John B. Keane

• Name — John B. Keane • Birth Name — John Brendan Keane • Born — 21 July 1928 • Birthplace — Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland • Died — 30 May 2002 • Place of death — Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland • Education — St Michael's College, Listowel • Notable Works — The Field, Sive • Children — * Billy • Conor • John • Joanna • Awards — Honorary Life Member of the Royal Dublin Society

• Illustration — Statue of John B. Keane in Listowel, County Kerry. A son of a national school teacher, William B. Keane, and his wife Hannah (née Purtill), Keane was educated at Listowel National School and then at St Michael's College, Listowel. He worked as a chemist's assistant for A. H. Jones who dabbled in buying antiques. Keane had various jobs in the UK between 1951 and 1955 working as a street cleaner, and a bar man, living in a variety of places including Northampton and London. It was while he was in Northampton that Keane was first published in an unnamed women's magazine for which he received £15. After returning to Ireland from the United Kingdom, he became a pub owner in Listowel from 1955. He married Mary O'Connor at Knocknagoshel Church on 5 January 1955 and had four children: Billy, Conor, John and Joanna. He was an Honorary Life Member of the Royal Dublin Society from 1991, served as president of Irish PEN and was a founder member of the Society of Irish Playwrights as well as a member of Aosdána. Keane was named the patron of the Listowel Players after the Listowel Drama Group fractured. He remained a prominent member of the Fine Gael party throughout his life, never being shy of political debate. His nephew is the investigative journalist Fergal Keane. His son John is a journalist with the Kilkenny People while his son, Billy regularly writes a column for the Irish Independent.

• Sive (1959) • Many Young Men of Twenty (1961) • Sharon's Grave (1960) • The Highest House on the Mountain (1961) • The Man From Clare (1962) • The Year of the Hiker (1963) • The Field (1965) • Hut 42 (1968) • The Rain at the End of the Summer (1968) • Big Maggie (1969) • Moll (1971) • Letters of an Irish Parish Priest (1972) • The One-Way Ticket (1972) • Values (1973) • The Crazy Wall (1973) • The Change in Mame Fadden (1973) • Letters of a Matchmaker (1975) • Letters of a Country Postman (1977) • Letters of an Irish Publican (1977) • The Buds of Ballybunion (1979) • The Chastitute (1981) • Man of the Triple Name (1984) • Owl Sandwiches (1985) • The Bodhran Makers (1986) • The Contractors (1988) • The Ram of God and Other Stories (1992) • Durango: A Novel (1992) • A Warm Bed on a Cold Night and Other Stories (1997) • The Teapots Are Out and other Eccentric Tales from Ireland (1997) • Faoiseamh • Pishogue • No More in Dust

The authorities additionally record the headings John Keane and John Brendan Keane. His recorded languages were English and Irish.