Eilís Dillon
FRSL (7 March 1920 – 19 July 1994) was an Irish author of 50 books. Her work has been translated into 14 languages.
[Eilís Dillon: a biographical note](_blank)
retrieved 7 May 2011.
Early life
Dillon was the third of five children of Professor
Thomas Dillon and his wife
Geraldine née Plunkett, who was the sister of
Joseph Mary Plunkett
Joseph Mary Plunkett (Irish: ''Seosamh Máire Pluincéid''; 21 November 1887 – 4 May 1916) was an Irish nationalist, republican, poet, journalist, revolutionary and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising. Joseph Mary Plunkett married Grace Giff ...
. She was raised at Dangan House outside of Galway City before moving to the small fishing village of Barna. She attended the local primary school where she became proficient in Irish and gained an intimate knowledge of
Connemara
Connemara (; )( ga, Conamara ) is a region on the Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...
traditions.
Dillon's family was involved in Irish revolutionary politics; her uncle
Joseph Mary Plunkett
Joseph Mary Plunkett (Irish: ''Seosamh Máire Pluincéid''; 21 November 1887 – 4 May 1916) was an Irish nationalist, republican, poet, journalist, revolutionary and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising. Joseph Mary Plunkett married Grace Giff ...
was a signatory of the
1916 Proclamation and was executed after the Easter Rising.
Educated by the
Ursuline nuns in
Sligo, she worked briefly in the hotel and catering trade. In 1940 she married Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin, an academic from
University College Cork
University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork.
The university was founded in 1845 as one ...
and 17 years her senior.
They had three children: the Irish poet and Trinity College Dublin professor
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Máire Ní Chuilleanáin, violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra who died in 1990, and
Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin, also a Trinity professor, who writes novels as Cormac Millar.
Early writing career
Dillon's first books were in Irish including ''An Choill Bheo'', published in 1948, ''Oscar agus an Cóiste sé nEasóg'' in 1952 and ''Ceol na coille'' in 1955. After the success of ''The Lost Island'', published in 1952, she wrote almost exclusively in English. Most of her books were aimed at teen readers with themes of self-discovery and problem solving evident.
In 1964 she moved to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
due to her husband's poor health. While there she acted as adviser to International Commission on English in the Liturgy. She returned to Cork with her husband in 1969 where he died the following year. She continued to visit Italy over the next several years, setting some of her stories there including ''Living in Imperial Rome'' (1974) and ''The Five Hundred'' (1972), though these were not as popular as her Irish books. In 1974 she married the American-based critic and professor
Vivian Mercier
Vivian Mercier (1919–1989) was an Irish people, Irish literary critic. He was born at Clara, County Offaly, Clara in County Offaly and educated, first, at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, and then, at Trinity College Du ...
, dividing her time between California, Italy and Dublin.
Later writing career
Dillon's adult fiction career began in 1953 with the publication of the detective novel ''Death at Crane's Court''. This was followed by ''Sent to His Account'' in 1954 and ''Death in the Quadrangle'' in 1956. These novels are known for their depiction of contemporary Ireland. Over the following decade Dillon published many novels including ''The Bitter Glass'' (1959), ''Across the Bitter Sea'' (1973) and ''The Wild Geese'' (1981).
Final years
In her later years Dillon played a prominent role in Irish culture. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society for Literature and a member of Aosdána, served on the Irish Arts Council 1974–9, chaired the Irish Writers’ Union and the
Irish Writers’ Centre, and founded the Irish Children's Book Trust. In 1987 Dillon and her husband moved permanently to Dublin where she supported up and coming Irish authors. Her last story was ''Children of Bach'' published in 1993.
Eilís Dillon died in Dublin in 1994 and is buried beside her second husband in
Clara
Clara may refer to:
Organizations
* CLARA, Latin American academic computer network organization
* Clara.Net, a European ISP
* Consolidated Land and Rail Australia, a property development consortium
People
* Clara (given name), a feminine gi ...
,
County Offaly; a prize in her memory is given annually as part of the
CBI Book of the Year Awards
The CBI Book of the Year Awards ( ga, Duaiseanna Leabhair na Bliana CBI), previously known as the Bisto Book of the Year Awards, are literary awards presented annually in the Republic of Ireland to writers and illustrators of books for childre ...
.
References
External links
Eilís Dillon estateat WatsonLittle.com
Eilís Dillon website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Eilis
1920 births
1994 deaths
Irish women poets
People from Galway (city)
People from County Galway
Irish women novelists
Irish children's writers
Irish women children's writers
20th-century Irish women writers
20th-century Irish novelists
20th-century Irish poets