IN CONVERSATION WITH... SHANE CONNAUGHTON

IRISH SCREENWRITER AND ACTOR

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IFTA Members attended an In Conversation With... Shane Connaughton on Wednesday 1st of August in Dublin's New Theatre.

This In Conversation With... event saw the accomplished Irish screenwriter and actor discuss his award winning body of work with Members of the Irish Academy and invited guests.

ABOUT SHANE CONNAUGHTON

Shane Connaughton was born in 1941 in Kingscourt, Co Cavan and his teenage years were spent in Redhills where his father was the local garda sergeant.

He attended Bristol Old Vic Theatre school and came to prominence in 1980 when along with James Kennaway he co-wrote the screen play for the Academy Award-winning The Dollar Bottom directed by Roger Christian and collaborated with Mike Leigh on Four Days in July, a film about the Troubles in Northern Ireland and screened in 1985.

Connaughton co-wrote the screenplay with Jim Sheridan for My left Foot which won five Academy Awards.

Connaughton wrote the novel A Border Station published in 1989 which is a series of stories about a young boy’s relationship with his father and mother set along the Ulster border where his father is the local garda sergeant. This book mirrors Connaughton’s own upbringing in Redhills. Shane is also the author of The Run of the Country (1991) also set in Redhills, and Big Parts published (2009).

Shane also wrote the script for The Playboys (1992) directed by Gilles MacKinnon which starred Albert Finney and Aidan Quinn and was shot on location in Redhills and also adapted The Run of the Country (1995) directed by Peter Yates for the screen. Albert Finney also appeared in this film with Matt Kessler. Shane wrote the screenplay for Tara Road (2005), and wrote the script for the US television movie Blackwater Lightship (2004) based on Colm Toibin’s book.

Connaughton’s acting credits include many stage and screen productions, including Coronation Street, Ghostwood, Four Days in July and Neil Jordan's The Miracle.

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