Diarmaid Ó Súilleabháin (1932 – 1985) was an Irish language writer whose chosen theme was contemporary urban life. He is acknowledged as an important Irish language modernist. [1] [2] He was also active in the Irish republican movement and a member of Sinn Féin.
Ó Súilleabháin was born at the Beara Peninsula in County Cork. His mother was a primary school teacher and his father a small farmer. [1] He married Úna Ní Chléirigh in 1954, and they had two sons and three daughters. [1] He died on 5 June 1985. [1]
He settled in Gorey and worked there as a primary teacher for the Christian Brothers school. [2]
He is best known now for his literary work. He wrote ten novels, two of them for teenagers. [1] Maeldún was a pioneering Irish novel that explored sexuality. [3] He wrote seven unpublished plays. [1] Three plays that he wrote include Bior, Ontos, and Macalla and he wrote a collection of short stories, Muintir. [2] A story from Muintir called 'D' was translated into English and adapted for the stage by Vivian McAlister and was performed by Dublin University Players in May 1977. [4]
Like Eoghan Ó Tuairisc, he "challenged the critical orthodoxy by openly proclaiming that their standards could not be those of the Gaeltacht and by demanding a creative freedom that would acknowledge hybridity and reject the strictures of the linguistic purists." [5] He and Máirtín Ó Cadhain were considered the two most innovative Irish language authors to emerge in the 1960s. [2] [3] He often wrote in a stream of consciousness, and his style influenced younger writers. His writing "explores the problem of recovering idealism and cultural wholeness in an increasingly shallow and materialistic Irish society." [3] Ó Súilleabháin was elected as a member of the Irish Academy of Letters and won more literary prizes than any other living Irish author. [1] [2]
He wrote a collection of poetry, Cosa Gréine, which was published and launched in Dublin in 2013, 28 years after his death. [2]
Ó Súilleabháin was an active Irish republican, particularly in publicizing the republican struggle, and was a member of Sinn Féin's ruling body beginning in 1971. [1] [2] He spent short periods in prison because of activities related to his political beliefs. [1]
Diarmaid Ó Súilleabháin (1932 – 1985) was an Irish language writer whose chosen theme was contemporary urban life. He is acknowledged as an important Irish language modernist. [1] [2] He was also active in the Irish republican movement and a member of Sinn Féin.
Ó Súilleabháin was born at the Beara Peninsula in County Cork. His mother was a primary school teacher and his father a small farmer. [1] He married Úna Ní Chléirigh in 1954, and they had two sons and three daughters. [1] He died on 5 June 1985. [1]
He settled in Gorey and worked there as a primary teacher for the Christian Brothers school. [2]
He is best known now for his literary work. He wrote ten novels, two of them for teenagers. [1] Maeldún was a pioneering Irish novel that explored sexuality. [3] He wrote seven unpublished plays. [1] Three plays that he wrote include Bior, Ontos, and Macalla and he wrote a collection of short stories, Muintir. [2] A story from Muintir called 'D' was translated into English and adapted for the stage by Vivian McAlister and was performed by Dublin University Players in May 1977. [4]
Like Eoghan Ó Tuairisc, he "challenged the critical orthodoxy by openly proclaiming that their standards could not be those of the Gaeltacht and by demanding a creative freedom that would acknowledge hybridity and reject the strictures of the linguistic purists." [5] He and Máirtín Ó Cadhain were considered the two most innovative Irish language authors to emerge in the 1960s. [2] [3] He often wrote in a stream of consciousness, and his style influenced younger writers. His writing "explores the problem of recovering idealism and cultural wholeness in an increasingly shallow and materialistic Irish society." [3] Ó Súilleabháin was elected as a member of the Irish Academy of Letters and won more literary prizes than any other living Irish author. [1] [2]
He wrote a collection of poetry, Cosa Gréine, which was published and launched in Dublin in 2013, 28 years after his death. [2]
Ó Súilleabháin was an active Irish republican, particularly in publicizing the republican struggle, and was a member of Sinn Féin's ruling body beginning in 1971. [1] [2] He spent short periods in prison because of activities related to his political beliefs. [1]