MICHAEL Harding is on his nationwide theatre tour across Ireland in spring 2025, as he reads from his poignant memoir, I Loved Him From the Day He Died coming to Lime Tree Theatre this Friday April 25.
To mark his 70th birthday, Michael took a trip to Spain in early summer 2024, walking a section of the Camino de Santiago. But this journey was unlike any other—for alongside him, in spirit, was his late father, who died when Michael was just twenty-two. A reserved and distant figure during his life, his father left a lasting impression on Harding, shaping much of the writer’s inner world.
Through readings and storytelling in his unmistakable style, Michael invites audiences to share in this deeply moving and reflective experience.
Referencing the novel, Michael told Chapters Bookstore, “I wanted him to be someone he wasn’t. I wanted me to be someone I wasn’t.”
Copies of I Loved Him From the Day He Died will be available to purchase on the night, courtesy of O’Mahony’s, with Michael signing books after each performance.
Harding is a renowned writer, playwright, and columnist, celebrated for his deeply personal and poetic storytelling. Born in Cavan in 1953, Harding initially pursued a life in the priesthood before eventually turning to writing—a transition that has profoundly shaped his work. His literary voice blends honesty, humour, and vulnerability, often exploring themes of spirituality, love, loss, and the complexity of human relationships.
Harding is perhaps best known for his bestselling memoirs, including Staring at Lakes, Hanging with the Elephant, and On Tuesdays I’m a Buddhist. These reflective works offer intimate insights into his own struggles with depression, identity, and the search for meaning, resonating strongly with readers across Ireland and beyond.
His ability to articulate the fragility and beauty of everyday life has earned him a devoted following.
In addition to his memoirs, Harding has written numerous plays for the Abbey Theatre and other companies, as well as novels and a popular long-running column in The Irish Times. His writing is marked by lyrical prose and a distinctively Irish sensibility, full of wit, melancholy, and grace.
He has received both the Stewart Parker Award and an RTÉ Arts Show/Bank of Ireland Award for his theatre work.
The Abbey Theatre has staged Strawboys (1987), Una Pooka (1989), Misogynist (1990), Hubert Murray’s Widow (1993) and Sour Grapes (1997). The Tinker’s Curse was nominated for Best New Play, at the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2007. His fiction includes Priest (1986) and The Trouble with Sarah Gullion (1988). He has written an acclaimed series of memoirs, starting with Staring at Lakes (2013) to his most recent I loved Him From the Day He Died (2024)
He writes a column for the Irish Times alongside commentary on numerous documentary programmes and has featured in film and theatre including a recent short film, Where the Old Man Lives. He is a member of Aosdána and lives with his wife, the artist Cathy Carmen, near Lough Allen in County Leitrim.
