Róise Ní Bhaoill was raised in the Donegal Gaeltacht. She is a graduate of University College Dublin and has completed a masters in cultural management with the University of Ulster.

She has served on boards of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, the Raidió na Gaeltachta Authority, the Columba Initiative and Colmcille. She was a member of the Culture and Identity Working Group established by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, and two committees of the Community Relations Council. She served as Secretary of both the Northern Ireland and United Kingdom Committees of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages.

Róise currently serves as chairperson of Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta. She is also on the board of the Irish Language Broadcast Fund.

Róise co-edited Gaelic-Medium Education Provision: Northern Ireland: the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man (2003), and authored The Irish Language in Education in Northern Ireland (2004). She is also co-author, with Gordon McCoy, of the book Taisce Focal, which is based on the monthly learners’ article of the same name which appeared in the online magazine Beo!. That particular book was published by The Ultach TRUST.