Nuala O'Faolain
Nuala O'Faolain was a prominent Irish writer and journalist, born in Dublin in 1940, into a large family with a challenging upbringing marked by her father's neglect and her mother's alcoholism. She pursued her education with determination, earning B.A. and M.A. degrees from the National University of Ireland, and further studied medieval literature and nineteenth-century literature at the University of Hull and the University of Oxford, respectively. O'Faolain's diverse career included roles as a lecturer, a producer for the BBC, and a journalist, culminating in her position as a columnist for the Irish Times.
Her acclaimed memoir, "Are You Somebody? The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman," became a bestseller and explores her personal relationships and experiences, including her long-term involvement with a female partner. O'Faolain's literary work often reflects on the lives of Irish women across different eras, as seen in her novel "My Dream of You." She later released another memoir, "Almost There: The Onward Journey of a Dublin Woman," which details her experiences with online dating and the public's reception of her earlier works. O'Faolain's contributions have had a lasting impact on contemporary Irish literature, providing insights into personal and cultural narratives.
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Nuala O'Faolain
- Born: March 1, 1940
- Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland
- Died: May 9, 2008
- Place of death: Dublin, Ireland
Biography
Nuala O’Faolain was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1940. She grew up with eight brothers and sisters, a journalist father, and an alcoholic mother. Her father wrote a column about Dublin social events and neglected his family. A scholarship student, O’Faolain received B.A. and M.A. degrees from the National University of Ireland. She studied medieval literature at the University of Hull and received a B.Phil. in nineteenth century literature from the University of Oxford.
During her studies, she worked at a variety of jobs, including as a maid and an actor, and was later a lecturer at University College in Dublin. O’Faolain also worked in London for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), producing radio and television programs for the Open University, as well as other educational programs for Northern Ireland. She also reviewed books for the Times of London.
Returning to Ireland, she produced current affairs programming for Radio Telefis Eireann and was one of the hosts of Ireland’s first weekly television program about women’s issues. She also became a columnist for the Irish Times. O’Faolain began writing an introduction to a collection of her newspaper columns, and it slowly evolved into a full-length memoir. Are You Somebody? The Accidental Memoir of a Dublin Woman, a best seller in Ireland, Britain, the United States, Australia, Germany, and Sweden, describes her ten-year relationship with an English writer, her loneliness after the affair ended, and her subsequent fifteen years with a female lover.
In her novel My Dream of You, O’Faolain compares the lives of Irish women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She began the novel after coming to the United States in 1999 to write at the Yaddo artists’ colony, and she soon settled in New York City. Her second memoir, Almost There: The Onward Journey of a Dublin Woman, O’Faolain describes her relationship with a Brooklyn man she met through an online dating service and discusses how readers responded to her earlier books.