NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Brendan Behan

Brendan Francis Behan (Irish: Breandán Ó Beacháin) (February 9, 1923 - March 20, 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also a committed Irish Republican and an erstwhile member of the Irish Republican Army. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 752 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (3000 Ã— 2392 pixel, file size: 696 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Herbert John Jackie Gleason (February 26, 1916 â€“ June 24, 1987) was an American comedian, actor, and musician. ... is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dublin city centre at night WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Leinster County: DÃ¡il Ã‰ireann: Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East European Parliament: Dublin Dialling Code: +353 1 Postal District(s): D1-24, D6W Area: 114. ... is the 79th day of the year (80th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... A literary genre is one of the divisions of literature into genres according to particular criteria such as literary technique, tone, or content. ... Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (Pronounced fee-na fall.) (English: Soldiers of Destiny) is the largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. ... For music albums named Autobiography, see Greek eauton = self, bios = life and graphein = write) is a form of biography, the writing of a life story. ... Written by Brendan Behan, the play is set in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, depicted in two superb sets designed by David Roger, both of which successfully capture the grim claustrophobia of prison life. ... The Hostage is: A play by Brendan Behan: The Hostage (play) A 1966 film: The Hostage (film) ... is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 79th day of the year (80th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (Pronounced fee-na fall.) (English: Soldiers of Destiny) is the largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. ... Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the Irish Republican Army in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and opponents of the Treaty. ...

Biography

Early life

Brendan was born in the inner city of Dublin on February 9, 1923 into an educated working class family. He resided in a house owned by his granny English, who owned a number of properties in the area. His father Stephen Behan, a house painter who had been active in the Irish War of Independence, read classic literature to the children at bedtime from diverse sources such as Zola, Galsworthy and Maupassant; while his mother Kathleen took them on literary tours of the city. If Brendan's interest in literature came from his father, then his political prejudices were injected by his mother. Brendan said: "Only a deaf mute could be reared by my mother and be unable to catalogue England's misdemeanours from Africa backwards." She remained politically active all her life, and was a personal friend of the famed Irish republican Michael Collins. Brendan wrote a lament to Collins: "The Laughing Boy," at the age of thirteen. The title was derived from the affectionate name Mrs Behan gave Collins. She published her acclaimed autobiography "Mother of All The Behans," a collaboration with her son Brian, in 1984. Behan's uncle Peadar Kearney wrote the Irish national anthem A Soldier's Song. His brother, Dominic Behan, was also a renowned songwriter most famous for the rebel song The Patriot Game, while another sibling, Brian Behan, was a prominent radical political activist and public speaker, actor, author and playwright. Stephen Behan was an Irish republican who was father of two famous writers Brendan Behan and Dominic Behan. ... Combatants Irish Republic United Kingdom Commanders Michael Collins Richard Mulcahy Cathal Brugha Important local IRA leaders Henry Hugh Tudor Strength Irish Republican Army c. ... Michael John (Mick) Collins (Irish: ; 16 October 1890 â€“ 22 August 1922) was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance in the Irish Republic, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations, both as Chairman of the Provisional Government and Commander... Peadar Kearney (December 12, 1883 - November 1942) wrote the lyrics to AmhrÃ¡n na bhFiann, the Irish national anthem, in 1907. ... AmhrÃ¡n na bhFiann (IPA: ) is the national anthem of the Republic of Ireland. ... Dominic Behan (22 October 1928 - 3 August 1989)(Gaelic: Doiminic Ã“ BeachÃ¡in) was an Irish songwriter, short story writer, novelist and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. ...

He developed his taste for drink from his granny English, and knew what it was like to be inebriated well before his teens. His biographer Ulick O'Connor recalls one day, at the age of eight, he was returning home with his granny and a crony from a drinking session. A passer-by remarked: "Oh, my! Isn't it terrible ma'am to see such a beautiful child deformed?" "How dare you," said his granny, "he's not deformed, he's just drunk!" Ulick OConnor (b. ...

At the age of thirteen, Behan left school to follow his father's footsteps in the house painting business.

