Karen Frances McCarthy is a published author, teacher, former political journalist, and progressive Spiritualist medium. She was born in Dublin, Ireland. She has a master's degree from University College Dublin, is a graduate of the London School of Journalism, and has three Certificates of Recognition from the Arthur Findlay College, a school of spiritualism and psychic sciences. She is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Birmingham, a world top 100 university and member of the prestigious Russell Group, where she is researching postsecular ghost literature.[1] She is the sister of Irish Olympian Earl McCarthy.
As a journalist, McCarthy began covering US politics for a variety of newspapers, including Irish Examiner.[2] and the Riz Khan Show on Al Jazeera English.[3] In 2007, she was an embedded reporter in Iraq. She was one of the first to write about Sunni Awakening Councils in Anbar Province, Al Qaeda HQ in Baqubah, for The Irish Times.
In 2006, McCarthy wrote and produced Made in America[4] for RTÉ in Ireland, about the challenges and triumphs of the human spirit of four young Irish people who emigrated to the US in the early 1990s on the eve of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement that changed the economic and political climate of Ireland.[5] The series was nominated for an Irish Film & Television Academy Award for Best Documentary Series.[6]
In 2010, McCarthy's first book The Other Irish was published by Sterling Publishing Inc. For this work, she was named one of Ireland's top female broadcasters who have had an international impact.[7] The book was supported by Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs as part of the country's Reconciliation and Anti-Sectarian Fund as a cultural outreach project. The announcement of support for these projects was made on 28 November 2012.
Northern Ireland is still a very divided society. We saw the potential for sectarian activity to flare up again this summer, so it's clear that, despite the enormous progress made since the Good Friday Agreement was signed, great challenges remain. We are supporting these projects to help overcome the problem of sectarianism and to promote reconciliation in Northern Ireland as well as strengthening community relations across the island of Ireland. I am grateful to the groups and individuals who carry out this critical work. It remains as important as ever that we support their efforts.[8]
As part of the reconciliation effort, McCarthy travelled throughout Ireland, talking to various Protestant communities, including the Ulster Scots Agency,[9] the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland,[10] the Linen Hall Library,[11] and the Monreagh Heritage Centre.[12] It was also supported in the media by Ian Adamson, OBE,[13] and William Humphrey DUP MLA in the Belfast Telegraph.[14] She appeared on RTÉ's History Show with Miles Dungan, NPR with Kathleen Dunn,[15] the BBC's Saturday Morning Radio Show[16] with John Toal. The book was reviewed favourably by the Huffington Post,[17] and by Prof. James Flannery of Emory College for the Irish America Magazine.[18]