Moving to Ireland 30 years ago motivated author Una Mannion, a former Notre Dame Academy student, to start writing.

Mannion, a wife and mother of three, is the author of the psychological thrillers A Crooked Tree and Tell Me What I Am. She lives in County Sligo in Ireland, writes Fionnuala Boyle for the Irish Star.

Mannon was born and raised in Philadelphia.  She attended Notre Dame Academy in Villanova before studying English at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee at age 17.

She returned to Philadelphia to do a Master’s in English at Temple University and moved to Co Sligo in Ireland in the early 1990s to be with her husband, who is a member of the Irish trad group, Dervish. 

Her writing career kicked off in 2014.

It was Ireland’s appreciation for writing and writers that convinced her to start on her two novels, the first of which won the 2022 Kate O’Brien Award.

“Writing feels so accessible in Ireland, and there are so many opportunities. I didn’t know anyone or have any connections when I moved here, and you think it’s a closed house, but it’s not. It’s a level playing field,” said the 57-year-old.

Read more of Una Mannion’s thoughts on writing and Ireland in the Irish Star.