Thomas Kilroy

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Thomas F. Kilroy (23 September 1934 – 7 December 2023) was an Irish playwright and novelist.[1]

Biography

Thomas F. Kilroy was born in Green Street,

Abbey Theatre, Dublin. In the 1980s, he sat on the board of Field Day Theatre Company, founded by Brian Friel and Stephen Rea
in 1980, and was Director of its touring company.

In 1978, Kilroy was appointed Professor of English at

a post from which he resigned in 1989 to concentrate on writing.

Kilroy lived in County Mayo and was a member of the Irish Academy of Letters, the Royal Society of Literature, and Aosdána.

The Thomas Kilroy Collection, his archive, was deposited at Galway University's James Hardiman Library; Kilroy addressed the launch event in March 2011, which was attended by, amongst others, Brian Friel and the future President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins.[4]

Kilroy died on 7 December 2023, at the age of 89.[5]

Awards and honours

Plays

  • The Death and Resurrection of Mr Roche, The Dublin Theatre Festival, 1968. Published by Faber & Faber, Grove Press, 1968;
  • The O'Neill, The Peacock Theatre, Dublin, 1969. Published by The Gallery Press, Oldcastle, Co Meath, 1995;
  • Talbot's Box, The Peacock, 1973. Published by The Gallery Press/Delaware, Proscenium Press, 1979;
  • Sex and Shakespheare, The Abbey, 1976. Revised edition published by The Gallery Press, 1998;
  • Double Cross, Field Day Theatre Company, 1986. Published by Faber & Faber, 1986. Translated into French as Double jeu by Alexandra Poulain, 1996;
  • The Madame MacAdam Travelling Theatre, The Field Day Theatre Company, 1992. Published by Methuen, 1992;
  • The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde, The Abbey, 1997 and Melbourne Festival 1998. Published by The Gallery Press, 1997;
  • Blake, 2001. Published by The Gallery Press, 2015;
  • The Shape of Metal, The Peacock, 2003. Published by The Gallery Press;
  • My Scandalous Life, 2004. Published by The Gallery Press;
  • Christ Deliver Us!, 2010, Abbey Theatre.[6]

Adaptations

  • The Seagull (Chekhov), The Royal Court, London, 1981. Published by Eyre Methuen, 1981;
  • Ibsen
    ), The Peacock Theatre, Dublin, 1989;
  • Six Characters in Search of an Author (Pirandello) The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 1996.

Books

  • The Big Chapel, Faber & Faber, 1971; Liberties Press, 2009. This novel was awarded the Guardian Fiction Prize, 1971 and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
  • Sean O'Casey: a Collection of Critical Essays, Ed., Prentice Hall, 1975,

Pieces for Radio

  • The Door, BBC Radio 4, 27 October 1967;
  • That Man Bracken, BBC Radio 3, 20 June 1986;
  • The Colleen and the Cowboy, RTÉ Radio, Prod. Kate Minogue, 11 September 2005.

Pieces for Television

  • Farmers, Radio Telefís Éireann, 1978;
  • Gold in the Streets, 1993;
  • The Black Joker.

Academic Works

Unpublished

Works about Thomas Kilroy

Awards

  • Guardian Fiction Prize, 1971;
  • Heinemann Award for Literature;
  • AIB Literary Prize;
  • American-Irish Foundation Award for Literature;
  • Rockefeller Foundation Residency;
  • Kyoto University Foundation Fellowship;
  • Prix Nikki Special Commendation;
  • Lifetime Achievement, Irish Times / ESB Theatre Award, 2004.

References

  1. ^ Friel, Brian (3 May 2008). "Back – due to popular demand". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  2. ^ Carney, Jim (5 April 2020). "Why have football and hurling remained a cultural wasteland for our writers and artists?". Sunday Independent.
  3. ^ "Drama at NUI Galway: 1960s – 1970s". Archived from the original on 14 June 2017.
  4. ^ "Thomas Kilroy Collection". Retrieved 14 October 2018. Shortly after 1 minute 40 seconds into the video, Lionel Pilkington introduces Kilroy as, among other things, "a former Professor of English at this university".
  5. ^ "Thomas Kilroy, acclaimed playwright, novelist and academic, dies aged 89". The Irish Times. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  6. ^ Meany, Helen (22 February 2010). "Christ Deliver Us!". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2011.