Catherine Heaney was born and grew up in Dublin. She has worked as a journalist and editor in Dublin and London, working for various magazines and newspapers, including The Week and The Irish Times. In publishing, she has been an assistant editor at Fourth Estate, the literary imprint of HarperCollins in the UK, and head of Faber Academy, the creative writing school of the renowned London publishing house.

Since 2017, she has been a director of the Estate of Seamus Heaney, which was set up by the Heaney family to preserve, promote and protect the work of the Irish poet and Nobel laureate. She works with publishers, libraries and cultural organisations in Ireland and internationally to preserve and promote her father’s work and legacy.