Brendan Behan
Brendan Francis Behan (
Irish: Breandán Ã" Beacháin) (
February 9,
1923 -
March 20,
1964) was an
Irish poet, short story writer, novelist and playwright who wrote in both
Irish and
English. He was also a committed
Irish Republican and an erstwhile member of the
Irish Republican Army.
Behan was one of the most successful
Irish dramatists of the 20th century.
Early life
Behan was born in inner-city
Dublin into an educated working class family. The house the Behan family lived in belonged to his grandmother, who owned a number of properties in the area. His father, a housepainter who had been active in the
Irish War of Independence, read classic
English writers to the children at bedtime and his mother took them on literary tours of the city. Behan's uncle,
Peadar Kearney, wrote the
Irish National Anthem. His brother,
Dominic Behan, was also a renowned songwriter, whilst another sibling, Brian Behan, was a prominent radical political activist and public speaker, actor, author and playwright; Brendan believed Brian was 'a traitor to the cause' and it is notable that Brendan's dying wish was to have his brother Brian shot. His mother, Kathleen Behan, was politically active throughout her life and was a personal friend of
Michael Collins. She published her acclaimed autobiography and memoirs 'Mother of All The Behans', a collaboration with their son Brian, in 1984. At the age of thirteen, Behan left school to follow his father's footsteps in the housepainting business.
Republican activities
In 1937, the family moved to a new local authority housing scheme in
Crumlin. Here, Behan became a member of
Fianna Éireann, the youth organization of the
IRA and published his first poems and prose in the organization's magazine
Fianna: the Voice of Young Ireland. In 1939, Behan was arrested in
Liverpool in possession of explosives for use in the IRA
S-Plan bombing campaign. He was sentenced to three years in a reform school (or
Borstal in British English) (see his autobiography "
Borstal Boy") and did not return to
Ireland until 1941. In 1942, during the timeframe leading to the IRA's
Northern Campaign Behan was tried for the attempted murder of two detectives in Dublin and sentenced to fourteen years. Behan was sent to
Mountjoy Prison and later to the
Curragh Internment Camp. He was released in 1946 as part of a general amnesty of republican prisoners. In 1947, he spent a short time in prison in
Manchester for helping a fellow republican to escape from jail.
Behan, the writer
Behan's prison experiences were central to his future writing career. In Mountjoy he wrote his first play,
The Landlady and also began to write short stories and other prose. Some of this work was published in
The Bell, the leading Irish literary magazine of the time. He also learned Irish in prison and after his release in 1946, he spent some time in the
Gaeltacht areas of
Galway and
Kerry, where he started writing poetry in Irish. By the early 1950s he was earning a living as a writer for radio and newspapers and had gained a reputation as something of a character on the streets and in literary circles in Dublin.
His major breakthrough came in 1954 when his play
The Quare Fellow, which was based on his experiences in jail, was produced in the Pike Theatre in Dublin. The play ran for six months. In May 1956,
The Quare Fellow opened in the Theatre Royal, Stratford, in a production by
Joan Littlewood, bringing international fame to the author.
In 1957, his Irish language play,
An Giall (
The Hostage) opened in the Damer Theatre, and his autobiographical novel
Borstal Boy was published. Behan was now established as one of the leading Irish writers of his generation.
Behan was perhaps the most famous Irish writer of his time, and was once hired to write an
advertising slogan for
Guinness. As part of his payment for this, the company offered him half a dozen kegs of their
stout. After a month the company asked Behan what he had come up with; Behan had already managed to drink all of the beer they had given him and produced the slogan
Guinness Makes You Drunk. Erroneously, he is also sometimes credited with "Guinness is Good for You", which was actually written by
Dorothy L. Sayers.
Decline and death
Behan found fame difficult to deal with. He had long been a heavy drinker (describing himself, on one occasion, as "a drinker with a writing problem" and claiming "I only drink on two occasions - when I'm thirsty and when I'm not") and developed diabetes in the early 1960s. This combination resulted in a series of notoriously drunken public appearances, both on stage and television. After 1957, his books consisted of transcriptions of tape recorded conversation or of works written long before that date. He died, aged 41, in the Meath Hospital, Dublin, and was buried in
Glasnevin Cemetery.
His last words were to several nuns standing over his bed, "God bless you, may your sons all be bishops."
Plays
The Quare Fellow (1954)
An Giall (1958),
The Hostage (1958)
**Behan wrote the play in Irish, and then translated it himself into English
Richard's Cork LegMoving OutA Garden PartyThe Big HouseBooks
Borstal Boy (1958)
Brendan Behan's Island (1962)
Hold Your Hour and Have Another (1963)
Brendan Behan's New York (1964)
Confessions of an Irish Rebel (1965)
Songs
The Auld TriangleBiographies
"Brendan Behan" by
Ulick O'ConnorHe was mentioned in the
Preacher comics when the vampire Cassidy claimed to have known him in the 50's. He is the subject of the chorus of "Streams Of Whiskey", song by the
Pogues, "Last night as I slept, I dreamt I met with Behan, I shook him by the hand, and we passed the time of day, when questioned on his thoughts, on the sum of his life's philosophy, he had these very clear and simple words to say; I am going, I am going, any which way the winds may be blowing, I am going, I am going, where streams of whiskey are flowing". Behan is also mentioned in the
Pogues song "Thousands are Sailing" with reference to the experience of Irish immigrants in New York: "And in Brendan Behan's footsteps, I danced up and down the street". In the song "All Things considered" by
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones" Behan is also mentioned. In the Thin Lizzy song "Black Rose" in the lyric "Ah sure, Brendan where have you Behan?" In
The Mountain Goats song "Commandante", he is mentioned with the lyric, "I'm gonna drink more whiskey than Brendan Behan".
Brendan Behan is mentioned in the song 'The Auld Triangle' which describes an Irish prisoner's reaction to hearing about Behan's death. This song was performed by Australian comedy trio The Doug Anthony Allstars in an album entitled 'Blue', during the mid-eighties. This song included the lyrics 'Ireland has lost her sweet angry singer/No longer his poems of fine design/Shall ring out in Gaelic/Or sound through the main/Brendan Behan is dead'.
The original song, "The Auld Triangle" came from the play, "The Quare Fellow" this term being prison slang for a prisoner condemned to be hung. See the Discussion Page on the entry, "Royal Canal of Ireland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Royal_Canal_of_Ireland )
*
Biography and selected bibliography Capturef June 1, 2005.
*
The Brendan Behan Worship Page 
