He taught in
Nigeria during the
Biafra War. Later he was head of the Irish Department in Drumcondra from 1981. In 2003 he began to write a column in
The Irish Times. In 2006 he was appointed Professor of Modern Irish in
University College Cork. He retired in 2011. Titley was elected to the
Royal Irish Academy in 2012. Awards won include The Butler Prize of the Irish American Cultural Institute, The Pater Prize for International Drama, The Stewart Parker Award for Drama from the
BBC, and the Éilís Dillon Award for Children's Literature. ==Political views==