Conor McPherson Biography: Net Worth, Wife, Age, Height, Parents, Plays, Movies, Awards, Ethnicity
Conor McPherson is an Irish playwright, screenwriter, and director whose evocative storytelling has made him one of the most celebrated voices in contemporary theatre.
He founded the Fly by Night Theatre Company while still a student at University College Dublin and went on to write plays including The Weir, Shining City, The Seafarer, and The Night Alive, earning Olivier, Evening Standard, and Critics’ Circle Awards along the way.
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He has also written and directed films such as I Went Down, Saltwater, and The Eclipse, and in 2013 was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature by UCD in recognition of his contribution to world theatre.
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| Wiki Facts & About Data | |
| Name: | Conor McPherson |
| Born: | August 6, 1971 (age 55 years old) |
| Place of Birth: | Dublin, Ireland |
| Nationality: | Irish |
| Height: | 1.78 m |
| Parents: | Mr. and Mrs. McPherson |
| Spouse: | Fionnuala Ní Chiosáin (m. 2003) |
| Relationship: | Married |
| Children: | Sumati McPherson |
| Occupation: | Playwright, screenwriter, director |
| Net Worth: | $8 million |
Early Life and Education
Conor McPherson was born on August 6, 1971 in Dublin, Ireland, to Mr. and Mrs. McPherson. Details regarding his siblings have not been publicly disclosed.
He attended Chanel College in Coolock, where he discovered Arthur Miller‘s Death of a Salesman in his final year and began to see playwriting as a possible path for himself, though he has described his school years as a doggedly unhappy time during which he struggled to settle.
He went on to study English and Philosophy at University College Dublin, where he earned a double first degree at the age of twenty and began writing and directing plays as a member of UCD Dramsoc.
He subsequently completed a Master’s degree in Philosophy at UCD and spent two years teaching ethics there before committing to theatre full-time.
In June 2013, UCD awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Literature for his contribution to world theatre. He is of Irish ethnicity, and he identifies as agnostic.
Career
Conor McPherson founded the Fly by Night Theatre Company shortly after leaving university, and the company produced several of his earliest plays, including Rum and Vodka, The Good Thief, and This Lime Tree Bower, works that established his signature style of intimate, monologue-driven storytelling.
His breakthrough came in 1997 when the Royal Court Theatre in London commissioned The Weir, a haunting play set in a rural Irish pub where local men trade ghost stories with a newcomer from Dublin.
The production opened at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in July 1997 and transferred to the West End and Broadway, winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play in 1999 as well as the Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards.
It brought him the Evening Standard Drama Award for Most Promising Playwright and cemented his reputation as one of the leading dramatists of his generation.
His career flourished through the 2000s with a remarkable run of acclaimed plays. Dublin Carol premiered at the Royal Court and later at the Atlantic Theater in New York; Port Authority opened at the New Ambassadors Theatre in London in 2001, directed by McPherson himself, before transferring to the Gate Theatre in Dublin; Shining City premiered at the Royal Court and earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Play; and The Seafarer, which premiered at the National Theatre in London, received Olivier and Evening Standard nominations and a Tony Award nomination for Best Play.
Alongside his theatrical work, he built a parallel career in film, writing the screenplay for I Went Down (1997), which won Best Film and Best Screenplay at the San Sebastian Film Festival, and going on to write and direct Saltwater (2000), which won the CICAE Best Film Award at the Berlin Film Festival, and The Eclipse (2009).
In recent years, McPherson has continued to expand his body of work across theatre and film. His play The Night Alive premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in London and later at the Atlantic Theater in New York, where it won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play.
He wrote the book for the musical Girl from the North Country, featuring the songs of Bob Dylan, which opened at the Old Vic in London and later transferred to Broadway and the West End.
He adapted Chekhov‘s Uncle Vanya for the West End in 2020 and Paweł Pawlikowski‘s Cold War for the Almeida Theatre in 2023.
His television work includes the original drama Paula for BBC2 and an adaptation of John Banville‘s Elegy for April for the BBC, and his most recent stage work, The Brightening Air, opened at the Old Vic in 2025.
Personal Life
Conor McPherson is married to the artist and painter Fionnuala Ní Chiosáin, whom he wed in 2003. The couple live in Dublin, and they adopted a daughter, Sumati, from India in 2011.
Filmography
- I Went Down (1997)
- Saltwater (2000)
- The Actors (2003)
- The Eclipse (2009)
- The Weir (1997)
- Dublin Carol (2000)
- Port Authority (2001)
- Shining City (2004)
- The Seafarer (2006)
- The Night Alive (2013)
- Girl from the North Country (2017)
- Uncle Vanya (2020)
- Paula (2017)
- Cold War (2023)
- The Brightening Air (2025)
Net Worth
Conor McPherson has an estimated net worth of approximately $8 million, earning primary from his numerous plays, which are performed regularly in the West End, on Broadway, and in theatres around the world, as well as screenwriting and directing fees for his films, including I Went Down, Saltwater, and The Eclipse.
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