Brendan Behan

Brendan Behan was born 9 February 1923 in Holles St. Hospital, Dublin, the eldest of five children of Frank Behan, a house painter, and Kathleen Behan. His father did not go to the hospital as he was in gaol, serving time for Republican activities. And Kathleen’s brother was Peadar Kearney who wrote the lyrics of ‘The soldier’s song’, which in 1926 was adopted by the new Irish Free State as the National Anthem.

Brendan Behan

Beginning in 1928 Behan attended St Vincent’s School in North William St. before later attending St Canice’s CBS on the North Circular Road. Aged fourteen he was apprenticed to his father’s trade and studied in Bolton St. technical school.

It had been noted from an early age that he had a talent for telling stories, recitation and singing. He did manage to get work as a painter, but his ambition was always to become a writer.

Aged 16 he went to Liverpool where he was arrested while in possession of explosives and was sentenced to three years’ Borstal detention. Back in Dublin in 1941 he was again in trouble, for trying to shoot a policeman, this time being handed a fourteen-year sentence, of which he served only five years.

Soon afterwards he had some poems and short stories published, and in 1954, the year that was married to Beatrice Salkeld, his play The Quare Fellow met with international success. Although acclaimed for his writing Behan also liked to be seen as a hard-drinking, fun loving character, something that he enjoyed but which took him away from his beloved writing.

In 1958 his most famous work, Borstal boy, was published to great acclaim, and this, sadly, was his final completed work. The sadness of his last years was tough to handle being as they were spent so much in the public eye. Not devoting himself to his writing made him feel bad, leading to more heavy drinking. And as a diabetic he knew only too well how it all would end.

He died in the Meath Hospital in Dublin on 20 March 1964.

Brendan Behan memorial beside the Royal Canal (Photo by Dennis Fisk)

Dublin’s Georgian Squares – Southside

St Stephen’s Green: Of all the Georgian squares in Dublin St Stephen’s has the longest history having been an area where farm animals once grazed. It gets its name from an old leper hospital dedicated to St Stephen where Mercer’s Hospital now stands. In 1663 the Dublin Corporation decided to raise funds by selling land for the construction of 96 plots, and a wall was erected around the green in 1664. Many two-storey houses were built, but by the mid-1750s these were replaced by the Georgian houses with which we are familiar.

The pond from O’Connell Bridge

The layout of 22-acre site was carried out by William Sheppard, and it comprises many interesting features, notably a pond that is crossed by O’Connell Bridge – the second bridge in the city with that name!

The land was purchased by Lord Aridlaun (a member of the Guinness family) in 1880, and access was made available to the general public. There are many statues on show, including those of James Joyce, Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa, Theobald Wolf Tone and the Fusiliers’ Arch.

Merrion Square: When the Duke of Leinster built his palatial home (now Leinster House) in 1748 it was the impetus for many developers to start building south of the Liffey. The layout of Merrion Square (11 acres) started in 1762 and continued for 30 years. Owned by the Catholic Church, which had planned to erect a cathedral there, access was made available to the general public in 1974 when Archbishop Dermot Ryan leased the property to Dublin Corporation. Some of the famous people who have lived ‘on the square’ include Oscar Wilde, Daniel O’Connell, AE Russell, WB Yeats and Sheridan Le Fanu.

Oscar Wilde relaxing in Merrion Square

Fitzwilliam Square: it is the smallest of the city’s Georgian squares (3.7 acres) and also the last to be completed. Richard Fitzwilliam developed the site, hence its name, and work continued from 1789 for three years. It comprised 69 townhouses, and access to the park is available to these keyholders only. The artist Jack B. Yeats lived in No. 18.

Meagher & the Tricolour

Thomas Francis Meagher, Irish revolutionary, newspaper editor and brigadier general in the Union Army, was born on 23 August 1823 in Waterford. His father, Thomas, a merchant and shipowner, was the Ireland’s first elected mayor (1842-44) since The Reformation, and the family lived in a mansion on the Quay (now the Granville Hotel).

TF Meagher

As a boy Thomas attended school at Sion Hill and later went to Clongowes Wood where he excelled in the Debating Society. At 16 he penned a history of the Society which when read by Daniel O’Connell remarked ‘A genius that could produce such a work is not destined to remain long in obscurity.’

In 1844 he arrived in Dublin and became involved in politics by joining the Repeal Association and abandoned his law study at King’s Inns. He and his fellow Young Irelanders advocated a recourse to arms to achieve freedom and after a stirring speech in 1846 he was referred to as ‘Meagher of the Sword’.

After a visit to Paris where he was impressed with the French Tricolour he had a Green, White and Orange flag made which was unveiled for the first time at a meeting of the Wolf Tone Confederate Club in Waterford on 7^th March 1848. After the failed rebellion of July 1848 Meagher, who was originally condemned to death, was transported to Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) where he stayed for four years before travelling to New York. During the American Civil War, he led his men, The Fighting 69^th, with distinction and rose to the rank of brigadier general.

The Tricolour

His tricolour did not the light of day again until the 1916 Easter Rising when it was flown during the fighting. During the period of the Irish Free State (1922-37) the flag was adopted by the Executive Council, and it was eventually confirmed as the national flag in the Irish Constitution which came into being on 29^th December 1937.