Mary Pat Kelly is the best selling author of Galway Bay, the first in a trilogy of Irish American historical fiction that includes Of Irish Blood and Irish Above All. She has published another novel, Special Intentions, as well as five nonfiction books. She wrote and directed the critically acclaimed feature film, Proud, starring Stephen Rea and Ossie Davis as well as a series of award-winning documentaries for PBS. She worked on the television shows Good Morning, America and Saturday Night Live and was a screenwriter for both Paramount and Columbia Pictures.

Irish America magazine twice named her one of the top 100 Irish Americans as well as one of the top global Irish and placed her in the inaugural class of the top 50 Power Women. She graduated from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, attended NYU Film School and received a PhD from the CUNY Graduate Center.

Born and raised in Chicago, she lives on New York's Upper West Side with her husband, web developer Martin Sheerin, from County Tyrone.