Acclaimed Northern Irish fiction Writer of the twentieth century. His popular novels include Judith Hearne, The Great Victorian Collection, and The Colour of Blood.
He moved to Canada in the late 1940s to work as a Journalist for the Montreal Gazette. He published his first two novels -- Wreath for a Redhead and The Executioners -- in 1951.
A three-time finalist for the prestigious Booker Prize, he received the 1975 James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
His 1952 marriage to Canadian Journalist Jackie Scully produced a son named Michael. He was later remarried to Jean Denny.
He wrote the screenplay for The Luck of Ginger Coffey, a 1964 film that starred Robert Shaw.
