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Draft:Daragh Fleming

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  • Comment: A draft was created last year and declined several times, the last decline being July 2024 and it does not appear anything has changed. S0091 (talk) 16:36, 20 May 2025 (UTC)


Daragh Fleming (born 1994) is an Irish writer, poet, and mental health advocate from Cork, Ireland. He is the founder of the award-winning mental health blog Thoughts Too Big. Fleming is known for his candid discussions on mental health, drawing from personal experiences to destigmatize mental illness and promote well-being, as well as his open and vulnerable poetry.[1][2]

Early Life and Education

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Fleming hails from Glounthaune, County Cork. He developed an early interest in basketball, playing at a national level with clubs such as Fr Mathew's, DCU Vincent's, and Ballincollig. He pursued higher education at University College Cork (UCC), earning a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Psychology. He later obtained a Master of Arts in Linguistics from University College Dublin (UCD).[3]

Career

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Writing and Publications

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Fleming began his writing career with short stories and poetry, often exploring themes of mental health, identity, and personal growth. His notable works include:

Enigmatic (2023) – A poetry collection published by Sunday Morning at the River.[4]

Lonely Boy: A Conversation On Mental Health (2022) – His debut non-fiction work, a collection of essays on mental health.[5]

A Brief Inhalation (2025) – An upcoming collection of essays to be published by Broken Sleep Books.[6]

Mental Health Advocacy

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Motivated by personal experiences, including the loss of his best friend to suicide in 2012, Fleming has been an active mental health advocate. He founded Thoughts Too Big, a blog aimed at normalizing conversations around mental health. The blog won Blogger of the Year at the Mental Health Blog Awards in 2022.[7][8]

He is an ambassador for See Change Ireland and Movember Ireland, organizations dedicated to ending mental health stigma.[9][10]

Public Speaking

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Fleming is a sought-after public speaker, delivering talks across Ireland at schools, universities, festivals, and corporate events. He has spoken at institutions and events such as UCC, Amazon, Healthy Ireland, the West Cork Literary Festival, and Kaleidoscope Festival. His TEDx Talk on using creativity to nourish mental health was nominated for two Mental Health Media Awards in 2024.[11]

Personal Life

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Fleming currently resides in Ireland. He continues to write, advocate for mental health, and engage with communities through various platforms.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Daragh Fleming".
  2. ^ "Wanderlust for life drives Cork poet Daragh". echo live. July 29, 2022.
  3. ^ "Daragh Fleming | Ireland - UCD Alumni". www.ucd.ie.
  4. ^ "Poetry Happening—Daragh Fleming - Books Ireland". December 11, 2023.
  5. ^ "Becoming who you truly are". The Irish Times.
  6. ^ "A Brief Inhalation by Daragh Fleming - read an extract". April 1, 2025 – via www.rte.ie. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ https://mentalhealthblogawards.com
  8. ^ Gill, Sarah. "Page Turners: 'A Brief Inhalation' author Daragh Fleming | IMAGE.ie". www.image.ie.
  9. ^ "Shine | Supporting People Affected By Mental Illness". www.shine.ie.
  10. ^ "Movember - Changing the face of men's health". ie.movember.com.
  11. ^ "TEDx Program". www.ted.com.
  12. ^ "Daragh Fleming".