Thomas McCarthy was born in Cappoquin, Co Waterford in 1954. His poetry collections nclude The First Convention ( Dublin, The Dolmen Press, 1978); The Sorrow-Garden (London, Anvil Press Poetry, 1981); The Non-Aligned Storyteller (Anvil Press Poetry, 1984); Seven Winters in Paris (Anvil Press Poetry and Dublin, Dedalus, 1989); The Lost Province (Anvil Press Poetry 1996); […]
Mike McCormack was born in London in 1965, but grew up in Sligo. His stories are collected as Getting it in the Head (London, Jonathan Cape, 1965), for which he won the Rooney Prize; and Forensic Songs (Dublin, Lilliput, 2012). His novels are Crowe’s Requiem (Jonathan Cape, 1998); and Notes from a Coma (Jonathan Cape, […]
John McGahern was born in Dublin in 1934, but moved to Leitrim as a child. His novels are The Barracks (London, Faber & Faber, 1963); The Dark (Faber & Faber, 1965); The Leavetaking (Faber & Faber, 1975) The Pornographer (Faber & Faber, 1980), Amongst Women (Faber & Faber, 1990); and That They May Face The […]
Patrick McGinley was born in Glencolmcille, Co. Donegal in 1937. His novels include Bogmail (London, Martin Brian & O’Keeffe, 1978); Goosefoot (London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1982); Fox Prints (London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1983); Foggage (New York, St. Martin’s Press, 1983/London, Jonathan Cape 1984); The Trick of The Ga Bolga (Jonathan Cape, 1985); The Red Men […]
Thomas McGonigle was born of Donegal ancestry in Patchogue, Long Island, New York in 1944, and has had a deep connection with Ireland since 1964. His novels are Going to Patchogue (Champaign, IL, Dalkey Archive Press, 1992); and The Corpse Dream of N. Petkov (Dalkey Archive Press, 1987/Evanston, IL, Northwestern University Press, 2000). His novel […]
Hazel McIntyre was born in Donegal in 1946. Her novels include Lament In The Wind (Moran Publications, 1998); For Love of Mary Kate (Moran Publications, 1996); and Secrets On The Breeze (Moran Publications, 2002). She has published two memoirs Iron Wheels On Rocky Lanes (Moran Publications, 1993); and Echoes Of Another Time (Moran Publications, 2000) […]
Belinda McKeon was born in Longford in 1979. Her first novel is Solace (London, Picador/New York, Scribner, 2011), which won the 2011 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book of the Year prize at the Irish Book Awards, and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize 2012. Her plays are Drapes ([part of a trail of short, site-specific new […]
Blánaid McKinney was born in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, in 1961. She has published one short story collection, Big Mouth (London, Pheonix House, 2000); and a novel, The Ledge (Pheonix House, 2002). She lives in London. Blánaid McKinney at The National Library of Ireland
Michael McLaverty was born in July, 1904, at Carrrickmacross, Co. Monaghan, and was partly raised on Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim, before moving to Belfast, where he taught for many years. His novels are Call My Brother Back (London & New York, Longmans, Green 1939); Lost Fields (New York & Toronto, Longmans, Green 1941); In This […]
Eoin McNamee was born in Kilkeel, Co Down, in 1961. He has written two novellas, The Last of Deeds, (Raven Arts Press, Dublin),which was shortlisted for the 1989 Irish Times/Aer Lingus Award for Irish Literature; and Love in History. His novels are Resurrection Man (London, Picador,1994); The Blue Tango (London, Faber & Faber, 2001); The […]
George McWhirter was born in Belfast in 1939 and left to live in Spain in 1965. His poetry collections include Catalan Poems (Ottawa, Oberon Press, 1971), which shared the Commonwealth Prize for Poetry with Chinua Achebe in 1972; Queen of the Sea (Oberon Press, 1976); The Island Man ( Oberon Press, 1981); Fire Before Dark […]
Walter Macken was born on May 3rd, 1915, in Galway. Originally an actor, principally with the Tadhbhearc in Galway, and The Abbey Theatre, he played lead roles on Broadway in MJ Molloy‘s The King of Friday’s Men and his own play Home is the Hero. He also acted in films, notably in Brendan Behan’s The […]
