San Luíseach agus Lia na Súl

Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha is a poet whose work resonates deeply with themes of identity, embodiment, and the transformative power of art. Born in 1994, she was raised in the Laggan area of East Donegal, close to the border with the North of Ireland. She writes poetry exclusively in Irish.

Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha is a poet whose work resonates deeply with themes of identity, embodiment, and the transformative power of art. Born in 1994, she was raised in the Laggan area of East Donegal, close to the border with the North of Ireland. She writes poetry exclusively in Irish, exploring the nature of language, the writing of poetry itself, folklore and mythology from Ireland and abroad, gender, and the identity of the muse. She has a particular interest in visual art, the imagery and figures of Catholicism, as well as the Irish literary tradition.

She has published two poetry collections in Irish, both with Barzaz, Solas Geimhridh agus Dánta Eile (2023) and Mainistir na Feola (2025). St Lucy and the Eye Doctor / San Luíseach agus Lia na Súl is her first Irish-English dual language edition, and draws on both those collections as well as later work. Her translator Ellen Corbett – who comes from just the other side of the border – won the Stephen Spender Prize in 2024 for her translation of Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha’s poem ‘Scrúdú’ (‘Exam’), which is included in this book.