Brian Cleeve

Brian Talbot Cleeve, (November 22, 1921 – March 11, 2003) was a prolific writer and popular TV broadcaster, who lived in Ireland for most of his life . He was a polymath with a passionate interest in many subjects, including religion, history, archaeology, and philosophy. In late middle age he underwent a profound spiritual experience, which led him to embrace mysticism for the remainder of his life. He developed a model for the spiritual life that is based on the principle of obedience to the Will of God. November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 11 March is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (71st in Leap year). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Leonardo da Vinci A polymath (also known as a polyhistor) is a person who excels in multiple fields, particularly in both arts and sciences. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: History For other senses of this word, see history (disambiguation). ... Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... The Philosopher (detail), by Rembrandt Philosophy is a study that includes various diverse subfields such as aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphysics. ... Mysticism from the Greek (muo, concealed) is the pursuit of achieving communion or identity with, or conscious awareness of, ultimate reality, the divine, spiritual truth, or God through direct experience, intuition, or insight; and the belief that such experience is an important source of knowledge or understanding. ... Michelangelos depiction of God in the painting Creation of the Sun and Moon in the Sistine Chapel This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and derived henotheistic forms. ...

Life and work

Childhood

Cleeve was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, the second of three sons born to Charles Edward Cleeve and Josephine nee Talbot. Charles Cleeve, who was born in Limerick, Ireland, was a scion of a famous and wealthy family that ran several successful Irish enterprises in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. As a result of labour troubles and the effects of the Irish Civil War, the Cleeve business failed and Charles moved with his family to England, where Brian was born in 1921. Southend-on-Sea is a resort town in Essex, England. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... Limerick (Irish: Luimneach) is a city and the county seat of County Limerick in the province of Munster, in the midwest of the Republic of Ireland. ... This article is on the car division of Toyota. ... The Irish Civil War (June 1922–April 1923) was a conflict between supporters and opponents of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 6, 1921, which established the Irish Free State, precursor of todays Republic of Ireland. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

When he was two-and-a-half, Brian's mother died and his maternal grandparents, Alfred and Gertrude Talbot, took over responsibility for his upbringing. At age eight, Cleeve was sent as a boarder to Selwyn House in Kent, followed at age 12 by three years at St. Edward's School in Oxford. He was by nature a free-thinker and he rejected the assumptions and prejudices that were then part and parcel of upper-middle class English life. His unwillingness to conform meant that school life was very difficult for him, and, in the late summer of 1938, Cleeve decided not to return to St. Edward's for his final year. Instead, he ran away to sea. Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... St Edwards School is a co-educational public school (that is, an independent, fee-charging secondary school) in North Oxford, England, on the Woodstock Road. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Early life

Cleeve led an eventful life during the next fifteen years. He served on the RMS Queen Mary as a commis waiter for several months. At age 17 he joined the The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders as a private soldier, and, because of his age, just missed being sent to Europe as part of the BEF when World War II broke out. In 1940, he was selected for officer training and sent to Kenya as a Second lieutenant in the King's African Rifles. A year later he was court-martialled as a result of his objections to the treatment by colleagues of an African prisoner. Stripped of his commission and sentenced to three years' penal servitude, he was transferred to Wakefield Prison in Yorkshire. There, he was offered parole if he agreed to work for British Intelligence. For the remainder of the war he served as a counter-spy in neutral ports such as Lisbon. As cover, he worked as an ordinary seaman in the Merchant Navy. RMS Queen Mary was a Cunard Line (then Cunard White Star Line) ocean liner that sailed the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967. ... World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the British army sent to Belgium in World War I and British Forces in Europe from 1939 - 1940 during World War II. The BEF was established by Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Boer War in case Britain ever needed to... Combatants Allies: • Poland, • UK & Commonwealth, • France, • Soviet Union, • USA, • China, ...and others Axis: • Germany, • Italy, • Japan, ...and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total: 50 million Full list Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total: 12 million Full list World War II, also, The... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Second Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned rank in many armed forces. ... The Kings African Rifles (KAR) was a British colonial regiment in East Africa from 1902 until the independence of the various colonies in the 1960s. ... Wakefield Wakefield is a city in the county of West Yorkshire, England, south of Leeds, and by the River Calder. ... The White Yorkshire rose. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence [section] 6), or Her Majestys Secret Service or just the Secret Service, is the British external security agency. ... District or region Lisbon Mayor   - Party Carmona Rodrigues PSD Area 84. ... In most seafaring countries, the merchant marine (or merchant navy) is a fleet of ships used for commerce that sometimes complements the navy. ...

