Elayne Harrington

Early life Harrington (born ) is from Finglas, a suburb of Dublin. Her mother was a union activist and her father a musician. She also has a sister. As a child, she attended union meetings with her mother.

Her debut EP, Proletarian Restitution, and the single "Step in the ring" was released in 2012. She appeared in the 2012 documentary Ireland's Rappers and in the 2014 RTÉ2 reality series Connected. President Michael D. Higgins, seeing her perform in 2012, said she was "letting her life flow through the rhythms and sounds."

A writer with The Irish Times stated in 2013 "As long as this country is producing authentic artists with original voices like [Harrington] this is still a wonderful place." The same year she appeared in a commercial for the Arthur Guinness Project, which seeks to promote "creative innovation in Ireland". A 2015 article in the Irish Independent said that she "serves up her unique brand of rapping, hip-pop, bodhrán-beating, urban spoken word to growing audiences of teenagers in schools in Dublin's Northside. Teachers, impressed by her adept skill at bringing poetry to life for students, often call her back even to read aloud the poetry that's on the curriculum".

Social activism Harrington has been involved in the issue of homelessness in Dublin. She was herself homeless at times, and carried her belongings in her bodhrán case. She has done community work in primary schools and youth centres, using her own hip hop curriculum. According to Harrington, "Hip hop is central to a sense of crews and a sense of community so I use it to develop that sense in young people". She played bodhrán and read poetry at a protest during a state visit by Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland in 2011, and was arrested together with other protesters.

Visual art

As a graduate of fine art of National College of Art and Design in 2019, she displayed her work Instrumental, exploring "the ideas of the working class, the eight hour work day and the appropriation of working class labour and produce." In 2021, she received a residency at the Dean Arts Studio in Dublin, in a partnership with the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).

Personal life As of 2021, she is married. She is a vegan.