Ciaran Ó Driscoll

Poet, author, and lecturer: CIARAN O’DRISCOLL was born in Callan, Co. Kilkenny in 1943, and presently lives in Limerick. He is a retired lecturer from the School of Art and Design at the Limerick Institute of Technology. In 2007, Ciaran was elected to Aosdána, an institution established by the Irish Arts Council to honour artists and writers who have made an outstanding contribution to art and literature.

He has six collections of poetry to his credit, including Gog and Magog, his first collection, published by Salmon in 1987, and re-issued on the internet by the Irish Literary Revival in 2006. His New and Selected Poems, Moving On, Still There, was published by Dedalus in 2001. In the same year, Liverpool University Press published his childhood memoir, A Runner Among Falling Leaves. He has won a number of awards for his work, including the James Joyce Literary Millennium Prize and the Patrick and Katherine Kavanagh Fellowship in Poetry.
Ciaran has read from his work and lectured on art and literature at various venues in Europe and America. His poetry has been translated into several languages, and in 2006 an Italian translation of his fourth collection of poems, The Old Women of Magione, based on a year he spent in Italy, was published by Volumnia Editrice (Perugia). Also in 2006, a chapbook of 21 new poems, Surreal Man, was published by Pighog Press (UK).

Life Monitor, his sixth full collection, was launched in October 2009 by Three Spires Press (Cork).

Ciaran's brother, Donal, has traced their O'Driscoll family tree back to their Great Great Grandfather, Denis O'Driscoll. As it is with most genealogical work, it is a continual work in progress:

Descendents Tree of Denis O'Driscoll:

1. Denis O'DRISCOLL, merchant and father of Joseph Denis.(His name and profession are shown on Joseph's marriage certificate and also the fact that he was deceased at the time of Joseph's marriage in 1883)
2. Joseph Denis O'DRISCOLL(Denis) married Catherine Murtagh in Skerries, Co Dublin on 6 February 1883. They are the parents of Kieran (have not yet identified whether there are any other children). Catherine Murtagh’s father is shown on certificate as John Murtagh a farmer and also the fact that he was dead at time of his daughter’s marriage in 1883. Joseph was an Inland Revenue Officer (Excise Officer) and died aged 35 years on 4 July 1892 in Ballydehob, Co Cork.
3. Kieran Kevin O’DRISCOLL(Joseph Denis, Denis) was born in Skerries, Co Dublin on 30 November 1886. The sponsors at the baptism were Robert O’Driscoll and Catherine Healy (No information on them). Kieran O’Driscoll married Mary Ellen Collins (from Mutton Island), in Schull, Co Cork on 1 August 1911. Kieran joined the British Navy and was a yeoman of signals. He died on 15 August 1918. His wife died on 12 December 1959.
Kieran Kevin O'DRISCOLL and Mary Ellen COLLINS had three children:
4. Joseph O'DRISCOLL,(Ciaran's father)(Kieran Kevin, Jospeh Denis, Denis) was born on 29 August 1912 and died 22 March 1994. He married Annie HEALY (interesting to note as one of the sponsors to Joseph's father's baptism was also a Healy), on 5 January 1943 in Callan, Co. Kilkenny.
Joseph O'DRISCOLL and Annie HEALY had 7 children:
5. Ciaran O'DRISCOLL, (eldest)(Joseph, Kieran Kevin, Joseph Denis, Denis)
5. Michael O'DRISCOLL, (died 2003)
5. Seán O'DRISCEOIL, (twin brother of Maura)
5. Maura O'DRISCOLL, (twin sister of Seán)
5. Fintan O'DRISCOLL
5. Donal O'DRISCOLL
5. Eileen O'DRISCOLL, (youngest)
4. Kathleen O'DRISCOLL, was born on 9 October 1913 and died some years ago (to be fully confirmed).
4. Gerald Kevin O'DRISCOLL was born in August 1916 (to be fully confirmed: There is a vaccination certificate dated 07 November 1916 and Gerald is shown as being 3 months old. Also - believe that Gerald died quite young - perhaps before he was 1 year old)