ÃÂilÃÂs NÃÂ Dhuibhne (; born 22 February 1954), also known as Eilis Almquist and Elizabeth O'Hara, is an Irish novelist and short story writer who writes both in Irish and English. She has been shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, and is a recipient of the Irish PEN Award.
ÃÂilÃÂs NÃÂ Dhuibhne was appointed Laureate for Irish Fiction in 2025.
NàDhuibhne was born in Dublin in 1954. She attended University College Dublin (UCD), where she studied Pure English for her BA, did an M Phil in Middle English and Old Irish, and finished in 1982 with a PhD in Folklore She was awarded the UCD Entrance scholarship for English, and two post-graduate scholarships in Folklore. In 1978-9 she studied at the Folklore Institute in the University of Copenhagen while researching her doctoral thesis, and in 1982 was awarded a PhD from the National University of Ireland (NUI). About her time in Denmark, NàDhuibhne states that she "kind of discovered feminism there", because it "was more liberal and advanced politically and in terms of feminism". She has worked in the Department of Irish Folklore in UCD, and for many years as a curator in the National Library of Ireland. Also a teacher of Creative Writing, she has been Writer Fellow at Trinity College Dublin and is currently Writer Fellow at UCD. She is a member of Aosdána since 2004, an ambassador for the Irish Writers' Centre, and President of the Folklore of Ireland Society (An Cumann le Béaloideas ÃÂireann). NàDhuibhne is the Burns Visiting Scholar at Boston College for the fall 2020 semester.
NÃÂ Dhuibhne was married to the Swedish folklorist Bo Almqvist for 30 years until he died suddenly due to a short illness in 2013. She has two children: Ragnar and Olaf. ÃÂilÃÂs NÃÂ Dhuibne wrote the memoir Twelve Thousand Days: A Memoir of Love and Loss about her and her late husband's time together, named after the number of days they were married.
Further information on ÃÂilÃÂs NÃÂ Dhuibhne's work may be found in Rebecca Pelan, ed, ÃÂilÃÂs NÃÂ Dhuibhne: Perspectives. Galway, Arlen House, 2009.
ÃÂilÃÂs NàDhuibhne was appointed Laureate for Irish Fiction by the Arts Council in July 2025 following an extensive selection process, succeeding Colm TóibÃÂn. During her three year term, she continues to work as a creative artist. The Laureate engages in a number of public events each year, including an annual lecture.