Flann O'Brien

Carol Taaffe (Trinity College Dublin)
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Flann O'Brien was the pseudonym of the Irish humorist, Brian O'Nolan (1911-1966), otherwise notorious as the

Irish Times

columnist, Myles na gCopaleen. As Myles, he had a vast and loyal following in Ireland for over twenty years, enjoying an intimate relationship with his daily audience. The novelist Flann O'Brien has tended to have an independent life in the academic sphere, variously depicted by his critics as a Joycean acolyte, a precocious postmodernist, or a slightly cheerier Beckett. Brian O'Nolan's position is rather more interesting, since he was a post-Revival Irish writer who straddled two literary traditions and two literary professions, never wholly acceding to the conventions of either.

Brian O'Nolan was born in Strabane, Co.Tyrone on 10th October, 1911. The third of twelve

2351 words

Citation: Taaffe, Carol. "Flann O'Brien". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 September 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3369, accessed 19 March 2024.]

3369 Flann O'Brien 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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