Thomas Kilroy

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.