In 1945, Cleeve took an Irish passport and came to Ireland where, in the space of three weeks, he met and married Veronica McAdie. A year later, they left Ireland, with baby daughter Berenice, on a protracted odyssey that took them to London, Sweden, the West Indies, and finally South Africa. In 1948, the family settled in Johannesburg where Cleeve and his wife set up their own perfume business. A second daughter, Tanga, was born to the couple there in 1953. As a result of his friendship with Fr. Trevor Huddleston, Cleeve witnessed the conditions in which the black and coloured population had to live in townships such as Sophiatown. Cleeve became an outspoken critic of Apartheid, and, in 1954, he was branded by the authorities as a 'political intractable' and ordered to leave South Africa. 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... For other uses, see London (disambiguation) and Defining London (below). ... The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... City motto: Unity in Development Province Gauteng Mayor Amos Masondo Area  - % water 1,644 km² 0. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ... Trevor Huddleston (June 15, 1913, – April 20, 1998), was an Anglican priest, one-time Archbishop of Mauritius and the Indian Ocean, and most famous for his anti-Apartheid activism. ... Sophiatown was a lively, mostly-black suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Literary career

Cleeve started writing poems in his teens, a few of which were published in his school paper, the St. Edward's Chronicle. During the war he continued to produce poems of a spiritual or metaphysical nature, but none was ever published. In 1945, he turned to novel-writing. After his first two attempts were rejected, his third novel, The Far Hills, was published in 1952. It is a roman à clef about the first few months of his married life in Dublin. It is also an unflattering picture of the drabness and mean-spiritedness of lower middle class Irish life in the mid 1940s. Two further novels about South Africa followed and their unvarnished descriptions of the reality of life for the native population probably contributed to Cleeve's eventual expulsion from the country. Metaphysical may refer to: Metaphysics, a branch of philosophy dealing with the ultimate nature of reality; or The Metaphysical poets, a poetic school from seventeenth century England who correspond with baroque period in European literature. ... Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe; title page of 1719 newspaper edition A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... A roman à clef or roman à clé (French for novel with a key) is a novel describing real-life events behind a façade of fiction. ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland (and the island of Ireland), located near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. ...

In the mid 1950s, he began to concentrate on the short story form. During the next 15 years over 100 of his short stories were published in magazines and periodicals across five continents. He sold nearly 30 to The Saturday Evening Post alone. This article is in need of attention. ... A cover of the Saturday Evening Post from 1903 The Saturday Evening Post was a weekly magazine published in the United States from August 4, 1821 to February 8, 1969. ...

During the 1960s and 70s, Cleeve returned to writing novels with considerable success. He produced a series of well-received mystery and spy thrillers that did not sacrifice character to plot. One of these, Dark Blood, Dark Terror, was reviewed in the following terms by The Sunday Express: "Dublin author's exciting novel overshadows a man of genius. I am afraid Graham Greene comes off second best". (This was a reference to Greene's The Comedians.) Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene, OM (October 2, 1904 – April 3, 1991) was a prolific English novelist, playwright, short story writer and critic whose works explore the ambiguities of modern man and ambivalent moral or political issues in a contemporary setting. ... NOTE: This article does not refer to the Graham Greene novel The Comedians. The Comedians is a British television show from the 1970s (later reprised in the 1980s) which gave a stage to nightclub and working mens club comedians of the era, including Stan Boardman, Frank Carson, and Bernard...

In 1971, Cleeve published Cry of Morning, his most controversial and successful novel up to that point. It is a panoramic depiction of the economic and social changes that affected Ireland during the 1960s as seen through the eyes of a disparate collection of well-drawn characters. Cleeve subsequently achieved even greater commercial success, especially in the USA, with a number of historical novels featuring a strong female character as protagonist. The first of these, Sara, is set in England during the Napoleonic era and was published in 1974. 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... The protagonist is the central figure of a story, and is often referred to as a storys main character. ... ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1974 calendar). ...

