O'BRIEN, FLANN

born Oct. 5, 1911, Strabane, County Tyrone, Ire. died April 1, 1966, Dublin pseudonym of Brian Nuallain, also known as Myles Na Gcopaleen Irish novelist, dramatist, and, as Myles na gCopaleen, a columnist for the Irish Times newspaper for 26 years. O'Brien was educated in Dublin and later became a civil servant while also pursuing his writing career. He is most celebrated for his unusual novel At Swim-Two-Birds, which, though it was first published in 1939, achieved fame only after its republication in 1960. At Swim-Two-Birds is a rich literary experiment that combines Irish folklore, heroic legend, humour, and poetry in a style replete with linguistic games. O'Brien's novels The Hard Life (1961) and The Dalkey Archive (1964; adapted as a play, When the Saints Go Cycling In, performed 1965), though written on a smaller scale than his masterpiece, are thought equally amusing. Another novel, The Third Policeman (1967), is more sombre in tone.