Throughout his work, Friel handles his characters with affection and compassion, reflecting an extraordinary sensitivity to human nature. Outwardly simple, the characters are inwardly complex, and the emotional battle of each is kept free of sentimentality by Friel's skillful use of language. The combination of intelligence and emotion in Friel's characters succeeds in conveying a strong sense of the inadequacies of human nature while affirming the continuum of life.
A Catholic native of Northern Ireland, presently living in Muff, Country Donegal, Friel was born outside the town of Omagh, Country Tyrone, to Patrick and Christina MacLoone Friel. The family moved to Londonderry when he was ten so his father could take the principalship at Long Tower School. Friel attended St. Columb's College in Londonderry from 1941 to 1946. He entered St. Patrick's College, a seminary in Maynooth, in 1946 and received a B.A. degree in 1948. Having abandoned his plans for the priesthood, he studied at St. Joseph's Teacher Training School in Belfast in 1949-1950. In 1954 he married Anne Morrison, with whom he has five children.
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