Frank O'Connor Lecture Theatre
Frank O Connor, pseudonym of Michael O’Donovan (1903-1966), writer.
Born in Cork; educated at local schools, briefly taught by Daniel Corkery, otherwise self-educated; interned during the Civil War. He began to publish in the 1920s with George Russell and W.B. Yeats as mentors; director of the Abbey Theatre in the 1920s; first poetry editor of the Bell, founded by his friend Sean O’Faolain, in the 1940s.
Widely regarded as one of the masters of the realistic short story in the twentieth century, and as the most important translator of Irish poetry into English he also wrote novels, literary history and criticism, autobiography, biography, drama, travel books and extensive socially critical journalism.
Collections of short stories include:
Guests of the Nation (1931); Bones of Contention (1936); Crab Apple Jelly (1944); The Common Chord (1947); Travellers Samples (1951); Stories (1952); Domestic Relations (1957); More Stories (1954); Collection 3 (1969); and Collected Stories (1981).
Collections of poems translated from Irish include:
The Wild Birds Nest (1932); The Midnight Court (1945); Kinds, Lords and Commons (1959); The Little Monasteries (1963); and The Golden Treasury of Irish Poetry (1967 with David Greene).
O’Connors fiction deals especially with war experiences, childhood, priesthood, the death of traditional culture and provincial domestic life and is notable for its handling of narrative voice. An Only Child (1961), his autobiography covering his early life in a poor district of Cork is a classic of the genre. He lived variously in Cork, Dublin, England and the United States and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Dublin 1962.
Frank O’Connor (1903 – 1966) Scríbhneoir
Bhí Michael O’Donovan mar ainm cleite air. Rugadh i gCorcaigh é; cuireadh oideachas air i scoileanna áitiúla, bhí sé mar dhalta ag Dónal Ó Corcora ar feadh tréimhse ach taobh amuigh de sin, chuir sé oideachas air féin. Gabhadh é agus Cogadh Cathartha ar bun. Thosaigh sé ag foilsiú ábhar sna 1920’aí i dteannta George Russel agus W.B. Yeats a bhí mar mheantóirí aige. Bhí sé ina stiúrthóir ar Amharclann na Mainistreach sna 1920’aí agus ina chéad eagarthóir ar The Bell, bunaithe ag cara leis darbh ainm Seán Ó Faoláin sna 1940’aí. Tá clú agus cáil air mar cheann de na máistrí ar an ngearrscéal réadúil sa bhfichiú haois agus mar cheann de na haistritheoirí is tábhachtaí ar fhilíocht Ghaeilge a aistriú go Béarla. Scríobh se úrscéalta, stair liteartha agus léirmheastóireacht, dírbheathaisnéis, beathaisnéis, drámaíocht, leabhair taistil agus réimse fhairsing d’iriseoireacht chriticiúil ar an tsochaí.
San áireamh ina bhailiúchán gearrscéalta tá: Guests of the Nation (1931), Bones of Contention (1936), Crab Apple Jelly (1944), The Common Chord (1947), Traveller’s Samples (1951), Stories (1952), Domestic Relations (1957), More Stories (1954), Collection 3 (1969), agus Collected Stories (1981). San áireamh ar na dánta a d’aistrigh sé ón nGaeilge tá: The Wild Bird’s Nest (1932); The Midnight Court (1945); Kings, Lords and Commons (1959); The Little Monasteries (1963); agus The Golden Treasury of Irish Poetry (1967), le David Greene.
Baineann ficsean de chuid O’Connor go háirithe le taithí sa chogaíocht, óige, sagartóireacht, bás an chultúir thraidisiúnta agus saol an teaghlaigh reigiúnach tuaithe. Tá cáil ar an bhficsean seo as an tslí go mbíonn guth an scéalaí á láimhseáil ann. Glactar le An Only Child (1961), dírbheathaisnéis a chlúdaíonn an tréimhse luath ina shaol i gceantar bocht i gCorcaigh mar shárleabhar den seánra. Bhí cónaí air i gCorcaigh, Baile Átha Cliath, Sasana agus sna Stáit Aontaithe agus bhronn Ollscoil Bhaile Átha Cliath dochtúireacht oinigh air i 1962.
