Jody Allen Randolph remarks "his breaking down of stereotypes and new deployment of gendered themes opened a new space in which to consider alternate sexualities within a contemporary Irish context.

"[2] The critic John McDonagh argues that "Ó Searcaigh occupies many of the spaces that stand in opposition to the traditionally dominant markers of Irish identity".

His English teacher at the Gairmscoil in Gortahork encouraged the young Ó Searcaigh to write; he is mentioned under the pseudonym 'Mr Lally' (in Light on Distant Hills Part 3, pp 147-164).

From 1978 to 1981, he worked in Dublin with RTÉ television presenting Aisling Gheal, an arts and music programme directed by musician Tony MacMahon.

[5] His work has been translated into numerous languages – French,[6] German,[7][8][9][10] Italian,[11] Breton,[12] Catalan, Polish,[13] Danish,[14] Serbo-Croat, Romanian,[15] Slovene,[16][17][18] Russian, Swedish, Japanese, and Nepali.

[22] In February 2007, a film documentary (Fairytale of Kathmandu, by Neasa Ní Chianáin) queried the ethics of Ó Searcaigh's sexual relationships with some of the teens he helped, focusing on power imbalance and financial accountability, causing some controversy.

Colm Tóibín wrote in the Times Literary Supplement: "There is a section of landscape in Donegal in the north of Ireland near Falcarragh, overlooking Tory Island, which has been utterly transformed by the poetry of Cathal Ó Searcaigh."