Author Edna O’Brien. Photo: Getty
Celebrated and sometimes controversial author Edna O’Brien, who died last week at the age of 93, was one of the most famous Irish writers of her generation. She had to contend with narrow-minded state censorship at the start of her career, but that didn’t prevent her from acquiring an international reputation for her literary skills.
She was born Josephine Edna O’Brien on December 15, 1930, into a farming family at Tuamgraney, a village in eastern Co Clare close to Lough Derg on the River Shannon. She was the youngest child of Michael O’Brien and Lena (nee Cleary) and the family lived in Drewsboro, a large two-storey house with bay windows, although the farm wasn’t exactly prosperous.