Benedict Kiely

Benedict Kiely (born August 15, 1919 in Dromore , County Tyrone , Northern Ireland , † February 9, 2007 in Dublin ) was an Irish writer and journalist .

Life

As a teenager, Kiely, who grew up in Northern Ireland as the son of the British soldier Thomas Kiely, wanted to become a writer. His great role models were George Bernard Shaw , HG Wells and Jonathan Swift . After graduating from Mount St. Columba Christian Brothers School in Omagh , he first worked at the post office. Since this work did not fill him, he finally decided to become a priest. But he quickly gave up these plans and began to study English and history at the University of Dublin in 1938 . He also worked as a journalist .

After graduating from college in 1941, he began a career as a journalist and broadcaster in Ireland. His first short story, Counties of Contention , appeared in 1945 . More than a dozen novels such as Land Without Stars (1946), The cards of the gambler (1953), The Captain with the Whiskers (1960), Dogs Enjoy the Morning (1968) and Nothing Happens in Carmincross (1985) followed. However, he became known to a wide readership through his short stories , which he published in a number of collections. The recurring subject of his works was his homeland Northern Ireland.

Kiely had been married to Maureen O'Connell since 1944; the marriage produced three daughters and one son.

Web links

• Literature by and about Benedict Kiely in the catalog of the German National Library