Ulick O'Connor is an Irish

Irish literature

For a comparatively small island, Ireland has made a disproportionately large contribution to world literature. Irish literature encompasses the Irish and English languages.-The beginning of writing in Irish:...

 writer, historian and critic.

Early life

Born in Rathgar

Rathgar

Rathgar is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, lying about 3 kilometres south of the city centre.-Amenities:Rathgar is largely a quiet suburb with good amenities, including primary and secondary schools, nursing homes, child-care and sports facilities, and good public transport to the city centre...

, County Dublin

County Dublin

County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...

 in 1928, O'Connor attended St. Mary's College, Rathmines and later University College Dublin

University College Dublin

University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...

, where he studied law and philosophy, becoming known as a keen sporting participant, especially in boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

, rugby

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 and cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

, as well as a distinguished debater – during his time there he was an active member of the Literary and Historical Society

Literary and Historical Society, University College Dublin

The Literary and Historical Society is the oldest debating society in University College, Dublin , and is the official College Debating Union. Founded in 1855 by Father John Henry Newman , it is one of the most prestigious and well-known student societies in Ireland...

. He subsequently studied at Loyola University, New Orleans.

Career and Writings

After practising at the Irish Bar in Dublin, O'Connor spent time as a critic before turning to writing. His work has spanned areas such as biography, poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

, Irish history, drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

, diary, and literary criticism

Literary criticism

Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...

.

He is a well-known intellectual figure in contemporary Irish affairs and has expressed strong opinions against censorship

Censorship

thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...

 and the war on drugs

War on Drugs

The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...

. He contributes a regular poetry column to Irish daily the Evening Herald

Evening Herald

The Evening Herald is a mid-market tabloid evening newspaper published in Dublin, Ireland by Independent News & Media. It is published Monday-Saturday, and has three editions — City Edition, City Final Edition and National Edition...

, has also written a column for the Sunday Mirror

Sunday Mirror

The Sunday Mirror is the Sunday sister paper of the Daily Mirror. It began life in 1915 as the Sunday Pictorial and was renamed the Sunday Mirror in 1963. Trinity Mirror also owns The People...

 and a sporting column for the Sunday Times, as well as broadcasting on RTE

RTE

RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...

.

His best known writing is his biographies of Oliver St. John Gogarty

Oliver St. John Gogarty

Oliver Joseph St John Gogarty was an Irish poet, author, otolaryngologist, athlete, politician, and well-known conversationalist, who served as the inspiration for Buck Mulligan in James Joyce's novel Ulysses....

, Brendan Behan

Brendan Behan

Brendan Francis Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.-Early life:...

, his studies of the early twentieth-century Irish troubles and the Irish Literary Revival

Irish Literary Revival

The Irish Literary Revival was a flowering of Irish literary talent in the late 19th and early 20th century.-Forerunners:...

.

He is also known for the autobiographical "The Ulick O’Connor Diaries 1970-1981: A Cavalier Irishman (2001)", which details his encounters with well-known Irish and international figures, ranging from political (Jack Lynch

Jack Lynch

John Mary "Jack" Lynch was the Taoiseach of Ireland, serving two terms in office; from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979....

 and Paddy Devlin

Paddy Devlin

Paddy Devlin was a Northern Irish social democrat and Labour activist, a former Stormont MP, a founder of the Social Democratic and Labour Party and a member of the 1974 Power Sharing Executive.-Early life:...

) to the artistic (Christy Brown

Christy Brown

Christy Brown was an Irish author, painter and poet who had cerebral palsy. He is most famous for his autobiography My Left Foot, which was later made into an Academy Award-winning film of the same name....

 and Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers

Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...

). It also documents the progress of the Peace Process

Peace process

Peace process may refer to:* in general:** Peacebuilding** Conflict resolution* specifically:** Northern Ireland peace process, efforts from c.1993 to end "the Troubles"...

 during the same time, and the progress of the Northern Ireland Assembly

Northern Ireland Assembly

The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...

. Although he has travelled extensively, O'Connor still lives in his parental home in Dublin's Rathgar

Rathgar

Rathgar is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, lying about 3 kilometres south of the city centre.-Amenities:Rathgar is largely a quiet suburb with good amenities, including primary and secondary schools, nursing homes, child-care and sports facilities, and good public transport to the city centre...

. He is a member of Aosdána

Aosdána

Aosdána is an Irish association of Artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers and with support from the Arts Council of Ireland. Membership, which is by invitation from current members, is limited to 250 individuals; before 2005 it was limited to 200...

.

O'Connor's great-grandfather was Matt Harris, Land Leaguer, Fenian

Fenian

The Fenians , both the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood , were fraternal organisations dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th century. The name "Fenians" was first applied by John O'Mahony to the members of the Irish republican...

, and Irish Parliamentary Party

Irish Parliamentary Party

The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...

 Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

. He is related to US Actor Carroll O'Connor

Carroll O'Connor

John Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...

.

Plays

• The Dream Box (1972)
• The Dark Lovers (1975)
• The Emperor’s Envoy (1976)
• The Grand Inquisitor; Submarine; and Deirdre (Dublin 1977, New York 1980)
• Execution (1985)
• The Oval Machine (1986)
• A Trinity of Two (1988)
• Joycity (1989)
• Deux de la Trinite (translated by Ramond Gerome, 1990).

Poetry Collections

• Lifestyles (1973)
• Three Noh Plays (1980)
• All Things Counter (1986)
• One is Animate (1990)
• Poems of the Damned (translations from Baudelaire’s Fleur du Mal, 1991).

Non-Fiction and Autobiography

• "Irish Tales and Sagas" (1981)
• "A Critic at Large" (1984)
• "Biographers and the Art of Biography" (1990)
• "The Ulick O'Connor Diaries, 1970-1981: A Cavalier Irishman (2003)

Biographical writings

• Oliver St John Gogarty: Biography (1964)
• Brendan Behan (1970)
• Celtic Dawn: Biography (1984)
• All the Olympians: A Biographical Portrait of the Irish Literary Renaissance (1987)
• Executions (1992)
• The Troubles: Michael Collins and the Volunteers in the Fight for Irish Freedom 1912-22 (2001)