Cathal Ó Searcaigh is one of Ireland's most distinguished modern day poets. "His confident internationalism" according to Theo Dorgan, "has already begun to channel new modes, new possibilities, into the writing of Irish language poetry in our time" (Irish Poetry Since Kavanagh, 1996). Ó Searcaigh has become a poet of international renown-particularly since the publication of his bilingual collections Homecoming/An Bealach 'na Bhaile (Cló Iar-Chonnachta 1993) and Out in the Open (CIC 1997). Selections of his work have already been published in translation in ten languages. He was conferred with an Honorary Degree from NUIG in 2000 and in 2001 he was awarded The Irish Times Literature Prize for Irish Language Books for Ag Tnúth leis an tSolas.

Cathal has read his work at arts festivals and literary celebrations throughout the world. His readings and his talks at the L'Imaginaire Irlandais festival in France and at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany gained him international acclaim. He has held various posts as Writer in Residence in universities throughout Ireland-North and South-since 1993. In the spring of 1995, he was elected a member of Aosdána. His collection Na Buachaillí Bána (CIC 1996) has received more media coverage than any other volume of verse published in the Irish language in recent years. "The best poems in the collection," according to The Irish Times, "are exceptional and single Cathal Ó Searcaigh out, not so much as a maker of poems-of which the Irish language has its fair share-but as one of our finest working poets. This is not meant as faint praise but as a statement of fact."

Ó Searcaigh's harrowing long poem Gort na gCnámh/Field of Bones has been made into a highly acclaimed film by Carol Moore. Cathal is a regular contributor to radio and television programmes. His works include a documentary on the Frankfurt Book Fair for RTÉ, a programme on Nepal for TG4 and RTÉ, a documentary on the 18th century poets of South East Ulster for Flying Fox Films and a half-hour interview about his spiritual beliefs for Flying Fox. In 2002 CIC published Caiseal na gCorr - a book of photographs of the area where Cathal is from. The photographs are by the Dutch photographer Jan Voster and the book includes interviews and poetry with Cathal, who discusses his memories of the area and the influence that it had on his poetry. His first major prose work, Seal i Neipeal, was published in 2004 and describes his travels through Nepal and uncovers his growing love affair with the country and its people.