He was born in Manchester, raised in Tuam, Co. Galway and has lived in Limerick City and the surrounding areas for the last 25 years. 

Dara’s memoir A Sheepdog Named Oscar, published in the US in August 2025 by Dopplehouse Press, was selected as Barnes & Nobel’s September nonfiction book of the month. It quickly became a New York Times bestseller, peaking at no. 4 while remaining there for five weeks in total. The book then became the subject of a four-way auction for UK & Irleand rights in October, with Simon & Schuster UK agreeing to publish in May 2026. The North American rights to the audiobook, narrated by Dara’s lifelong friend Michael Vallely, were also attained by Speigel & Grau in NYC. The audiobook was released at the end October 2025. Several translations of the memoir are also currently in process.

A Sheepdog Named Oscar started as a documentary project during COVID, melding photographic illustrations and text to reflect on Dara’s rescue and rehabilitation of an abandoned sheepdog in East Clare. Incorporating reflections on nature, poetry, literature, art criticism, philosophy and myth, the book is veiwed as a moving and affecting exploration of cross-species love in a time of crisis. In a formal capacity, the book is shapeshifting and seamless, reflecting the weather of the Irish seasons. In November 2025, Dara toured the US on a speaking enlistment to promote the book in its focus on Ireland, reflecting on the importance of the Irish rural landscape and its regenerative properties.

In addition to memoir, Dara is a widely published, internationally renowned documentary film scholar, who has lectured internationally and published widely. He has curated for Cork Film Festival, been a keynote speaker at Leuven Film Festival, contributed to EVA International on numerous occasions and has been a visiting professor at Aalto University, Helsinki and University of Colorado at Boulder. He is currently working on numerous projects, one of which is the sequel  to A Sheepdog Named Oscar, titled The Ghost of Glenstal: A Winter Tale (part two of The Oscar Chronicles).

Praise for A Sheepdog Named Oscar

“Waldron’s moving memoir on how his adopted border collie gave him emotional and even spiritual kinship . . . is a touching meditation on the ever-shifting nature of grief, “akin to waves that roll in”, as well as an ode to the Irish countryside: its myths, its agricultural traditions and the restorative wisdom of nature”

Irish Independent

“This is an age-old story yet wonderfully modern about a man and his dog and the healing, restorative good that comes with companionship. A beautifully written account of friendship, grief and the human heart. I loved this book”

John Connell, author of The Cow Book and Twelve Sheep

“A Sheepdog Named Oscar is essential reading. Dara's voice is warm and humane and full of hard-won wisdom and empathy as he guides us along the paths of loss and grief, love and life, taking care always to show how rich life can be, even when we're struggling. This book will do great good, and bring light to many lives”

Donal Ryan, author of The Spinning Heart

“A poignant and endearing portrait of the profound love between one man and his dog”

Jay Griffiths, author of How Animals Heal Us

"A beautiful, vulnerable, polymathic book that traverses art and animal; the rescue and recovery of Oscar and author; and the belonging of each to the other in their own particular way."

Jack Anderson, Irish Examiner

"Freely traveling between philosophical reflection and rural knowledge, Dara Waldron explores the fluid divide between the animal and human world. A Sheepdog Named Oscar also makes you realize how important landscape and weather are to our thinking. His moving book in essence is about responsibility and what it means for humans 'to take care'."

Peter Delpeut

"Set against the landscapes of west Limerick and east Clare, through local walking trails and moments of quiet reflection, Waldron shares a moving account of loss and recovery that resonates with emotional honesty."

Limerick Leader

"Since my sister-in-law works her border collies tending sheep on Strang Ranch [frequent host of the US Border Collie Handlers Association Sheepdog Finals] in Carbondale, Colorado, where I’ve spent many summers, I’m familiar with the eccentricities of that breed. Dara Waldron, though, enlarged my understanding of the border collie-human relationship through the unique lens he offers on one unusual partnership. Braiding grief, groundedness, and the generosity of the more than human world, Dara Waldron’s writing gently tugs us into the place and spirit at the heart of his experience, making this much more than a dog story.

Judy Strang, executive director, Pedlar River Institute’s Sourwood Forest Artist Residency program, Amherst County, VA

"What wins one's heart is not just the almost indecently elegant writing, writing that really does justify the descriptor "Proustian," but Dara Waldron is right on time with this deeply personal memoir that explores extra-human sentience as part of a relationship cemented through grief, growth, and regeneration."

Aryan Kaganof

"This lovely book gives great insight into the history and inner lives of the working sheepdog in Ireland. It charts the challenges that they face as they provide the companionship and loyalty that truly earns them the title of man's best friend. Unfortunately, humans frequently fail to reach the level of a dog's best friend, and these beautiful dogs are often misunderstood and let down by the humans they worship. As a rescue based in Connemara, where up to 70% of our intake is a Border Collie, Sheepdog, or crossbreed of them, we see just how often these beautiful dogs are abandoned, discarded and left to their fate, redundant and surplus to requirements. However, we also see just how many people like Dara step up to support these incredible creatures and offer them the life, love and security that they deserve.”

Marina Fiddler, Co-founder of MADRA Dog Rescue, Galway, Ireland

Listen to Dara Waldron tell Oliver Callan (RTE Radio 1) about his new book 'A Sheepdog Named Oscar: Love & Companionship in Rural Ireland' a story of love and companionship in Rural Ireland from one man and his sheepdog.

https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22615517/

Rights Sold:

US (DoppelHouse Press)

UK (Simon & Schuster)

Finland (Werner Söderström Ltd/Bazar Kustannus Oy)

Germany (Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH)