Catriona O’Sullivan – Irish writer and academic, author of the memoir «Poor». Raised in poverty, she endured homelessness and teenage motherhood before earning her degree and becoming a lecturer at Maynooth University. Her journey from hardship to scholarship is a testament to the transformative power of education and resilience.
✨ Grew up in Dublin in a family marked by poverty and addiction. 📚 Poor became a national talking point in Ireland on social inequality. 🎓 Earned a PhD and now researches educational disadvantage. 🌍 Advocates for women’s and children’s rights in marginalised communities. 🖊 Says she wrote her book so others “wouldn’t feel ashamed of being poor.” 💡 Seen as a voice for those who are rarely heard. 🎤 Frequently appears on TV and in public debates. 🏆 Finalist for the Irish Book Awards. 🙃 Curiously, joked she felt like “a spy among the rich” when first at university. 😄 Amusingly, sometimes calls herself “the professor from the slums” to make her students laugh.