Republican activities

In 1937, the family moved to a new local authority housing scheme in Crumlin. Here, Behan became a member of Fianna Éireann, the youth organization of the IRA and published his first poems and prose in the organization's magazine Fianna: the Voice of Young Ireland. He was also the youngest contributor to be published in the `Irish Press` when a poem of his entitled: "Reply of Young Boy to Pro-English verses" was published in 1931. Crumlin (Croimghlinn in Irish) is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the Southside of the city between Walkinstown Perrystown Drimnagh and Kimmage. ... A recruitment poster for the now-defunct Fianna Ã‰ireann group associated with Provisional Sinn FÃ©in. ... Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the Irish Republican Army in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and opponents of the Treaty. ...

At the age of sixteen (in 1939), he joined the IRA and embarked on an unauthorised solo mission to England to blow up Liverpool docks. There he was arrested in possession of explosives. He was sentenced to three years in a reform school (or Borstal in British English) (see his autobiography "Borstal Boy") and did not return to Ireland until 1941. In 1942, during the timeframe leading to the IRA's Northern Campaign Behan was tried for the attempted murder of two detectives in Dublin while at a commemoration ceremony for Wolfe Tone - the father of Irish Republicanism. Sentenced to fourteen years in prison he was incarcerated in Mountjoy Prison and the Curragh. These experiences were relayed in "Confessions of an Irish Rebel". Released under a general amnesty for Republicans in 1946, his "military" career was over by the age of twenty-three. Aside from a short prison sentence that he received in 1947 for his part in trying to break a fellow republican out from a Manchester jail, he effectively left the IRA, though he remained great friends with the future Chief-Of-Staff Cathal Goulding.^[1] In the United Kingdom, a borstal was a juvenile detention centre or reformatory, an institution of the criminal justice system, intended to reform delinquent male youths aged between about 16 and 21. ... Borstal Boy (1958) was an autobiographical story by Irish nationalist Brendan Behan, recouting his imprisonment at Hollesley Bay for attempting to carry explosives into Great Britain, on a mission for the Irish Republican Army. ... Northern Campaign 1942 - 1944 is a term used to describe attacks involving volunteers of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the period September 1942 - December 1942. ... Theobald Wolfe Tone Theobald Wolfe Tone, commonly known as Wolfe Tone (20 June 1763 - 19 November 1798) was a leading figure in the Irish independence movement. ... Mountjoy Prison is a closed medium security prison located in Dublin, Ireland. ... Cathal Goulding (January 1922 - December 28, 1998) was Chief of Staff of the IRA and the Official IRA. Born into a Republican family, Goulding was involved as teenager in Na Fianna (the Junior IRA) and joined the IRA at the age of 17 in 1939, the earliest age at which...

Behan the writer

Behan's prison experiences were central to his future writing career. In Mountjoy he wrote his first play, The Landlady, and also began to write short stories and other prose. Some of this work was published in The Bell, the leading Irish literary magazine of the time. He also learned Irish in prison and, after his release in 1946, he spent some time in the Gaeltacht areas of Galway and Kerry, where he started writing poetry in Irish. He left Ireland and all its perceived social pressures to live in Paris in the early 1950s. There he felt he could lose himself and release the artist within. Although he still drank heavily, he managed to earn a living, ostensibly by writing pornography. By the time he returned to Ireland he had become a writer who drank a lot, rather than a drinker who talked about what he was going to write. He had also developed the knowledge that, in order to succeed, he would have to discipline himself. Throughout the majority of his writing career he would rise at seven in the morning and work until 12 noon-when the pubs opened. He began to write for various newspapers such as The Irish Times and radio, where a play entitled "The Leaving Party" was broadcast. Additionally, he cultivated a reputation as carouser-in-chief and swayed shoulder-to-shoulder with other literati of the day: Brian O'Nolan, Patrick Kavanagh, Anthony Cronin, J. P. Donleavy. For reasons unknown he had a major fall-out with Kavanagh, who reportedly at the mere mention of Behan's name would visibly shudder. He referred to him as "evil incarnate". Amid all the merry-making, however, Behan sensed that he hadn't written anything of significance, and feared the boozer would eclipse the writer. Nearly five years after his return his literary niche had yet to be carved. Gaeltacht regions in Ireland Gaeltacht (pronounced ; plural GaeltachtaÃ) is an Irish word for an Irish-speaking region. ... Statistics Province: Connacht County Town: Galway Code: G (GY proposed) Area: 6,148 kmÂ² Population (2006) 231,035 (including Galway City); 159,052 (without Galway City) Website: www. ... Statistics Province: Munster County Town: Tralee Code: KY Area: 4,746 kmÂ² Population (2006) 139,616 Website: www. ... Flann OBrien was the best known pseudonym of Brian ONolan (October 5, 1911 - April 1, 1966), who also published under the name Myles na gCopaleen. ... Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 - 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet. ... Anthony Cronin (born 1925 in County Wexford) is an Irish poet. ... J.P. Donleavy James Patrick Donleavy is an Irish American author, born April 23, 1926 in New York to Irish immigrants. ...

