Kate Broderick
I'm a folklorist, legal historian, author, and visual artist whose research and creative work move between Irish folklore, medieval law, and the strange beauty of inherited stories.
Kate Broderick is an independent researcher in Irish folklore studies and early medieval legal history, entering doctoral study in September 2027. Her work examines how vernacular knowledge systems, particularly traditions surrounding the bean feasa (wise woman), encode moral authority and social governance. Her research also explores questions of personhood, the body, and justice in early Irish law.
She holds an MA in Irish Mythology and Folklore from University College Cork, an M.Phil. in Medieval Languages, Literature, and Culture from Trinity College Dublin, a Juris Doctor from William & Mary Law School, and an M.S. from Florida Institute of Technology, where she has also taught as adjunct faculty in medieval civilization, philosophy, and rhetoric. Her work has been presented at the Irish Conference of Medievalists, University College Dublin, and at conferences in Dublin, Taichung, Taipei, Toruń, Shillong, Las Palmas, and Aizu, with reading knowledge of Old Irish, Old French, Old English, Middle English, and Latin.
Kate is also an award-winning visual artist whose paintings are held in private collections across three continents, the author of fiction and poetry including a #1 Amazon New Release, and the founder of Moon River Cafe & Curiosities, a public humanities venue ranked the #1 coffee house in Brevard County by Florida Today.
Books
The Deceptive Art of Logical Fallacies
#1 Amazon New Release
Ghost Flower
#31 Sword & Sorcery
Gorgon Crown
New Release
Current Work
Currently presenting at conferences in Dublin, Toruń, Shillong, Las Palmas, Latvia, and Japan through summer 2026, on Early Irish law, famine memory, the bean feasa (wise woman) tradition, and folk archives in the age of algorithmic culture. [See the full schedule →]
Currently writing Bone Citadel, the conclusion of the Tower & Crown trilogy, out May 2026. Plus six standalone novels in development. [Read the books →]
Currently building Moon River Café & Curiosities, a public humanities space in downtown Melbourne hosting poetry nights, open mics, a literary journal, and a podcast. [Visit Moon River] →
Research
My work examines how vernacular knowledge systems, legal traditions, and folk narrative co-produce authority, memory, and personhood in early medieval and modern Ireland.
Current threads include the wise woman (bean feasa) tradition in the Schools' Collection of the Irish National Folklore Collection; the legal construction of bodily difference and personhood in the Brehon corpus; famine memory and the botanical encoding of trauma in Irish vernacular tradition; and the structural erasure of marginalized voices from folk archives and AI training data.
[See the research, presentations, and works in progress →]
Books
Folklore that bites back. Magic with a paper trail.
I write fantasy that takes its myths seriously: books about binding-systems and border guards, hedgewitches and hall-of-mirrors towns, kings who shouldn't exist and girls who shouldn't have crossed the river. The Tower & Crown trilogy and the Riverswake duology are out now. Bone Citadel concludes the trilogy in May 2026.
Art
Paintings drawn from folklore, literature, and landscape.
Award-winning oil and pastel work, with juried placements at CityArts Orlando, Art Center Sarasota, and the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists' Coalition. Pieces in private collections across three continents.
Public Humanities
Moon River Café & Curiosities: a public humanities space in downtown Melbourne, Florida, built on the idea that research, art, and storytelling belong in community, not just in archives. Poetry nights every first and last Friday. Open mics. Literary events. A podcast. A literary journal open to submissions. Ranked #1 Coffee House in Brevard by Florida Today.
Stay Connected
Press & news — recent presentations, publications, and coverage. [See the latest →]
Contact — for speaking, interviews, and academic inquiries. [Get in touch →]