John Brendan Keane (21 July 1928 – 30 May 2002) was an Irish

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

from

Listowel Listowel ( ; , ) is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,794 according to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, the third large ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

Biography

Statue of John B Keane in Listowel - geograph

A son of a national school teacher, William B. Keane, and his wife Hannah (née Purtill), Keane was educated at

National School and then at St Michael's College, Listowel. He worked as a chemist's assistant for A. H. Jones who dabbled in buying

antique An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

s. Keane had various jobs in the UK between 1951 and 1955 working as a street cleaner, and a bar man, living in a variety of places including Northampton and London. It was while he was in Northampton that Keane was first published in an unnamed women's magazine for which he received £15. After returning to Ireland from the United Kingdom, he became a pub owner in Listowel from 1955. He married Mary O'Connor at Knocknagoshel Church on 5 January 1955 and had four children: Billy, Conor, John and Joanna. He was an Honorary Life Member of the

Royal Dublin Society The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) () is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economically. It was long active as a learned ...

from 1991, served as president of Irish

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

and was a founder member of the

Society of Irish Playwrights A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

as well as a member of

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association or academy of artists, each of whom must have produced a distinguished body of work of genuine originality. It was created in 1981 by the country's Arts Council on the initiati ...

. Keane was named the patron of the Listowel Players after the Listowel Drama Group fractured. He remained a prominent member of the

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

party throughout his life, never being shy of political debate. His nephew is the investigative journalist

Fergal Keane Fergal Patrick Keane (born 6 January 1961) is an Irish foreign correspondent with BBC News, and an author. For some time, Keane was the BBC's correspondent in South Africa. He is a nephew of the Irish playwright, novelist and essayist John B. ...

. His son John is a journalist with the ''

Kilkenny People The ''Kilkenny People'' is a local newspaper circulated in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Popular in Kilkenny City and County, the newspaper competes with ''The Munster Express'' in the south of the county. ''The Kilkenny People'' is published on ...

'' while his son, Billy regularly writes a column for the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

''.

Influences

Keane cited many literary influences including Bryan MacMahon and

George Fitzmaurice George Fitzmaurice (13 February 1885 – 13 June 1940) was a French-born film director and Film producer, producer. Career Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage. Beginning in 1914, and continuing until his death in 1940 ...

, fellow Kerry writers and playwrights. His personal influences were numerous but, most notably he thanked his father and his wife, Mary. Keane was grateful for his father's help with early editing, for allowing him access to his personal library, and for encouraging him to continue his work until he was successful. He was also influenced by the local population and the patrons of his pub, on whom he based some of his characters.

Awards and honours

*1999

Irish PEN Award Irish PEN Award for Literature is an annual literary award presented by Irish PEN since 1999. Its intent is to honour an Irish-born writer who has made an outstanding contribution to Irish literature. The award is for a significant body of work a ...

List of works

* ''Many Young Men of Twenty'' (1946) * '' Sive'' (1959) * ''Sharon's Grave'' (1960) * ''The Highest House on the Mountain'' (1961) * ''The Man From Clare'' (1962) * ''The Year of the Hiker'' (1963) * '' The Field'' (1965) * ''Hut 42'' (1968) * ''The Rain at the End of the Summer'' (1968) * ''Big Maggie'' (1969) * ''Moll'' (1971) * ''Letters of an Irish Parish Priest'' (1972) * ''The One-Way Ticket'' (1972) * ''Values'' (1973) *''The Crazy Wall'' (1973) * ''The Change in Mame Fadden'' (1973) * ''Letters of a Matchmaker'' (1975) * ''Letters of a Country Postman'' (1977) * ''The Buds of Ballybunion'' (1979) * ''The Chastitute'' (1981) * ''Man of the Triple Name'' (1984) * ''Owl Sandwiches'' (1985) * ''The Bodhran Makers'' (1986) * ''The Contractors'' (1988) * ''The Ram of God and Other Stories'' (1992) * ''Durango: A Novel'' (1992) * ''Faoiseamh'' * ''Pishogue'' * ''No More in Dust''

References

External links

Official HomepageBBC Report of his death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keane, John B. 1928 births 2002 deaths Deaths from cancer in the Republic of Ireland Deaths from prostate cancer in Ireland Fine Gael Irish essayists Irish male dramatists and playwrights Irish male novelists Irish PEN Award for Literature winners Irish publicans Male essayists People educated at St Michael's College, Listowel People from Listowel, County Kerry 20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century essayists 20th-century Irish male writers 20th-century Irish novelists Writers from County Kerry