J. P. Donleavy (original) (raw)

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Novelist, playwright, essayist

J. P. Donleavy
Donleavy appearing on After Dark in 1991Donleavy appearing on After Dark in 1991
Born James Patrick Donleavy(1926-04-23)23 April 1926Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died 11 September 2017(2017-09-11) (aged 91)Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland
Resting place Levington Park estate, County Westmeath
Pen name J. P. Donleavy
Occupation Author novelist short story writer playwright
Language English
Nationality Irish
Education Trinity College Dublin (1946–1949; no degree)
Period Modern
Genre Prose fiction, satire, dark humor
Literary movement Black comedy
Years active 1955–2017
Notable works The Ginger Man (1955) A Fairy Tale of New York (1973) The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B (1968)
Notable awards Bord Gáis Lifetime Achievement Award
Spouse Valerie Heron ​(m. 1946⁠–⁠1969)​ Mary Wilson Price ​ ​(m. 1970⁠–⁠1989)​
Children 2 children, 2 stepchildren

James Patrick Donleavy, popularly known as J. P. Donleavy, (23 April 1926 – 11 September 2017) was an American-Irish author, short story writer, novelist, and playwright.[1] Known for the dark humor in his writings, he first achieved critical acclaim with his picaresque novel The Ginger Man (1955), initially published in Paris. The novel became an international bestseller, selling 50 million copies worldwide.[2][3] It is one of the best-selling books of all time and has been translated into over 30 languages.[4][5][6] The novel is Donleavy's best-known work, and in 1998, it was ranked 99th by the Modern Library in its list of the "100 Best Novels of the 20th century".[7]

Donleavy is also the author of A Fairy Tale of New York, published in 1973, and The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B, published in 1968. He received the Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award, funded by Bord Gáis Energy, for his contributions to Irish literature in 2015.

Donleavy was born in Brooklyn, to Irish immigrants Margaret and Patrick Donleavy, and grew up in the Bronx. His father was a firefighter, and his mother came from a wealthy background.[8][9] He had a sister, Mary Rita, and a younger brother.[10][11] He received his education at schools in the United States, then served in the US Navy during World War II.[1] After the war ended, he moved to Ireland. In 1946 he began studying bacteriology at Trinity College Dublin, but left in 1949 before taking a degree.

Donleavy's first published work was a short story entitled A Party on Saturday Afternoon, which appeared in the Dublin literary periodical Envoy in 1950.[10] He gained critical acclaim with his first novel, The Ginger Man (1955), which is one of the Modern Library 100 best novels.[12] The novel, of which Donleavy's friend and fellow writer Brendan Behan was the first person to read the completed manuscript,[11][13] was banned in Ireland and the United States by reason of obscenity.

The Ginger Man was known for its outspoken and comic lewdness.[14] Lead character Sebastian Dangerfield was in part based on Trinity College companion Gainor Crist, an American Navy veteran also studying at Trinity College on the G.I. Bill, whom Donleavy once described in an interview as a "saint", though of a Rabelaisian kind.[15]

Correctly or incorrectly, his initial works are sometimes grouped with the kitchen sink artists as well as the "Angry Young Men".[13] Another novel, A Fairy Tale of New York, provided the title of the song "Fairytale of New York".

In March 2007, Donleavy was the castaway on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.[16]

In 2015, Donleavy was the recipient of the Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards.[17]

In 2016, Trinity College Dublin awarded him with an honorary doctorate.[18]

Donleavy declared himself to be an atheist at the age of 14.[19] In 1946, he married Valerie Heron. The couple had two children: Philip (born 1951) and Karen (born 1955). They divorced in 1969. He remarried in 1970 to Mary Wilson Price; that union ended in divorce in 1989.[13]

In 2011, it was reported that Donleavy had not fathered his two children with Price. A DNA test in the early 1990s had confirmed that Rebecca was the daughter of brewing scion Kieran Guinness, and Rory was the son of Kieran's older brother Finn, whom Price married after her divorce from Donleavy. "My interest is only to look after the welfare of the child," Donleavy told The Times, "and after a certain stage, you can't worry about their parentage".[20]

Donleavy lived in London in the 1950s and then Maughold, Isle of Man in the 1960s, where the two children were educated.[21] From 1972, Donleavy lived at Levington Park, a country house on 200 acres (0.81 km2) directly on Lough Owel, near Mullingar, County Westmeath.[13] Throughout much of his life, he was known as Mike by close friends, though the origins of this nickname are unclear.[22]

Donleavy died on 11 September 2017, aged 91.[23]

  1. ^ a b "JP Donleavy obituary: acclaimed author of 'a bawled-out comic song of sex'". The Irish Times. Dublin. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  2. ^ Garner, Dwight (September 2017). "An Appraisal: A Toast for J. P. Donleavy". The New York Times. New York, USA.
  3. ^ The Ginger Man: 60th Anniversary Limited Edition. Ireland: The Lilliput Press. 2015. ISBN 9781843516460.
  4. ^ McEntee, John (4 August 2010). "A singular Life: J. P. Donleavy on his fascinating life since The Ginger Man". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022.
  5. ^ Overall, Colin (2015). "JP Donleavy's The Ginger Man at 60". Dublin: The Irish Times.
  6. ^ Madden, David W. (2011). "The Ginger Man: Analysis of Major Characters". Massachusetts, USA: EBSCO.
  7. ^ "100 Best Novels". Modern Library. USA: Penguin Random House Publications. 1998.
  8. ^ "J.P. Donleavy: Irish-American, American in Ireland, or Irish?". 17 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Author of the Ginger Man JP Donleavy - an obituary".
  10. ^ a b Campbell, James (14 September 2017). "JP Donleavy obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  11. ^ a b "JP Donleavey, author of The Ginger Man, dies". BBC News Online. BBC. 14 September 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  12. ^ Gussow, Mel (28 June 2000). "The Classic With a Pornographic Pedigree". The New York Times.
  13. ^ a b c d Campbell, James (26 June 2004). "The spice of life". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  14. ^ De Breffny, Brian (1983). Ireland: A Cultural Encyclopedia. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 76.
  15. ^ Kurt Jacobsen, 'An Interview with J. P. Donleavy' Journal of Irish Literature January 1978
  16. ^ Presenter: Kirsty Young (4 March 2007). "Desert Island Discs: JP Donleavy". Desert Island Discs. BBC. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  17. ^ "Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards 2015 winning authors revealed". Irish Book Awards. 25 November 2015. Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  18. ^ "Registrar : Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, Ireland". www.tcd.ie. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  19. ^ Welch, Frances (11 April 1998). "Me and My God J. P. Donleavy Talks to Frances Welch". jpdonleavy-compendium.org. Opinions Electronic Telegraph. He became an atheist aged 13 or 14.
  20. ^ Smith, Harrison (15 September 2017). "JP Donleavy, author whose debut novel The Ginger Man shocked society". The Independent. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  21. ^ "Maughold memories of JP Donleavy". Manx Radio. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  22. ^ "A singular man: J P Donleavy on his fascinating life since The Ginger". The Independent. 5 August 2010.
  23. ^ Gates, Anita (13 September 2017). "J.P. Donleavy, Acclaimed Author of 'The Ginger Man,' Dies at 91". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved 14 September 2017.