Michael OSullivan - Brendan Behan: A Life

Brendan
BEHAN

A Life

Published by
ROBERTS RINEHART PUBLISHERS
Post Office Box 666
Niwot, Colorado 80544
TEL 303.652.2685
FAX 303.652.2689
www.robertsrinehart.com

Distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West

ISBN: 978-1-56833-187-4

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 99-60836

Copyright 1999 Michael OSullivan

First published in Ireland by
Blackwater Press
Dublin

Dustjacket photograph of Brendan Behan courtesy of Lensmen, Dublin, Ireland

Illustration of Brendan Behan used on Part openings by John Short

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission of the publishers.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Manufactured in the United States of America

MICHAEL OSULLIVAN

All will be judged. Master of nuance and scruple,

Pray for me and for all writers, living or dead:

Because there are many whose works

Are in better taste than their lives, because there is no end

to the vanity of our calling, make intercession

For the treason of all clerks.

W.H. Auden

Every man has three lives, public, private, and secret.

Gabriel Garcia Mrquez

Do Garech de Brn

For Garech Browne

This is not an authorised or official biography of Brendan Behan, and it was undertaken on my own initiative. Nevertheless I have had such support from members of the Behan family, and from so many of Brendan Behans friends, that it is difficult to make adequate acknowledgement to them. Some have asked not to be acknowledged. Others will be disappointed that aspects of Behans life which they may have preferred to see quietly glossed over are included in the book. I have gone to considerable lengths to honour my commitment to use the information given to me exactly in the spirit in which it was given. Some interviewees who were hesitant at first, later gave very generous help and I am particularly grateful to them for that trust.

Before acknowledging the many people who made this book possible I wish to express my special thanks to four members of the Behan family who were endlessly patient with my many varied and sometimes quite forward enquiries on personal family matters. In this regard I am especially grateful to Brendan Behans brothers, Seamus Behan, Brian Behan and Sen Furlong. Paudge Behan also gave generously of his time and knowledge.

I knew the late Beatrice Behan and her sister, the late Celia ffrench-Salkeld, since I was an undergraduate at Trinity College, Dublin. I benefited from many happy hours spent in their company, listening to their recollections of Brendan Behan. Behans close friend, Cathal Goulding, gave generously of his time during lengthy interviews in County Carlow and in Dublin. Behans other great friend, Paddy Collins, answered many enquiries with glad grace and gave me an important written record of his memories of their friendship.

The constant encouragement and support needed to complete the book came from my good friend, Garech Browne. He provided that enlivening motivation which contributed to seeing it through to its conclusion.

At a crucial stage I had the great good fortune to have the selfless dedication of Kate Braithwaite to whose editorial judgement and skill I am deeply indebted. Her incisive critical evaluation of all aspects of the book was the largest single contribution made to it. In that regard I am also indebted to Bernardine Dewar for her invaluable editorial advice and guidance and to Emily Ormond whose editorial skills and advice saved me from many a pitfall. Through the help and guidance of John Wood, many of the complexities of Behans New York life and my enquiries about it, were solved with expert efficiency, skill and quiet patience.

Three institutions provided an important cache of previously unpublished source material, some of which was not due for release to scholars until the year 2007, and I wish to express my gratitude to individuals in the institutions concerned. At the British Home Office, Mr J.M. Lloyd; at the Military Archives, Dublin, Comdt. Peter Young and Comdt. Victor Lang; at the Department of Justice, Dublin, the former Minister for Justice, Mrs Nora Owen and departmental officials Fergus Bailey, Seamus Hanrahan and John ODwyer.

For interviews, recollections, photographs, the loan of material and for many kindnesses I wish to thank the following people whose names are arranged alphabetically: Muriel Allison (Trinity College Library), Peter Arthurs, Carmel Behan, Sean Boyd, Liam Brady, Dr Luke Brady, Rev Fr P.J. Brophy, Rory Carren, Michael Coogan, Paul Conran, Alan Cook, Anthony Cronin, Thrse Cronin, Ruda Beresford Dauphin (for her kind help in New York), the late Stan Gebler Davies, Gerry Daly (for his help in unravelling the complexity of Behans travel to and from England during the period of his IRA membership), Mairead Delaney, Johnny Devlin, Brendan Dohry, J.P Donleavy, Dr Aidan Doyle (for his scholarly guidance on Behans Irish poems), Austin Doyle, Senator Joe Doyle, Ian Dunlop, Daniel Farson, Liam Finnegan, Joan Countess de Freney, Paula Furlong, the late Allen Ginsberg, Viscount Gormanston, James Gorry, Thrse Gorry, Valentine Gotti (for her kind help in Paris and New York), Charles Gould (for his memories of Behan in the US) Reginald Gray (for his memories of Behan and for his kind permission to reproduce his portraits of Behan and Cecil ffrench-Salkeld), Pete Hamill, Nuala Harris, Reggie Hastings (for his kind encouragement and hospitality in County Kilkenny when finishing the book), Anne Henderson (Irish Architectural Archive), Senator Dr Mary Henry, Seamus Hosey, John Hurt, Sharon Hutchinson (Irish Times Library), Margaret Hyland, Dr W.S. Jagoe (for his kind help with Behans medical history) Conal Kearney, Paddy Kelly, Maire Kennedy (The Gilbert Library, Dublin), Irene Keogh, Lainey Keogh, Benedict Kiely, the late Humphrey Langan, John Lonergan (Governor of Mountjoy Jail), Brian Lynch (for his kind help in the RTE Archives), Count Randal MacDonnell KM, MacDomhnaill na nGleann (for his kind help in compiling the family trees), Dr David McCutcheon (for Behans medical records in the Meath Hospital), Joe McGill Jnr., Cyril McKeon, Desmond MacNamara, Rex Mackay S.C., Derek Mahon, Norman Mailer, Norris Mailer, Dr Philip Mansel (for his kind hospitality in London), Tom Mathews, Chesley Milliken, John Montague, Mary Moreton, Edward Mulhall, Dermot Mullane, Jarlath ffrench-Mullen, Nicholas Myers, Noel Nelson (Royal City of Dublin Hospital), Derek Newcombe (General Records Office, Dublin), Mary Rose OBrien, Sister Peggy OGorman, Anne ONeill, Paddy and Angela ONeill, Lord Oranmore and Browne, the late Oonagh Lady Oranmore and Browne, Nora Owens and Sarah Owens, Pauline Parker, Roger Plant (Governor of Hollesley Bay), Poolbeg Press, Dublin, Dr Martin Purcell (for his help with Behans medical history), Tom Quinlan (National Archives), Grace Pym, Alan Reid (Deputy Governor Hollesley Bay), Frances Redmond, Rev Fr Stephen Redmond, Anna C. Ryan, Maureen Ryan, Jean Rylands (US Embassy, Dublin), Tessa Sayle, London, Jerry Scanlan, Mrs Peter A. Sebley (Rae Jeffs), Sisters Louise, May and Veronica (The Sisters of Charity, Dublin), Patsy Sheridan, W.G. Simpson (Librarian of TCD), Isobel Smith, the late Paul Smith, Kelvin Smythe, Denis Staunton (for his kind help in Berlin), Rosamund Stevens (Steve Willoughby), Francis Stuart, Ian Stuart, Anthony Summers, Carolyn Swift (for her extraordinary generosity with material relating to the first production of