Cleeve also wrote several works of non-fiction, principally the Dictionary of Irish Writers. This was a 20-year project to provide to scholars and the general public alike a comprehensive resource on Irish writers at an affordable price. It was a labour of love that consumed a great deal of his time and was effectively subsidised by his more commercial pursuits. The last edition was published in 1985. This article is about the year. ...

Television career

On January 1, 1962, Telefís Éireann was launched as the Republic of Ireland's first indigenous television station. Cleeve joined the station as a part-time interviewer on the current affairs programme, Broadsheet. In 1964, a new documentary series, Discovery, began with Cleeve as scriptwriter and presenter. The series covered all aspects of Irish life and Cleeve won a prestigious Jacob's Award for his contribution. January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar). ... For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ...

In 1966, Telefís Éireann announced that Cleeve was being dropped as presenter of Discovery because his voice was deemed to be "too light in tone". Many suspected that the real reason was political. Cleeve was told by a colleague that his English accent was felt to be similar to that of the "ascendancy class". This was a reference to the Protestant upper classes that had been part of the ruling elite in Ireland before independence. An evening newspaper mounted a campaign on Cleeve's behalf and he was soon reinstated. 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...

In 1967 he joined the new weekly current affairs programme, 7 Days. There, Cleeve and his colleagues set about exposing issues of public interest, much to the dismay of the traditional power structures of big business, the Catholic Church and the political parties. Eventually, external pressure led to the programme coming under tighter editorial control. Cleeve refused to be subject to the new regime and was moved to other less controversial - and less high profile - programmes. Telefís Éireann did not renew his contract when it expired in 1973, ironically, just as his last documentary won two awards at the Prague International Television Festival. The documentary, Behind The Closed Eye, focused on the Irish poet Francis Ledwidge who was killed while serving in the British army in Belgium during World War I. 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... The cast of Seven Days. ... The name Catholic Church can mean a visible organization that refers to itself as Catholic, or the invisible Christian Church, viz. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1973 calendar). ... Francis Ledwidge (August 19, 1887 - July 31, 1917) was an Irish poet, killed in action during World War I. Ledwidge was born at Slane in Ireland, into a large and poverty-stricken family. ... Combatants Allies: • Serbia, • Russia, • France, • Romania, • Belgium, • British Empire and Dominions, • United States, • Italy, • ...and others Central Powers: • Germany, • Austria-Hungary, • Ottoman Empire, • Bulgaria Casualties Military dead: 5 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total: 8 million Full list Military dead: 3 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total: 6 million Full...

Other interests

In addition to his literary and broadcasting careers, Cleeve had a lively interest in many other areas. Here are some examples:

• While living in South Africa, he took up épée fencing under the Italian master, Ugo Monticelli. Later, in Ireland, he became prominent in the sport's organisation and went on to become Irish champion in 1957 and 1959.
• Shakespeare's Hamlet fascinated him and his thesis on the origin of the tale of the Danish prince led to him receiving his Ph.D from University College Dublin.
• His interest in languages drew him to the study of Shelta, the secret language of the Irish Traveller people.

An Épée fencer. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... William Shakespeare (National Portrait Gallery), in the famous Chandos portrait, artist and authenticity unconfirmed. ... The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and is one of his best-known and most often quoted plays. ... Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ... University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin - more commonly University College Dublin (UCD) - is Irelands largest university, with over 20,000 students. ... Shelta is a language spoken by parts of the Irish Traveller people. ... Irish Travellers are a nomadic or itinerant people of Irish origin living in Ireland, Great Britain and the United States. ...

Spiritual life

Raised as an Anglican, Cleeve converted to Roman Catholicism in 1942. In his thirties he became agnostic but continued to pursue his interest in the spiritual dimension of life. In 1977, he began to experience a deep sense of the presence of God and the effect on his life was profound. He all but abandoned his successful literary career and wrote three mystical works that aroused much debate in Ireland. The first of these, The House on the Rock, contains a series of meditations on a wide variety of topics from the nature of good and evil to more secular matters such as politics and nuclear energy. This was followed by The Seven Mansions, which delves deeper into some of the subjects covered in its predecessor. The third book, The Fourth Mary, was published in 1982 and is an account of a branch of the cult of Dionysus that flourished in first century Jerusalem. The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... This article is about the year. ... The term agnosticism and the related agnostic were coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869. ... Michelangelos depiction of God in the painting Creation of the Sun and Moon in the Sistine Chapel This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and derived henotheistic forms. ... This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ... Politics, sometimes defined as the art and science of government. ... ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dionysus with a panther and satyr, in the Palazzo Altemps (Rome, Italy) Dionysus or Dionysos (Ancient Greek: Διώνυσος or Διόνυσος; also known as Bacchus in both Greek and Roman mythology and associated with the Italic Liber), the Thracian god of wine, represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its... Jerusalem (31°46′N 35°14′E; Hebrew: (help· info) Yerushalayim; Arabic: (help· info) al-Quds, Greek Ιεροσόλυμα), is an ancient Middle Eastern city on the watershed between the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea at an elevation of 650-840 meters. ...

