Maeve Binchy was born in 1939 in Dalkey, a small village outside Dublin. She graduated from University College in Dublin and then became a teacher. She worked for a time in Israel and, while there, had a letter published in The Irish Times, earning her £18 – more than her weekly salary. She then went on to pursue a career as a journalist. Maeve married the love of her life, children’s author Gordon Snell, in 1977 after the pair met at Broadcasting House, the home of the BBC.
Maeve Binchy’s literary career began in 1978 when her book of short stories Central Line was published. In total she had 11 books of short stories published and also wrote plays for radio, TV and the stage. But she is most famous for her 16 novels, several of which were best sellers and 3 of which have been made into films. She died in 2012 at the age of 73.
Maeve Binchy is unmistakeably Irish but did you know that she married an Englishman? Test your knowledge on Maeve Binchy and discover some more interesting nuggets of information in this quiz.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
As well as being a journalist, Maeve also worked as a teacher of history, Latin and French
|
Before Light a Penny Candle Maeve had had two books of short stories published - Central Line in 1978 and Victoria Line in 1980
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tara Road was made into a film in 2005 in which Maeve Binchy can be seen in the first scene at Colm's restaurant
|
It's set in the Irish village of Lough Glass
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
The setting is the Mountainview School, Dublin
|
Silver Wedding tells the story of Deirdre and Desmond Doyle, their family and friends and some guilty secrets
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brenda Fricker is in the film but she plays Mona, not Marilyn
|
Driver put on 30 lbs for the role
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
The stories are all about a group of seven people from the village of Rathdoon, who work in Dublin and return home every weekend on the Lilac Bus
|
Dalkey is the hometown of two Irish novelists: Maeve Binchy and Hugh Leonard. It is also popular with musicians with Bono, The Edge, Enya, Chris de Burgh and Van Morrison all owning houses there
|