Colm Ó Clúbhán (1954 – March 1989), also known as Colm Clifford, was an Irish playwright, author, and

LGBT rights activist A list of notable LGBT rights activists who have worked to advance LGBT rights by political change, legal action or publication. Ordered by country, alphabetically. Argentina * Claudia Castrosín Verdú, she and her partner were the first lesb ...

Background

Ó Clúbhán was born 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 ...

in 1954. His mother was Sheila Marie Eady and his father was the poet and playwright

Sigerson Clifford Sigerson Clifford (1913 – 1 January 1985) was an Irish poet, playwright and civil servant. Clifford was born at 11 Dean St, Cork City, and was christened Edward Bernard Clifford. His parents, Michael Clifford and Mary Anne Sigerson, were f ...

, both from

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

. Ó Clúbhán is the Irish form of the name Clifford. Ó Clúbhán had four brothers and two sisters. He received his primary schooling at Presentation College in Glasthule, moving to Marian College in

Ballsbridge Ballsbridge () (from historic Ball's Bridge) is an affluent neighbourhood of the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The area is largely north and west of a three-arch stone bridge across the River Dodder, on the south side of the city. Th ...

in 1968 where he spent the final four years of his secondary education. Ó Clúbhán emigrated to London in 1973. He later moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

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, for several years to teach English before returning to London in the mid-1980s where he remained until his death.

Career

Ó Clúbhán was a founding member of the London

agitprop Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred to ...

'' Brixton Faeries'' gay theatre group based in

Railton Road Railton Road runs between Brixton and Herne Hill in the London Borough of Lambeth. The road is designated the B223. At the northern end of Railton Road it becomes Atlantic Road, linking to Brixton Road at a junction where the Brixton tube statio ...

. His poems and plays focused on queer migrants, identity, and loneliness. He won the 1986 Hennessy Literary Award for ''Flood''. His first play, ''Friends of Rio Rita'' took its title from the LGBT slang term Friend of Dorothy and the drag queen ''Rio Rita'' in

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English an ...

's play The Hostage who Ó Clúbhán described as “probably the only gay character I know of in Irish drama”. It was first performed at the Oval House Theatre. Many of his works were not published and have been lost, but some have been rediscovered in the

Hall–Carpenter Archives The Hall–Carpenter Archives (HCA), founded in 1982, are the largest source for the study of gay activism in Britain, following the publication of the Wolfenden Report in 1957. The archives are named after the authors Marguerite Radclyffe H ...

and examined decades after his death. Professor Ed Madden of the University of South Carolina has carried out detailed research on Ó Clúbhán's works and hosted a Boston College Ireland symposium on Ó Clúbhán in 2017.Irish Studies
bc.edu

Plays

* ''Rip the World Open'' - 1988 * ''Reasons for Staying'' - 1986 * ''Friends of Rio Rita'' - 1985

Death

Ó Clúbhán died of

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

in March 1989 at the age of 34 or 35. There is a bench within the Walled Garden of Brockwell Park, Brixton, dedicated to his memory.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OClubhan, Colm 1954 births 1989 deaths Irish male dramatists and playwrights Irish gay writers Irish LGBT dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Irish male writers 20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Irish LGBT people Irish expatriates in England Gay dramatists and playwrights Writers from Dublin (city) AIDS-related deaths in Ireland