Playwright and novelist Thomas Kilroy today received a prestigious award to celebrate a lifetime of literary achievement.
But despite being commended for his contribution to literature, the 73-year-old vowed that it has not marked the end of his writing days.
Kilroy was presented with the Irish PEN/AT Cross Literary Award at a gala dinner attended by over 100 guests at the Royal St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Award-winning writer and previous recipient Jennifer Johnston, esteemed Irish writers Roddy Doyle and Seamus Heaney, and brothers Patrick and Michael were among those at the celebration of his work.
"I am delighted to receive the award and looking forward to catching up with old friends and colleagues at the gala dinner in Dun Laoghaire," Kilroy said.
"But just because I am getting a lifetime achievement award, it certainly doesn't mean I will be putting my pen down any time soon."
The acclaimed writer is a former play editor at the Abbey Theatre and was a co-founder of the groundbreaking Field Day Theatre Company in Derry in the 1980s.
A native of Co Kilkenny, he was a Professor of English at University College Galway before he left to concentrate fully on writing.
His plays include Double Cross, Talbot's Box, Tea And Sex And Shakespeare, The O'Neill and The Secret Fall Of Constance Wilde.
Kilroy is currently working on a screenplay, The Colleen and the Cowboy, for Irish producer Paul Donovan of Grand Pictures and the Irish Film Board. Production is planned for the first half of next year.
Meanwhile, the Guthrie Theatre of Minneapolis will present a revival of his play The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde on June.
A member of the Royal Society of Literature, the Irish Academy of Letters and Aosdana, Kilroy has joined the ranks of Brian Friel, John McGahern and Seamus Heaney as a winner of the prestigious award.
The event celebrates Irish-born writers with a lifetime of literary achievement, with nominees selected by Irish PEN members and previous winners.
The first Irish PEN/A.T.Cross Award was presented to John B. Keane in 1999. Since then Edna O'Brien, William Trevor, Neil Jordan, and Jennifer Johnston have been recipients.
PA