Patrick McCabe was born in Clones, Co Monaghan in 1955. He has published a children’s story, The Adventures of Shay Mouse (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, 1985), and the adult novels Music On Clinton Street (Raven, 1986); Carna (London, Aidan Ellis, 1989); The Butcher Boy (London, Picador, 1992), which was the winner of The Irish Times/Aer […]
Catherine Ann Cullen was born in Drogheda, Co Louth. Her poetry collections are A Bone in My Throat (Tralee, Doghouse Books, 2007); and Strange Familiar (Doghouse Books, 2013). Her verse-stories for childrens are The Magical, Mystical, Marvelous Coat ([illustrated by David Christiana] New York, Little Brown, 2001); and Thirsty Baby ([illustrated David M. McPhail] Little […]
John Banville was born in Wexford in 1945. His novels are Long Lankin ([nine short stories and the novella, The Possessed], London, Secker & Warburg, 1970); Nightspawn (Secker & Warburg, New York/ WW Norton, 1971); Birchwood (Secker & Warburg/WW Norton, 1973); Dr Copernicus (London, Martin Secker & Warburg, 1976); Kepler (Martin Secker & Warburg, 1981); […]
Anne Barrett was born in Co Clare. Her first film, Spring Cleaning (Channel 4/RTÉ, 1986), received two international film awards, including Special Juror’s Award at the Cork film festival and was distributed in Scandanavia and mainland Europe. Her most recent feature script, Wild Horses, is the recipient of Irish Film Board and European Media 11 […]
Kevin Barry was born in Limerick in 1969. His story collections are There Are Little Kingdoms (Dublin, Stinging Fly Press, 2007), which featured as a book of the year in both The Sunday Tribune and The Irish Times and was awarded the 2007 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature; and Dark Lies the Island (London, Jonathan […]
Colin Bateman was born in Co Down in 1962. He has written fifteen novels, amongst them being Divorcing Jack (London, Arcade Publishing, 1995); Cycle of Violence (London, Harper Collins,1995); Of Wee Sweetie Mice and Men (Harper Collins, 1996) Empire State (London, Harper Collins, 1997); Turbelent Priests (Harper Collins, 1999) and Belfast Confidential (London, Headline, 2005). […]
Samuel Beckett was born in Foxrock, Co Dublin in 1906. His fiction includes More Pricks Than Kicks (London, Chatto and Windus, 1934); Murphy (London, G. Routledge, 1938); Molloy (Paris, Les Editions de Minuit 1951); English translation as Molloy by Samuel Beckett and Patrick Bowles. (Paris, Olympia Press, 1955); Malone Meurt (Paris, Les Editions de Minuit […]
Ronan Bennett was born in Belfast in 1956. His novels are The Second Prison (London, Hamish Hamilton 1991); Overthrown by Strangers (Hamish Hamilton, 1992); The Catastrophist (London, Headline Review 1998); Havaoc, In Its Third Year (London, 2004), Hughes & Hughes/Irish Independent Irish Novel of the Year and shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize; […]
Dermot Bolger was born in Finglas, North Dublin, in 1959. He founded Raven Arts Press, Dublin, where he was editor from 1979 to 1992. His novels are Night Shift, (Kerry, Brandon Books, 1982) ; The Woman’s Daughter, (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, 1987, revised and enlarged edition by Penguin, London 1991); The Journey Home (London,Viking, 1990/University […]
James (Jimmy) Brennan was born in Dublin in 1944. He was a member of the Stanislavski Studio at Focus Theatre from 1967-1969. His novel is Seaman (Dublin, Irish Writers Co-Op,1978). His poems and stories have been published in Cyphers and the Irish Press. His one-act play was Blind Salad (Dublin, Focus Theatre, October 1979). He […]
Catherine Brophy was born in Dublin. Her novels are The Liberation of Margaret McCabe (Dublin, Wolfhound Press, 1985); and Dark Paradise (Wolfhound, 1992). She has also been a script writer for the long-running RTÉ series Fair City. She lives in Dublin. Catherine Brophy at The National Library of Ireland
Corinne de Laittre Browne, who writes under the name Corinne Browne, was born in 1945 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her non-fiction includes Body Shop, Recovering from Vietnam (New York, Stein & Day 1971); Confessions of a Fish Doctor [with Scott Brodie] (New York, Workmen Press, 1976); Time Bomb: Understanding the Threat of Nuclear Power (New York, […]
