(1911-1966)Flann O’Brien, who was a humorous writer, was known under several names but his real name was Brian O'Nuallai (Nolan). He was born in County Tyrone, on 5 October 1911, as one of twelve brothers and sisters. Nevertheless, he grew up in Dublin and was a civil servant for eighteen years.
He was powerfully influenced by James Joyce and even attended the same college, University College Dublin. In the 1930s he began writing for the Irish Times under the name Myles na Gopaleen (Myles of the Small Horses). He also wrote a column for the Nationalist and Leinster Times but never used his real name.
O’Brien graduated with an MA in 1935. During his time at college he discovered a gift for debate, writing, editing and a love for drink (--> read the interview by Tim Pat Coogan).
Myles na gCopaleen or Myles na Gopaleen were the names he used when writing Irish novels and his newspaper columns. His English novels appeared under the name of Flann O’Brien.
His works, under the name Flann O’Brien, include:
-The Dalkey Archive
-The Hard Life: An Exegesis of Squalor
-The Third Policeman
-At Swim-Two-Birds
-An Béal Bocht (The Poor Mouth)
An interview with Flann O’Brien in 1964 by Tim Pat Coogan (after the publication of The Dalkey Archive)
The interview was carefully planned. Apart from getting him to talk, there was one other main objective: to keep O’Brien away from the drink. It was to take place at 8.30 on a Saturday morning so that he could be returned home before the pubs opened. But the wily O’Brien escaped the television crew’s vigilance. Disappearing to the toilet in his house when the camera man called for him, he was hauled out some twenty five minutes later, drunk as a lord. He had hidden a bottle of whisky in the cistern and downed the lot while the crew were eating breakfast. Somehow the interview went ahead – O’Brien demanding more drink as he rambled on – with the result that on the only surviving recording of his voice we hear a man slurring his words, obviously drunk. Praised by the producer as one of the “classics of Irish broadcasting,” it was unbroadcastable in 1960s Ireland and is hardly a fitting tribute to its subject.
An interview with Flann O’Brien in 1964 by Tim Pat Coogan (after the publication of The Dalkey Archive)
The interview was carefully planned. Apart from getting him to talk, there was one other main objective: to keep O’Brien away from the drink. It was to take place at 8.30 on a Saturday morning so that he could be returned home before the pubs opened. But the wily O’Brien escaped the television crew’s vigilance. Disappearing to the toilet in his house when the camera man called for him, he was hauled out some twenty five minutes later, drunk as a lord. He had hidden a bottle of whisky in the cistern and downed the lot while the crew were eating breakfast. Somehow the interview went ahead – O’Brien demanding more drink as he rambled on – with the result that on the only surviving recording of his voice we hear a man slurring his words, obviously drunk. Praised by the producer as one of the “classics of Irish broadcasting,” it was unbroadcastable in 1960s Ireland and is hardly a fitting tribute to its subject.
For further imformaion:
http://www.necessaryprose.com/obrien.html
http://www.necessaryprose.com/obrien.html
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