Deirdre Madden was born in 1960 in County Antrim. Her novels include Hidden Symptoms (London, Faber & Faber, 1988; USA, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987); The Birds of the Innocent Wood (Faber & Faber, 1988); Remembering Light and Stone (Faber & Faber 1992); Nothing is Black (Faber & Faber, 1994); One by One in the Darkness […]
Aisling Maguire was born in Dublin in 1958. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies, including Raven Introductions 4 (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, 1986); The Dolmen Book of Short Stories (Mountrath, 1986); Volumes One and Two of The Blackstaff Book of Short Stories (Belfast, 1988 and 1991); and Figures in a Landscape: Writing from […]
John Maher was born in Dublin in 1954. His stories are collected as The Coast of Malabar (Dublin, O’Brien Press, 1998). His novels as John Maher are The Luckpenny (Dingle, Brandon / Mount Eagle Publications, 2007); and Rondo: The memoirs of Dr Josef Divonne, Late of 2me Lyon, Lower Europe (Roscrea, The Pilgrim Press, 2011). […]
Martin Malone was born in Dublin. His novels are US (Dublin, Poolebeg, 2000); After Kafra (Poolebeg, 2001); The Broken Cedar (London, Scribner, 2003); and Moore’s Bridge (Dublin, New Island Books, 2008). His short stories are collected as The Mango War and Other Stories (New Island Books, 2009). His short stories have been published and broadcast […]
Mary Malone was born in Cork. Her novels are Love Match (Dublin, Dodder Books, 2006); All You Need Is Love (Dodder Books, 2007); Never Tear Us Apart (Dublin, Poolebeg Press, 2009); and Love is the Reason (Poolebeg Press, 2010). She lives in Cork. Mary Malone’s Website Mary Malone at The National Library of Ireland
Aoife Mannix was born in Stockholm of Irish parents, and grew up in Dublin, Ottawa and New York. A former editor for the BBC’s Holby City, she has written drama documentaries for Radio 4. Her poetry collections are The Trick of Foreign Words (London, Tall Lighthouse, 2002); The Elephant in the Corner (Tall Lighthouse, 2005); […]
Mary Manning (also known as Mary Manning Howe) was born in Dublin in 1905 and went to drama school in London when she was sixteen. After returning to Ireland she attended the Abbey Theatre drama school under Sarah Allgood, and acted in the Abbey and the Gate in the early 1930s. Her plays are Youth’s […]
David Marcus was born in Cork in 1924. With Terence Smith and SJ White, he edited Irish Writing from 1946-54. He also edited Poetry Ireland, from 1948-54. He moved to London in 1954. On his return to Ireland he edited the seminal New Irish Writing from 1968-1998 in the Irish Press, Dublin, publishing and/or encouraging […]
Emer Martin was born in Dublin in 1968. Her novels are Breakfast In Babylon (Dublin, Wolfhound, 1995/New York, Houghton Mifflin, 1997); More Bread Or I’ll Appear (New York, Houghton Mifflin, 1999/London, Alison & Busby, 2000) ; and Baby Zero (Dingle, Brandon, 2007). Breakfast In Babylon won The Kerry Ingredients Book of the Year 1996 at […]
Aidan Mathews (var. Aidan Carl Mathews) was born in 1956 in Dublin. His poetry collections include Windfalls (Dublin, The Dolmen Press, 1977); Minding Ruth (Loughcrew, The Gallery Press, 1983); and According to the Small Hours (London, Jonathan Cape, 1998). His plays are The Diamond Body (Project Theatre, Dubin); Entrance, Exit (The Peacock Theatre, Dublin); and […]
Tom Mathews was born in Dublin in 1952. His poetry collections are The Owl and the Pussycat (Dublin, Dedalus Press, 2009); and No Return Game (Dedalus Press, 2013). His novel is Levon (Dublin, Ward River Press, 1984). After working in advertising he studied Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. […]
O.R. Melling (pseud. of Geraldine Valerie Whelan) aka Orla Melling, was born in Bray, Co Wicklow, but her family emigrated to Toronto when she was a child. Her books for young adults include The Druid’s Tune (Viking Penguin, Canada, UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, 1983); The Singing Stone (Viking Penguin, Canada & USA, 1986); […]
