Nuala O'Faolain was an Irish journalist, columnist and writer who attended a convent school in the north of Ireland, studied English at University College, Dublin, and medieval English literature at the University of Hull before earning a postgraduate degree in English from Oxford. 

She returned to University College as a lecturer in the English department, and later was a journalist, TV producer, book reviewer, teacher and author. 

She became internationally well-known for her two volumes of memoir, Are You Somebody? and Almost There, her novel, My Dream of You, and a history with commentary, The Story of Chicago May. The first three were all featured on the New York Times Best Seller list. Her novel Best Love, Rosie was published posthumously in 2008.