Nuala O'Faolain (; 1 March 1940 – 9 May 2008) was an Irish journalist, television producer, book reviewer, teacher and writer. She became well known after the publication of her memoirs ''Are You Somebody?'' and ''Almost There''. She wrote a biography of Irish criminal

Chicago May Chicago May (1871–1929) was the nickname of Mary Anne Duignan, an Ireland, Irish-born criminal who became notorious in the United States, U.S., United Kingdom and France. Her principle crimes were prostitution and blackmail. She referred to he ...

and two novels.

Personal life

O'Faolain was born in

Clontarf, Dublin Clontarf () is an affluent coastal suburb on the Northside (Dublin), Northside of Dublin in the city's List of Dublin postal districts, Dublin 3 postal district. Historically, there were two centres of population, one on the coast towards the c ...

on 1 March 1940, the second eldest of nine children. Her father, known as 'TerryO', was a well-known Irish journalist, writing the "Dubliners Diary" social column under the pen name Terry O'Sullivan for the '' Dublin Evening Press''. She was educated at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

, the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

and

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. She taught for a time at

Morley College Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the ...

and worked as a television producer for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

. O'Faolain described her early life as growing up in a Catholic country which in her view feared sexuality and forbade her even information about her body. In her writings she often discusses her frustration at the sexism and rigidity of roles in Catholic Ireland that expected her to marry and have children, neither of which she did. She was engaged at least once, but she never married. In ''Are You Somebody?'', she speaks candidly about her fifteen-year relationship with the journalist Nell McCafferty, who published her own memoir, ''Nell''. From 2002 until her death, O'Faolain lived much of the time with Brooklyn-based attorney John Low-Beer and his daughter Anna. They were registered as domestic partners in 2003. O'Faolain split her time between Ireland and New York City. She had been diagnosed with metastatic cancer and was interviewed on the

Marian Finucane Marian Finucane ( ; 21 May 1950 – 2 January 2020) was an Irish people, Irish broadcaster with RTÉ. Finucane began working with the national broadcaster in 1974, starting as a continuity announcer. She went on to host ''Women Today'' (1979– ...

radio show on

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 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 the station in 2010 w ...

on 12 April 2008 in relation to her terminal illness. She told Finucane, "I don't want more time. As soon as I heard I was going to die, the goodness went from life". O'Faolain died during the night of 9 May 2008. In 2012, RTÉ announced a major new documentary on her life.

Work

She became internationally well known for her two volumes of memoir, ''Are You Somebody?'' and ''Almost There''; a novel, ''My Dream of You''; and a history with commentary, ''The Story of Chicago May''. The first three were all featured on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. Her posthumous novel ''Best Love, Rosie'' was published in 2009. O'Faolain wrote during the beginnings of the women's movement; her writings often dealt with misogyny.

Awards

* 1985:

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

as producer of

television programme ''Plain Tales'' * 2006:

Prix Femina étranger The Prix Femina étranger is a French literary award established in 1985. It is awarded annually to a foreign-language literary work translated into French. List of laureates See also * Prix Femina * Prix Femina essai References

{{DE ...

, ''The Story of Chicago May''2006 Prix Femina winners announced
". literaryawards.vertebratesilence.com, 31 October 2006. Retrieved on 14 April 2008.

Books

* ''Are You Somebody? The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman'', New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996. * ''My Dream of You'', Riverhead Books, 2001. * ''Almost There: The Onward Journey of a Dublin Woman'', Riverhead Books, 2003. * ''The Story of Chicago May'', Riverhead Books, 2005. * ''Best Love, Rosie'', New Island Books, 2009. * ''A More Complex Truth'', New Island Books, 2010. , reprinted as ''A Radiant Life: The Selected Journalism of Nuala O’Faolain'', Harry N. Abrams 2011.

References

External links