Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill was born in 1952 and grew up in the Irish-speaking areas of West Kerry and in Tipperary. She studied at University College, Cork, and now lives in Dublin with her Turkish husband and four children.

She has published four collections of poems in Irish, An Dealg Droighin (1981), Féar Suaithinseach (1984), Feis (1991) and Cead Aighnis (1998).

The Gallery Press has published three collections of her poems, with translations into English, Pharoah's Daughter (Bilingual, translations by thirteen writers, 1990), The Astrakhan Cloak (Bilingual, translations by Paul Muldoon, 1992) and The Water Horse (Bilingual, translations by Medbh McGuckian and Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, 1999).

The Fifty Minute Mermaid (Bilingual, translations by Paul Muldoon) will be published in October 2007.

She was Ireland Professor of Poetry (2002-2004).