Majella Cullinane: key obituary facts
Is Majella Cullinane dead? Yes. Majella Cullinane died on September 29, 2026, at age 50.
Cause of death: Majella Cullinane's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Majella Cullinane known for?
She was an Irish author.
More about Majella Cullinane
Majella Cullinane, an Irish-born New Zealand author, died in Dunedin on September 29, 2026, aged 50.
Born Majella Mary Cullinane in Limerick, Ireland, on October 23, 1975, she was raised in Ireland and became a New Zealand resident in 2008. Her studies took her to Scotland and New Zealand: she earned an MLitt in Creative Writing from the University of St Andrews and completed a PhD in Creative Practice at the University of Otago’s Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies.
Vincent O’Sullivan and Liam McIlvanney were her doctoral advisers. Cullinane lived in Port Chalmers and worked as a writer, poet and essayist. She received the Robert Burns Fellowship. Myths and history informed her writing, while her poems engaged with nature, dreams and both real and imagined people. Her collection Guarding the Flame takes its title from the myth surrounding Saint Brigid’s flame in Kildare, connecting her work to Irish tradition. Her life and education spanned Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand, and her writing drew on histories and stories from these settings. She was based in New Zealand, where she pursued creative writing and research after moving there in 2008.