Cormac Millar is the pen name of Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin, who was born in Cork in 1950 and teaches Italian at Trinity College Dublin. Apart from his academic publications, he is a literary translator and crime novelist. His novels are An Irish Solution (Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2004); and The Grounds (Penguin Ireland, 2006). He lives […]
Lia Mills was born in Dublin. Her novels are Another Alice (Dublin, Poolbeg, 1996); Nothing Simple (Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2005); and Fallen (Penguin Ireland, 2014). As well as critical articles and short stories, she has also published In Your Face: One Woman’s Encounter with Cancer, Doctors, Nurses, Machines, Family, Friends, and a Few Enemies (Penguin […]
Sam Millar was born in Belfast in 1955. He novels are Dark Souls (Galway, Wynkin deWorde, 2003); Redemption Factory (Dingle, Brandon / Mount Eagle Publications, 2005/New York, Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2006); Bloodstorm (Brandon, 2008); and The Darkness of Bones (Brandon, 2006). His autobiography is On The Brinks (Wynkin de Worde, 2003). A winner of the […]
Geraldine Mitchell was born in Dublin and lived for many years in France, Algeria and Spain. Her first collection of poems is World Without Maps (Galway, Arlen House, 2011). Other publications include two novels for young people, Welcoming the French (Dublin, Attic Press, 1992); and Escape to the West (Attic Press 1994); and a biography […]
Judith Mok was born in Bergen in the Netherlands. A distinguished classical singer and recording artist, her poetry includes Sterkwater Ambo (De Prom,1985); Materiaal Ambo (De Prom, 1991); Het Feestmaal (Amsterdam, Meulenhoff, 1997); and Gods of Babel (Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare, Salmon Poetry, 2011). Her novels are Argelozen in het Circus (Bussum, Netherlands, Thoth, […]
Frances Molloy was born in Derry in 1947. She left school at fifteen and was a nun for a time, before moving to Lancaster, England. She published one novel, No Mate for the Magpie (London, Virago, 1985), before returning to Ireland. Her short stories are collected as Women Are the Scourge of the Earth: Collected […]
Sean Monaghan was born in Dublin in 1970. His novels are Plus Ultra (Dublin, Poolbeg Press, 2000) and Planned Accidents (Poolbeg Press, 2001). He lives in Dublin. Sean Monaghan at The National Library of Ireland
Brian Moore was born in Belfast in 1921. He wrote several early novels under the pseudonyms Bernard Mara and Michael Byan, including Wreath for a Redhead (reprinted as Sailor’s Leave, 1951); The Executioners (1951); French for Murder (1954); A Bullet for My Lady (1955); This Gun for Gloria (1956); Intent to Kill (1956); and Murder […]
George Augustus Moore was born on February 24, 1852 in County Mayo. His collections of stories include In Single Strictness (London, Heinemann, 1922/ New York, Boni & Liveright., 1922); Celibates, London (Walter Scott/ New York, Macmillan, 1895); and The Untilled Field (London, T Fisher Unwin, 1903/Philadelphia, Lippincott). An t-Ur Gort (Dublin, Sealy, Bryers and Walker, […]
Sinéad Moriarty was born in Dublin. Her novels are Baby Trail (Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2004/New York, Atria, 2005), which has been translated into twenty languages; A Perfect Match (Penguin Ireland, 2005/New York, Washington Square Press, US title, The Right Fit, 2006); From Here to Maternity; and In My Sister’s Shoes (Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2008). She […]
Mary Morrissy was born in Dublin in 1957. She has published one collection of short stories, A Lazy Eye (London, Jonathan Cape/ New York, Scribner, 1993). Her novels are Mother of Pearl (Scribner, 1995/Jonathan Cape, 1996); The Pretender (Jonathan Cape, 2000); and The Rising of Bella Casey (Dublin, Brandon, 2013). She won a Hennessy Award […]
Danny Morrison was born in Belfast 1953. His novels are West Belfast (Cork, Mercier Press,1989); On The Back Of The Swallow (Mercier Press, 1994); and The Wrong Man (Mercier Press, 1997). His non-fiction includes Then The Walls Came Down (Mercier Press, 1999); and Troubles (published in Germany under that title, and in Spain as El […]