That changed, however, in 1954 with the play "The Quare Fellow" (Irish slang for "condemned man")-his major breakthrough at last. Originally called "The Twisting of Another Rope" and influenced by his time spent in jail, it chronicles the vicissitudes of prison life leading up to the execution of "the quare fellow"-a character who is never seen. The prison dialogue is vivid, and laced with satire, but reveals to the reader the human detritus that surrounds capital punishment. It was produced in the Pike Theatre in Dublin. The play ran for six months. In May 1956, The Quare Fellow opened in the Theatre Royal Stratford East, in a production by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop. Subsequently it transferred to the West End theatre. Behan generated immense publicity for "The Quare Fellow" when appearing drunk on the Malcolm Muggeridge TV show. The English, unaccustomed to drunken authors, took him to their hearts . A fellow guest on the show the American actor Jackie Gleason reportedly said about the incident: "It wasn't an act of God but an act of Guinness!". Behan and Gleason went on to forge a friendship. Brendan loved the story of how, walking along the street in London, shortly after this episode, a Cockney approached him and exclaimed that he understood every word he had said-drunk or not-but hadn't a clue what "that bugger Muggeridge was on about!" While addled, Brendan would clamber on stage and recite the play's signature song "The Auld Triangle". The transfer of the play to Broadway provided Behan with international recognition. Rumours still abound that Littlewood's hand was all over The Quare Fellow and led to the saying, "Dylan Thomas wrote Under Milkwood, Brendan Behan wrote under Littlewood)" The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a theatre in Stratford, London, which opened in 1884. ... Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 - 20 September 2002) was a theatrical director, famous for her work in developing the left-wing Theatre Workshop. ... Theatre Workshop is a theatre group most notable for their devised pieces that included Oh, what a lovely war, and their leader, Joan Littlewood. ... West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre in London, England, or sometimes more specifically for shows staged in the large theatres of Londons Theatreland. Along with New Yorks Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre... Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (March 24, 1903â€“November 14, 1990) was a British journalist, author, satirist, media personality, soldier-spy and Christian scholar. ... Herbert John Jackie Gleason (February 26, 1916 â€“ June 24, 1987) was an American comedian, actor, and musician. ...

In 1957, his Irish language play, An Giall (The Hostage) opened in the Damer Theatre. It remains one of the most damning indictments of the IRA ever presented on stage. Reminiscent of Frank O'Connor's "Guests of The Nation" it portrays the capture of a British soldier who is being held in exchange for the release of an imprisoned IRA volunteer. The hostage falls in love with an Irish girl, Teresa. Their innocent world of love is incongruous among their surroundings-the play was set in a brothel. The soldier feels until the end that he won't be executed and will survive to marry Teresa. Tragically he dies, revealing to the reader the human cost of war-a universal suffering. One of Brendan's former comrades referred to him as "a chancer". The English translation however is a dawdy, slap stick play that bares no resemblane to the original The Hostage is a 1958 play by Brendan Behan, set in a very odd house of ill-repute somewhere in Dublin. ...

