When she is not working as a curriculum developer, Mary-Elaine is a best-selling author, playwright and award-winning radio documentary-maker. She lives in Dublin with her husband, two children and their two cats and dog.

(Click on programme titles below for link to audio)

Mary-Elaine's documentaries include, The Rough with the Smoothie, Small Lives and Great Reputations which won a Bronze award at the PPIs, Seven Years and Nine Months which follows a couple's journey through surrogacy , Finding Private Branch which was awarded the coveted Gold Medal at the New York Festivals 2019,The Undetectables which was shortlisted for numerous awards and The Very Thought Of You a pretty unique story about an older couple in love.

Mary-Elaine’s documentary I'll Send You Butterflies is a deeply personal story about her mother, Margaret, who diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease. It is the result of hundreds of hours of recording is the documenting of Margaret and her family's time together in the final month's of Margaret’s life. That documentary won the following awards:

2022 IMRO Awards - Silver
2022 New York Festivals - Silver
2022 Prix Europa award - Winner
2022 Prix Italia Competition - Winner

Mary-Elaine's most recent documentary was What If She’s Prettier Than Me, which explores the lives of polyamorous people in Ireland today.

Mary-Elaine has written several books and a stage play. After making the 2014 radio documentary Small Lives and Great Reputations about Paddy Armstrong, in 2017 she co-authored the critically acclaimed "Life After Life - A Guildford Four Memoir" with Paddy. Arising out of the documentary and memoir, her best-selling play 'Paddy - The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong’ was born. After its stage debut in 2024, the play began touring Ireland and the UK in 2025.

An experienced teacher and teacher educator, Mary Elaine has also co-authored the leading Junior Cycle English textbooks "Fire and Ice" and co-created the Documentary on One education section and the resources . These are used by teachers all over Ireland in the junior cycle English classroom and were nominated for an award at Prix Europa.