She was educated at Milltownpass national school, Rochfortbridge national school, and then at Scoil Catríona in Eccles Street, Dublin. She then trained as a teacher at Craiglockart College of Education in Edinburgh, graduating in 1972. She later took a postgraduate diploma in adult and community education at St Patrick's College, Maynooth from 1989 to 1990, and worked as an adult literacy organiser.
