Heno Magee was born in Dublin in 1939. He comes from a fairly typical working-class background -- he left school at fourteen to become a messenger boy. Later he joined the R.A.F. and traveled widely for five years before returning to Dublin to work in a factory. In 1972 he retired to devote himself entirely to writing.

In 1976 he received the Abbey Theatre bursary and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. He has finished five plays, among them I'm Getting Out of This Kip, Hatchet and Red Biddy which have been produced on stage and television. He has also worked as a theatre critic for The Catholic Standard. He lives in Dublin.