Michael McCarthy grew up on a farm in West Cork, Ireland. His first poetry collection Birds' Nests and Other Poems won the Patrick Kavanagh Award. His children's books have been translated into seventeen languages.

He works as a priest in North Yorkshire.

Michael McCarthy grew up on a farm in West Cork, Ireland. His first poetry collection Bird's Nests and Other Poems won the Patrick Kavanagh Award. His second collection At The Races won the Poetry Business Competition judged by Michael Longley. His childen's books have been translated into seventeen languages. He works as a priest in North Yorkshire.