May O'Flaherty
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May O'Flaherty
May O'Flaherty (born Mary Angela Flaherty, 14 May 1904 – 27 March 1991) was an Irish book store proprietor, known as the owner of Parsons Bookshop at Baggot Street Bridge in Dublin's Southside, Dublin, southside. (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence) Through the shop's writer-in-residence schemes, and general environment, she patronised and befriended prominent Irish writers such as Patrick Kavanagh, Brendan Behan, and Seamus Heaney. Background May was born on 14 May 1904 in Youghal, County Cork, to Thomas Flaherty, a Royal Irish Constabulary sergeant, originally from County Kerry, and Catherine (née Drummy) O'Flaherty, from Kilmichael, County Cork. The family moved from Youghal to Dublin, due to Thomas' placement, living in Arran Quay and near the North Circular Road, Dublin, North Circular Road. May worked in a furrier's on Grafton Street for a time. Parsons Bookshop O'Flaherty purchased Parsons general store on Baggot Street Bridge in 1949. The purchase ...
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Youghal
Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the Munster Blackwater, River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long and narrow layout. As of the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, the population was 8,564. The town is in a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of the same name. As a historic walled seaport town on the coastline of East Cork, and close to a number of beaches, it has been a tourist destination since the mid-19th century. There are a number of historic buildings and monuments within the town's walls, and Youghal is among a small number of towns designated as "Irish Heritage Ports" by the Irish Tourist Board. Name The name ''Youghal'' comes from the Irish ''Eochaill'' meaning "Taxaceae, yew woods", which were once common in the area. Older anglicisations of this name include ''Youghall'', ''Yoghel'' and ''Yochil''. History and archit ...
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Grafton Street
Grafton Street () is one of the two principal shopping streets in Dublin city centre — the other being Henry Street. It runs from St Stephen's Green in the south (at the highest point of the street) to College Green in the north (the lowest point). The street, on the Southside of the city, was developed from a laneway in the early 1700s, and its line was shaped by the now-culverted River Steyne. Initially, a fashionable residential street with some commercial activity, the character of Grafton Street changed after it was connected to Carlisle Bridge and came to form part of a cross-city route. It suffered from dilapidation and prostitution through the 19th century, with several run-down buildings. During the 20th century, it became known for the coffee house Bewley's, mid- and up-market shopping, and as a popular spot for buskers. It has been assessed as one of the most expensive main retail streets in the world on which to rent. Name The street was named after Cha ...
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Maeve Binchy
Anne Maeve Binchy Snell (28 May 1939Born 1939 as per biography, ''Maeve Binchy'' by Piers Dudgeon, Thomas Dunne Books 2013; (hardcover), pp. 4, 280, 302; (ebook) – 30 July 2012) was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, and speaker. Her novels were characterised by a sympathetic and often humorous portrayal of small-town life in Ireland, and surprise endings. Her novels, which were translated into 37 languages, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Her death at age 73, announced by Vincent Browne on Irish television late on 30 July 2012, was mourned as the death of one of Ireland's best-loved and most recognisable writers. She appeared in the US market, featuring on ''The New York Times'' ''Best Seller list'' and in Oprah's Book Club. Recognised for her "total absence of malice" and generosity to other writers, she finished third in a 2000 poll for World Book Day, ahead of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Stephen King. Biography Overvie ...
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Ben Kiely
Benedict "Ben" Kiely (15 August 1919 – 9 February 2007) was an Irish writer and broadcaster from Omagh, County Tyrone. Early life Kiely was born near Dromore, County Tyrone and was a student at the Christian Brothers School in Omagh. In 1937, he went to County Laois to take up a Jesuit novitiate but went down with a tubercular spinal complaint in 1938. Lacking by then a vocation to the priesthood, he went on to University College Dublin. In 1943, he graduated B.A. from the National University. Career In 1945, Kiely began working for the ''Irish Independent'' where he was employed as a journalist and critic. In 1950, now a father of four, he joined the ''Irish Press'' as a literary editor. In 1964, he moved to America, where he was a writer-in-residence at Emory University, visiting professor at the University of Oregon, and writer-in-residence at Hollins College (Virginia). He spent four years in those three different places. His short stories appeared on a regular basis i ...
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John Banville
William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, Literary adaptation, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Marcel Proust, Proust, via Vladimir Nabokov, Nabokov", Banville himself maintains that W. B. Yeats and Henry James are the two real influences on his work. Banville has won the 1976 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the 2003 Nonino#Winners, International Nonino Prize, the 2005 Booker Prize, the 2011 Franz Kafka Prize, the 2013 Austrian State Prize for European Literature and the 2014 Princess of Asturias Awards, Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2007. Italy made him a ' of the Order of the Star of Italy, Ordine della Stella d'Italia (essentially a knighthood) in 2017. He is a former member of Aosdána, having voluntarily relinquished the financial stipend in 2001 to another, more impoverished, writer. Banville was born and gr ...
