Gabriel Fitzmaurice was born in 1952 in the village of Moyvane, County Kerry, where he still lives. For over thirty years he taught in the local primary school until his retirement as school principal in 2007. He is author of more than fifty books, including collections of poetry in English and Irish as well as several collections of verse for children. He has translated extensively from Irish and has edited a number of anthologies of poetry. He has published two volumes of essays and collections of songs and ballads. Poems of his have been set to music and recorded by Brian Kennedy and by RTÉ Cór an nÓg with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. He frequently broadcasts on radio and television on education and the arts. Gabriel has been described as 'a minor legend' in Inis, 'the Irish A.

A. Milne' by Declan Kiberd in The Sunday Times anda writer of 'classic poems for children' in Children's Books In Ireland. Heis Ireland's best-selling, and best-loved, children's poet.