 She studied English and Irish at UCC in 1969 and became part of the 'Innti' group of poets.In 1973, she married Turkish geologist Doğan Leflef and lived abroad in Turkey and Holland for seven years.One year after her return to County Kerry in 1980, she published her first collection of poetry in Irish, "An Dealg Droighin" (1981); She later became a member of Aosdána.