Best known for his series of plays about Irish political history, Colin Murphy will join the Trinity Long Room Hub’s distinguished fellowship programme supported by Dr Peter Rooney.
A collected volume of his plays, titled Colin Murphy's Political Plays: 100 Years of Irish History was released in early 2026 and is published by Bloomsbury Methuen. It features an introduction from the former President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, who describes the collection as “a timely contribution to all who seek to understand the complexity of our past and to engage with the ongoing work of building a more just and inclusive Ireland”. Murphy’s work, he added, continues in the “long tradition of Irish theatre as a space for political reflection and social change.”
Other plays include The Asylum Workshop (for TU Dublin Conservatoire), Miasma, which will tour Ireland this April/May with Verdant Productions & UCD Centre for Cultural Analytics, and The Negotiation, an adaptation from Thucydides, which responds to current geopolitical anxieties. Radio plays include #Antigone (for Newstalk) and the award-winning Hamlet, Prince of Derry (for RTÉ Drama on One).
In 2025, he was writer-in-residence with the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame. In May of the same year the Irish Arts Center in New York presented his play The United States vs Ulysses, in a production by Once Off Productions.
His work as a playwright and screenwriter draws on his experiences as a journalist and documentary maker and he writes a weekly column for the Sunday Independent. Through his career as a journalist, he has reported from Angola, Mozambique, Morocco, Western Sahara and the RASD, as well as the US and various European countries
During his fellowship at the Hub, he will progress work on a number of creative projects, many considering the central question of how politics and history can be dramatised in such a way as to engage the public in debate, while also promoting a sense of ownership over their democracy and state.
Speaking on his appointment, Colin Murphy said:
“The Long Room Hub is a hub of great ideas, fascinating research and good conversation. I’m thrilled to be joining the Hub and looking forward to being provoked and inspired by conversations and encounters there. I also look forward to burrowing away in the library and in my office and doing some good new writing.
The roll-call of former Rooney Writer Fellows sets an intimidatingly high bar, and it’s an honour to follow in their wake. Writing is a precarious trade; we need supporters like Peter Rooney and the Long Room Hub, whose investment gives us the stability and the institutional support that helps us do our best work.”
Dr Peter Rooney commented:
“I would like to personally congratulate Colin Murphy on becoming our newest Rooney Fellow. He is a fantastic addition to our esteemed list of writers. I know he will be a valued addition to the great thinkers of the Hub community.”
Professor Patrick Geoghegan, Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub, said:
“I want to congratulate Colin Murphy on his appointment as the new Rooney Writer Fellow and we look forward to welcoming him to our community of scholars. We are excited to see how groundbreaking research in the Arts and Humanities might inspire him in his writing, and also how much we can learn from his incredible experience and insights. Colin is a multi-talented writer, playwright, screenwriter and journalist and we will benefit enormously from his presence and his contributions."
More about the Fellowship:
The Rooney Writer Fellowship was established in 2021 with the support of Dr Peter Rooney. The Fellowship enables a creative writer to join the research community in the Trinity Long Room Hub and to engage with the institute’s research themes and programmes.
Previous fellows have included authors Mark O’Connell, Paul Murray and Caitríona Lally, and poet, pacifist and fabulist Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe.