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The Arts Council Playography Na Gaeilge

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Joseph O'Connor

1963 -

Joseph O'Connor is one of Ireland's best-known writers. His hugely successful famine novel, Star of the Sea, the highest selling novel in the UK in 2004, won the Prix Littéraire Européan Madeleine Zepter for European Novel of the Year, as well as a number of other awards in France, Italy, Ireland and beyond. His other works of fiction include Cowboys and Indians (1991), Redemption Falls (2007) and Ghost Light (2011), based on the life of the actress Molly Allgood, and her relationship with John Millington Synge. His non-fiction works include Sweet Liberty: Travels in Irish America, The Irish Male at Home and Abroad, and The Secret World of the Irish Male. His play Red Roses and Petrol won the In Dublin Best New Irish Play award in 1995. He adapted Daphne du Maurier's novel My Cousin Rachel for the Gate Theatre in 2012 and was the writer and lyricist for Heartbeat of Home, a 2013 dance show from the producers of Riverdance. He lives in Dublin.

Playwriting Credits

Play Title Playwright
Dear Ireland I Frank McGuinness Feli Speaks Abbie Spallen Gina Moxley Michael West Shaun Dunne Manchán Magan Eva O'Connor Edna O'Brien Aoife Martyn Arthur Riordan Andrea Molino John O'Donovan (2) Deirdre Kinahan Zoe Ní Riordáin Pom Boyd Karen Cogan Mark O'Halloran Stacey Gregg Jimmy Murphy Una McKevitt Thomas Kane Byrne Ursula Rani Sarma Blindboy Boatclub Sinéad Burke Zhu Yi Emmet Kirwan Dermot Bolger Rosaleen McDonagh Carys D. Coburn David Ireland Meadhbh McHugh Jody O'Neill Colm Keegan (2) Phillip McMahon Darach Mac Con Iomaire Sonya Kelly Carmel Winters Margaret Perry Enda Walsh Joseph O'Connor (1) Iseult Golden Kit de Waal Ciara Elizabeth Smyth Sarah Hanly John Connors Keith James Walker Shane O'Reilly Nancy Harris Owen McCafferty
Handel's Crossing Joseph O'Connor (1)
Mysteries 2000 Johnny Hanrahan Joseph O'Connor (1) Pat Kinevane Deirdre Purcell Gavin Kostick Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill Michael Scott (2) Mary Elizabeth Burke-Kennedy Declan Gorman Joe O'Byrne Derek Chapman Aidan Mathews Fergus Linehan (1) Brendan Kennelly Michael McCaffery
Red Roses and Petrol Joseph O'Connor (1)
Signatories Frank McGuinness Thomas Kilroy Éilís Ní Dhuibhne Hugo Hamilton Rachel Feehily Emma Donoghue Marina Carr Joseph O'Connor (1)
The Weeping of Angels Joseph O'Connor (1)
Tiny Plays for Ireland Colin Murphy Sean McLoughlin Rosaleen McDonagh Niamh Creely Evan Lee D'Alton Rachel Feehily Mark Hennessy Adrienne Michel-Long Gregory Rosenstock Michael Cussen Ronan Geoghegan Ciara Ní Chuirc Darren Donohue Jesse Weaver Joseph O'Connor (1) Michael West Antonia Hart Dermot Bolger Michelle Read Deirdre Kinahan Karl O'Neill Rory Nolan Ardal O'Hanlon Gerald Murphy Jody O'Neill
True Believers Joseph O'Connor (1)

Adaptations

Play Title Playwright
My Cousin Rachel Joseph O'Connor (1) Daphne Du Maurier