Title
Ní Dhomhnaill, Nuala
Description
Bibliographic Dictionary Entry
Date
1952
Creator
O'Toole, Tina
Source
Munster Women Writers Project, University College Cork
Publisher
Women in Irish Society Project, University College Cork
Rights
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Coverage
Munster, Ireland, 1800-2000
Format
Text
Language
en
Type
Text
Subject
Women, Writers, Munster
Contributor
O'Toole, Tina
Nic Carthaigh, Gearóidín
Ní Chochláin, Síle
Birth Date
1952
Birthplace
Lancashire Shasana
Place of Association
Corca Dhuibhne, Co. Chiarraí
Nenagh, Co Tipperary
Dingle, Co Kerry
Biographical Text
Rugadh i Lancashire Shasana í i 1952 agus d'fhás sí aníos i nGaeltacht Chorca Dhuibhne ó aois a cúig bliana. Máinlia ab ea a hathair agus bhí sé gníomhach i gConradh na Gaeilge. Dochtúir ab ea a máthair leis, as Fionn Trá, Corca Dhuibne, Co. Chiarraí. Bhí cónaí uirthi freisin in Aonach Urmhumhan, Co. Thiobraid Árainn ar feadh tamaill. D'fhreastail sí ar Choláiste Samhraidh Merriman i 1969 agus chuaigh freagra Sheáin Uí Ríordáin ar chaint Mháirtín Uí Dhireáin i gcion go mór uirthi. Bronnadh BA sa Ghaeilge agus sa Bhéarla uirthi i gColáiste na hOllscoile, Corcaigh (1972) agus dhein sí an tArd-Teastas san Oideachas san Ollscoil chéanna (1973). Bhí baint mhór aici leis an iris Innti agus í ina mac léinn. D'oibrigh sí mar mhúinteoir, chaith tamall thar lear sa Tuirc agus san Ollainn, phós sí an geolaí Dogan Leflef agus d'fhill ar Éirinn (Ó Cearnaigh 151-152). Bhí sí ag cur fúithi i nGaeltacht Chorca Dhuibhne sna hochtóidí luatha, agus shocraigh sí síos i mBaile Átha Cliath ansin lena fear céile agus a gcuid páistí. Bronnadh D.Phil. honoris causa uirthi ó Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath i 1995. Tá dhá thréimhse caite aici sna Stáit Aontaithe mar scoláire sa Léann Éireannach, ag Boston College (1999) agus ag Villanova University (2001). <br><br>Is mar fhile atá cáil bainte amach aici, agus seacht gcnuasacht filíochta léi i gcló. Tá dánta léi foilsithe i ndíolamaí éagsúla chomh maith, mar shampla The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry (Penguin 1991), The Long Embrace: Irish Love Poetry (Blackstaff Press, 1987) agus Contemporary Irish Poetry (University of California Press, 1988) (Uí Nia 39). Tá a cuid filíochta aistrithe go Béarla agus go seacht teanga eile (Uí Nia 39). Oibríonn sí i gcomhar leis an aistritheoir ar uairibh, cé gur i nGaeilge amháin a chumann sí féin (Ó Cearnaigh 152). D'aistrigh Michael Hartnett an fhilíocht go Béarla sa leabhar Rogha Dánta / Selected Poems, chuir daoine éagsúla na haistriúcháin ar fáíl do Pharaoh's Daughter agus Paul Muldoon a bhí i mbun aistrithe maidir le The Astrakhan Cloak. Is minic a bhaineann sí tairbhe as an mbéaloideas ina cuid dánta (Ó Cearnaigh 152). Ní thugann Nuala neamhaird ar an gcluais agus í ag scríobh. Is minic a dheineann sí a cuid filíochta a reic go poiblí (Ó Cearnaigh 152) agus cuireadh amach Spíonáin is Róiseanna i bhfoirm téipe (Uí Nia 38). Tá dhá scannán fúithi agus a filíochta: "An Gobán Saor" (Ilanna Productions, 1993) agus "An tAnam Mothála/The Feeling Soul" (Ocean Productions, 1994) - clár faisnéise teilifíse stiúrtha ag Frank Stapleton (Uí Nia 38). <br><br>Sa bhliain 1980 bhuaigh Nuala sparántacht ón gComhairle Ealaín, a chuir ar a cumas filleadh ar Chorca Dhuibhne agus dul i mbun pinn go lánaimseartha (Kelly 150). Scríobh sí na drámaí a leanas do pháistí: Jimín (Delt Productions, Dublin 1985), An Ollphiast Ghránna (Delt Productions, Dublin 1987) agus Destination Demain (Ges, Paris 1993). Chum sí an libretto: The Wooing of Éadaoin (National Chamber Choir 1994) (Uí Nia 38). Chuir Nuala an leabhar Jumping Off Shadows: Selected Contemporary Irish Poets (Cork University Press, 1995) in eagar i gcomhar le Greg Delanty. Tá Nuala faoi ghradam i gcéin agus i gcóngar, agus mórán duaiseanna buaite aici (Ó Cearnaigh 152; Uí Nia 38-39). Is ball d'Aos Dána, de Poetry Ireland agus den IWU í ( Uí Nia 39). Roghnaíodh filíocht léi do na díolamaí Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing Vol. 3 (1991) agus Ireland's Women (1994). Foilsíodh dánta léi sna hirisí a leanas: Irish Review, 14 (Fómhar 1993), The Celtic Pen (Fómhar 1993), Krino (Geimhreadh 1993). Tá aistí agus ailt scríofa aici d'irisí agus do leabhair éagsúla, mar shampla: The Comic Tradition in Irish Women Writers (1996), Cultures of Europe: The Irish Contribution (1994), New York Times Books Review (8 Eanáir 1995), Ireland of the Welcomes (Meán Fómhair-Deireadh Fómhair 1996), The Southern Review. Tá agallaimh le Nuala i gcló in Graph, No. 1 (1986), An Nasc, 3, 1 (1990) agus Sleeping with Monsters: conversations with Scottish and Irish women Poets (1990).
