Background
O'Flaherty was born in 1896, a son of Maidhc Ó Flaithearta and Maggie Ganley, at Inishmore.
O'Flaherty was born in 1896, a son of Maidhc Ó Flaithearta and Maggie Ganley, at Inishmore.
Hoping he would become a priest, his family sent him to the Catholic schools of Rockwell and Black Rock, but he felt no vocation to religious life and continued secular studies at University College, Dublin.
In 1915 he enlisted in the British Army under an assumed name and was discharged with shell shock in 1917.
O'Flaherty fought for the Irish Republicans in the insurrection of 1922.
His first novel, Thy Neighbor's Wife, was published in 1924.
In the following years he published short stories, three volumes of autobiography, a play, a travel guide to Ireland, and criticism. O'Flaherty's youth was violent and so are his novels.
The Informer (1925), which was made into a motion picture, deals with a Dublin slum-dweller who betrays his friend.
Famine (1937), perhaps his best novel, describes the late 1840's in Ireland.
A collection of 46 short stories appeared in 1956.
Perhaps his most lasting works are his short stories, many of which treat themes of childhood and nature.
A study of O'Flaherty, The Literary Vision of Liam O'Flaherty by John Zneimer, was published in 1970.
(This book celebrates Liam O'Flaherty and his land, featur...)
Before his death he left the Communist Party and returned to the Roman Catholic faith.
He returned from the front a socialist. Having become interested in Marxism as a schoolboy, atheistic and communistic beliefs evolved in his 20s and he was a founder member of the Communist Party of Ireland.
father
Maidhc Ó Flaithearta
