Jennifer Johnston (born 12 January 1930) is an Irish novelist. She has
won a number of awards, including the Whitbread Book Award for The Old
Jest in 1979 and a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards
(2012). The Old Jest, a novel about the Irish War of Independence, was
later made into a film called The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins,
produced by Sarah Lawson and directed by Robert Knights.[1]She was
born in Dublin to Irish actress and director Shelah Richards and Irish
playwright Denis Johnston.[2] A cousin of actress and film star
Geraldine Fitzgerald, via Fitzgerald's mother, Edith (née Richards),
Jennifer Johnston was educated at Trinity College Dublin,[3]. For
decades, she has lived in Derry, Northern Ireland, and currently lives
near Dublin.[4] Other cousins include the actresses Tara Fitzgerald
and Susan Fitzgerald.[5][6]Johnston was born into the Church of
Ireland and many of her novels deal with the fading of the Protestant
Anglo-Irish ascendancy in the 20th century. She married a fellow
student at Trinity College, Ian Smyth, in 1951.[7] Johnston is a
member of Aosdána.[8]
won a number of awards, including the Whitbread Book Award for The Old
Jest in 1979 and a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards
(2012). The Old Jest, a novel about the Irish War of Independence, was
later made into a film called The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins,
produced by Sarah Lawson and directed by Robert Knights.[1]She was
born in Dublin to Irish actress and director Shelah Richards and Irish
playwright Denis Johnston.[2] A cousin of actress and film star
Geraldine Fitzgerald, via Fitzgerald's mother, Edith (née Richards),
Jennifer Johnston was educated at Trinity College Dublin,[3]. For
decades, she has lived in Derry, Northern Ireland, and currently lives
near Dublin.[4] Other cousins include the actresses Tara Fitzgerald
and Susan Fitzgerald.[5][6]Johnston was born into the Church of
Ireland and many of her novels deal with the fading of the Protestant
Anglo-Irish ascendancy in the 20th century. She married a fellow
student at Trinity College, Ian Smyth, in 1951.[7] Johnston is a
member of Aosdána.[8]
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