When the clamour caused by his spiritual books died down, Cleeve withdrew from the public gaze. He continued to write for a small audience of those who contacted him following publication of The House on the Rock. In 2001, he published a collection of essays on the Internet that summarised his spiritual beliefs. In these, he described the steps that he believed were necessary for anyone wishing to pursue a spiritual life. They consist of learning to follow God's guidance as an "inner voice" in one's mind, uncovering the past failures that keep one trapped in a negative cycle of self-absorption, and learning the qualities necessary to live as one of God's servants. 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Final years

Following his wife Veronica's death in 1999, Cleeve moved to the village of Shankill, Dublin. His health deteriorated rapidly following a series of small strokes. He did not stop writing, however. He ended as he began, producing heartfelt poems to God, reminiscent of those written by John of the Cross 400 years earlier. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Shankill is a suburb at the southern boundary of County Dublin, Ireland. ... Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... Saint John of the Cross (Juan de la Cruz) (June 24, 1542 – December 14, 1591) was a Spanish Carmelite friar born at Fontiveros, a small village near Avila. ...

On March 11, 2003, he died suddenly of a heart attack and his body now lies under a headstone that bears the inscription, 'Servant of God'. 11 March is the 70th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (71st in Leap year). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Bibliography

Novels

• The Far Hills (1952)
• Portrait of My City (1953)
• Birth of a Dark Soul (1954) (also published as The Night Winds)
• Assignment to Vengeance (1961)
• Death of a Painted Lady (1962) (also published as The Portrait)
• Death of a Wicked Servant (1963)
• Vote X for Treason (1964)
• Dark Blood, Dark Terror (1966)
• The Judas Goat (1966) (also published as Vice Isn't Private)
• Violent Death of a Bitter Englishman (1967)
• You Must Never Go Back (1968) also published as Shadow of Gold)
• Exit from Prague (1970) (also published as The Sleepers)
• Cry of Morning (1971) (also published as The Triumph of O'Rourke)
• Tread Softly in this Place (1972)
• The Dark Side of the Sun (1973) (also published as Darkness Falls from the Air)
• A Question of Inheritance (1974) (also published as For Love of Crannagh Castle)
• Sara (1975)
• Judith (1977)
• Kate (1977)
• Hester (1978)
• A Woman of Fortune (1993)

Non-Fiction

• Dictionary of Irish Writers - Volume 1 (1967)
• Dictionary of Irish Writers - Volume 2 (1970)
• Dictionary of Irish Writers - Volume 3 (1971)
• The House on the Rock (1980)
• The Seven Mansions (1980)
• 1938: A World Vanishing (1982)
• The Fourth Mary (1982)
• A View of the Irish (1983)
• Biographical Dictionary of Irish Writers (1985) (with Anne Brady)

Plays

• The Voodoo Dancer (1961)
• Comeback (1962) (with Veronica Cleeve)
• The King of Sunday (1962)
• A Case of Character (1964) (with John Bowen)
• The Girl from Mayo (1968) (with Carolyn Swift)
• You Must Never Go Back (1971) (with Peter Hoar)
• Cry of Morning (1972) (with Peter Hoar)
• Exit from Prague (1972) (with Peter Hoar)

Short stories (selected)

• Alibi (1947)
• The Eight Kikuyu (1955)
• Passport to Darkness (1956)
• The Salmon of Knowledge (1957)
• The Medal (1961)
• The Panther (1961)
• The Sergeant (1963)
• Foxer (1965)
• The Horse Thieves of Ballysaggert (1966) (Collection)
• The Devil & Democracy (1966)
• First Love (1968)
• Madonna of Rathmines (1969)
• An Arab was the First Gardener (1970)

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Brian Cleeve

• An Invitation to the Spiritual Life