Earlier this year the Archives and Special Collections service of the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway were delighted to receive the personal archive of the celebrated playwright and novelist Thomas Kilroy. To mark this very great occasion, Professor Adrian Frazier of the Moore Institute, NUI Galway conducted a public interview with Thomas Kilroy, discussing at length Kilroy’s own personal life and experiences from his homeland of Kilkenny to his career as a playwright which brought him to world-wide notoriety.
The Kilroy archive contains research notes, drafts and scripts of all these and of his other plays, and his academic criticism. The creative work is complemented by correspondence from agents, theatre practitioners, publishers, and members of the public, as well as production material from the stage plays. There is a noteworthy collection of correspondence from literary friends and associates, such as Seamus Heaney, Seamus Deane, Mary Lavin, John McGahern, and also papers from his board membership of The Field Day Theatre Company, and from his collaboration with The Abbey Theatre. The papers join other purely literary archives at the Library, such as those of John McGahern and Eoghan Ó Tuarisc, as well as archival collections pertaining to the Druid Theatre, the Lyric Players Theatre, and Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe. The collection is being processed and will be available to researchers from August 2011.
Watch and enjoy what is a really fascinating interview with one of Ireland’s most engaging writers.
An Interview with Thomas Kilroy from CELT NUI Galway on Vimeo.
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