Paul Vincent Carroll was born Co Louth in 1900. His plays includes the one-act The Watched Pot (Dublin, The Abbey, Peacock Stage, 1930); The Things That are Caesar’s (Dublin, The Abbey Theatre, 1932); Coggerers (The Abbey Theatre, 1937 [later renamed The Conspirators]); Shadow and Substance (The Abbey Theatre, 1937), which was the winner of the […]
Paul Casey was born in Cork, Ireland in 1968. His debut collection is home more or less (Cliffs of Moher, Salmon Poetry, 2012). His chapbook of longer poems is It’s Not all Bad (Coventry, Heaventree Press, 2009) In October 2010 his poetry-film The Lammas Hireling, after the poem by Ian Duhig, premièred at the Zebra […]
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; […]
Philip Davison was born in Dublin in 1957. His novels include The Book-Thief’s Heartbeat (Dublin, Co-Op Books, 1981); Twist and Shout (Dingle, Brandon Books, 1983); The Illustrator (Dublin, Wolfhound Press, 1988); The Crooked Man (London, Jonathan Cape, 1997); McKenzie’s Friend (Jonathan Cape, 2000); The Long Suit (Jonathan Cape, 2003); and A Burnable Town (Jonathan Cape, […]
Frank Delaney was born in Tipperary in 1942. A prolific author of history, biography, and fiction, his fiction includes The Sins of the Mothers (London, HarperCollins 1992); Telling the Pictures (HarperCollins 1993); A Stranger in Their Midst (HarperCollins 1995); The Amethysts (HarperCollins 1997); My Dark Rosaleen (London, Hutchinson, 1998); Desire and Pursuit (HarperCollins 1998); Pearl […]
Anne Devlin was born in Belfast in 1951. She won the Hennessy Literary Award in 1982 for her short story Passages, which was adapted for television as A Woman Calling. Her plays, Ourselves Alone, includes A Woman Calling and The Long March and have been collected as Ourselves Alone (Faber & Faber, 1986). She has […]
Moyra Donaldson was born in Co down in 1956. Her collections are Kissing Ghosts (Belfast, Lapwing Publications, 1995); Snakeskin Stilettos (Belfast, Lagan Press 1998/New Jersey, CavanKerry Press, 2002); Beneath the Ice (Belfast, Lagan Press 2001); The Horse’s Nest (Lagan Press, 2006); and Miracle Fruit (Lagan Press, 2010). Winner of the Allingham Award and the National […]
Theo Dorgan was born in Cork in 1953. His poetry collections are The Ordinary House of Love (Galway, Salmon Poetry, 1991); Rosa Mundi(Salmon Poetry, 1995); Sappho’s Daughter (Dublin, wave Train Press 1998); and Greek (Dublin, The Dedalus Press, 2010). The Ordinary House of Love and Rosa Mundi are also published as one volume, What This […]
Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. His novels are The Commitments, (originally published in Dublin by King Farouk, thereafter London, Secker & Warburg, 1987); The Snapper (Secker & Warburg, 1990); The Van (Secker & Warburg, 1991), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; The Barrytown Trilogy [The Commitments, The Snapper, and The Van] […]
Dave Duggan was born in London and raised in Waterford. His novels are The Greening of Larry Mahon (Guildhall Press, 2004); and A Sudden Sun, (Guildhall Press, 2012). His film work includes the Oscar nominated Dance Lexie Dance (Raw Nerve Productions, 1996). His political comedy, Comhairleoirí went on-line for BBC in 2011. He also wrote the pilot episode for Na Deich […]
Christine Dwyer Hickey was born in Dublin. Her novels are The Dancer (Dublin, Marino Books, 1995), short-listed for the Kerry Ingredients/Listowel Writers’ Week Book of the Year the Year Award; The Gambler (Marino, 1996); and The Gatemaker (Marino, 2000), which comprise The Dublin Trilogy (re-issued by New Island Books); Tatty (Dublin, New Island Books, 2004/London, […]
Celia de Fréine is a poet, critic, dramatist and screenwriter, in Irish and English. A TV episode she wrote for the Irish-language TG4 drama serial Ros na Rún was shortlisted for 1998 Pan Celtic Film and TV Festival. Her poetry collections are Faoi Chabáistí is Ríonacha (Gallimh, Cló Iar-Chonnachta, 2001), which is accompanied by a […]
