Eilís Dillon

Eilís Dillon FRSL (7 March 1920 – 19 July 1994) was an Irish author of 50 books. Her work has been translated into 14 languages.^[1]

Early life

Dillon was the third of five children of Professor

Educated by the Ursuline nuns in Sligo, she worked briefly in the hotel and catering trade. In 1940 she married Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin, an academic from University College Cork and 17 years her senior.^[1] They had three children: the Irish poet and Trinity College Dublin professor Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Máire Ní Chuilleanáin, violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra who died in 1990, and Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin, also a Trinity professor, who writes novels as Cormac Millar.^[3]

Early writing career

Dillon's first books were in Irish including An Choill Bheo, published in 1948, Oscar agus an Cóiste sé nEasóg in 1952 and Ceol na coille in 1955. After the success of The Lost Island, published in 1952, she wrote almost exclusively in English. Most of her books were aimed at teen readers with themes of self-discovery and problem solving evident.^[2]

In 1964 she moved to Rome due to her husband's poor health. While there she acted as adviser to the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. She returned to Cork with her husband in 1969 where he died the following year. She continued to visit Italy over the next several years, setting some of her stories there including Living in Imperial Rome (1974) and The Five Hundred (1972), though these were not as popular as her Irish books. In 1974 she married the American-based critic and professor Vivian Mercier, dividing her time among California, Italy and Dublin.^{[citation needed]}

Later writing career

Dillon's adult fiction career began in 1953 with the publication of the detective novel Death at Crane's Court. This was followed by Sent to His Account in 1954 and Death in the Quadrangle in 1956. These novels are known for their depiction of contemporary Ireland. Over the following decade Dillon published many novels including The Bitter Glass (1959), Across the Bitter Sea (1973) and The Wild Geese (1981).^[2]

Final years

In her later years, Dillon played a prominent role in Irish culture. She was a Fellow of the

External links

• Eilís Dillon estate at WatsonLittle.com
• Eilís Dillon website
• Eilís Dillon at Library of Congress, with 61 library catalogue records