In the mid-1970s a group of young men left their homes in the West of Ireland, took the boat out of Dublin Bay and sailed across the sea to England in the hope of making their fortunes and returning home. Twenty-five years later only one, Jackie Flavin, makes it home, but does so in a coffin. The Kings of the Kilburn High Road takes place on the day that the winners and losers of the group meet up to drink to Jackie Flavin's memory and looks at their lives, lost dreams and their place in the new Ireland.

Brothers of the Brush is a 'subtle unsentimental lament for the working class' (Irish Times) in which house painters, patching over the cracks of an old house, misuse each other for their own advantage. In a world blighted by economic recession, with workers losing faith in old ideologies, this play demonstrates just how fragile allegiances are when personal interests are at stake. (Winner of the Dublin Festival Best New Play Award)

Jimmy Murphy's plays for the Abbey Theatre include Brothers of the Brush, 1993 (winner of the Dublin Festival Best new play award.) A Picture of Paradise 1997, and The Muesli Belt, 2000 Other works include Aceldama, 1998, The Kings of the Kilburn High Road, 2000 (2001 Tricycle Theatre, London) The Castlecomer Jukebox,(2004) for Red Kettle and What's left of the Flag, 2010 Theatre Upstairs @ The Plough, (nominated for Best New Play, 2010 Irish Theatre awards.) In 2008 an Irish language feature film version of The Kings of the Kilburn High Road; Kings, was Ireland's official entry into the Best foreign language Oscars category and a subsequent postage stamp was issued in its honour. He is former writer in residence at NUI, Maynooth, a member of the Abbey Theatre's Advisory Council and a recipient of three Bursaries in literature from the Arts Council/An ChomhairleEalaion. In 2004 he was elected a member of Aosdana, the affiliation of Irish artists. In September 2011 Focus Theatre will premiere his new play The Hen Night Epiphany.