Born in Lancashire, England in 1952, daughter of a veterinary surgeon and a doctor, Nuala grew up in the West Kerry Gaeltacht, her mother's birthplace, and in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. While studying for a BA in Irish and English (UCC 1972) and a HDip in Education (1973) she published poetry in the journal Innti. She attended the 1969 Merriman Summer School was impressed by Seán Ó Ríordáin's reply to Máirtín Ó Díreáin's speech. She married the geologist Dogan Leflef, with whom she lived in Holland and Turkey for some years. In the early 1980s, they returned to Ireland (Ó Cearnaigh 151-152) and lived in West Kerry before settling in Dublin with her husband and her children. <br>One of the best-known poets of the period, she published seven collections of poetry from 1981 onwards. Her work also appears in many journals and anthologies, and has been translated into English and several other languages: writing only in Irish, she has however actively assisted a succession of translators who include several distinguished contemporary Irish poets. She enjoys a wide international reputation which far exceeds that of most Irish-language writers. A gifted oral presenter of her work, she has given bilingual readings far and wide. She has also written children's plays and a libretto, and essays and articles - including the important "What Foremothers?" (1992) and "Why I Write in Irish" (1995) - given published interviews and co-edited the anthology Jumping Off Shadows: Selected Contemporary Irish Poets (Cork UP, 1995).<br>Celebrated both at home and abroad, she has won many prizes, has spent two periods in the United States as a student of Irish Learning, in Boston College (1999) and in Villanova University (2001), and has been awarded an Honarary D.Phil. (Dublin City University 1995). She is a member of Aos Dána, of Poetry Ireland and of the IWU. Her work appeared in a number of anthologies, collections and journals including the Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing Vol. 3 (1991), Ireland's Women (1994), The Comic Tradition in Irish Women Writers (1996), Cultures of Europe: The Irish Contribution (1994), New York Times Books Review (8 Eanáir 1995), Ireland of the Welcomes (September-October 1996), The Southern Review, Irish Review, 14 (Fómhar 1993), The Celtic Pen (Fómhar 1993), Krino (Winter 1993). Interviews with Nuala are published in Graph, No. 1 (1986), An Nasc, 3, 1 (1990) and Sleeping with Monsters: Conversations with Scottish and Irish Women Poets (1990).<br>From the 1980s, Ní Dhomhnaill emerged as a figure of increasing cultural importance. Rooted linguistically and imaginatively in ancient traditions of literature and folklore, her poetry nonetheless decisively inhabits Irish post-modernity. It combines a vigourously feminist character with sexual openness, and also conducts a continuing dialogue with Jungian visions of selfhood. Engaging in a dialectical, interrogative relationship with gender roles in Irish traditional ideology, it sets inherited images - such as the murúch or mermaid figure - against a sceptical urban milieu, and explores women's desire as an emphatic force. Darkly depressive, humourously bawdy, often delicately lyrical, the poems draw brilliantly upon the extensive body of Irish oral traditions; Ní Dhomhnaill added systematic study of this material to her own experience of Gaeltacht cultural life. Both in her work, and in her cultural impact as a figure of compelling charm and formidable imaginative energy, Ní Dhomhnaill makes vital links for post-modern Ireland between past and future. Her vision of possible femininities is original in negotiating the binaries which have sometimes confined Irish women poets of her generation and before. In its playful grace, intense feeling, and depth of reach into tradition, her poety is an inimitable contribution both to women's writing and to Irish literature in general.
