Éilis O'Hanlon (born 1965) is an Irish novelist and journalist. She writes for the '' Sunday Independent''. She co-authored, with her husband Ian McConnel, four novels under the pen name Ingrid Black. Her book, ''The Dead'', published in 2003, was honoured with the

Shamus Award The Shamus Award is awarded by the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) for the best detective fiction ( P. I. = Private investigator) genre novels and short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a sing ...

for Best First PI Novel. O'Hanlon's work appears in '' The Field Day Anthology of Irish Women's Writing''.

Views

O'Hanlon is a longstanding opponent of

Irish Republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

views; In 2004 O'Hanlon was described as one of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

's 'sharpest critics' by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

,'' while in 2021 ''The Phoenix'' described O'Hanlon as "long a scourge of republicanism". O'Hanlon has written of her opposition to emigration from Ireland, frequently arguing that this has damaged and continues to damage the nation. In 2021 O'Hanlon wrote a series of articles in which she expressed her opposition to new

hate crime Hate crime (also known as bias crime) in criminal law involves a standard offence (such as an assault, murder) with an added element of bias against a victim (individual or group of individuals) because of their physical appearance or perceived ...

laws being introduced in Ireland, claiming that "Pushing us to perceive hate where none exists is just toxic".

Views on transgender people

Since the 2010s, O’Hanlon has frequently written articles critical of

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

people, healthcare, and related topics. In December 2021 O’Hanlon criticised the Rose of Tralee competition for its inclusivity of women who are transgender. In March 2022 O'Hanlon criticised the National Women's Council of Ireland for supporting transgender women. In July 2022 O’Hanlon implored readers not to "consent to propaganda disguised as sex education" and to reject "unscientific assertions" that children "can change sex" while in the same month O’Hanlon described people providing access to gender-affirming health care for transgender children as "extremists". In June 2022 O’Hanlon wrote an article titled "Women must be free to speak without fear of trans backlash", which alleged that transgender activists are using public money to radically reshape society behind the scenes while trying to silence dissent. In August 2022 O’Hanlon wrote an article titled "The future will condemn us for pandering to the trans agenda" which criticised Irish politicians and media figures for not condemning the

NHS Gender Identity Development Service The Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) was a nationally operated health clinic in the United Kingdom that specialised in working with transgender and gender diverse youth, including those with gender dysphoria. Launched in 1989, GIDS w ...

in the United Kingdom where many Irish children were sent, and compared it to incidents of child abuse by the Catholic Church in Ireland. Several publications and organisations in Ireland have criticised O'Hanlon's views on transgender people, including

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

, Gay Community News and Transgender Equality Network of Ireland. An article by Hot Press accused O'Hanlon of sharing "false information in an effort to spread fear and target hate towards the trans community" while The Transgender Equality Network of Ireland accused O'Hanlon of transphobia in an official statement. In October 2023, O'Hanlon published a commentary in the

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

praising the stance of religious academic Colette Colfer who publicly refused to follow her employer's policy on gender identity. O'Hanlon contrasted Colfer's approach to that of fellow activist Enoch Burke.

Personal life

O'Hanlon is the daughter of Sam and Tess (née Cahill) O'Hanlon, and her uncle was the late

Joe Cahill Joe Cahill (; 19 May 1920 – 23 July 2004) was a prominent figure in the Irish republican movement in Northern Ireland and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). He joined a junior-republican movement, Na Fia ...

, a senior figure in the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

from the 1940s onwards. Her elder sister was the late

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

member and Sinn Féin politician,

Siobhán O'Hanlon Siobhán O'Hanlon (1963 – 11 April 2006) was an Provisional IRA volunteer and Sinn Féin activist. Family O'Hanlon was born in North Belfast in 1963, one of six children of a republican family. Her father, Sam, had been interned, and her m ...

and she is a cousin of the Labour party senator Máiriá Cahill. The two sisters remained estranged at the time of Siobhán's death from

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

, due to Eilis's criticism of Sinn Féin.

Published works

* ''The Dead'',

Minotaur Books St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 ...

, 2004; * ''The Dark Eye'', Headline Paperbacks, 2004; * ''The Judas Heart'',

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, 2007; * ''Circle Of The Dead'', Penguin Books, 2008;

References