Journalist

Hilary is a freelance feature writer, TV and book reviewer and, for the past decade, weekly columnist, all at The Irish Times. Her column can be read every Friday .

Playwright

Writer in association at the Abbey Theatre in its centenary year. Her plays, including Mackerel Sky, Doldrum Bay, Famished Castle and an adaptation of Racine’s Phaedra, have been performed in Ireland, London, Europe and North America. Hilary is currently writing her next play,

Novelist

The Weight of Love is an exploration of how we manage life when the notes and beats of our existence, so carefully arranged, begin to slip off the stave. An intimate and moving account of the intricacies of marriage and the myriad ways in which we can love and be loved. "This is heartache for grown-ups. The Weight of Love pulls you in and does not let go."Anne Enright.

Memoirist

Her memoir, Hopscotch was short listed for book of the year. Hopscotch explores life in 1960’s Ireland through the eyes of Billy, the youngest child of two artists, whose lives are pitched against a straightened society. It is a meditation on innocence, love and memory itself.

Mentor

Ten years as a volunteer at Fighting Words creative writing centre, co-creator and mentor of a national playwriting programme for young writers. Currently lecturing in Trinity College.