Val Mulkerns was born in Dublin in 1925. Her novels include The Time Outwork (London, Chatto and Windus, 1951/New York,The Devin-Adair Company, 1952); A Peacock Cry (London, Hodder, 1954); The Summerhouse (London, John Murray, 1984); and Very Like a Whale (Murray, 1986). includes the short story collections Antiquities (London, Deutch, 1978); An Idle Woman (Dublin, […]
Pat Mullan was born in County Derry in 1939. His book of poetry and other writings, Childhood Hills, was published by Barnes & Noble/iUniverse (USA, 2000). His thriller novel, The Circle of Sodom, was published in the USA in 2002 and Blood Red Square (LBF Books, 2005). He lives in Connemara, Co Galway. Pat Mullan’s […]
Jean Iris Murdoch was born at 59 Blessington Street in Dublin, in 1919. Following the Irish War of Independence, the family moved to Chiswick, near London. In the latter years of the Second World War, she helped with the UN Rehabilitation and Relief Association in Belgium and Austria, before returning to England where she resumed […]
Marian Murphy was born in Limerick and grew up in Dublin. Her novels are Take 2 (Dublin, Poolbeg, 2000); Millions! (Poolbeg, 2001); and Making It Home (Poolbeg, 2003). She lives in Wicklow. Marian Murphy at The National Library of Ireland
Peter Murphy was born in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, 1968 His novels are John the Revelator (London, Faber & Faber/New York, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009), which was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Fiction Prize, and The Costa First Novel Award; and Shall We Gather at the River (Faber & Faber, 2013). At the age of 17, […]
Tom Murphy was born in Tuam, Co Galway, in 1935. His works have been performed and broadcast widely in Europe and the US. He has worked closely with the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, and the Druid Theatre Company, Galway. His plays are A Whistle in the Dark (London, Stratford East, The Theatre Royal, 1961);.The Orphans (Dublin, […]
Cláir Ní Aonghusa was born in Dublin in 1953. Her novels are Four Houses & A Marriage (Dublin, Poolbeg, 1997); and Civil and Strange (New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008/Penguin Ireland, 2009). She lives in Dublin. Cláir Ní Aonghusa at The National Library of Ireland
Nuala Ní Chonchúir was born in Dublin in 1970. Her poetry collections are Tatoo : Tatú (Galway, Arlen House, 2007, previously collected as Molly’s Daughter, in ¡DIVAS! Series (Galway, Arlen House, 2003); Portrait of the Artist with a Red Car (Templar Poetry, 2009); and The Juno Charm (Cliffs of Moher, Salmon, 2011). Her story collections […]
Éilís Ní Dhuibhne was born in Dublin in 1954. Her novels are The Bray House (Dublin, Attic Press, 1990); Singles (Dublin, Attic Press, 1992); The Dancers Dancing (Belfast, The Blackstaff Press, 1999/London Headline Review, 2001),which was shortlisted for the 2000 Orange Prize; and Fox, Swallow, Scarecrow (The Blackstaff Press, 2007); and Dún an Airgid (Dublin, […]
Alison Norrington was born in Brentwood, in Essex, UK, to a Wexford family. Her novels are Class Act (Dublin, Poolbeg, 2003); Look Before You Leap (Poolbeg 2004); and Three of a Kind (Poolbeg, 2005). She showcased her first play A Fish & A Bonsai at The Queen’s Theatre in May 2004. She now lives in […]
Christopher Nolan was born in 1965, and grew up in Dublin, overcoming cerebral palsy to write. He has published one collection of poems, Dam-burst of Dreams (London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1981). His autobiography, Under the Eye of the Clock (Weidenfeld and Nicholsan, 1987/New York, St Martin’s Press, 1988), won the Whitbread Award. His first novel […]
Edna O’Brien was born in Co Clare. Her novels include The Country Girls (London, Hutchinson & Company 1960); The Lonely Girl (London, Jonathan Cape, 1962 – published in paperback as Girl With Green Eyes, London, Penguin Books, 1964); Girls in their Married Bliss (Jonathan Cape, 1963); August is a Wicked Month (1964); Casualties of Peace […]
