Liam O'Flaherty
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Liam O'Flaherty was a significant Irish novelist and short story writer and a major figure in the Irish Renaissance.
Liam was born on August 28, 1896 on the remote Gort na gCapall, Inishmore (one of the Aran Islands), county Galway. Like many people in Ireland at that time, Liam was also born into poverty. Growing up, Liam spoke the Irish language. However, he was not encouraged to do so by members of his family.
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[edit] Early years
In 1908 at the age of twelve, he attended one of three different colleges. The first, Rockwell was followed by enrollments to Holy Cross and the University of Dublin. According to The Sunday Times, it was said he also attended Belvedere and Blackrock College. He never attended any of the earlier two schools for long. Among his studies, he took up the study of religion and had intended on joining the priesthood. In 1917, he left school and joined the Irish Guards regiment of the British Army. During this time, he fought in World War One and was injured. He also suffered from a barrage of attacks by the enemy which led to a battle with shell shock. In 1933 he suffered from mental illness which most believe to be a result of the shock suffered in World War One.
[edit] Political views
After the war his political views began to change. In 1918 he became involved in communist activities. He went on to fight in the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War.
In November 1921, he helped form the Communist Party of Ireland. According to The Sunday Times, these political views may have cost him some of the recognition that other novelists and short story writers were receiving.
In 1922, he led Communist Ireland, a rebellion in the Rotunda Meeting Halls somewhat similar in style and success to Hitler's Putsch some years later.
He edited and contributed to a number of left wing newspapers.
At this time it was not just his political views that were changing: Liam turned against his religious background and opposed all organized religion.
[edit] Work
O'Flaherty made other changes after the war as well. Another of these changes was that he left Ireland and moved to the United States, where he lived in Hollywood for a short period of time. A cousin was the famous director John Ford, who later turned Flaherty's novel, The Informer, into a movie.
In 1923, Liam O'Flaherty published his first novel, Thy Neighbor's Wife. This piece of work is thought to be one of his best. Many of his works have the common theme of nature and Ireland. In fact, some of his work was written in his native language, Gaelic, the very language his father did not want him to utter. In later years, in a letter to The Sunday Times, he confessed that writing in his native tongue of Gaelic, never truly amounted to much Unofficial Homepage. In fact, in the letter he spoke of other Irish writers who received little accolades for their writing in Gaelic. This led to some attacks on his character. Some in the writing profession accused him of turning his back on the language in order to be more commercial and make money [1].
In 1929, his novel The Informer was turned into a movie again, but this time by his cousin. Over the next couple of years, he published other novels as well as short stories. In 1933, at this time in his life, he suffered from the first of two mental breakdowns.
Throughout 1923 and 1950, he published many works. He also traveled the United States as well as Europe. Posthumously, many letters he wrote while on these trips were published. It is documented that he had a love of French and Russian culture. This is one of the possible reasons why he may have turned to communism.
[edit] Death
In September 7th, 1984 in Dublin, Liam O'Flaherty died. After his death, many of his works were re-released as well as some of his letters. Today, Liam O'Flaherty is remembered as a profound writer of the twentieth century by those who have been exposed to him and his work. Liam O'Flaherty is also remembered as strong voice in Irish culture.
[edit] Works
Among his books are Thy Neighbour's Wife (1924), The Informer (1925); adapted as a film (The Informer, 1935), Mr. Gilhooley (1926), Short Stories (1937; revised 1956), Famine (1937), Land (1946), Two Lovely Beasts and Other Stories (1950), Insurrection (1951), and The Pedlar's Revenge and Other Stories (1976).
In addition to The Sniper, some notable short stories by O'Flaherty are Civil War, The Shilling, Going into Exile, and A Red Petticoat.
Towards the end of his life, he published a collection of short stories, Dúil, which ranks among the finest he wrote in any language, as well as the finest ever written in Irish.[citation needed]
