''The Grace Girls'' (2005) * ''The Flowers of Ballygrace'' (2006) * ''Leaving Clare'' (2009) * ''Sarah Love'' (2010) * ''Summer's End'' (2011) * ''Music from Home'' (2013) * ''A Letter from America'' (2015) * ''The House on Silver Street'' (2016) * ''Music Across the Mersey'' (2017) * ''A Liverpool Secret'' (2018) * ''The Nightingales in Mersey Square'' (2020)

Tara series

* ''Tara Flynn'' (2002) * ''Tara's Fortune'' (2004) * ''Tara's Destiny'' (2007)

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, Geraldine 21st-century Irish women writers People from Daingean People from Lanarkshire People from Cleland, North Lanarkshire Living people Scottish emigrants to Ireland 21st-century Irish novelists Irish women novelists 21st-century Irish short story writers Irish women short story writers 1955 births Writers from County Offaly