O'Brien, Flann (1911–1966)

Irish humorist, novelist, and essayist. Born in Strabane, County Tyrone, he was educated in Dublin, where he later worked as a civil servant. He wrote in Irish Gaelic and English, and his exuberant style is a blend of seriousness, surrealism, and farce. For 30 years he was a brilliant columnist on the Irish Times under the pen name Myles na Gopaleen. His first novel, the ambitious, exploratory At Swim-Two-Birds (1939), was influenced by James Joyce and is also indebted to Gaelic comic tradition. The Third Policeman (1967), written in 1940, is an experimental work with fantastic and satirical elements.

An Béal Bocht/The Poor Mouth (1941) was the only novel he produced in Gaelic. Other works include The Hard Life (1961) and The Dalkey Archive (1964). A selection of his newspaper columns appeared posthumously in The Best of Myles (1968).