About John Moriarty
Lived 1938 – 2007 (aged 69). John Moriarty was an Irish philosopher, literary scholar and writer.
John Moriarty (2 February 1938 – 1 June 2007) was an Irish writer and philosopher.
A native of Moyvane, County Kerry, he was educated in Listowel and at University College Dublin. In 1974, he moved to England from Canada where he had taught English literature at the University of Manitoba, and subsequently became a live-in gardener in the Carmelite monastery at Boars Hill, Oxford.
Moriarty is widely regarded as a major literary figure, often compared to Yeats, Joyce, and Beckett.
A film "inspired by the works" of Moriarty, Dreamtime, Revisited, was directed by Dónal Ó Céilleachair and Julius Ziz and released in October 2012.
Books Dreamtime (Dublin, The Lilliput Press, 1994 - revised 1999) Turtle Was Gone a Long Time: Crossing the Kedron (The Lilliput Press, 1996) Horsehead Nebula Neighing (The Lilliput Press, 1997) Anaconda Canoe (The Lilliput Press 1999) Nostos (autobiography) (The Lilliput Press 2001) Invoking Ireland: Ailiu Iath n-hErend (The Lilliput Press, 2005) Slí na Fírinne (Slí na Fírinne Publishing, 2006) Night Journey to Buddh Gaia (The Lilliput Press, 2006) Serious Sounds (The Lilliput Press, 2007) What the curlew said. Nostos continued (autobiography) (The Lilliput Press, 2007) One Evening in Eden (The Lilliput Press, 2007) - a CD box set containing a collection of stories narrated by Moriarty
Interviews A series of interviews of Moriarty, by Joe Duffy on the RTÉ radio show Liveline, are available as an iTunes podcast.
In 2024, Manchán Magan released a series of talks he had with people on a selection of Moriarty's readings, in podcast form: The Bog Shaman: Manchán Magan on Moriarty.
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Important facts
People in John Moriarty's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped John Moriarty's
Frequently asked questions
Who was John Moriarty?
Irish writer and philosopher
When was John Moriarty born?
John Moriarty was born on 2 February 1938.
When did John Moriarty die?
John Moriarty died on 1 June 2007.
What was John Moriarty's occupation?
John Moriarty was a philosopher, literary scholar and writer.
What nationality was John Moriarty?
John Moriarty was Irish.
Sources & further reading
· DBpedia: John Moriarty (writer)
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). John Moriarty. https://biography.guide/john-moriarty-philosopher/
MLA: "John Moriarty." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/john-moriarty-philosopher/.
Chicago: "John Moriarty." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/john-moriarty-philosopher/.
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