Born in
Lancashire,
England, of Irish parents, she moved to Ireland at the age of 5 and was brought up in the
Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht and in
Nenagh,
County Tipperary. Her uncle,
Monsignor Pádraig Ó Fiannachta of
Dingle, was an authority on
Munster Irish. Her mother brought her up to speak English, though she was an Irish speaker herself. Her father and his side of the family spoke very fluent Irish and used it every day, but her mother thought it would make life easier for Nuala if she spoke only English instead. She studied English and Irish at UCC in 1969 and became part of the '
Innti' group of poets. In 1973, she married
Turkish geologist Doğan Leflef and lived abroad in
Turkey and
Holland for seven years. One year after her return to
County Kerry in 1980, she published her first collection of poetry in Irish,
An Dealg Droighin (1981); She later became a member of
Aosdána. Ní Dhomhnaill has published extensively and her works include poetry collections, children's plays, screenplays, anthologies, articles, reviews and essays. Her other works include
Féar Suaithinseach (1984);
Feis (1991), and
Cead Aighnis (1998). Ni Dhomhnaill's poems appear in English translation in the dual-language editions
Rogha Dánta/Selected Poems (1986, 1988, 1990);
The Astrakhan Cloak (1992), ''Pharaoh's Daughter
(1990), The Water Horse
(2007), and The Fifty Minute Mermaid
(2007). Her poem Dubh (ar thitim Shrebenice, 11ú Iúil, 1995)
, known in English as Black (on the fall of Srebrenica, 11 July 1995)
and reflecting her reaction to the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, was translated to English by Paul Muldoon are included in An Leabhar Mòr (2008). Selected Essays'' appeared in 2005. Her poem, 'Mo Ghrá-Sa (Idir Lúibini)', is part of the Leaving Certificate curriculum for Irish. She played a minor role as the Irish oral examiner in the 1997 film,
How to Cheat in the Leaving Certificate. She writes poetry exclusively in Irish and is quoted as saying that the "Irish is a language of beauty, historical significance, ancient roots and an immense propensity for poetic expression through its everyday use". Ní Dhomhnaill also speaks English, Turkish, French, German and Dutch fluently. Ní Dhomhnaill's writings focus on the rich
oral tradition and heritage of Ireland and particularly draw upon ancient stories from
Irish folklore and
Irish mythology, in combination with contemporary themes of
feminism, sexuality, and culture. Her
mythopoeia poetry expresses an alternative reality and she often speaks about her reasons for both retelling and reimagining myths that are an integral part of
Irish literature and
Irish culture. Ní Dhomhnaill has stated that "Myth is a basic, fundamental structuring of our reality, a narrative that we place on the chaos of sensation to make sense of our lives". ==Personal life==