John B. Keane
| Date of Birth: | 21 July 1928 |
John Brendan Keane (21 July 1928 – 30 May 2002) was an Irish playwright, novelist and essayist from Listowel, County Kerry. A son of a national school teacher, William B Keane, and his wife Hannah Purtill, John B 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, and was a pub owner in Listowel from 1955. He married Mary O'Connor in 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. He remained a prominent member of the Fine Gael party throughout his life, never being shy of political debate. Source: Wikipedia.org
