Brendan O’Brien
Virginia, Co. Cavan
Mobile phone: 086 4663266
Telephone: 049 8541041
Educational qualifications
BSc
Experience
Freelance editor since January 1993. Previously: production editor, School and College Publishing, Dublin (Mar. 1991–Dec. 1992); editor, Thomas Telford, London (Apr. 1990–Mar. 1991); editorial assistant, Institute of Metals, London (May 1989–Mar. 1990).
Services offered
Copy-editing; substantive editing; developmental editing; non-fiction editing; writing; proofreading
Media
Non-fiction books, reports, journal papers, etc.
Subject areas
History, science, biography, psychology, social sciences, environment, general non-fiction
Clients include
European Union Institute for Security Studies, RTÉ, Economic and Social Research Institute, Royal Irish Academy, Irish Manuscripts Commission, Institute of Public Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Health Service Executive, Health & Safety Authority, Department of Social Protection, Tusla, Climate Change Advisory Council, National Office of Clinical Audit, Insurance Institute of Ireland, The Hague Program on Cyber Security, Techquity, Dignity (Danish Institute Against Torture), National Gallery of Ireland, Hugh Lane Gallery, Council of European Geodetic Surveyors, C40 Cities, O’Brien Press, Collins Press, Educate.ie and many others (please see website for details).
Examples of work undertaken
Recent projects include: Irish Studies in International Affairs, Volume 36, Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South (Royal Irish Academy (RIA), production editor); Archaeology 2035 (RIA, copyediting and proofreading); For and Against a United Ireland by Fintan O’Toole and Sam McBride (RIA, copyediting); A Pathway to Homeownership: The Role of Tenant Purchase in Ireland by Aideen Hayden (Institute of Public Administration, copyediting, proofreading and indexing); Building Alexa at Amazon: Innovating from Vision to Scale by Al Lindsay (Techquity, copyediting); Annual Report 2024 (RTÉ, copyediting); Picasso: From the Studio (National Gallery, copyediting); Annual Report (Tusla, copyediting); Annual Report (Environmental Protection Agency, copyediting); Receipt Books from Birr Castle, County Offaly (ed. Danielle Clarke) (Irish Manuscripts Commission, copyediting); The Life & Work of Thomas Downes Wilmot Dearn (1777–1853) by Professor James S. Curl (indexing). I copyedited a book on a Galway poet of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, working directly for the author, and an exhibition catalogue (Ailbhe Ní Bhriain) for the Hugh Lane Gallery. I copyedited two novels: one historical and one gothic.
Testimonials
Please see website. Also: ‘Brendan has done a quite magnificent job of tidying up lots of small errors, ditching some superfluous words and going beyond the call of duty to fact check and comment on some of the arguments. Even where I haven’t changed something, his comments have helped me clarify my thinking. He’s clearly a Rolls-Royce editor.’ (Sam McBride, 2025)
Additional information
I have written 10 posts for the Editors Canada blog, Editors’ Weekly. I was invited to speak at Editors Canada conferences in Toronto (‘Editing Goes Global’, 2015) and Gatineau (annual conference, 2017).