Aoife Houlihan
Location: Co.Meath
Bio
Aoife Houlihan is a writer and poet based in County Meath. Her work blends memoir, poetry, and short fiction, exploring themes of emotional resilience, womanhood, grief, and self-reclamation. Her viral poem ’Twas the Night Before School gained wide recognition during lockdown, and she has since returned to creative work with renewed purpose. Aoife’s writing is rooted in lived experience, often drawing on the Irish landscape, ancestral connection, and the strength found in everyday rituals. Her voice is warm, truthful, and unafraid – embracing both tenderness and wit as she explores what it means to begin again.
Current project
Glimmers is a developing collection of poetry, lyrical prose, and flash memoir that explores what it means to return to yourself after loss, betrayal, and emotional upheaval. It weaves themes of resilience, womanhood, identity, and personal reawakening into a body of work that is both deeply personal and widely relatable.
The collection moves through emotional shifts, from silence to voice, from heartbreak to clarity – tracing a journey of reclaiming creative power and self-trust. Some pieces reflect grief and rupture; others offer warmth, wit, and moments of bold honesty. The tone is intimate, but not confessional – always crafted with intent.
The writing is deeply rooted in place, drawing inspiration from the Irish landscape and the quiet, steady strength found in ordinary moments. Motherhood, memory, and the complexity of beginning again all play a central role, shaping the emotional and creative landscape of the work.
Glimmers is still unfolding. Some pieces stand alone as polished poems or personal essays; others form part of a longer arc. Together, they reflect a woman’s journey through truth, transition, and creative emergence.
Writing sample
Between Ports
by Aoife Houlihan
I am somewhere
between ports —
not lost,
but not yet anchored.
The map I once followed
was inked by another’s hand.
I cast it to the sea —
no apology, no regret.
Now, I drift
on tides I’ve chosen,
guided by my inner compass
and the lighthouse within.
I no longer fear
the stillness
or the sway.
I’m learning
the in-between
is not delay —
but the quiet becoming
of who I am.
So I let the sea rock me,
soft as a lullaby,
fierce as truth.
And I whisper
to the horizon:
I’m coming —
on my own terms,
with salt in my hair
and fire in my soul.
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