MCGAHERN, JOHN

born Nov. 12, 1934, Leitrim, Ire. Irish novelist and short-story writer known for his depictions of Irish men and women constricted and damaged by the conventions of their native land. McGahern, the son of a policeman, was reared in County Roscommon in western Ireland. After graduation from University College, Dublin, McGahern worked as a labourer and then as a teacher. His first novel, The Barracks (1963), tells of a terminally ill, unhappily married woman. Praised for its brilliant depiction of Irish life and for its sensitive portrayal of despair, the work won several awards. The Dark (1965) is a claustrophobic portrait of an adolescent trapped by predatory male relatives in a closed, repressed society. McGahern's frank sexual portrayals in this novel earned the wrath of Irish censors, and he was asked not to return to his teaching job. His later novels include The Leavetaking (1974), The Pornographer (1979), and Amongst Women (1990). McGahern is noted for his accomplished, effortless style and his keen observations of the human heart and of Irish society. His short stories, admired for their economy of structure and original style, are collected in Nightlines (1970), Getting Through (1978), High Ground (1985), and The Collected Stories (1993).