Sinéad O'Hart
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sineadohart.bsky.social
Sinéad O'Hart
@sineadohart.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1.1K following 270 posts
She/Her/Sí/Í; children's author, podcaster (shows.acast.com/storyshaped), dormant medievalist. linktr.ee/sinead.ohart. Rep: Clare Wallace. Art: Úna Woods. Free Palestine.
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sineadohart.bsky.social
Delighted to have joined @unawoods.bsky.social at @halfwayupbooks.bsky.social yesterday for some banshee shenanigans!

If you haven't voted for us in the Children's Book of the Year (Junior) Category over at @irishbookawards.bsky.social, whaddya waiting for?

www.irishbookawards.ie
October 26, 2025 at 11:01 AM
sineadohart.bsky.social
@unawoods.bsky.social is up for the @irishbookawards.bsky.social! (Well, okay, with a book I did the words for.) If you'd like to vote for Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee: The New School (and thank you, if you do!) head on over to:

www.irishbookawards.ie

You might win yourself a Book Token!
Shortlisted books for the Soecsavers Children's Book of the Year 2025 (Junior Category) in the An Post Irish Book Awards. Top row, left to right: Badger Books, by Paddy Donnelly; An Fia Sa Choill, by Sadhbh Devlin and Anastasia Melynkova; Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee: The New School, by Sinéad O'Hart and Úna Woods; Don't Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson and Dan Santat. Bottom row, left to right: Penguin TV by Niamh Sharkey and Owen Churcher; Run Home Little Fox, by Tom McCaughren, Erika McGann, Shannon Bergin; Letters To a Monster by Patricia Forde and Sarah Warburton; Once I Was A Tree by Eoin McLaughlin and Guilherme Karsten.
October 24, 2025 at 8:53 AM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Hugely grateful to @tipperarylibraries.bsky.social and the brilliant Storyfinders of Cashel and Killenaule for showing me how bright and brilliant their imaginations are! We had tons of fun being Trainee Banshees and Making Mythology as part of #ChildrensBookFestival2025.
October 11, 2025 at 1:38 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Delighted and honoured to announce that Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee: The New School is one of several BRILLIANT books chosen by @childrensbooksireland.ie and Eason as their quarterly Recommended Irish Reads. Check them out in your local branch of Eason! And keep an eye out for signed copies...
Front cover of Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee: The New School, written by Sinéad O'Hart and illustrated by Úna Woods. There's a graphic on the left which looks like a sticker announcing it as 'Recommended by Children's Books Ireland'. Covers of all the books in the Eason/CBI quarterly book promotion. From left to right, top row: The Waters and the Wild by Eilish Fisher; The Museum of Lost Umbrellas by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick; The Moon Seeker by Dee Barragry; The Grand Central Comedy Club by Alan Nolan. Second row from top, left to right: Strange Nature, by Mary Watson; Dino Mode Activated, by Jen Wallace and illustrated by Alan O'Rourke; Any Way You Slice It by Méabh O'Donnell; Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee: The New School, by Sinéad O'Hart, illustrated by Úna Woods. Third row, left to right: Puisín na mBróg by Fergus MacLochlainn, illustrated by Paddy Donnelly; The Cloud Kingdom by Máire Zepf, illustrated by Andrew Whitson; Milo and the Mountain, by Jamie Carroll; Nature at Night by Dara McAnulty. Fourth row, left to right: Oíche Mhaith, a Ghrá! by Sadhbh Devlin, illustrated by Brian Fitzgerald; Lantern Smoke by Dagogo Hart and Anita Schmidt, and This That What by Katy Ashworth and Colleen Larmour.
October 9, 2025 at 7:07 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Excellent #BookPost from @theobrienpress.bsky.social today! Wonderful to revisit the world of Tom McCaughren with @erikamcgann.bsky.social and @shannonbergin.bsky.social, and it's a heartwarming tale of Flossie McFluff with Eoin O'Brien and Audrey Dowling. Out next week! #IrishKidsBooks
Cover of Run Home Little Fox by Tom McCaughren and Erika McGann, illustrated by Shannon Bergin. An illustrated baby fox runs through lush woodland. Front cover of Flossie McFluff Saves Christmas, by Eoin O'Brien and Audrey Dowling. Fairy character appears inside a green wreath on a jolly red background.
October 8, 2025 at 4:12 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Huge thanks to Easons of Gorey and Rathmines, as well as @dubraybooks.bsky.social Galway, for keeping Ellora McGee on your shelves and tables! It always lifts the heart to see such support for a new book. And thanks to shops everywhere for stocking our brave little Banshee!

