He wrote a regular column for over 30 years between 27 July1935 - 1 February1967 with a short intermission for World War II. He took his pen-name from Cassandra in Greek mythology, a tragic character that is given the gift of prophecy by Apollo but is then cursed so that no one will ever believe her.
His writings, described as "polished-up barrack room style", were either bitter attacks on people and events or a personal diary of his every-day life and thoughts. His most famous columns include the claims that P. G. Wodehouse was a Nazi collaborator, a charge which George Orwell defended Wodehouse from and the outing of Liberace for which the paper was sued and lost. During the second World War he enraged Winston Churchill, who called him "malevolent". Shortly after this Connor joined the army for the remainder of the war.
Since his death the column Cassandra in The Daily Mirror has continued to be sporadically published.
External links
Cassandra at his finest and funniest - Selected writings. (http://lorry.org/Misc/Cassandra/)
His beautiful house with its fine library was destroyed during the Civil War, as part of the then process of eliminating the demesne lands of local landlords so as to make it available for a carve-up among the local land-hungry local men.
William O'Connor Morris was born in the city of Kilkenny on 26th November 1824 and was the son of Benjamin Morris, sometime Rector of Rincurran in the Diocese of Cork and Cloyne and Elizabeth, youngest daughter and co-heiress of Morris Nugent O'Connor of Gortnamona.
Described in the DNB as a delicate boy, he was placed when 10 years of age under the care of a physician at Bromley in Kent.
Feeds |
Contact