His autobiographical novel Borstal Boy followed in 1958, and remains forever his masterpiece. A vivid memoir of his time in Hollesley Bay Borstal, Suffolk, England, from its pages an original voice in Irish literature boomed out. The language is both acerbic and delicate; the portrayal of inmates and "screws" cerebral. For a republican, though, it isn't a vitriolic attack on Britain-it delineates Brendan's move away from violence. In one account an inmate strives to entice Brendan in chanting political slogans with him. Brendan curses and damns him in his mind hoping he would cease his rantings-hardly the sign of a troublesome prisoner. By the end the idealistic boy rebel emerges as a realistic young man who recognises the truth: violence, especially political violence, is futile. Kenneth Tynan, the 1950s literary critic said: "While other writers horde words like misers, Behan sends them out on a spree, ribald, flushed and spoiling for a fight." He was now established as one of the leading Irish writers of his generation. Borstal Boy (1958) was an autobiographical story by Irish nationalist Brendan Behan, recouting his imprisonment at Hollesley Bay for attempting to carry explosives into Great Britain, on a mission for the Irish Republican Army. ... Kenneth Peacock Tynan (April 2, 1927 - July 26, 1980), was an influential and often controversial British theatre critic and writer. ...

As his fame grew, so too did his alcohol consumption. Brendan saw that it paid him to be drunk, as the public wanted the witty, iconoclastic, genial "broth of a boy". And he gave it to them in abundance. He staggered through the drunken hoops held out to him exclaiming: "There's no bad publicity except an obituary." His health suffered terribly, with diabetic comas and seizures occurring with frightening regularity. Towards the end he became the caricature of the drunken Irishman. The public who once extended their arms now closed ranks against him; publicans flung him from their premises. Although Brendan cried out that he was a writer, inside he knew his fears had materialised — he was unable to generate another classic. His last two books, "Brendan Behan's Ireland" and "Brendan Behan's New York", published in 1961 and 1962 respectively, were talk books and cannot be compared to his former works — they were littered with pretentiousness and sycophancy, something which he wouldn't have tolerated earlier: "As Norman Mailer said to me. ....." Arthur Miller came up to me. .." "One day with Groucho Marx. ..." Norman Mailer, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1948 Norman Kingsley Mailer (born January 31, 1923) is an American novelist, journalist, playwright, screenwriter and film director. ... Arthur Bob Miller (October 17, 1915 â€“ February 10, 2005) was an American playwright and essayist. ... Julius Henry Marx, AKA Groucho Marx (October 2, 1890 â€“ August 19, 1977), was an American comedian, working both with his siblings, the Marx Brothers, and on his own. ...

Amid the chaos, he married Beatrice Salkeld (the daughter of painter Cecil Salkeld) in 1955. They had a daughter, Blanaid, born in 1963. Love, however, wasn't enough to haul him back from his alcoholic abyss. By early March 1964, the end was in sight. Collapsing at the Harbour Lights bar, he was transferred to Meath Hospital, and never re-surfaced. On March 20, the bawdy, boisterous boy who clung to the whiskey bottle never did make it home.

Anecdotes

Brendan's life is swamped in stories and anecdotes-both true and fictional. For those who criticised his drinking he exclaimed: "Where I came from, to get enough to eat was an achievement. To get enough to get drunk was a victory." To accusations that the IRA court-martialled him: "Yes, I was court-martialled in my absence, and sentenced to death in my absence. So I said 'go ahead and shoot me. ..in my absence!'"

Another occasion saw him enter a priest's house, badly shaking with alcohol withdrawal and gasping for a "cure". The priest provided him with a little whiskey in a glass, exhorting that providing him with it was like "tapping a nail into your coffin". Behan reportedly looked at the meagre amount and said: "You wouldn't mind giving the nail another tap would you father?"

Behan was perhaps the most famous Irish writer of his time, and was once hired to write an advertising slogan for Guinness. As part of his payment for this, the company offered him half a dozen kegs of their stout. After a month the company asked Behan what he had come up with; Behan had already managed to drink all of the beer they had given him and produced the slogan Guinness Makes You Drunk. Erroneously, he is also sometimes credited with "Guinness is Good for You", which was actually written by Dorothy L. Sayers. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Guinness logo Guinness is Good for You - Irish language advertisement. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Dorothy Leigh Sayers (Oxford, 13 June 1893 â€“ Witham, 17 December 1957) was a renowned British author, translator, student of classical and modern languages, and Christian humanist. ...