Flann O’Brien was born Brian O’Nolan in County Tyrone, on 5 October 1911, and grew up in Dublin. He was a civil servant for eighteen years, but in the 1930s began writing a bi-lingual column for The Irish Times under the pseudonym Myles na Gopaleen (Myles of the Small Horses). He also wrote a column […]
Kate O’Brien was born in Limerick in 1897, and spent many years in Spain. Her novels include Without My Cloak (London, Heinemann 1931); The Ante-Room (Heinemann, 1934); Mary Lavelle (Heinemann 1936); The Land of Spices (Heinemann, 1941); The Last of Summer (Heinemann, 1943); and That Lady (Heinemann, 1946). She wrote several non-fiction works, including Teresa […]
Fergus O’Connell was born in Cork. His novel is Call the Swallow (Cork, The Collins Press), which was short listed for the Kerry Irish Fiction Prize and nominated for the Hughes & Hughes / Sunday Independent Novel of the Year. He is also an authority on project management, having published six management books. He lives […]
Clairr O’Connor was born in Limerick in 1951. Her poetry collections are When You Need Them (Galway, Salmon Publishing, 1989); Breast (Dublin, Astrolabe Press, 2004); and Trick the Lock (Astrolabe Press, 2008) Her novels are Belonging (Dublin, Attic Press, 1991); and Love in Another Room (Dublin, Marino Books, 1995). Her plays have been produced on […]
Conleth O’Connor was born in Co Kildare in 1947. His plays were produced in the 1970s by the Lantern Theatre, Dublin, including The Reincarnation of Mr Dogsbody; Two Letters; and Overtime. His novels are the unpublished Manus, and the unfinished Peregrine St John Corcoran. His poetry collections are Trinities (Dublin, Profile Press, 1976); The Judas […]
Frank O’Connor (pen name of Michael O’Donovan) was born in Cork City on September 17, 1903. There is a poignant description of his childhood in the first volume of his autobiography An Only Child. He published two novels, The Saint and Mary Kate (Macmillan, London 1932, 1936/New York 1932 – Blackstaff, Belfast 1990); and Dutch […]
Joseph O’Connor image was born in Dublin in 1963. His novels are Cowboys and Indians (London, Sinclair-Stevenson, 1991), which was short listed for The Whitbread Prize; Desperadoes (London, Flamingo, 1993); The Salesman (London, Secker & Warburg, 1998); Inishowen (Secker & Warburg, 2000); Star of the Sea (Secker & Warburg, 2002/New York, Harcourt Books, 2003); Redemption […]
Tommy Frank O’Connor was born in Currow, Tralee, Co Kerry in 1944. His novel is The Poacher’s Apprentice (Dublin, Marino, 1997). His poems are collected as Attic Warpipes (Cork, Bradshaw Books, 2004); Loose Head (Tralee, Doghouse Books, 2004); and Meeting Mona Lisa (Doghouse Books, 2011). His work for the stage includes the pageant Breanainn, at […]
Brian O’Doherty was born in Roscommon in 1934. His novels are The Strange Case of Mademoiselle P. (New York, Pantheon, 1992); and The Deposition of Father McGreevey (New York, Turtle Press, Books & Co., Helen Marx Books, 1999/London, Arcadia Press, 2000), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, 2000. Formerly known as the artist Patrick […]
Mary O’Donnell was born in Co Monaghan. Her poetry collections are Reading the Sunflowers in September (The Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare, Salmon, 1991); Spiderwoman’s Third Avenue Rhapsody (Salmon Poetry, 1993); Unlegendary Heroes (Salmon Publishing, 1998); September Elegies (Belfast, Lapwing Publications, 2003); The Place of Miracles: New & Selected Poems(Dublin, New Island Books, 2006); and […]
Síofra O’Donovan was born in Dublin in 1971. Her novel is Malinski (Dublin, The Lilliput Press, 2000). She has lived and worked in Poland and northern India and lives in Dublin. Síofra O’Donovan at Lilliput Síofra O’Donovan at The National Library of Ireland
Peadar O’Donnell (Peadar Ó Domhnaill) was born to an Irish-speaking family in Dungloe, Co Donegal in 1893. A major radical figure in the history of twentieth century Ireland, he was prominent in the Irish War of Independence, the Civil War, and also fought in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side. His polemic includes […]
