Flann O'Brien was the pseudonym of the Irish humorist, Brian O'Nolan (1911-1966), otherwise notorious as the
Irish Timescolumnist, 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
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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 06 December 2024.]