Niall O’Gallagher was born in 1981. After studying then teaching at the University of Glasgow he went to work as a journalist and began writing the poems that would make up his first collection.
Beatha Ùr (‘New Life’), completed with the help of a New Writers Award from the Scottish Book Trust / Gaelic Books Council, was published by Clàr in 2013. This was followed in 2016 by Suain nan Trì Latha (‘Three Nights Dreaming’) which was met with critical acclaim in Scotland and Ireland for its use of classical Gaelic forms to write modern love poems. His third collection, Fo Bhlàth (‘Flourishing’), appeared in 2020.
A translator of poetry from Gaelic, Irish and Catalan, his English and Scots translations of longer Gaelic poems by Christopher Whyte were collected in Ceum air Cheum / Step by Step, which was shortlisted for the Saltire Scottish Poetry Book of the Year in 2019. He has also published Scottish Gaelic versions from the acclaimed Irish poet Biddy Jenkinson in the Gaelic journal STEALL, where he was poetry editor until 2021.
In 2019 Niall was named Bàrd Baile Ghlaschu, the City of Glasgow’s first Gaelic Poet Laureate. Niall won the Gaelic prize in the Wigtown Poetry Competition in 2020 for his poem,‘Penelope’. Niall is currently working on his fourth book of poems, Litrichean Plàighe (‘Plague Letters’) supported by an Ignite Fellowship from the Scottish Book Trust / Gaelic Books Council
About Niall’s work
“…an rud as motha tha còrdadh rium san leabhar se far a bheil eileamaid de dheasbaid eadar ceann agus cridhe, eadar bàrdachd mar chiùird ’s mar ealain.”
Ronald Black, The Scotsman
“Leabhar saibhir geal filíochta is ea é seo. An té a bhfuil cleachtadh beag éigin aige ar ár gcuid éigse suas go dtí lár na seachtú haoise déag, ní bheidh aon dúshlán rómhór dó anseo. N’fheadar an bhfuil file ar bith eile lenár linn ar éirigh leis dul trasna an cabhsa sin idir an sean agus an nua chomh cumasach, is chomh hionraic sin.”
Alan Titley, Comhar
“O'Gallagher's poems use deceptively simple, everyday language, usually sewn into formal structures, each attaining a neat and subtle flowering. Unexpected turns of phrase bring character or setting to breathing life. Once again, Gaelic poetry welcomes an exciting new (this time essentially urban) voice.”
Aonghas MacNeacail, The Herald
“Air an t-saoghail caochlaideach sa bheil sin beò…tha a’ bhàrdachd aige mar leigheas.”