Shane Connaughton was born in Cavan in 1941.
He trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and has acted in several plays and films.
He has published a collection of short stories, A Border Station (London, St Martin’s Press, 1989), for which he was short listed for the GPA Literary Award; and A Border Diary (London, Faber & Faber, 1995) a diary of the Cavan/Monaghan/Fermanagh borderland during the filming of The Run of the Country, starring Albert Finney, before and after the IRA ceasefire of 31st August 1994.
Co-author of the script for the film My Left Foot, he was nominated for an Academy Award in 1989. Other film credits include The Dollar Bottom (1981); Every Picture Tells a Story (1983); The Playboys (1992); O Mary This London (1994); Run of the Country (1995); and Tara Road, based on Maeve Binchy’s novel of the same name (2005).
He has also written several plays for TV, including Blackwater Lightship, based on Colm Toíbín’s novel of the same name (2004).
He has written plays for several theatre Companies, including Divisions (Dublin, Oscar Productions, The Oscar Theatre, 1981); and Hang All the Harpers (Enniskillen, Dubbeljoint Theatre, 1991). His latest play is The Pitch (Moth Productions, Cavan, The Gonzo Theatre, 2011). His plays have also appeared at the Dublin Theatre Festival and the National Theatre in London.
He won the Hennessy Award for New Irish Writing in 1985.
Shane Connaughton at Irish Free Press
Shane Connaughton at Internet Movie Database
Shane Connaughton at Irish Playography
Shane Connaughton at The National Library of Ireland