TRIBUTES have come pouring in following the death of Tuamgraney’s internationally acclaimed novelist Edna O’Brien (93) on Sunday.
President Michael D Higgins said it is with great sorrow that I have heard of the passing of a dear friend of Sabina’s and his, Edna O’Brien.
“Edna O’Brien has been one of the outstanding writers of modern times, her work has been sought as model all around the world.
“Edna was a fearless teller of truths, a superb writer possessed of the moral courage to confront Irish society with realities long ignored and suppressed.
“Through that deeply insightful work, rich in humanity, Edna O’Brien was one of the first writers to provide a true voice to the experiences of women in Ireland in their different generations and played an important role in transforming the status of women across Irish society,” he said.
While the beauty of her work was immediately recognised abroad, President Higgins stressed it is important to remember the hostile reaction it provoked among those who wished for the lived experience of women to remain far from the world of Irish literature, with her books shamefully banned upon their early publication.
Thankfully, he noted her work is now recognised for the superb works of art which they are. As President of Ireland, he was delighted to present Edna with the Torc of the Saoi of Aosdána in 2015, and with a Presidential Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Her election as Saoi, chosen by her fellow artists, was the ultimate expression of the esteem in which her work is held.
“That work will continue to celebrate the full freedom that a writer must have, the risks and contradictions of circumstance, the release into beauty that imagination makes possible,” he said.
He expressed his deepest condolences to Edna’s children Carlo and Sasha, to her family and friends, to her follow members of Aosdána, and to all those who love her work across the world.
Paying tribute to the author, publishing house Faber said she was “one of the greatest writers of our age”.
“She revolutionised Irish literature, capturing the lives of women and the complexities of the human condition in prose that was luminous and spare, and which had a profound influence on so many writers who followed her.”
“A defiant and courageous spirit, Edna constantly strove to break new artistic ground, to write truthfully, from a place of deep feeling. The vitality of her prose was a mirror of her zest for life: she was the very best company, kind, generous, mischievous, brave. Edna was a dear friend to us all, and we will miss her dreadfully. It is Faber’s huge privilege to publish her, and her bold and brilliant body of work lives on.”
Former Clare County Council chairman, Pat Hayes, who proposed the renaming of Scariff Library to the Edna O’Brien Library last January, which came to fruition last May, was saddened to hear of her passing.
“Edna O’Brien leaves a lasting legacy to the world of literature. I am extremely thankful to Edna and her family for allowing us to name the library in Scariff in her honour,” he said.
University of Galway President Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh has paid tribute to acclaimed Irish writer Edna O’Brien:
“Edna was an exceptional novelist, short story writer, memoirist, poet and playwright whose work has enriched the lives of many generations.
“We were extremely fortunate to welcome Edna to campus in 1991 to confer her with an Honorary Doctor of Literature in recognition of her contribution to Irish society and literature. This was the first honorary degree conferred on Edna O’Brien by any University, and it was generally seen as overdue recognition of a writer whose controversial early novels in the 1960s, rooted in the religion-dominated Irish rural society of her girlhood, had been banned in Ireland.
Taoiseach, Simon Harris stressed Ireland has lost an “icon”, describing Ms O’Brien as a brave, gifted, dignified and magnetic person.
She wrote her debut novel The Country Girls in just three weeks. Sixty-four years on, he said it is not only a remarkable piece of work but still a landmark moment for Irish women and society.
“The book would be banned and burned but Edna O’Brien would never be silenced.
Most people would have stopped and hidden away from the misogyny she faced, but Edna O’Brien kept working on her artistry and became one of modern Ireland’s most celebrated and honoured writers.
“Her memoir, Country Girl, is a beautiful and raw piece of work where Edna O’Brien bares her soul.
“It is for all of us to reflect upon, and never forget, that to reach her potential Edna would leave Ireland and make London her home.
“She beautifully summed up herself and this Anglo/Irish experience and identity of so many people when she spoke of “the wedding of the Country of Ireland and the Country of England in me.”
Edna said that her writing was her breathing and in recent years while promoting her novel Girl she told interviewers, “I want to go out as someone who spoke the truth.”
“To say Edna O’Brien achieved this and so much more is the understatement of the century,” he added.
East Clare correspondent, Dan Danaher is a journalism graduate of Rathmines and UL. He has won numerous awards for special investigations on health, justice, environment, and reports on news, agriculture, disability, mental health and community.