Mícheál Ó hAodha

About Mícheál

Mícheál Ó hAodha was born in Galway, Ireland, the eldest of 11 children and 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 solely in Irish.

The introduction to his first collection of poems Dúchas Dóchasach (2007) was written by National Book Award Winner, Colum McCann. His second collection Slán le hÉirinn (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. Over the years, he has been a regular contributor to Beo.ie, Tuairisc.ie Feasta, An tUltach The Irish Times, Poetry Ireland, Dublin Review of Books etc.

His collection Leabhar Dubh an tSneachta (The Black Book of Snow) (2015) was profiled on Imeall, TG4's flagship Arts programme in 2016. His most recent collection Leabhar na nAistear (2017) – (The Book of Journeys), as based on the Irish migrant experience in Britain, explores feelings of loss and longing, silence and speech, memory and forgetting. 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 experience in Britain. He is a regular contributor to Arts columns, TG4, Raidió na Gaeltachta and to programmes on RTE radio including An Cheárta and Sunday Miscellany.