Neil Jordan

UCD Alumni Award in Arts and Humanities

BA 1972

Born in 1950 in Sligo, Neil Jordan began his career as a writer. His first book of stories, Night In Tunisia (1976) won the Guardian Fiction prize. Since then he has published eight novels, The Past (1979), The Dream Of A Beast (1983), Sunrise With Seamonster (1994), Shade (2005), Mistaken (2011), The Drowned Detective (2015), Carnivalesque (2017), and most recently The Ballad of Lord Edward and Citizen Small. In 1982 Jordan wrote and directed his first feature film Angel and has written, directed and produced more than fifteen films, including Company of Wolves (1984), Mona Lisa (1986), The Crying Game (1992), Interview With The Vampire (1994), Michael Collins (1996), The Butcher Boy (1997), The End Of The Affair (1999), In Dreams (1999), Breakfast On Pluto (2005), Ondine (2009), Byzantium (2013) and Greta (2018). He has also written, directed and produced the two-time Emmy winning television series The Borgias (2011 – 2013). His films have been honoured with numerous awards worldwide, including an Oscar (Best Original Screenplay – The Crying Game), BAFTAs, Golden Globes, A Golden Lion from The Venice Film Festival (Michael Collins) and a Silver Bear from the Berlinale.