On Dublin’s north side, near the botanic gardens, author Susanne Carpenter finds inspiration in the lure of Irish lore and lineage. She describes her father working for Dublin City Council in the 1970s, when the foundations were being laid for the Civic Offices at Wood Quay. “My dad brought home stories of the Viking Settlement that became Dublin,” she recalls via email.

Those tales were the beginning of a lifelong fascination with heritage that would eventually lead her to ancient sites around the country, forming the basis for her novels.

A fourth-generation Dubliner, Carpenter’s roots trace back to Terenure and Ringsend, where her parents were born. Those roots cultivated a lifelong reverence for her cultural inheritance. “My love of Irish heritage has taken me to neolithic sites like Newgrange, to Kilmainham Jail, the site of the 1916 Rising, as well as to Brú Na Bóinne in the midlands and Grianán an Aileach in Donegal,” – journeys that are reflected in her writing.

Curiously, writing was not Carpenter’s first calling. Strong in math and physics at school, she studied engineering, while writing remained a distant dream. “Juggling a career and a young family, there really wasn’t an opportunity to write, and it joined the bucket list alongside the places I wanted to visit and the things I wanted to experience.”

Carpenter reached a turning point two decades later, once her children were grown. “I found myself with the time to focus on writing. It was an opportunity to integrate Irish legends with a firsthand knowledge of heritage and technology.”

As she visited the sites of her ancestors with an engineer’s eye and deep sense of connection, her stories began to take shape. “I was fascinated by the ancestors who built these incredible structures without modern technology. When I began writing, the historic locations and legends from The Book of Invasions provided a rich inspiration for my stories.”

Those stories evolved into Tuath and its sequel, Fianna; novels that delve into the Tuath Dé Danann, the legendary tribe of Irish gods and heroes.

“Despite our knowledge of Roman, Greek, and Norse legends, we seem to have neglected our own, and I wanted to bring the Tuath Dé Danann to life in a dynamic way…”

The challenge has been “marrying the technical details of the technology with the human frailty of the characters.” But seeing Tuath and Fianna on bookstore shelves has been gratifying. “When I completed Fianna, I felt a profound sense of accomplishment and relief overall. It was a moment of immense pride and satisfaction.”

Feedback for the book has been encouraging. With Fianna recently launching in Dublin, readers have already begun praising its storytelling and “deep connection to Irish heritage.”

Carpenter’s research has been as in-depth as her stories. Between 2011 and 2015, she worked with a television production company specialising in Irish culture. “This allowed me to visit sites all around the country, many of which are featured in Tuath and Fianna.”

Her travels carried her beyond Ireland as well. “I travelled to the Isle of Man to research Manannán, the Celtic sea god, and to Jutland in Denmark to explore the ancient site of Jelling. I also received invaluable advice from Druids, who have a deep connection with the Irish pantheon of gods and goddesses.”

Carpenter concedes that the shift from technical writing to fiction wasn’t easy. “I write technical standards and detailed reports for a living – I thought it would be a simple jump to writing a novel, but I was wrong. The process of writing Tuath taught me a lot about structure and characterization.”

With the completion of Fianna, she found herself on even firmer ground. “I realize now that part of the writing process is building confidence and resilience.”

Her journey won’t end with two books, however – the third instalment of the trilogy is already underway. “As I craft the third book – Tír, meaning ‘Nation’ – I find the characters themselves seizing the reins, guiding the tale along unexpected paths. I hope to finish Tír by the middle of 2026.”

For readers drawn to science fiction, fantasy, adventure, and especially to Ireland and its mythology, Carpenter more than delivers. Her deepest inspiration remains the country of her birth and her heart. “Rich with gods and heroes from Celtic myth, Ireland’s lore unfurls as a tapestry for storytellers. Its wild landscapes and ancient ruins lend an ethereal backdrop to tales woven through time, while the country’s cultural soul breathes life into characters who stride across history’s stage.”