Deirdre Purcell is an Irish author. Purcell is a former Abbey Theatre

Abbey Theatre

The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...

 actress, who has played as Christine opposite Donal McCann

Donal McCann

Donal McCann was an Irish stage, film, and television actor best known for his roles in the works of Brian Friel and for his lead role in John Huston's last film, The Dead.-Early life:...

 in Drama at Inish

Drama at Inish

Drama at Inish is a comic play by the Irish writer Lennox Robinson which was first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin on 6 February 1933. The storyline of the play serves as a parody of the plots and atmosphere of the plays being performed within it....

, Miss Frost in the stage adaptation of The Ginger Man

The Ginger Man

The Ginger Man is a 1955 novel by J. P. Donleavy.First published in Paris, the novel is set in Dublin, Ireland, in post war 1947. Upon its publication, it was banned in the Republic of Ireland and the United States of America for obscenity....

, and Pegeen Mike in The Playboy of the Western World

The Playboy of the Western World

The Playboy of the Western World is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on January 26, 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's public house in County Mayo during the early 1900s...

. Purcell is also a former TV and press journalist. She has been awarded The Benson & Hedges and Cross awards for journalism. She lives in West Cork

West Cork

West Cork refers to a geographical area in south-west Ireland, lying within Ireland's largest county, County Cork. Traditionally a popular tourist destination, the area is seen as being distinct from the more populated northern or eastern parts of the county, as well as the more urban area of...

. Since October 2009, she has presented All About the Music on RTÉ lyric fm.

Novels

• A Place of Stones (1991)
• That Childhood Country (1992)
• Falling for a Dancer (1993)
• Ashes of Roses (1994)
• Francey (1995)
• Roses After Rain (1996)
• Sky (1996)
• Love Like Hate Adore (1997)
• Billy and Jesus Are Off to Barcelona (1999)
• Entertaining Ambrose (2001)
• Has Anyone Here Seen Larry? (2002)
• Marble Gardens (2002)
• Last Summer in Arcadia (2003)
• Children of Eve (2005)
• Tell Me Your Secret (2006)
• The secret (2006)
• Somewhere in Between (2007)
• Jesus and Billy Are Off to Barcelona (2008)
• Days We Remember (2008)

Series contributed to

• Finbar's Hotel (1999) (with Maeve Binchy
  Maeve Binchy
  Maeve Binchy is an Irish novelist, newspaper columnist and speaker. Educated at University College Dublin, she worked as a teacher then a journalist at The Irish Times and later became a writer of novels and short stories.Many of her novels are set in Ireland, dealing with the tensions between...
  
  , Dermot Bolger
  Dermot Bolger
  Dermot Bolger is an Irish novelist, playwright and poet born in Finglas, a suburb of Dublin.His work is often concerned with the articulation of the experiences of working-class characters who, for various reasons, feel alienated from society. Bolger questions the relevance of traditional...
  
  , Clare Boylan
  Clare Boylan
  Clare Boylan was an Irish author, journalist and critic for newspapers, magazines and many international broadcast media....
  
  , Emma Donoghue
  Emma Donoghue
  Emma Donoghue is an Irish-born playwright, literary historian and novelist now living in Canada. Her 2010 novel Room was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and an international bestseller. Donoghue's 1995 novel Hood won the Stonewall Book Award and Slammerkin won the Ferro-Grumley Award for...
  
  , Anne Haverty, Kate O'Riordan)
• Ladies' Night at Finbar's Hotel (2000) (with Maeve Binchy, Dermot Bolger, Clare Boylan, Emma Donoghue, Anne Haverty, Kate O'Riordan)