Waterford’s Miriam Gallagher was born Miriam O’Connor and was both a pioneering speech therapist, as well as an acclaimed playwright in Ireland.
Her work has been produced across the globe, along with being broadcasted on both the BBC and RTE.
The Career Trajectory of Miriam Gallagher
It was her work as a speech therapist which saw her publish a ground-breaking book in 1977, when she was aged 37.
‘Let’s Help Our Children Talk’ was written for parents and carers and it was the first of its kind published in the English language.
It came from her work initially in St. James’ Hospital in Dublin and later as the founder of the Irish Association of Speech Therapists.
In a 2011 interview, Gallagher stated that the only limit to her ideas was ‘the limits of the lifetimes available to deal with them.’
Her back catalogue of work is extremely impressive, and in 2026 when there is significant demand for Speech and Language Therapists across the country, it is remarkable that the woman who paved the way for others was Waterford’s own Miriam Gallagher.
Thanks as always to Cian Manning for bringing this story to us. You can hear Cian every Wednesday on The Big Breakfast Blaa after the news at 9am.
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