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Edward A. McGuire , Irish, 1932-1986

Title

Seán O'Faolain

Date1977

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions

76 x 64 cm

Signedlower right: Edward McG 1977

Credit LinePresented, Committee organised by Mr S. Mulcahy, 1977

Object numberNGI.4201

DescriptionA short story writer, novelist, biographer and editor, Ó Faolain was educated at University College Cork and subsequently at Harvard. He joined the Irish Volunteers in 1918 and took the republican side in the Civil War, after which he spent several years teaching abroad. He is best-known for his short stories, several biographies, including a life of Daniel O'Connell entitled King of the Beggars (1938). In the 1930s Ó Faolain's fiction was subject to strict literary censorship in Ireland. He was editor of The Bell from 1940 to 1946, a literary and cultural monthly that opposed censorship and the versions of Catholicism and cultural dogma that sustained it. Ó Faolain was Director of The Irish Arts Council (1956-59).
Label TextSeán Ó Faolain was educated at University College Cork and Harvard. He joined the Irish Volunteers in 1918 and took the republican side in the Civil War, after which he spent several years teaching abroad. He is best known for his short stories and biographies (including a life of Daniel O’Connell). In the 1930s O’Faolain’s fiction was subjected to strict censorship in Ireland. From 1940 to 1946, he was editor of the literary periodical The Bell, which opposed censorship and provided a showcase for both new and established Irish writers. Ó Faolain was Director of The Irish Arts Council (1956-59).