Born in Lancashire, England in 1952, daughter of a veterinary surgeon and a doctor, Nuala grew up in the West Kerry Gaeltacht, her mother's birthplace, and in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. While studying for a BA in Irish and English (UCC 1972) and a HDip in Education (1973) she published poetry in the journal Innti. She attended the 1969 Merriman Summer School was impressed by Seán Ó Ríordáin's reply to Máirtín Ó Díreáin's speech. She married the geologist Dogan Leflef, with whom she lived in Holland and Turkey for some years. In the early 1980s, they returned to Ireland (Ó Cearnaigh 151-152) and lived in West Kerry before settling in Dublin with her husband and her children. <br>One of the best-known poets of the period, she published seven collections of poetry from 1981 onwards. Her work also appears in many journals and anthologies, and has been translated into English and several other languages: writing only in Irish, she has however actively assisted a succession of translators who include several distinguished contemporary Irish poets. She enjoys a wide international reputation which far exceeds that of most Irish-language writers. A gifted oral presenter of her work, she has given bilingual readings far and wide. She has also written children's plays and a libretto, and essays and articles - including the important "What Foremothers?" (1992) and "Why I Write in Irish" (1995) - given published interviews and co-edited the anthology Jumping Off Shadows: Selected Contemporary Irish Poets (Cork UP, 1995).<br>Celebrated both at home and abroad, she has won many prizes, has spent two periods in the United States as a student of Irish Learning, in Boston College (1999) and in Villanova University (2001), and has been awarded an Honarary D.Phil. (Dublin City University 1995). She is a member of Aos Dána, of Poetry Ireland and of the IWU. Her work appeared in a number of anthologies, collections and journals including the Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing Vol. 3 (1991), Ireland's Women (1994), The Comic Tradition in Irish Women Writers (1996), Cultures of Europe: The Irish Contribution (1994), New York Times Books Review (8 Eanáir 1995), Ireland of the Welcomes (September-October 1996), The Southern Review, Irish Review, 14 (Fómhar 1993), The Celtic Pen (Fómhar 1993), Krino (Winter 1993). Interviews with Nuala are published in Graph, No. 1 (1986), An Nasc, 3, 1 (1990) and Sleeping with Monsters: Conversations with Scottish and Irish Women Poets (1990).<br>From the 1980s, Ní Dhomhnaill emerged as a figure of increasing cultural importance. Rooted linguistically and imaginatively in ancient traditions of literature and folklore, her poetry nonetheless decisively inhabits Irish post-modernity. It combines a vigourously feminist character with sexual openness, and also conducts a continuing dialogue with Jungian visions of selfhood. Engaging in a dialectical, interrogative relationship with gender roles in Irish traditional ideology, it sets inherited images - such as the murúch or mermaid figure - against a sceptical urban milieu, and explores women's desire as an emphatic force. Darkly depressive, humourously bawdy, often delicately lyrical, the poems draw brilliantly upon the extensive body of Irish oral traditions; Ní Dhomhnaill added systematic study of this material to her own experience of Gaeltacht cultural life. Both in her work, and in her cultural impact as a figure of compelling charm and formidable imaginative energy, Ní Dhomhnaill makes vital links for post-modern Ireland between past and future. Her vision of possible femininities is original in negotiating the binaries which have sometimes confined Irish women poets of her generation and before. In its playful grace, intense feeling, and depth of reach into tradition, her poety is an inimitable contribution both to women's writing and to Irish literature in general.
Writing Genre
Filíocht
Poetry
Plays
Short Stories
Academic Writing
Gearrscéalaíocht
Drámaíocht
Aistriúcháin
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