Kiely, Benedict 1919-2007

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born August 15, 1919, in Dromore, County Tyrone, Ireland; died February 9, 2007, in Dublin, Ireland. Journalist and author. One of Ireland's most acclaimed fiction writers, Kiely wrote of the tragedies involving the conflicts there, but also infused upbeat hopefulness and a sense of the comedic in his tales. As a young man, he worked for the postal service briefly and then trained for a year to be a Jesuit priest. A severe spinal injury that hospitalized him for a year and a half ended these studies; during this time, he gave the priesthood much thought and decided, instead, to attend the National University of Ireland in Dublin. He learned Gaelic and graduated in 1943 with a degree in English and history. Kiely then pursued a journalism career. He wrote for the Irish Independent and the Irish Press, serving as an editor for the latter, which was a publication of the Fianna Fail Party. His first book, Counties of Contention: A Study of Irish Partition (1945) was actually a nonfiction work about the splitting of Ireland and his accurate prediction that it would lead to civil conflicts. Much of Kiely's fiction would later be concerned with the Protestant-Catholic problems in Northern Ireland; notable among these is 1962's Proxopera. The author found some of his early worked banned, including In a Harbour Green (1950), which was considered to have obscene passages, and Honey Seems Bitter (1952). Giving up on journalism in 1964, Kiely focused on his fiction and also lectured in the United States. He taught at the University of Oregon and was a writer in residence at Hollins College and Emory University. He returned to Dublin in 1970 to lecture at University College. Among his other titles are There Was an Ancient House (1955), Dogs Enjoy the Morning (1968), A Cow in the House and Nine Other Stories (1978), God's Own Country (1993), A Raid into the Dark Corners (1999), and The Collected Stories of Benedict Kiely (2001). He wrote two memoirs, as well: Drink to the Bird (1991) and The Waves behind Us (1999).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Kiely, Benedict, Drink to the Bird, Methuen (London, England), 1991.

Kiely, Benedict, The Waves behind Us, Methuen (London, England), 1999.

PERIODICALS

Times (London, England), February 19, 2007, p. 53.

Washington Post, February 15, 2007, p. B7.