| Dominic Behan |
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BIOGRAPHY 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 Christine English, who owned a number of properties in the area. His father, Stephen Behan trained initially as a Jesuit priest (qualifiying as a teacher) but shortly before taking vows was found in a compromising position with a young woman; naturally Stephen Behan was required to leave the Jesuit order and later became one of Michael Collin's "Twelve Apostles" responsible for assassinating British Army officers during the Irish war of independence. Stephen Behan's refusal to take an oath of loyalty to the Irish Free State resulted in his exclusion from the teaching profession for which he'd trained and ultimately a life of comparative hardship. Stephen Behan became a painter and decorator and married Kathleen Kearney in the early 1920s. Stephen Behan 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 "A Soldier's Song". At the age of thirteen, Behan left school to follow his father's footsteps in the housepainting business. Republican & Political activities In , Behan was arrested in Dublin for leading a civil disobedience campaign in protest against the ruling government's failure to tackle critical economic issues including unemployment. Behan was subsequently jailed for his part in other campaigns protesting the government's treatment of the working class in Ireland. Behan, the writer On release from Jail Dominic Behan Married Josephine Quinn the daughter of a leading Scottish left wing journalist. They emigrated to England where Behan worked for the BBC, writing radio scripts, mainly for the Third Programme. His play Posterity Be Damned, produced in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, in 1959, dealt with republican activity after the Civil War of 1922–23. An autobiographical novel "Teems of Times" (1961) was received to critical acclaim, particularly by Kenneth Tynan. A biography of his brother, Brendan Behan , appeared in 1965, ''My Brother Brendan''. During the 1960s and 70s Dominic wrote a number of television plays for British television in showcases such as "Play for today" and "Armchair Theatre" One of these plays, "The Folk Singer" (1972) was restructured for the theatre and presented during the height of the troubles at Belfast's Lyric theatre. Arguably, it was as a songwriter that Dominic excelled. His songs became popular among the Irish living in England, especially ' The Patriot Game ', 'McAlpine's Fusilers, 'Avondale', 'The Merry Ploughboy', 'Famine Song' and 'Liverpool Lou'. Teems of Times was dramatized in the early 80s on television by RTÉ. Behan's Death Dominic died at home in Glasgow on 3 August 1989, shortly after the publication of his critically acclaimed novel "The Public world of Parable Jones". Survived by his wife, Josephine, and two sons, Fintan and Stephen. Behan left a rich legacy of writing including in excess of 450 songs published during his lifetime. WORKS Plays
Books
Songs
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