Biography

Eamonn McGrath was born into a farming community in County Wexford in 1929. From an early age he showed an interest in literature and when he left school, he attended the University College in Galway, where he was conferred with an honours degree in English and Irish. He took up a teaching post in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan where he met wife Joan.

Shortly after he took up the post, he fell ill with TB and spent two periods in a sanatarium in County Wexford during the 1950's. The enlightened policies of Noel Browne during the Inter-party government 1948-51 had a great effect in eradicating the disease and Eamonn recovered fully from his illness. He left the sanatorium, married Joan and soon after they moved to live in West Cork.

Eamonn took up a teaching post there and began to write. In 1970 his first novel, 'Honour Thy Father' was published by Figgis in Dublin and by Herder & Herder in the U.S. The novel was well received on both sides of the Atlantic:

Eamonn, encouraged by the reviews continued to write and soon had finished 'The Charnel House' a novel set in a TB sanatarium in the 1950's.

In 1989, new life was breathed into Eamonn's work when RTE Radio serialised the reading of his book on the popular programme 'Booktime'. The programme was unique in that the reader of the novel was the author's son, actor and RTE Player, Garvan McGrath.

In 1990, 'Honour Thy Father' was republished and was soon followed by the publication of 'The Charnel House' ( 1990), which again received many good and encouraging reviews:

Eamonn turned his attention to the taboo subject of Incest in a new novel, 'This fish in the Stone'. Deeply affected by a news story he had read some years before, Eamonn examined in detail, the relationships and characters involved and challenged the taboos of silence and ignorance surrounding incest. The novel was published by Blackstaff in 1994 and although the subject matter was extremely delicate, it received excellent reviews.

After retiring from teaching in 1995, Eamonn continued to write, despite illness, and completed two more novels, one a study of a man who has suffered a stroke, and the other a story of his mother's life during the civil war. 

Eamonn McGrath died in Mount Carmel Hospital, Clonakilty on May 5th, 2008.