@unawoods.bsky.social
Piles of books on a bookshop table, including Ellora McGee Trainee Banshee Piles of books on a bookshop table, including Ellora McGee Trainee Banshee A display of books on a bookshop wall, featuring Ellora McGee Trainee Banshee on the top shelf Me, a fat, white woman with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing purple glasses, a blue coat, dark jeans, purple boots, a flower-patterned blouse and a black-and-white keffiyeh, holding two copies of my book Ellora McGee Trainee Banshee. Books on shelves are either side of me. Behind me is a wall painted blue with the light green letters of the word Dubray fixed on it. This photo was taken in Dubray Books in Galway.
October 5, 2025 at 6:35 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
More bookish goodness! The super-sweet Puffling and the Stormy Sea by @erikamcgann.bsky.social and @gerrydalyart.bsky.social; games and mystery are afoot in Blowing the Whistle by Gerard Siggins, and it's creepytimes at sea with Amy Clerkin and Where the Shadows Hide. #OBrienPress
September 24, 2025 at 8:19 AM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Me and @unawrites.bsky.social off on our signing tour of Dublin! Bookshops beware - we're coming at ya! 📚📚📚 #ElloraMcGeeTraineeBanshee

Thanks to Eason's and @chaptersbookstore.bsky.social for the warm welcome... Off to @gutterbookshop.bsky.social next!
September 19, 2025 at 11:24 AM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Massively grateful to @elainaryan.bsky.social, @childrensbooksireland.ie and @irishtimes.com for including Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee: The New School (by me and @unawoods.bsky.social) on this Best New Children's Books roundup!

#GillBooks
Screenshot of text from a newspaper article. Part of the text is highlighted in blue with two large dark blue arrows, hand-drawn, pointing to it. The text is: 'Fans of the Mirabelle and Emerald series will love Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee: The New School, by Sinéad O'Hart and Úna Woods.'
September 18, 2025 at 6:55 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Grateful to @dubraybooks.bsky.social Mary Street, Easons of Dun Laoghaire and Easons in Navan for these displays of Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee: The New School. Gorgeous to see my (and @unawoods.bsky.social's) little banshee out and about, rocking her hair (and vocals!) Grab your copy today!
September 16, 2025 at 12:48 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee's first adventure, The New School, is out NOW and available wherever you get your books (inc @dubraybooks.bsky.social @halfwayupbooks.bsky.social and @gutterbookshop.bsky.social)! If you've met Ellora and friends, PLEASE leave a review somewhere - it all helps! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
A cardboard box filled with shredded cardboard, used as packing material to protect the box's proper contents - copies of Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee, written by Sinéad O'Hart and illustrated by Úna Woods. Two copies are lying face-up on top of the box and contents.
September 16, 2025 at 7:56 AM
sineadohart.bsky.social
So grateful to Ruth Concannon from @childrensbooksireland.ie and @irishexaminer.bsky.social for including Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee: The New School in this roundup of best new children's books! Words by me, art by @unawoods.bsky.social, pub Gill Books, and available now!
September 13, 2025 at 8:04 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Great #bookpost from my friends at Gill Books - this gorgeous encyclopedia of the Irish seashore from Lucy Taylor and Linda Fährlin, and the EXCELLENT new Evil Duck story from the awesome @chrisjudge.bsky.social - my Little Reader made off with it as soon as it arrived! Verdict: BRILLIANT!
September 10, 2025 at 3:47 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
I tried my best to draw Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee - I don't think I did as good a job as @unawoods.bsky.social! But she looks like a sweet little banshee, all the same.

