There is a vastly experienced team behind DingleLit.

Festival Director & Dingle Lit CLG Director: Sheila O’Reilly. A book industry professional for over 35 years, Sheila owned award-winning bookshops in South London. She was a member of Booksellers Association Management Council. Sheila now works part-time leading the BA’s learning and development online platform and is a business mentor for independent bookshops on behalf of the BA.

Grants, Dingle venues, technology & Company Secretary: Peter McKay. A publishing professional of over 40 years, Peter worked at board level for Thomson Reuters, Elsevier and latterly the CEO of The Publishing Training Centre for seven years.

Programme events & Dingle Lit CLG Director: Camilla Dinkel, former owner of The Dingle Bookshop and founder of Ponc Press. A resident on the Dingle Peninsula for over 20 years, Camilla is a fluent Irish speaker.

Director of Irish language events, Ionad an Bhlascaoid venue & Dingle Lit CLG Director: Siobhán Prendergast. A publishing professional for 30 years, she founded her own company, Dingle Publishing Services six years ago. Siobhán is a fluent Irish speaker and a well-known figure on the Peninsula.

Siobhán convenes the critical sub-committee for Irish language events. Meet them here.

Programme Events: Nicholas McLachlan is a writer and teacher of poetry and fiction. For fifteen years from 1995-2010, he was director of Dingle Writing Courses.

Brand, Marketing, Design, Programming Events & Dingle Lit CLG Director: Deanna O’Connor is an award-winning magazine editor who now freelances for corporate clients, working from the inspiring office space at Dingle Creativity and Innovation Hub. She also writes regularly for the Sunday Business Post. She is the founder of The Speak Up Club, a social enterprise working to empower women as leaders in business and the community.

Programming Events: Mia Colleran is an assistant editor at 4th Estate. She is an award-winning bookseller and writer, has worked at numerous book festivals and previously she reviewed books for The Irish Times, Guardian, and Irish Independent among others. Mia is a fluent Irish speaker. In 2019 Mia was a winner of James Patterson’s Young Bookseller Special Achievement Award.

Volunteers, Policies, Health & Safety, programming events & Dingle Lit CLG Director: Irene Ní Fhlannúra is a Nutritional Therapist and owns Ré Nua Natural Health and Wellness Centre in Dingle. She writes for magazines about nutrition, health and wellbeing and has been a feature writer for West & Mid Kerry Live Magazine for over 10 years.

Accounts: Lori Enright is a seasoned professional with extensive accounting and IT experience. Specializing in IT support and accounting with a focus on customer service. Successful history of improved process controls utilizing current technologies.

Sponsorship, Founders+Friends programme, programming events: Niall McDowell is a partner at a large Irish law firm who is bringing his legal and organisational skills to the Dingle Lit team. Niall holds a BA in Philosophy & Politics and in his free time writes and is an avid reader.

Advisory Patrons

Carlo Gébler B.A. NFTS, PHD Adjunct Professor in Creative Writing, Trinity College, Dublin, member of Aosdána.
Mary Black, singer and author of her autobiography Down the Crooked Road in 2015.

Working Groups

  • Programming Irish Events – Siobhán, Cian, Rebecca, Clodagh, Pádraig, Jamie and Maire
  • Programming Author Events in English Sheila, Siobhán, Deanna, Camilla, Irene, Niall, Mia, and Peter
  • Children’s Events – Sheila & Siobhán
  • Workshops – Nicholas, Camilla, Sheila, and Andy Kupfer (Workshops Leader)
  • Strategy – Peter, Mia, and Clodagh
  • Website – Deanna + Niall and Peter with Camilla proofreading.
  • Policies – Irene with advice from Ruth Blandina Quinn
  • Finance – Lori & Peter
  • Marketing – led by Deanna & Jamie. + Christina, Aisling + copywriter for Irish events will form the wider group.
  • Sponsorship/Founders/Friends – Niall + Volunteer
  • Sustainability – led by Siobhán, Irene and Nicholas + Caítriona Fallon
  • Admin – Catherine Devine + Sheila
  • Dingle CLG Directors: Sheila, Deanna, Irene, Camilla and Siobhán

The Tech Team

The festival happens with the support of technical experts drawn from the local area including Mickey Kelly & Shane Ó Ceallaigh.