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Brendan Kennelly
Timothy Brendan Kennelly (17 April 1936 – 17 October 2021), usually known as Brendan Kennelly, was an Irish poet and novelist. He was Professor of Modern Literature at Trinity College Dublin until 2005. Following his retirement he was a professor emeritus at Trinity College. Early life Kennelly was born in Ballylongford, County Kerry, on 17 April 1936. He was one of eight children of Tim Kennelly and Bridie (Ahern). His father worked as a publican and garage proprietor; his mother was a nurse. Kennelly was educated at the inter-denominational St. Ita's College, Tarbert, County Kerry. He was then awarded a scholarship to study English and French at Trinity College Dublin. There he was editor of ''Icarus'' and captained the Trinity Gaelic Football Club. He graduated from Trinity in 1961 with first-class honours, before obtaining a Doctor of Philosophy there in 1967. He also studied at Leeds University for one year under the tutelage of Norman Jeffares. He became a fellow of T ...
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Paul Durcan
Paul Francis Durcan (16 October 1944 – 17 May 2025) was an Irish poet who was Ireland Professor of Poetry between 2004 and 2007. Early life and education Paul Francis Durcan was born in Dublin on 16 October 1944. He grew up in Dublin and spent his summers in Turlough, County Mayo. His father, John, was a barrister and circuit court judge and his mother Sheila MacBride from Westport was a qualified solicitor. In the early 1960s, he studied Economics at University College Dublin. While at college, Durcan was committed to St. John of God Hospital. In the 1970s, he studied archaeology and medieval history at University College Cork. Career In 1966, Durcan moved to London, where he worked with fellow Irish poet Michael Hartnett as a security guard at the North Thames Gas Board. Durcan's main published collections include: ''A Snail in my Prime'', ''Crazy About Women'', ''Greetings to Our Friends in Brazil'' and ''Cries of an Irish Caveman''. He appeared on the 1990 Van M ...
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Baggotonia
Baggot Street () is a street in Dublin, Ireland. Location The street runs from Merrion Row (near St. Stephen's Green) to the northwestern end of Pembroke Road. It crosses the Grand Canal near Haddington Road. It is divided into two sections: * Lower Baggot Street () - between Merrion Row and the Grand Canal. It was called Gallows Road in the 18th century.Carol and Jonathan Bardon: If Ever You Go To Dublin Town, Blackstaff Press, 1988 * Upper Baggot Street () - south of the Grand Canal until the junction with Eastmoreland Place, where it continues as Pembroke Road. History Baggot Street is named after Baggotrath, a feudal manor granted to Hiberno-Norman judge Robert Bagod in the 13th-century. He also built Baggotrath Castle, which was partly destroyed during the 1649 Battle of Rathmines and demolished in the early nineteenth century. Dermot O'Hurley, Archbishop of Cashel for the strictly illegal and underground Catholic Church in Ireland during the reign of Queen Elizab ...
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Adrian Kenny
Adrian Kenny (born 1945) is an Irish writer. Life Adrian Kenny was born in Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ... in 1945. He was educated at Gonzaga College and then studied History at University College Dublin. After graduation, he worked as an English teacher in Ireland and abroad, and also as a freelance journalist. He is a member of Aosdána, the Irish Academy of the Arts. Works Novel * ''The feast of Michaelmas'' (Co-Op Books, 1979) Short stories * ''Arcady'' (1983) * ''Portobello Notebook'' (Lilliput Press, 2012) Autobiography * ''Before the Wax Hardened'' (Lilliput Press, 1991) * ''Istanbul Diary'' (Poolbeg Press, 1994) * ''The Family Business'' (Lilliput Press, 1999) Other work * ''The Journal of Arland Ussher. Edited by Adrian Kenny.'' ...
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Peter Costello (author)
Peter Costello (3 April 1946, Dublin) is an author and editor, described by the American critic Robert Hogan in the ''Greenwood Dictionary of Irish Literature'' as “a contemporary embodiment” of the “tradition in Irish literature of the independent scholar, who has an erudition embarrassing to the professional academic”. Personal life Peter Costello is the youngest son of James C. Costello, a consulting engineer, later professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Michigan, and his wife Margaret. He was educated in Dublin by the Jesuits at Gonzaga College and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1969. After some years abroad in the United States of America, England, and elsewhere, he returned to Ireland in 1975. He now lives in Dublin, with frequent visits to France and other countries. He is married with two sons, one of whom is Patrick Costello, a former Green Party politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-Central constituency ...
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Michael Hartnett
Michael Hartnett () (18 September 1941 – 13 October 1999) was an Irish poet who wrote in both English and Irish. He was one of the most significant voices in late 20th-century Irish writing and has been called "Munster's de facto poet laureate". Early life and background Michael Harnett was born in Croom Hospital, County Limerick. Although his parents' name was Harnett, he was registered in error as Hartnett on his birth certificate. In later life he declined to change this as his legal name was closer to the Irish Ó hAirtnéide. He grew up in the Maiden Street area of Newcastle West, County Limerick, spending much of his time with his grandmother Bridget Halpin, who resided in the townland of Camas, in the countryside nearby. Hartnett claimed that his grandmother was one of the last native speakers to live in County Limerick, though she was originally from north Kerry. He claims that, although she spoke to him mainly in English, he would listen to her conversing with her ...
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