About The Author
The Short Version
Diarmaid Condon is an Irish author carving dark, twisting tales of crime, mystery, and noir from his home in rural Tipperary. A former international property consultant and journalist, he brings gritty realism and sharp wit to his work. His debut thriller, “I Will Follow,” emerged from the 2020 lockdown, marking a bold new chapter in his life.
Born in Tipperary, Ireland in 1966, he qualified with an honours degree in IT Management from DCU.
In 1995, he embarked on a career as International Property Consultant, along with his wife, Eilís. In 2000 property journalism came calling and he went along for the ride, writing for a number of publications including the Business Post, Irish Examiner, Irish Times, Irish Independent, Irish Property Buyer Magazine and A Place in the Sun magazine.
He and his wife Eilís married in 1996 and have one adult son. Despite traveling abroad a considerable amount for work, they continue to live in rural Tipperary, in southern Ireland.
The (Slightly) Longer Version
Diarmaid is an Irish Crime, Mystery & Noir novelist based in Tipperary. He is renowned for dark and, sometimes humourous, prose, terse tense scenes, believable plotlines and a unique ability to keep a reader turning the pages throughout the course of a novel.
He started his writing career many moons ago as a well regarded overseas property journalist. Over the course of a ten year period he provided ample content for publications including the Business Post, Irish Examiner, Irish Times, Irish Independent, Irish Property Buyer Magazine and A Place in the Sun magazine. On top of that, he featured regularly on radio and TV programmes when coverage required an expert on the subject matter.
An only child, born to Jimmy & Eily Condon in Tipperary in 1966, this makes him…well, there’s no hiding it…old. He ran his family’s dairy farm for the early part of his career, then qualified as a mature student with an honours degree in IT Management from DCU in the year 2000. In 1995, to fund his studies, he embarked on a career as International Property Consultant, along with his wife, Eilís. His IT graduation occurred right in the middle of the notorious ‘dot bomb’ period of the early 2000s. With little work available in the IT sector, property journalism came calling and he went along for the ride.
As most people will be aware, that ride came to a juddering halt with the financial crisis at the end of the two-thousands. This was a tough time for Diarmaid. Work dried up. Many friends and colleagues in the industry struggled with unmanageable debt, some filing for inevitable bankruptcy. While he didn’t begin writing novels until after this time, the hardship and mental anguish of this period certainly informs the content and characters in his novels.
Diarmaid began his long form writing career during the 2020 pandemic lockdown, publishing his debut thriller novel, ‘I Will Follow’, in 2023. Having been a journalist, you may think this a natural transition. It is, he claims, no such thing. “It’s like comparing a sprinter and a marathon runner,” he has said. “Technically they both do the same thing, but being good at one doesn’t necessarily mean you can compete at the other.” There is, he says, a lot of work and learning involved in converting a writer of short form journalistic pieces into one that is competent at long form novel production. “I’m not close to the finished article, yet,” he has said, “all writers learn and evolve and learn over time. Otherwise, what’s the point? But there’s great fun to be had in that journey.”
Diarmaid and his wife Eilís (the Irish spelling of Billie Eilish’s adopted surname) met in 1994 while vacationing separately on the beautiful Caribbean island of Barbados. While this sounds trés exotique, it should be borne in mind that, for a period in the early nineties this was anything but. In fact, it was promoted as a relatively cheap and cheerful holiday destination. This came about because of Aeroflot’s need to stop in Shannon to top up on dinosaur juice for its flights from Minsk. An astute Irish holiday operator figured these half-empty planes, passing through Ireland’s rendition capital, would prove profitable if they could be filled with Irish sunseekers. And so it proved. In any case, this led to what Eilís describes as ‘a holiday romance that went horribly wrong.’ The couple married in 1996 and have remained in this blissful state ever since. They are proud parents to one adult son. Despite traveling abroad a considerable amount for work, they continue to live in the idyll of rural Tipperary, at the foot of the Knockmealdown Mountains, in southern Ireland.
For the Record is Diarmaid’s second book, a noir novel based in LA. It is almost complete and due to make its way to agents in late 2025.
Asked about his plans for the future, Diarmaid says that the publishing industry is a tough, and not always benevolent, taskmaster. On that basis, his aims are not dissimilar to the Irish farmer who won the lottery and claimed he would “farm away ’til ’tis all gone.”
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Trailer for I Will Follow: