Best known for her sympathetic and often humorous portrayal of small-town life in Ireland, her descriptive characters, her interest in human nature, and her often clever surprise endings, the Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, speaker and described as one of Ireland’s best-loved and most recognisable and well known writers Anne Maeve Binchy was born on 28 May 1939 in Dalkey, the oldest of the four children, her brother, William Binchy, became Regius Professor of Laws at Trinity College, Dublin, he also had two sisters: Irene “Renie” (who predeceased Binchy), and Joan, Mrs Ryan. Her uncle was the historian D. A. Binchy (1899–1989). Binchy was Educated at St Anne’s Dún Laoghaire, and later at Holy Child Convent, Killiney, she went on to study at University College Dublin (where she earned a bachelor’s degree in history), she worked as a teacher of French, Latin, and history at various girls’ schools, then a journalist at The Irish Times, and later became a writer of novels, short stories, and dramatic works.
In 1963, Binchy began working in a Jewish school in Dublin, teaching French with an Irish accent to kids, primarily Lithuanians. The parents there gave me a trip to Israel as a present. I had no money, so I went and worked in a kibbutz – plucking chickens, picking oranges. My parents were very nervous; here I was going out to the Middle East by myself. I wrote to them regularly, telling them about the kibbutz. My father and mother sent my letters to a newspaper, which published them. So I thought, It’s not so hard to be a writer. Just write a letter home. After that, I started writing other travel articles. Trip to Israel profoundly affected both her career and her faith.
Binchey met her future husband children’s author Gordon Snell when recording a piece for Woman’s Hour in London. Snell was working As a freelance producer with the BBC. Their friendship blossomed into a cross-border romance, with her in Ireland and him in London, until she eventually secured a job in London through The Irish Times.She and Snell married in 1977 and, after living in London for a time, moved to Ireland. They lived together in Dalkey, not far from where she had grown up, until Binchy’s death.
Binchy’s “writing career began by accident in the early 1960s, after she spent time on a kibbutz in Israel. Her father was so taken with her letters home that “he cut off the ‘Dear Daddy’ bits,”Donal Lynch observed of her first paying journalism role: the Irish Independent and commissioned her. Sadly In 1968, her mother died of cancer aged 57 Binchy also joined the staff at The Irish Times, and worked there as a writer, columnist, the first Women’s Page editor then the London editor, later reporting for the paper from London before returning to Ireland. Binchy’s first published book is a compilation of her newspaper articles titled My First Book and was Published in 1970, however it is now out of print. Binchy’s father died in 1971, so she sold the family house and moved to a bedsit in Dublin. Her literary career began with two books of short stories: Central Line (1978) and Victoria Line (1980).
Binchy published her debut novel Light a Penny Candle in 1982. In 1983, it sold for the largest sum ever paid for a first novel: £52,000. The timing was fortuitous, as Binchy and her husband were two months behind with the mortgage at the time. Most of Binchy’s stories are set in Ireland, dealing with the tensions between urban and rural life, the contrasts between England and Ireland, and the dramatic changes in Ireland between World War II and the present day. While some of Binchy’s novels are complete stories (Circle of Friends, Light a Penny Candle), many others revolve around a cast of interrelated characters (The Copper Beech, Silver Wedding, The Lilac Bus, Evening Class, and Heart and Soul). Her later novels, Evening Class, Scarlet Feather, Quentins, and Tara Road, feature a cast of recurring characters. Five further novels were published before her death: Quentins (2002), Nights of Rain and Stars (2004), Whitethorn Woods (2006), Heart and Soul (2008), and Minding Frankie (2010). Her final novel, A Week in Winter, was published posthumously in 2012. In 2014 a collection of 36 unpublished short stories that she had written over a period of decades was published under the title Chestnut Street. She also wrote several dramas specifically for radio and the silver screen. Additionally, several of her novels and short stories were adapted for radio, film, and television.
Unfortunately from 2002, Binchy began suffering health problems related to a heart condition”, this inspired her to write Heart and Soul, a novel about (what Binchy terms) “a heart failure clinic” in Dublin and the people involved with it, the book reflects many of her own experiences and observations in the hospital.
Maeve Binchy sadly died on 30 July 2012. She was 73 and had suffered from various maladies, including painful osteoarthritis. As a result of the arthritis she had a hip operation. A month before her death she suffered a severe spinal infection (acute discitis), and finally succumbed to a heart attack. Gordon was by her side when she died in a Dublin hospital. Despite being an atheist, Binchy was given a traditional Requiem Mass which took place at the Church of the Assumption, in her hometown of Dalkey. She was later cremated at Mount Jerome Cemetery and Crematorium. Binchy was a prolific writer “In all, Binchy published 16 novels, four short-story collections, a play and a novella. A 17th novel, A Week in Winter, was published posthumously. Her novels, were translated into 37 languages,and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, she finished 3rd in a 2000 poll for World Book Day, ahead of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Stephen King. Following her passing She received tributes from many Fellow writers including Ian Rankin, Jilly Cooper, Anne Rice, Jeffrey Archer, John Banville, Roddy Doyle,and Colm Tóibín. Many Politicians also paid tribute to Maeve Binchey Including President Michael D. Higgins Who stated: “Our country mourns.” Taoiseach Enda Kenny said, “Today we have lost a national treasure.” While Minister of State for Disability, Equality and Mental Health Kathleen Lynch, said Binchy was, as worthy an Irish writer as James Joyce or Oscar Wilde.
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