Sebastian Barry

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Sebastian Barry (b. 5 July 1955, Dublin) is an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet. He is the son of the late Irish actress Joan O'Hara.

He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he edited Icarus. His academic posts have included Honorary Fellow in Writing at the University of Iowa (1984) and Writer Fellow at Trinity College, Dublin (1995-1996).

Barry wrote The Steward of Christendom and The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty, both of which are about the dislocations (physical and otherwise) of loyalist Irish people during the political upheavals of the early 20th century. The title character of the latter (McNulty), for instance, is a young man forced to leave Ireland by his former friends for his political beliefs during the Anglo-Irish War.

He also wrote Hinterland, a satirical play based loosely on Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey, the performance of which caused a minor controversy in Dublin. The Sunday Times, which did not review the play, criticized it as "feeble, puerile, trite, dissociated, shallow, exploitative and gratuitously offensive"^[1].

Barry's novel A Long Long Way was shortlisted for the 2005 Man Booker Prize, and was selected for Dublin's 2007 One City One Book event. ^[2] The novel tells the story of Willie Dunne, a young recruit to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers during the First World War. It brings to life the divided loyalties that many Irish soldiers felt at the time following the Easter Rising in 1916.

Barry's maternal great-grandfather, James Dunne, provided the inspiration for the main character in his most internationally known play, The Steward of Christendom. The main character, named Thomas Dunne in the play, was the chief superintendent of the Dublin Metropolitan Police from 1913-1922. He oversaw the area surrounding Dublin Castle until the Irish Free State takeover on 16 January 1922. One of his grandfathers belonged to the British Army Corps of Royal Engineers.

He currently lives in County Wicklow with his family.