Thomas F. Kilroy (born 23 September 1934) is an Irish playwright and novelist. He was born in Green Street, Callan, County Kilkenny. He attended St Kieran's College and played hurling for the school team, captaining the senior team in 1952. He studied at University College Dublin. In his early career he was play editor at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. In the 1980s, he sat on the board of Field Day Theatre Company, founded by Brian Friel and Stephen Rea in 1980, and was Director of its touring company. In 1978, Kilroy was appointed Professor of English at University College Galway, a post from which he resigned in 1989 to concentrate on writing. Kilroy now lives in County Mayo and is a member of the Irish Academy of Letters, the Royal Society of Literature, and Aosdána. The Thomas Kilroy Collection, his personal archive, was deposited at Galway University's James Hardiman Library; Kilroy addressed the launch event in March 2011, which was attended by, amongst others, Brian Friel and the future President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins. Awards and honours 2008 Irish PEN Award Plays The Death and Resurrection of Mr Roche, The Dublin Theatre Festival, 1968. Published by Faber & Faber, Grove Press, 1968; The O'Neill, The Peacock Theatre, Dublin, 1969. Published by The Gallery Press, Oldcastle, Co Meath, 1995; Talbot's Box, The Peacock, 1973. Published by The Gallery Press/Delaware, Proscenium Press, 1979; Sex and Shakespheare, The Abbey, 1976. Revised edition published by The Gallery Press, 1998; Double Cross, Field Day Theatre Company, 1986. Published by Faber & Faber, 1986. Translated into French as Double jeu by Alexandra Poulain, 1996; The Madame MacAdam Travelling Theatre, The Field Day Theatre Company, 1992. Published by Methuen, 1992; The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde, The Abbey, 1997 and Melbourne Festival 1998. Published by The Gallery Press, 1997; Blake, 2001. Published by The Gallery Press, 2015; The Shape of Metal, The Peacock, 2003. Published by The Gallery Press; My Scandalous Life, 2004. Published by The Gallery Press; Christ Deliver Us!, 2010, Abbey Theatre. Adaptations The Seagull (Chekhov), The Royal Court, London, 1981. Published by Eyre Methuen, 1981; Ghosts (Ibsen), The Peacock Theatre, Dublin, 1989; Six Characters in Search of an Author (Pirandello) The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 1996. Books The Big Chapel, Faber & Faber, 1971; Liberties Press, 2009. This novel was awarded the Guardian Fiction Prize, 1971 and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Sean