Benedict Kiely
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Benedict Kiely (born: August 15, 1919) is an Irish author and broadcaster from Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
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[edit] Early Years
Benedict Kiely was born on 15 August 1919 between Drumskinny, County Fermanagh and Dromore, County Tyrone to his parents Thomas and Sarah Alice Kiely. When he was only one year old, Kiely and his family moved to the Gallows Hill area of Omagh where he grew up.
[edit] Teenage Years
Whilst he was a teenager, Kiely began to feel the urge to become a writer. He had a keen interest in the work of George Bernard Shaw, HG Wells and Johnathan Swift. After completing his education at Mount St. Columba Christian Brothers School in Omagh, Kiely went to work as a sorting clerk in Omagh post office. However, he soon realised that the post office would not provide him with the life of the scholar which he had so desired. So he left the post office and began a new life in Emo, County Laois, where he decided he would train as a Jesuit priest.
Unbeknownst to Kiely, the new life with the Jesuits was not meant to be either, for, in the spring of 1937, he suffered a serious spinal lesion, which meant he had a lengthly stay in hospital. During his in hospital, Kiely had plenty of time to think about the course his life had already taken, and about a course it might take. He also realised that he was never a true religious follower and so he abandoned his training as a Jesuit priest.
[edit] Broadcaster and Author
By the time he got out of hospital, it was now the spring of 1938, and Kiely moved to Dublin, where he began a part-time job as a journalist, where he contibuated to a number of newspapers, including The Weekly Standard.
After graduating from University College in Dublin in 1941, he began a career as a journalist and broadcaster in the Irish Press, of which he became a full-time critic in 1945. That same year, he published his first novel Counties of Contention.
In 1966, Kiely went to Atlanta, Georgia, where he was a Writer-in-Residence at Emory University. He stayed there until 1968, when he returned to Dublin. Kiely has also worked as a university lecturer.
In 1996, Kiely was named Saoi of Aosdana, the highest honor given by the Arts Council of Ireland.
Kiely continues to receive acclaim for his writing and journalism (a career which spans over six decades) receiving the Award for Literature from the Irish Academy of Letters, and is one of Ireland's best known writers.
[edit] Benedict Kiely today
As of August 22, 2006, Kiely, who is now eighy-seven years old, still lives in Dublin and has been living there for the past 68 years.
[edit] Short stories
- A Journey to the Seven Streams (1963)
- A Ball of Malt and Madame Butterfly (1973)
- A Cow in the House (1978)
- The State of Ireland: A Novella and Seven Short Stories (1981)
- A Letter to Peachtree (1987)
- The Trout in the Turnhole (1996)
- The Collected Stories of Benedict Kiely (2001)
[edit] Novels
- Countries of Contention (1945)
- Land Without Stars (1946)
- Poor Scholar (1947)
- Call for a Miracle (1948)
- In a Harbour Green (1949)
- Modern Irish Fiction: A Critique (1950)
- Honey Seems Bitter (1952)
- The Cards of the Gambler (1953)
- There Was an Ancient House (1955)
- The Captain with the Whiskers (1960)
- Dogs Enjoy the Morning (1968)
- Proxopera: A Tale of Modern Ireland (1977)
- All the Way to Bantry Bay and Other Irish Journeys (1978)
- Nothing Happens in Carmincross (1985)
- Benedict Kiely, A Raid into Dark Corners and Other Essays (1999)
His autobiography is Drink to the Bird: An Omagh Boyhood (1992).
[edit] TV Apperances
- Wordweaver - The Legend of Benedict Kiely (2005) ...Himself
- Humours of Donnybrook (1979) ...Himself
- Jungle of Pembroke Road (1974) ...Himself
[edit] Trivia
- Ben Kiely is a maternal uncle of the Omagh-born musician Brian Coll.