Patrick Galvin was born in Cork in 1927. His poetry collections include Heart of Grace (London, Linden Press, 1957); Christ in London (Linden Press, 1960); The Wood-burners (Dublin, New Writers Press, 1973); Man on the Porch (London, Martin Brien & O’Keeffe, 1980); Madwoman of Cork (cassette recording); Folktales for the General (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, […]
Miriam Gallagher was born in Waterford. Her books are Let’s Help Our Children Talk (non fiction), (Dublin, The O’Brien Press, 1977, 1978, 1979); Fancy Footwork (Selected Plays) (Dublin, Society of Irish Playwrights, 1991, 1997); and Song for Salamander (a novel) (2004, Trafford, Victoria, BC, Canada). She has also published short stories, including Pusakis at Paros […]
Ernest Gébler was born in Dublin in 1915. He was married for a time to Edna O’Brien and they had two sons, Sasha, and the novelist Carlo Gébler. His principal novels are He had My Heart Scalded; The Voyage of the Mayflower (1950), which was filmed and sold five million copies; A Week in the […]
Frank Golden was born in Dublin in 1957. His poetry collections are In Partial Settlement (Wiffle Press, New York); On Route to Leameneh (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, 1990); The Interior Act (Cliffs of Moher, Co Clare, Salmon Publishing, 1999); and In Daily Accord (Salmon Poetry, 2008). He has published one novel, The Two Women of […]
Bridget O’Connor was born in Harrow, London. She was the second of five children of Bridie and Jim O’Connor, from Limerick and Cork. Her short story collections are Here Comes John (1993) and Tell Her You Love Her (1997), which were translated into several languages, including Serbo-Croat. Her story A Woman’s Hair was included in […]
Carole Hayman* is well known both as an award-winning actress and theatre director. Her first book was a comic novel, All the Best, Kim, which was serialized on Woman’s Hour, and which was followed by Ladies of Letters. She devised and co-wrote The Refuge which was shown on Channel 4, and also created the BBC […]
Neil Jordan was born in Sligo in 1950. He has published one book of short stories, A Night in Tunisia (Co-Op Books, 1976), and the novels The Past (London, Jonathan Cape, 1980); The Dream of a Beast (Jonathan Cape, 1983); Sunrise and Seamonster (Jonathan Cape, 1995), Shade (London, Hodder Lir, 2004); and Mistaken (London, John […]
Michael Judge was born in Drumcondra, Dublin on 26 July 1921. He has written many uncollected stories, publishing these from 1941 to 1951. Amongst his many radio plays are The Cardboard Man (CBC, 1958); The Hungry One, (Radio Éireann, 1959); You Don’t Understand (CBC, 1959); Retribution (Radio Éireann, 1959); As Other Men (Radio Éireann, 1961); […]
Hugh Leonard (pseudonym of John Keyes Byrne) was born in 1926 and raised in Dalkey, County Dublin. His output is vast and complex, encompassing theatre, including adaptations; television, including Insurrection (RTÉ, 1966), and many adaptations; film, memoir, criticism and journalism. Included amongst his plays are The Big Birthday Suit (Dublin, The Abbey Theatre, 1956); A […]
Brian Lynch was born in Dublin in 1945. His novel is The Winner of Sorrow (Dublin, New Island Books, 2005), about the poet William Cowper (1731-1800). His poetry collections include Endsville (1967); No Die Cast (Dublin, New Writers Press, 1969); Outside the Pheasantry (Gorey, Funge Arts Centre, 1974); Perpetual Star (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, 1981); […]
Bernard MacLaverty was born in Belfast in 1942. His novels include Lamb (London, Jonathan Cape 1980); Cal (London, Jonathan Cape, 1983); Grace Notes (London, Jonathan Cape, 1997), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; and The Anatomy School (Jonathan Cape, 2001). Both Lamb and Cal were produced as films of the same name, and for […]
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, […]
Martin McDonagh was born in London in 1971 to expatriate Irish parents. His plays include The Beauty Queen of Leenane (The Abbey, Peacock Stage, Dublin, 1996 / London, Royal Court Theatre, 1997). The play is the first in his Connemara Trilogy, which also includes A Skull in Connemara (1997) and The Lonesome West (1997). His […]
