Nuala O'Connor
Writer / Director
Nuala O’Connor is an Emmy Award-winning writer and director whose work in music and arts documentary filmmaking spans more than three decades. She is the co-founder of South Wind Blows, a creative production company established with Philip King and Tina O’Reilly to make high-quality films exploring culture, music, and the arts.
Nuala began her career as a radio producer with RTÉ before moving into television, where she was a researcher and writer on the landmark BBC/RTÉ series Bringing It All Back Home (1987). She went on to author the companion book Bringing It All Back Home – The Influence of Irish Music, and in 1994 won a Primetime Emmy Award for her script for a one-hour standalone version of the documentary.
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Feb. 15, 2026
In Time: Dónal Lunny, Nuala O’Connor’s Film Chronicle of the Enigmatic Innovator
Filmmaker Nuala O’Connor joins Irish Stew cohosts Martin Nutty and John Lee for a “Global Irish Nation Conversation” on her documentary In Time: Dónal Lunny , her filmic tone poem in black and white on the enigmatic innovator of Irish music. Co‑founder of the seminal groups Planxty, The Bothy Band, and Moving Hearts, Dónal introduced the flat-back bouzouki to Irish music and broke through with new time signatures, revolutionizing the sound and status of Irish trad music without breaking its fund...
Guests: Maedhbh Mc Cullagh, Nuala O'Connor