Have you picked up a copy yet?

www.dubraybooks.ie/product/ellora-mcgee-trainee-banshee-9781804581674
September 9, 2025 at 3:30 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Delighted to spot Ellora McGee in among these September beauties! Thanks to @irishkidsbooks.bsky.social, and to @unawoods.bsky.social and Gill Books. Pick yerself up a new Irish children's book today! 📚🇮🇪📚
September 6, 2025 at 4:30 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
The wondrous @unawoods.bsky.social has drawn Ellora McGee using her Banshee hair to show you her new book! Ellora McGee Trainee Banshee: The New School is available now, and it's WAILLLLY good fun!

www.dubraybooks.ie/product/ello...
Illustration of a child with long, dark, unruly hair, white skin, dark eyes, wearing a grey hoodie and green pants with a pattern of white stars, and white boots. Her magical hair holds up a copy of Ellora McGee Trainee Banshee: The New School. She is the titular character, Ellora McGee.
September 4, 2025 at 3:17 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
It's TODAY! I'm nervous. But excited. My tummy feels wiggly. My hair - as ever - feels unruly. There's a gurgling, ticklish, fizzy sensation in my chest - AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! It's WAILING time! Come and help us launch our banshee into the world, today at 6pm, Dubray Mary Street, Dublin!
September 3, 2025 at 9:35 AM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Massive thanks to @theobrienpress.bsky.social for this bumper bundle! All these awesome books are coming very soon.

We've got (top, left to right): Fraidy Dog by Kate Sheehy; Milo and the Mountain by Jamie Carroll; A Belfast Fairytale by Mel Carroll; Yeats' The Stolen Child, art by Erin Brown (1/2)
September 1, 2025 at 6:40 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
I got my author copies of 'Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee: The New School' today - and they're GORGEOUS. Massive thanks to all at Gill Books, especially my editor Venetia Gosling, and to the amazing @unawoods.bsky.social, whose art just makes this story shine. Coming Sept 4th! Preorder links in bio!
Illustration from Ellora McGee Trainee Banshee, showing Ellora (young girl with unruly dark hair) emitting her Banshee Wail (a stream of magic coming out of her mouth as she shrieks). The illustrator is Úna Woods. Me (white woman, dark unruly hair, purple glasses, blue patterned shirt) just visible behind a copy of Ellora McGee Trainee Banshee, which I'm holding over most of my face
August 25, 2025 at 6:31 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Please, if you can, donate to Ahmed - as he said in a message to me, even the stones are being exterminated by the occupation.

Lives depend on us. We have got to step up.

gofund.me/f996e59d
August 21, 2025 at 4:20 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
My friend Mayada in Gaza is in immediate danger of death. She urgently needs to raise $300 to evacuate herself, her infant son, and her elderly and disabled parents from north Gaza. Please: I beg you. If you can spare even a small amount, help her.

gofund.me/e25d1ff9
August 20, 2025 at 4:07 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Delighted to share that @unawoods.bsky.social and I will be launching our new book, Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee: The New School (with LOTS of help from Gill Books, @dubraybooks.bsky.social Mary Street, and @alnolan.bsky.social), on Sept 3rd! Be there, or be... elsewhere! 📚🧁
August 19, 2025 at 2:33 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
Overwhelmed to say @rurooie.bsky.social and I raised €9000 for @medicalaidpal.bsky.social... But we didn't do it alone.

Thank you to our donors, without whose generosity none of this would have been possible. Thank you to our brilliant, amazing supporters for your help in making us visible!
August 17, 2025 at 12:58 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
For the final 24 hours of the Irish KidLit for Palestine Fundraiser, @kellymccaughrain.bsky.social has generously offered a price reduction on her MS Critiques! €100 off both the 30k and 15k word Critiques - bargain! Grab yours at www.ruthennis.com/irish-kidlit-for-palestine

@rurooie.bsky.social
August 16, 2025 at 12:05 PM
sineadohart.bsky.social
So, I mean. €8K? We have, collectively, raised EIGHT THOUSAND EURO for @medicalaidpal.bsky.social! How brilliant is that?

The fundraiser is open until noon on Sunday 17th; you can donate directly, or purchase something from our menu of bookish treats. And, wow. Thank you all! @rurooie.bsky.social
August 15, 2025 at 4:03 PM