Decline and death

Behan found fame difficult to deal with. He had long been a heavy drinker (describing himself, on one occasion, as "a drinker with a writing problem" and claiming "I only drink on two occasions-when I'm thirsty and when I'm not") and developed diabetes in the early 1960s. This combination resulted in a series of notoriously drunken public appearances, on both stage and television. His last two works: "Brendan Behan's Ireland" and "Brendan Behan's New York" were tape-recorded, a device which Brendan hated, preferring to write or type his words. Bad health though dictated different. He died, aged 41, in the Meath Hospital, Dublin, and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery where he received a Republican funeral. En route to the graveyard, thousands lined the streets. Glasnevin Cemetery The round tower (centre) stands over the tomb of Daniel OConnell Glasnevin gravestones Glasnevin Cemetery, also known as Prospect Cemetery, is the main Catholic cemetery in Dublin, the capital of Ireland. ...

Pop Culture References

Preacher was a comic book series created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, published by the American comic book label Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, with painted covers by Glenn Fabry. ... Hellblazer is a contemporary horror comic book series published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics. ... Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (born December 25, 1957) is an English-born Irish musician. ... The Pogues were a popular Irish folk/punk band of the 1980s. ... The Pogues were a popular Irish folk/punk band of the 1980s. ... Philip Chevron (born Philip Ryan - June 17, 1957, Dublin) is an Irish singer, songwriter and guitarist. ... The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were a ska-core band from Boston, Massachusetts. ... Thin Lizzy are a hard rock band who formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1969. ... The Mountain Goats is the name of prolific American singer-songwriter John Darnielles long-running musical project. ... Robert Frederick Xenon Geldof, (or Zenon, sources differ)KBE[1], known as Bob Geldof (born 5 October 1951) [2], is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and political activist. ... Irish folk music band, most popular in the 1960s, who are often credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States. ... The Doug Anthony All Stars (DAAS) were an Australian musical comedy group comprising Tim Ferguson, Richard Fidler and Paul McDermott. ... Damien Dempsey is an Irish singer and songwriter. ... The Auld Triangle is a song which is featured in Brendan Behans play The Quare Fellow. ... The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962, making them one of the older bands still playing music today. ... The Pogues were a popular Irish folk/punk band of the 1980s. ... â€œDKMâ€ redirects here. ... Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. ...

Works

Plays

Written by Brendan Behan, the play is set in Mountjoy Prison, Dublin, depicted in two superb sets designed by David Roger, both of which successfully capture the grim claustrophobia of prison life. ... The Hostage is a 1958 play by Brendan Behan, set in a very odd house of ill-repute somewhere in Dublin. ...

Books

Borstal Boy (1958) was an autobiographical story by Irish nationalist Brendan Behan, recouting his imprisonment at Hollesley Bay for attempting to carry explosives into Great Britain, on a mission for the Irish Republican Army. ...

Songs

The Auld Triangle is a song which is featured in Brendan Behans play The Quare Fellow. ...

References

Arlington House is a hostel for the homeless in Camden Town, London. ... The National Archives building at Kew. ...

Biographies

Dominic Behan (22 October 1928 - 3 August 1989)(Gaelic: Doiminic Ã“ BeachÃ¡in) was an Irish songwriter, short story writer, novelist and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. ... Ulick OConnor (b. ... Brian Behan (November 10, 1926 - November 2, 2002) was an Irish writer and trade unionist. ...

External links

Categories: Wikipedia articles needing style editing | Irish dramatists and playwrights | Irish novelists | Irish poets | Irish short story writers | Irish Gaelic poets | Irish Republican Army members 1922-1969 | People from Dublin | Roman Catholic writers | Burials at Glasnevin Cemetery | 1923 births | 1964 deaths | Irish Roman Catholics Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is a sister project of Wikipedia, using the same MediaWiki software. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...

Contents

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