At an early age, his family moved to Lanesboro, County Longford, where his blacksmith father found work with Bord na Mona.

Later he moved to Dublin where he worked at many jobs, including the civil service and teaching; from 1983-2000, he was principal of Lucan Community College.

His first, Murphy in the Underworld (1986), was welcomed by the Sunday Independent as "one of the most important story collections for some time.

It tells the story of the Dowd family, who are uprooted from their home in Killeenduff and resettle as economic migrants in the Irish Midlands.

[8] In December 2008, the Arts Council of Ireland withdrew the Centre's funding because of concerns about "value for money and quality of service to writers".