Pádraig Ó Cíobháin was born in 1951 in Graigue, Ballyferriter. His father was a farmer and his mother a housewife. There were six children in the family. He went to Coláiste Bhréanainn, Killarney. He lived in Cork from October 1969 when he went to University College Cork to pursue a BA degree in Irish, History and Geography. He studied for the Higher Diploma in Education 1972-73. In 1975 he got a job as a secondary School teacher in Gort Álainn Community College in Cork.

He has published both short stories and novels. His short story collection, Solas ná hÉagann Choíche (Coiscéim, 1999) won the Donncha Ó Céilleachair memorial prize in the 1996 Oireachtas. He was a tutor in Áras na Gaeilge in the National University of Ireland, Galway, when he was appointed Irish language Writer in Residence there in 2003. That period came to an end in 2005. His most recent publication is Dréachta Chrích Fódla (Coiscéim, 2007). He is currently working on Dréachta Chrích Fódla: Imleabhar 2.

He lives in Galway with his wife, Kate, and their daughters Sadhbh and Aoife.