James N. Healy

James N. Healy (1916–1993) was an Irish actor, writer and theatre producer.

Biography Healy was born in County Cork. In his youth he had participated in Amateur theatricals. Until 1958 he was an accountant, but turned to acting to make a living when the company for which he worked failed. With two partners he founded the Southern Theatre Group in Cork. They had great success with Sive (by John B. Keane) in 1959, and went on to produce such plays as Many Young Men of Twenty, The Man from Clare, the Year of the Hiker. He was later a founder member of the Gilbert and Sullivan Group, with which he worked for several years.

Healy had always been a collector of songs and ballads and appeared on several radio programs singing these, such as the Real Blarney and Melodymakers. He has published many books of Irish ballads.

Archive A collection of photographs, posters and programmes from the theatre archive of James N. Healy was donated to Cork Library in 2012.