Editing Thomas Keneally (section)

== Early life ==
Both Keneally's parents (Edmund Thomas Keneally and Elsie Margaret Coyle) were born to [[Irish Australians|Irish]] fathers in the timber and dairy town of [[Kempsey, New South Wales]], and, though born in [[Sydney]], his early years were also spent in Kempsey.<ref name=ptint>{{cite web|title=Tom Keneally|url=http://www.abc.net.au/talkingheads/txt/s1989104.htm|website=[[Talking Heads (Australian TV series)|Talking Heads]]|publisher=ABC|access-date=27 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319073712/http://www.abc.net.au/talkingheads/txt/s1989104.htm |archive-date=19 March 2011|date=30 July 2007}}</ref> His father, Edmund Thomas Keneally, flew for the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] in [[World War II]], then returned to work in a small business in Sydney. By 1942, the family had moved to 7 Loftus Crescent, [[Homebush]], a suburb in the [[Inner West]] of Sydney and Keneally was enrolled at Christian Brothers [[St Patrick's College, Strathfield]]. Shortly after, his brother John was born. Keneally studied Honours English for his [[Leaving Certificate]] in 1952, under Brother James Athanasius McGlade, and won a Commonwealth scholarship.<ref name = "NLA">{{cite web|url=https://www.nla.gov.au/sites/default/files/thomaskeneally.pdf|title=Thomas Keneally, A Celebration|editor=Peter Pierce|publisher=Friends of the National Library of Australia|place=Canberra, Australia|date=2006|access-date=10 June 2017}}</ref>

Keneally then entered [[St Patrick's Seminary]], [[Manly, New South Wales|Manly]], to train as a [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|Catholic priest]]. Although he was ordained as a deacon while at the seminary, after six years there he left in a state of depression and without ordination in the priesthood. He worked as a Sydney schoolteacher before his success as a novelist and was a lecturer at the [[University of New England, Australia|University of New England]] (1968–70).<ref name = "NLA" />

Keneally was known as "Mick" until 1964 but began using the name Thomas when he started publishing, after advice from his publisher to use his real first name.<ref name=ptint/>