Just found out that my 'December Birthdays' essay will be broadcast again this Sunday on RTÉ Radio 1 after 9am. Taking part in the live @sundaymiscellany.bsky.social Christmas concert in 2022 was one of the highlights of my writing career ✨

My nana (and godmother) Nora Behan died 50 years ago today. She was very devoted to Our Lady so we lit candles in her memory in our local church this morning. She was only 57 when she died and had a tough life. 10 children in 20 years and a few that didn't make it. My mam was named after her 🩵

Another beautiful Christmas anthology of Irish writing - Tidings was published last year by @lilliputpress.bsky.social and features writers such as Mike McCormack, Julia Kelly, Michael Harding, Donal Ryan and @martinadevlinbooks.bsky.social

A random post that just showed up on my Instagram feed that somehow captures this last year perfectly! 'This year was about clearing space. About shedding old layers. About learning what you can finally leave behind. Now as 2025 comes to a close, don't drag unfinished stories with you'. Ooh.

A little Christmas thread that might be of interest to #SpeirGorm. Wherever you are in the world today, I hope you're secure and happy, and if you're not, know that there's always hope. ❤️🎄

Really enjoying this Alternative Irish Christmas anthology from @tramppress.bsky.social which I bought at the launch @dublinbookfest.bsky.social 🎄 📚

Special Christmas Day Miscellany - Palestrina in Rome, Santa suits, kindness from Ireland to Lagos. Music from @rteco.rte.ie + guests, with writers Eithne Shortall, Joseph O’Connor, John Toal, Quentin Fottrell, Rachael Hegarty and Chikere Ohoka. Tune in, 9.10am, Thurs 25 Dec @rteradio1.bsky.social

The Get Around To It podcast highlights of 2025 are here! Plus our disappointments of 2025… podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/g...

Beautiful book present in the post from my lovely pal @ronanhession.bsky.social - 2016 by Sarah Hesketh published by @cbeditions.bsky.social I love the cover and the concept. Can't wait to dive in!

Congratulations @ronanhession.bsky.social Leonard and Hungry Paul is at No.9 In the @thebookseller.com Small Publishers best seller charts. Many thanks to @bertsbooks.bsky.social for letting me know. @bookcornerhx.bsky.social @waterstones.bsky.social @foylesforbooks.bsky.social Wonderful!!

Joyous, defiant & full of sense of the times: here's my end of year op-ed about the amazing CMAT www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I spent time in a hospice in Roscommon and it was very sad but also moving and strangely life affirming. www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...

🚨🚨📣 COVER REVEAL 🚨🚨 📣 My new book IN GLASS HOUSES will be published on February 12th 2026 You can pre-order it at the link in my bio! (Please do!) I enjoyed writing this one so much and I really can’t wait for you to read it…but for now, here’s a little bit about the story!

I've been recommending Ok, Let's Do Your Stupid Idea at the @dublincitylibs.bsky.social talks on books to brighten up the winter evenings. It's funny and moving and beautifully written.

This year has been the most challenging since my dad died 17 years ago. I have never lit so many candles! I made one of the biggest and hardest decisions of my life (leaving my beloved career in Dublin City Libraries) I'm so grateful to everyone who listened, reassured, encouraged and supported me✨

Some really interesting book recommendations by @rickoshea.bsky.social in today's @independent.ie Including Allan Radcliffe, Adrian Duncan, Roisín O'Donnell. I hadn't heard of Greyhound by Joanna Pocock but it sounds fascinating. www.independent.ie/entertainmen...

Available from bookshops and online. Nollaig Shona duit.

Lovely to see the new @sundaymiscellany.bsky.social anthology is No.2 in the paperback Non-fiction list! 1240 copies sold last week 👏 Well done Sarah Binchy and @newislandbooks.bsky.social 🥳

Isn't this nice to see! Congratulations Subotica, @richieconroy.bsky.social Mark Hodkinson, Andrew Chaplin and all the cast and crew. FYI @ofmooseandmen.bsky.social UK BROADCASTER SHOW OF THE YEAR Leonard and Hungry Paul www.broadcastnow.co.uk/features/ric...

This Kirsty McColl cd is the most played & most loved album in my collection. I bought it when it was released in 2005 & it kept me company when I ended up in hospital in early 2006 when I was 32 weeks pregnant with my daughter. 20 years on I still play it regularly and dance to it in my kitchen ❤️

My 16 year old daughter received a Kindness Merit award at school yesterday. In this capitalist world that prioritises academic and monetary achievements it's heartening that her kind nature was noticed and acknowledged #KeepSmiling

I enjoyed contributing to the latest Books for Breakfast podcast, hosted by Enda Wyley and Peter Sirr. Coffee and warm mince pies, and the excellent company of Caitriona Lally, Sarah Gilmartin, and Philip Davison. With thanks to @artscouncilireland.bsky.social.

