Jennifer Johnston (novelist)

Jennifer Johnston
BornJennifer Prudence Johnston
(1930-01-12)12 January 1930
Dublin, Ireland
Died25 February 2025(2025-02-25) (aged 95)
Dún Laoghaire, Ireland
OccupationNovelist
Alma materTrinity College Dublin
SpouseIan Smyth (m. 1951-?); 4 children
David Gilliland (his death)
Relatives

Jennifer Prudence Johnston (12 January 1930 – 25 February 2025) was an Irish novelist. She won a number of awards, including the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest in 1979 and a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards (2012). The Old Jest, a novel about the Irish War of Independence, was later made into a film called The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins, produced by Sarah Lawson and directed by Robert Knights.