Bryan Michael MacMahon (29 September 1909 – 13 February 1998) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

from

Listowel Listowel ( ; , IPA: �lʲɪsˠˈt̪ˠuəhəlʲ is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,820 according to the Central Statistics Of ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

. A schoolteacher by training, his works include ''The Lion Tamer, Patsy-o and his Wonderful Pets'' and ''The Red Petticoat''. He wrote an autobiography, ''The Master'', and his works include an English translation of ''Peig'', the

Irish-language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was th ...

autobiography of ''

Peig Sayers Máiréad "Peig" Sayers (; 29 March 18738 December 1958) was an Irish author and seanchaí ( or – plural: ) born in Dún Chaoin, County Kerry, Ireland. Seán Ó Súilleabháin, the former Chief archivist for the Irish Folklore Commission, ...

''.

Early life and education

MacMahon was born on 29 September 1909 to parents Patrick and Joanna MacMahon, in

. He was one of four children, his father was a clerk in a law office, a butter-buyer and exporter, and his mother was a schoolteacher. His father was also a member of the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...

. He had a traditional country up-bringing, which he illustrated in the first chapters of ''The Storyman'' (1994). He learned his love for the Irish language from his grandmother, who was a native Irish speaker. His grandfather was weighmaster in charge of the market and Bryan assisted him often. He was educated in Scoil Réalta na Maidine, Lios Tuathail, and then St Michael's College, Listowel, where he was influenced by the writer Seamus Wilmot, who encouraged him in his passion for writing. Like his mother, he also had a passion for teaching. He attended St. Patrick's Teacher Training College in Drumcondra, County Dublin. After this, he taught in Donore Avenue, off South Circular Road in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. Due to family pressures, he resigned his teaching post in Dublin in 1931 and returned to Listowel, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He became principal teacher of Scoil Réalta na Maidine and taught there for 44 years. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, MacMahon worked in factories in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He wrote about this experience in his 'Plain People of England' column for The Bell magazine. He opened a book shop in his wife Kitty's name on the main street of Listowel.

Family

MacMahon married his wife Kathleen “Kitty” Ryan in 1936. Kathleen was born on 14 June 1911 in Cashel, Co. Tipperary, to parents James Ryan and Ellen Ryan (nee O’Connor). MacMahon and Ryan were married in the Roman Catholic Church of Cashel on 4 November 1936. They had five sons, including Bryan, a judge of the Irish High Court, and Garry, who played

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

for the Kerry senior inter-county team from 1958 to 1962 and went on to practice law. One of his other sons, Owen, is a solicitor with PG MacMahon Solicitors.

Later life

During his later years, MacMahon paid more attention to the media while continuing to publish. Together with John B. Keane as well as other Irish playwrights, he founded '' Listowel Writers' Week'' in 1970, an international literacy festival based in MacMahon's home town of

. In 1989, MacMahon featured on ''The Late Late Show'', with

Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late Lat ...

. MacMahon published his first autobiography, ''The Master'', in 1992, which documented his career in teaching. The book went on to win the 1993 ''The'' ''American Ireland Literary Award''''.'' MacMahon released a second autobiography in 1994, ''The'' ''Storyman'', which focused primarily on his career as a writer. Throughout his career, MacMahon was awarded many accolades for his contributions to Irish literature including the ''Kerryman of the Year'' award in 1987. He also was awarded ''American Ireland Fund Literary Award'' 1993 and the award of the degree of LID from the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...

in recognition of his work. MacMahon was a member of the

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...

. MacMahon's final book, a collection of fictional conversations between men and women, is entitled ''A Final Fling,'' and was published in 1998. MacMahon died on the 13 February 1998, in

Beaumont Hospital, Dublin Beaumont Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Beaumont) is a large teaching hospital located in Beaumont, Dublin, Ireland. It is managed by RCSI Hospitals - one of the hospital groups established by the Health Service Executive. Its academic partner is th ...

. After his death, his colleague John B. Keane said: "The streets have lost their star. He was a giant and a gentleman, and we were lucky to have had him for so long."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macmahon, Bryan 1909 births 1998 deaths Irish male dramatists and playwrights Irish schoolteachers Irish male short story writers Irish translators People from Listowel Translators from Irish Translators to English 20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Irish male writers 20th-century Irish novelists Irish male novelists 20th-century Irish translators 20th-century Irish short story writers Alumni of St Patrick's College, Dublin