Thomas McLaughlin was born in Belfast and studied acting at the Portland [Oregon] Conservatory Theatre. His stage plays include Cross-Country (co-author, New York, 1981); Let’s All Go Down to the Strand (Belfast, New Writers Theatre, and Dublin, Project Theatre, 1982); Evening (Belfast, Ulster Poly Theatre, 1983); The New Museum of Panic (co-author, New York, 1983); […]
Conor McPherson (var. MacPherson) was born in Dublin in 1970. His plays include Rum and Vodka (Dublin, City Arts Centre, 1994); This Lime Tree Bower (Dublin, Iomha Ildanach, The Crypt Art Centre, 1995) The Good Thief, St Nicholas (London, The Bush Theatre, 1997); The Weir (London, The Royal Court); Dublin Carol (The Royal Court, 2000); […]
Heno Magee was born in Dublin in 1939. His plays include I’m Getting Out of This Kip (Dublin, The Peacock, Abbey Theatre, 1972); Hatchet (The Peacock, The Abbey Theatre, 1972); and Red Biddy (The Peacock, The Abbey Theatre, 1974). His books include Hatchet (Dublin, The Gallery Press/Newark, Proscenium, 1978) Both Hatchet and I’m Getting Out […]
Derek Mahon was born in Belfast in 1941. His poetry collections are Night-Crossing (UK, Oxford University Press, 1968); Lives (OUP,1972); The Snow Party (OUP, 1975); Poems 1962-1978 (OUP, 1979); Courtyards in Delft (OUP, 1981); The Hunt By Night (OUP, 1982); Antarctica (Oldcastle, Co Meath, Gallery Books, 1985); Selected Poems (Oldcastle, Co Meath, The Gallery Press, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Michael O’Loughlin was born in Dublin in 1958. His poetry collections are Stalingrad: The Street Dictionary (Dublin, Raven Press, 1980); Atlantic Blues (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, 1982); The Diary of a Silence (Raven Arts Press, 1985); Another Nation, New & Selected Poems (Dublin, New Island Books, 1994/UK Arc Publications, 1996); and In This Life (New […]
Kate O’Riordan was born in the West of Ireland. Her novels are Involved (1995), which was shortlisted for the Dillons First Fiction Prize, and has been adapted by the author for TV; The Boy in the Moon (London, Flamingo, 1997); The Angel in the House (London, Flamingo, 2000); The Memory Stones (London, Simon & Schuster, […]
Michael 0’Sullivan was born in Cork City in 1959. His collections of poetry include The Physics of Parting (Indiana, Wyndham Hall Press/Cloverdale Library, 1993); Mornings of the Oresteia, New & Selected Poems 1978-2008 (Belfast, Lapwing Publications, 2008); and The Judge Who Sentenced You to Your Own Destiny (Lapwing Publications, 2008). His work has won many […]
James Plunkett (James Plunkett Kelly) was born in Dublin in 1920. As well as fiction, he wrote radio and television features, and film scripts. Big Jim (Dublin, O’Donnell, 1955), on the life of the trade unionist Jim Larkin, was commissioned by Radio Éireann. His main work includes the short story collections The Trusting and the […]
John W. Sexton was born in London, of Irish parents, in 1958. He is the author of one collection, The Prince’s Brief Career (Cairn Mountain Publishing, 1995). He has published two children’s novels, The Johnny Coffin Diaries & Johnny Coffin School-Dazed (The O’Brien Press). He has also recorded an album with legendary Stranglers front man, […]
Jim Sheridan was born in Dublin in 1949. He is best known as a film director but his early work was in the theatre. His plays are Journal of a Hole ([co-author Neil Jordan] Dublin, Project Arts Centre, 1971); Women at Work([co-author Peter Sheridan] Team Educational Company, 1976); Mobile Homes (Project Arts Centre, 1976); Where […]
Dermot Somers was born in Roscommon, in 1947. His short story collections are Mountains And Other Ghosts (London, Diadem Books, 1990); At The Rising of the Moon (London, Bàton Wicks/Cork, Collins Press, 1994), which won the The Boardman Tasker Prize and the Culture and Environment Award, Banff Mountain Books Festival, 1994; Rince ar na Ballaí […]
Neville Thompson was born in Ballyfermot, Dublin, in 1961. His novels include loves Johnser OK? (Dublin, Poolbeg 1997); Two Birds/One Stoned (Dublin: Poolbeg 1999); Have Ye No Homes to Go To? (Poolebeg, 1999); Mama’s Boys (Mullingar, Killynon House Books, 2006); and A Simple Twist of Fate (Killynon House Books, 2007). His plays include Sex, Lies […]
