O'Flaherty, Liam (lē`əm ōflă`hərtē), 1897–1984, Irish novelist, b. Aran Islands, Co. Galway. Many of his realistic novels have a compassionate interest in troubled people caught in the turbulence of his homeland, such as The Informer (1925), successfully filmed in 1935; The Black Soul (1924); Mr. Gilhooley (1926); and The Assassin (1928). Famine (1937), Land (1946), and Insurrection (1951) are novels of 19th-century Ireland. He also wrote notable short stories, as well as autobiographical works, Two Years (1930) and Shame the Devil (1934).

Bibliography

See studies by J. Zneimer (1970) and J. H. O'Brien (1973).

O'Flaherty, Liam

(born Aug. 28, 1896, Inishmore, Aran Islands, County Galway, Ire.—died Sept. 7, 1984, Dublin) Irish novelist and short-story writer. He abandoned his training for the priesthood and became a soldier in World War I, a migrant labourer in the Americas and the Middle East, and a revolutionary in Ireland. A leading writer of the Irish literary renaissance, he combined brutal naturalism, psychological analysis, poetry, and biting satire with an abiding respect for the Irish people. His novels include Thy Neighbour's Wife (1923), The Informer (1925; film, 1935), Skerrett (1932), Famine (1937), and Insurrection (1950).