Martin Quigley

My name is Martin Quigley, I am based in Dublin, Ireland and specialise in training and coaching with the Enneagram personality model as a tool for greater self-awareness and growth. I recently published a book entitled “More than a number” describing my approach to this work.

Throughout my life I have reflected on why I did what I did. I always wondered how I got to places that were not my intended goal or expectation. I was always puzzled by this apparent schism and wondered did others experience this or was it just me. I studied psychology in the hope of getting clarity to how I experienced the world but while I learned a lot of interesting concepts, I was none the wiser when it came to understanding myself.

When I came across a description of myself form the Enneagram, everything fell into place. Studying and teaching the Enneagram became my passion for the next 30 years.

In the mid ninety’s I took a number of workshops and evening classes and was introduced to the work of Helen Palmer who visited Dublin regularly.

I later certified with the Narrative Enneagram under the tutelage of Helen Palmer, the late Dr David Daniels, and other talented teachers. I am a Professional member of the International Enneagram Association and a Senior member of the Enneagram in Business network.

I delivered workshops to public and private groups, coached individuals, couples, facilitated teams and leadership groups. More recently I have been a lead trainer with Enneagram Training designing and delivering the Narrative Enneagram’s Professional training programmes in the UK. In that position I supervised students from all around the world completing the professional training.

When a student asked me a recently if everything I knew was in my head as she had never seen me using notes I could only answer “it must be.” That questions sowed the seed in me to start writing down everything I knew beginning with my introductory sessions up to advanced teacher training.

This was the motivation I needed to tell of my approach to this wonderful material. Thus, the book titles “More than a number” was published in May 2024. I did not want the book to be about the Enneagram per se but be a guide to the reader to greater self-awareness. To do this the reader must do the inner work of observation and reflection to notice how their patterns operate at an unaware level and become aware of the unique experience of those patterns. The reader is the central character in the book.

The audience for the book is the general reader. All of the main Enneagram organisations aim to bring this material out into the world. In order to achieve this, we in this community need to speak in common terms that are generally understood outside the community. I have therefore de-mystified the language to more commonly used words and concepts while holding to the true meaning of the material. This is indeed a conversation to be had within the Enneagram community itself– this is the beginning, I hope.

The description of the various type are therefore written in a practical and pragmatic way emphasising the positive and the challenges in a non-judgemental fashion.

The reader is encouraged to stop and reflect with specific questions at the end of each section. It is therefore a source of information, a workbook as well as a resource for further development.

As the title suggests getting beyond the type, it is the portal or starting point into self-knowledge.

I emphasise in “More than a number” that we are not the type that describes us but we simply have patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.

The book contains novel interpretation on how we use our imagination to support both our patterns and growth and how patterns cause us stress.

Finally, there are applications where the reader can practice their newfound awareness real-life situations. The book is a complete guide for all you need to know and practice for greater self-awareness.

I would welcome an opportunity to discuss the foregoing.