Lots of great writing courses coming up at the Irish Writers Centre @irishwriterscentre.bsky.social in the New Year including this one fro yours truly: irishwriterscentre.ie/courses/the-...

With my favourite cousin (don't tell the others) My green sparkly top got its annual Christmas outing 🌲 I had a busy day with four really lovely catch-ups with friends/family and my heart is now full #KeepSmiling

Remembering Kirsty MacColl who tragically died December 18, 2000.

33 - OK, Let's do your Stupid Idea by Patrick Freyne An absolute gem of a book. Wise, candid, bursting with empathy, and very funny. It makes me very optimistic and excited about his upcoming novel.

Friends. €2,500 gets us to target... The appeal is open until Christmas, but if we do this by Friday I can knock off for the break 🙂 Donate €2.50, €25 or the full €2,500(!!!!!) Shares also hugely welcome! Almost there....... www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/r...

Delighted to announce that @ronanhession.bsky.social will be chatting to James Naughtie on the BBC Radio 4 Book Club On January 4th at pm. Marvelmoose! @bookcornerhx.bsky.social @foylesforbooks.bsky.social @waterstones.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Day Ten of our #TwelveDaysOfChristmas WCLF2026 reveals. Thanks to our partners Ambassade de France en Irlande/Embassy of France in Ireland, French author Nolwenn Le Blevennec @nleblevennec.bsky.social is coming to West Cork. Her novel Friends and Lovers is translated into English by Madeleine Rogers

2026 is already gearing up to be an incredible year in books and Image magazine has put together some of the gems from Irish and international authors www.image.ie/living/26-bo...

We'll also be screening again in @lighthousecinema.bsky.social on December 29th www.lighthousecinema.ie/2025-highlig...

As a writer who started writing in my forties and who is published by a small but mighty indie press, I wasn't sure how I'd get on in the book world, but from day one libraries have been a great support, just like they were a great support to me all my life as a reader. Please support your library.

Remembering Edna O'Brien

'Up here with the crags and windbrush I look down oh the amber world and I say truthfully to you, I do not miss it.' Love this poem 'Sweeney As a Girl' by Jaki McCarrick I received this postcard with a recent purchase from Dedalus Press; a lovely way to promote other authors published by them.

Great piece by @sweetoblivion.bsky.social on Rob Reiner and his work. Rob Reiner had an inconceivable run in his heyday - and his hit movies still resonate in 2025 jrnl.ie/6904226

Used my tiny PLR fee to buy this Oui summer dress...a bargain find in a charity shop in Castleknock...will from now on be called my 'library dress' ❤️

Brand new Get Around To It podcast for your enjoyment: Which new series did myself & @laurenmurphyjourno.bsky.social find so bad we had to abandon it? Is the Simon Cowell series good... or bleak? Should you go see Hamnet? Sponsored by @imbibecoffee.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/p...

If you need a little light and solace today these candles are lit for you ✨ #KeepSmiling

Wrapping up a creative year. Took all my music off Spotify. Bandcamp sales raised €1000 for Brain Tumour Ireland in memory of Niall Crumlish. And €585 went yesterday to DEPAUL IRELAND. Released 2 Arrivalists albums, connected with so many beautiful souls yet again along the road . Grateful x .

Welcome to Day 6 of #TwelveDaysOfChristmas WCLF2026 reveals. @sachacoward.bsky.social is an historian who has run LGBTQ+ focused tours for museums, cemeteries, archives & cities around the world. Can't wait to hear Sacha talk about Queer As Folklore: The Hidden Queer History of Myths & Monsters

We've made the fifteen grand mark with about ten days to go, every tenner helps the incredible work of @childrensbooksireland.ie, My Lovely Horse Rescue, and the NSPCA. www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/r...

Lovely to see that the new Sunday Miscellany anthology is No. 3 in the Non-Fiction Bestsellers list this week👏 Congrats to @sundaymiscellany.bsky.social and @newislandbooks.bsky.social and all the contributors!

Lovely Hit Press interview with Jamie Lee O'Donnell, including some kind words about Leonard and Hungry Paul.

We were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Joanna Trollope, one of our much-loved and admired Fellows. She was one of the UK’s best-known and most cherished novelists and will be greatly missed by us all. Our thoughts are with her loved ones.

Sad news about Joanna Trollope. I had the pleasure of meeting her in 2018 when she was interviewed by Sinéad Moriarty for @dublincityoflit.bsky.social event in the Royal Irish Academy. She was really warm and interesting. RIP.

Day 5 of our #TwelveDaysOfChristmas sneak peek at WCLF 2026. We're so excited to announce that Nikita Gill will join us in July. @nikitagill.bsky.social is an Irish-Indian poet, playwright, illustrator, actor and all round superstar. She'll read from her novel in verse Hekate The Witch

Irish novelist and screenwriter Joseph O'Connor’s 'The Ghosts of Rome’ has been named the An Post Irish Book of the Year