Deirdre is author of Irish Moves, an illustrated history of dance and physical theatre in Ireland (The LIffey Press), and Orientalism, Orientation, and The Nomadic Work of Pina Bausch (Peter Lang Gmbh).  Committed to re-inscribing the body into Irish cultural history, Deirdre’s influential BAI-funded feature radio documentary, short dance film ‘Lucia Joyce: Full Capacity’, and her Joyce Studies Annual essay ‘Fail Better: Lucia Joyce and the Abbey Theatre Ballets’, change the accepted ‘mad girl’ narrative, and invite consideration of Lucia Joyce as a significant artist in her own right. Her new booklet “Lucia Joyce: Full Capacity” (Grand Canal Publishing, supported by James Joyce Centre) is available at Shakespeare and Co, Paris; and in Dublin at various outlets including James Joyce Centre, The Library Project, Books Upstairs, The Winding Stair Bookshop, and Swenys Joycean Pharmacy, as well as at Limerick’s Quay Bookstore.  Marking the 40th anniversary of her death, in 2022 Deirdre presented an immersive  interdisciplinary Saint Lucia’s Day event celebrating Joyce’s overlooked creativity at Dublin’s James Joyce Centre, called ‘Come and See Me, I’m a Crossword Puzzle’.   In tandem with this, Deirdre curated an associated exhibition featuring her own original research, which ran until June 2024.   Deirdre directed Michael Hastings’ play ‘Calico’ for Bloomsday Festival 2021, as research for her own play ‘Brancusi Bird’, supported by an Arts Council Agility Award and ‘Burn Bright. Ranelagh Arts Festival presented scene readings in 2023, and Amanda Norton incorporated a pop-up scene reading into her 2024 Bloomsday Festival talk on Berenice Abbott.   Deirdre has presented  many talks on the subject, from Trieste Joyce Summer School, to National Library of Ireland, to Princeton University FÍS, and more, as well as hosting Dance Ireland’s 30th Anniversary podcasts.

Deirdre produces and directs theatre, and her own creative film documentaries including ‘Damhsa na hÉigeandála’ (TG4), and ‘1943 – A Dance Odyssey’ (RTE), about Irish-German modern dance pioneer Erina Brady; ‘TRUE NORTH’ about her parents’ time teaching on First Nations Reservations in remote north Ontario; and many more BAI-funded, commissioned, and Indie projects with her own production company ‘Out There Productions’. Deirdre has contributed over ten essays to RTE Sunday Miscellany; several chapters to books on theatre and dance; and her Arts journalism has appeared in top publications. On top of her original academic work, teaching, broadcasting, and making original feature radio documentaries (RTE Lyric FM & Newstalk 106 – 108fm), Deirdre curates exhibitions too. 

 Deirdre contributed to Photo Album of the Irish: Canada, and is developing a new documentary with her Ojibway school friends in Cat Lake, North Ontario. During the pandemic, Deirdre did Ardteist Gaeilge Ardleibhéal, and was delighted to get a H2!  In 2022 Deirdre directed a TG4 Finné episode on one of her Gaeilge gurus, ‘Limerick’s own Billy Elliot’, Roy Galvin.  Her Irish Film Artist Index- listed experimental short Goodbye Marian Avenue is premiered in March 2025 in ‘2 Films, 3 Clues’ at Visual Artist Ireland HQ, the Curve. In 2022 Deirdre was an invited participant in Global Irish Studies’ ‘Ulysses and the World’ symposium at Georgetown University, Washington DC, and enjoyed being on the steering committee of #Ulysses80 virtual bookclub.  After featuring in Bloomsday Film Festival 2022 at the IFI, Lucia Joyce: FULL CAPACITY was selected in 2024 for the James Joyce Centre permanent collection, and screens widely in various exciting contexts. In 2024 Deirdre was awarded an Artist’s Residency at Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris, and was subsequently awarded a place on the 2024 Irish Writers Centre National Mentoring programme for her work in progress. Deirdre’s 2004 interview with the late, great Sinéad O’Connor, about her love for her children, features in a new book, “Sinéad O’Connor: The Last Interview”.

Many new projects are cooking…