Mary Rose Callaghan (born 1944,

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 ...

, Ireland) is a

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

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

Education

Callaghan obtained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in English, History, and Ethics/Politics in 1968, followed by a Diploma in Education in 1969, both from

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

Career

From 1973 to 1975, she was assistant editor of ''The Arts in Ireland''. She has had journalism published in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'', ''

The Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to ta ...

'', ''

Hibernia () is the Classical Latin name for Ireland. The name ''Hibernia'' was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe (), Pytheas of Massalia called the island ''Iérnē'' (written ). In his book ''Geogr ...

'', ''

The Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

'', and the ''Catholic Standard''. Some of her shorter creative pieces have been published in ''U Magazine'', ''The Irish Times'', ''Image Magazine'', and the ''Journal of Irish Literature''. Callaghan moved to

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1975, where she finished her first novel, ''Mothers'', in 1978 (published in 1982). The book is composed of monologues telling the stories of three Irishwomen from three generations, exploring marriage, adoption and pregnancy out of wedlock, and female sisterhood. While continuing to write fiction, she also worked as a contributing editor for the ''Journal of Irish Literature'' from 1975 to 1993, and was associate editor for the first two editions of the ''Dictionary of Irish Literature''. She has taught writing at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

. Eventually moving back to Ireland, Callaghan now lives in

Bray Bray may refer to: Places France * Bray, Eure, in the Eure ''département'' * Bray, Saône-et-Loire, in the Saône-et-Loire ''département'' * Bray-Dunes, in the Nord ''département'' * Bray-en-Val, in the Loiret ''département'' * Bray-et-Lû ...

, where she teaches and writes. Her novels have received critical attention. ''Mothers'' was reviewed by the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' and by ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

''; later works by ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', ''Booklist'' and the '' TLS''.

Works

* ''Mothers''. Dublin: Arlen House, 1982. * "A House for Fools". ''Journal of Irish Literature'' 12 (September 1983): 3-67. * ''Confessions of a Prodigal Daughter''. London and New York: Marion Boyars, 1985. * ''Kitty O’Shea: A Life of Katherine Parnell''. London: Pandora, 1989. * ''The Awkward Girl''. Dublin : Attic, 1990. * ''Has Anyone Seen Heather?'' Dublin: Attic, 1990. * ''Emigrant Dreams''. Dublin: Poolbeg, 1996. (published in America as ''I Met a Man who Wasn’t There''. New York: Marion Boyars, 1996.) * ''The Last Summer''. Dublin: Poolbeg, 1997. * ''The Visitors' Book''. Ireland: Brandon, 2001. * "Billy Come Home". Ireland: Brandon, 2007. * "A Bit of a Scandal". Ireland: Brandon, 2009. *"The Deep End". ( memoir). University of Delaware Press, 2016. Made the popular song thick of it

References

* Felter, Maryanne. Crossing Borders: A Critical Introduction the Works of Mary Rose Callaghan. University of Delaware Press, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Callaghan, Mary Rose Irish novelists 20th-century Irish biographers 21st-century Irish biographers Irish women biographers 1944 births Living people Writers from County Dublin