Contentious Spaces

Rosaleen McDonagh in conversation with Katherine O’Donnell In partnership with Poetry Ireland. Contentious Spaces (Skein Press) is the debut novel from acclaimed author and playwright Rosaleen McDonagh, exploring the inner lives of Traveller families on a site in Dublin over the course of one crucial week. Threatened with eviction, it’s not only their homes at stake but also their history and the stories that have shaped them. Rosaleen joins author and academic Katherine O’Donnell in conversation about her unflinching novel, exploring themes including identity and loyalty, shame and resilience, grief and love, and the power of voices that refuse to be silenced. Please note we may be capturing candid imagery at this event for use on our social media and website. Rosaleen McDonagh is a writer, playwright, performer and a member of Aosdána. Her plays include The Baby Doll Project, She’s Not Mine, Rings, The Prettiest Proud Boy and Mainstream. Her most recent commissions were Walls and Windows, followed by Backbone for the Abbey Theatre and Context for Pavee Point, which loosely documents the forty year history of Pavee Point. She is part of the Navigator Series by Fishamble for 2026. She is the author of Unsettled (Skein Press, 2021) and Contentious Spaces (Skein Press, 2026). Rosaleen holds a BA, two MPhils from Trinity College Dublin and a PhD from Northumbria University. She was reappointed a Human Rights Commissioner in June 2025 and is a member of the Arts Council of Ireland. Katherine O’Donnell is Professor of the History of Ideas in the School of Philosophy, University College Dublin. She has published widely on the history of masculinity, the culture and politics of eighteenth century Ireland and on Ireland's widespread system of residential institutional abuse and forced family separation. She is a member of Justice for Magdalenes Research whose work was instrumental in securing a state apology and redress scheme for those held in Magdalene Laundries. New Island Books have published her first novel, Slant which went into a new format, second edition earlier this year. To hear first about future Dublin Book Festival events sign up to our newsletter here.