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The Arts Council Playography Na Gaeilge

People

John B. Keane

1928 - 2002

John B. Keane was born in 1928 in Listowel, County Kerry and it was here that he spent his literary career, running a pub which provided him with inspiration for his characters and ideas. His first play, Sive, was presented by the Listowel Drama Group and won the All-Ireland Drama Festival in 1959. It was followed by another success, Sharon’s Grave, in 1960. The Field (1965) and Big Maggie (1969), are widely regarded as classics of the modern Irish stage and jewels in a crown which includes such popular hits as Many Young Men of Twenty, The Man from Clare, Moll, The Chastitute and The Year of the Hiker. His large canon of plays have been seen abroad in cities as far afield as Moscow and Los Angeles. In 1987 John B. Keane received a special award for his enduring place in Irish life and letters from the Sunday Independent/Irish Life. In that year he also won a Sunday Tribune Arts Award and in 1988 he was chosen as the recipient of the Irish-American Fund Award for Literature. In 1999 he was presented with a Gradam medal, the Abbey Theatre’s highest award. He was a member of Aosdana and the recipient of honorary doctorates from Trinity College, Dublin, Limerick University and Marymount College, New York.

Playwriting Credits

Play Title Playwright
Backwater John B. Keane
Big Maggie John B. Keane
Faoiseamh John B. Keane
Hut 42 John B. Keane
Many Young Men of Twenty John B. Keane
Moll John B. Keane
No More in Dust John B. Keane
Sharon's Grave John B. Keane
Sive John B. Keane
The Buds of Ballybunion John B. Keane
The Change in Mame Fadden John B. Keane
The Chastitute John B. Keane
The Field John B. Keane
The Highest House on the Mountain John B. Keane
The Man from Clare John B. Keane
The Matchmaker John B. Keane
The Pure of Heart John B. Keane
The Rain at the End of the Summer John B. Keane
The Roses of Tralee John B. Keane
The Spraying of John O'Dorey John B. Keane
The Year of the Hiker John B. Keane

Adaptations

Play Title Playwright
The Matchmaker John B. Keane John B. Keane