Brian O'Nolan
Also known as Myles na gCopaleen, Brother Barnabas, George Knowall, Myles na Gopaleen, Flann O'Brien
Irish writer (1911-1966)
Person · Open Library
- Works
- 3
Top works
- Other Myles/Myles Na Gaeilge
- The Poor Mouth
- At swim-two-birds
via Open Library + Wikidata
Music · MusicBrainz
- Type
- Person
- Gender
- Male
- Country
- Ireland
- Active from
- 1911
- Active to
- 1966
via MusicBrainz · CC0
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
~36 min read
Article
Brian O'Nolan (Irish: Brian Ó Nualláin; 5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966), whose pen names included Flann O'Brien, was an Irish Civil Service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth-century Irish literature. Born in Strabane, County Tyrone, he is regarded as a key figure in modernist and postmodern literature. His four English-language novels, At Swim-Two-Birds (1939), The Hard Life (1961), The Dalkey Archive (1964) and The Third Policeman (1967), were published under the pen name Flann O'Brien. His many satirical columns in The Irish Times and an Irish-language novel, An Béal Bocht (1941), were written under the name Myles na gCopaleen.
O'Brien's novels have attracted a wide following both for their unconventional humour and as prominent examples of modernist metafiction. As a novelist, O'Brien was influenced by James Joyce. He was nonetheless sceptical of the "cult" of Joyce, saying "I declare to God if I hear that name Joyce one more time I will surely froth at the gob."
Connections
Categories
1911 births1966 deaths20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights20th-century Irish male writers20th-century Irish novelists20th-century pseudonymous writersAlumni of University College DublinAuthors of Sexton BlakeBloomsdayBurials at Deans Grange CemeteryDeaths from cancer in the Republic of IrelandIrish civil servants