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Paul Howard | |
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| Born | 6 January 1971 London, United Kingdom |
| Pen name | Ross O'Carroll-Kelly |
| Occupation | Novelist, playwright, journalist |
| Citizenship | Irish |
| Genre | Comic novel |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Notable works | Ross O'Carroll-Kelly |
| Spouse | Mary McCarthy [1] |
Paul Howard (born 6 January 1971) [2] is an Irish journalist, author and comedy writer. He is best known as the creator of the cult character Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, a fictional Dublin 4 "rugby jock".
Howard was born 6 January 1971 in London. [2] He worked for sixteen years as a journalist, mostly for The Sunday Tribune, first in news and later as one of Ireland's most respected sportswriters. He was chief sportswriter of The Sunday Tribune and one of the first to question the achievements of Michelle Smith de Bruin. He covered two Olympics, a World Cup and numerous major sporting events. He was named Sports Journalist of the Year in the 1998 Irish Media Awards for an investigation into eating disorders among Irish athletes and an interview with the disgraced former sprinter, Ben Johnson. He was shortlisted for the award in 2002, 2003 and 2004.[ citation needed ]
Howard is the creator of the "rugby jock" character Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, whose exploits have been the subject of twenty-one novels and three other books that have sold over 1.5 million copies in Ireland. He was named National Newspapers of Ireland Columnist of the Year in 2013 for his weekly column in The Irish Times on Saturday written under the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly pseudonym. [3]
He is also the author of four plays – The Last Days of the Celtic Tiger in 2007, and Between Foxrock and a Hard Place in 2010, and Breaking Dad in 2014 and Postcards from the Ledge in 2017 – as well as the hugely successful 2012 puppet-based Anglo the Musical and a second musical Copper Face Jacks: The Musical, based on the popular nightclub Copper Face Jacks, in 2018.
His first non-Ross-related venture into fiction: Triggs – The Autobiography of Roy Keane's Dog – was a #1 Bestseller in 2012, and short-listed for an Irish Book Award. [4]
He has written several nonfiction books, including The Joy, an account of life in Mountjoy Prison, The Gaffers: Mick McCarthy, Roy Keane and the Team they Built, an account of the McCarthy–Keane clash during the run-up to the 2002 World Cup. He also ghostwrote the autobiographies of boxer Steve Collins (Celtic Warrior) and broadcaster George Hook ("Time Added On"). [5] He also co-authored Roddy Collins’ memoir “The Rodfather”.
He is the author of the biography of Tara Browne, "I Read the News Today, Oh Boy", published in October 2016. [6] [7]
He has written two children’s books called “Aldrin Adams and the Cheese Nightmares” and “Aldrin Adams and the Legend of Nemeswiss” and has also co-written three children's books with former Ireland rugby player Gordon D'Arcy called “Gordon's Game”, [8] “Gordon’s Game: Blue Thunder” and “Gordon’s Game: Lions Roar”.
Howard is a record four-time Irish Book Award winner, collecting the Best Popular Fiction prize in 2007 for Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade, in 2010 for The Oh My God Delusion , in 2013 for Downturn Abbey (each parts of the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series) and Non-Fiction Book of the Year in 2016 for the biography of Tara Browne, "I Read the News Today, Oh Boy". He has been nominated for a record twenty-three Irish Book Awards. He has written comedy for radio and television and was part of the writing teams for two series of two RTÉ comedy sketch shows in the autumns of 2012 and 2013, Irish Pictorial Weekly and The Mario Rosenstock Show . He also appeared in a number of sketches in Irish Pictorial Weekly . Irish Pictorial Weekly was twice nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award. He has also written for two series of the award winning Apple TV+ show Bad Sisters .
In September 2019, he was the subject of an hour long RTÉ documentary entitled “We Need to Talk about Ross” produced by Adrian McCarthy of Wildfire Films.
Ross O'Carroll-Kelly is a satirical fictional Irish character, a wealthy South County Dublin rugby union jock created by journalist Paul Howard. The character first appeared in a January 1998 column in the Sunday Tribune newspaper and later transferred to The Irish Times. The series comprises twenty-one novels, three plays, a CD, two other books, a weekly podcast, and the newspaper column, as of 2023.
The Miseducation of Ross O'Carroll-Kelly: The Diary of a Schools Rugby Player is a 2000 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, and the first in the best-selling Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series. It was adapted from a series of columns by Howard in the Sunday Tribune.
The Orange Mocha-Chip Frappuccino Years is a 2003 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, and the third in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress is a 2006 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, and the fifth in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade is a 2006 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, and the sixth in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
Mr S and the Secrets of Andorra's Box is a 2008 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, and the eighth in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
The Oh My God Delusion is a 2010 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, and the tenth in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
Ross O'Carroll-Kelly's Guide to (South) Dublin: How To Get By On, Like, €10,000 A Day is a 2008 faux-travel guide by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, as part of the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series. It takes the form of a tourist guide to South Dublin, written by Ross and his friends.
The Twelve Days of Christmas is a comedy album written by Paul Howard as part of the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series. The title is a reference to a Christmas song of the same name. The project was the idea of Richard Cook.
NAMA Mia! is a 2011 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard and the eleventh in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
Keeping Up with the Kalashnikovs is a 2014 book by Irish author Paul Howard and is the fourteenth novel in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
Seedless in Seattle is a 2015 book by Irish author Paul Howard and is the fifteenth novel in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
Game of Throw-ins is a 2016 book by Irish author Paul Howard and is the sixteenth novel in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
Operation Trumpsformation is a 2017 book by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard and is the seventeenth novel in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
Dancing with the Tsars is a 2018 book by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard and is the eighteenth novel in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
Schmidt Happens is a 2019 book by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard and is the nineteenth novel in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series
Braywatch is a 2020 book by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard and is the twentieth novel in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
Normal Sheeple is a 2021 book by Irish playwright and author Paul Howard and is the twenty-first novel in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
Once Upon a Time in… Donnybrook is a 2022 book by Irish playwright and author Paul Howard and is the twenty-second novel in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
Camino Royale is a 2023 comic novel by Irish playwright and author Paul Howard and is the twenty-third novel in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
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