Michael Farrell (1899–1962) was an Irish writer and broadcaster remembered for his posthumous novel ''Thy Tears Might Cease''. He was born in Carlow town to a prosperous Catholic shopkeeper, and educated at

Knockbeg College St Mary's Knockbeg College ( ga, Coláiste Muire Cnoc Beag) is a Roman Catholic, all-boys secondary school located on the Laois/Carlow border in Ireland, approximately 3 km from both Carlow town and Graiguecullen, Co. Laois. A former sem ...

and

Blackrock College Blackrock College ( ga, Coláiste na Carraige Duibhe) is a voluntary secondary school, voluntary day school, day and boarding school, boarding Catholicism, Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, Dublin, Bl ...

. He spent time in

Mountjoy Prison Mountjoy Prison ( ga, Príosún Mhuinseo), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed ''The Joy'', is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current prison Governor is Edward Mullins. History ...

during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

and left

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

without graduating. His brother, Sean O'Farrell, was the commanding officer of the Carlow Brigade of the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

from the brigade's formation until September 1920. After his time in university, he worked for several years in the Belgian Congo as a Marine Superintendent of Customs, returning to Ireland after managing to sell a ship for a handsome profit. He worked for

Radio Éireann Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...

and as a journalist. In 1930 he married businesswoman Frances Cautley Baker, divorced daughter of painter

Frances Baker Frances Baker (3 May 1873 – 14 November 1944), also known professionally as Frances Cahill, was a British painter who was active in Ireland in the early years of the 20th century. Biography Frances Davies-Colley was born into a prominent fa ...

, with whom she ran a textile company in

Blackrock, Dublin Blackrock () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, northwest of Dún Laoghaire. Location and access Blackrock covers a large but not precisely defined area, rising from sea level on the coast to at White's Cross on the N11 national primary road. ...

called the Crock of Gold. The Crock manufactured wool products, with Frances designing patterns and primarily selling wholesale to fashion houses. The couple settled in

Kilmacanogue Kilmacanogue () is a village in north County Wicklow, Ireland. Location and transport The village lies on the junction of the R755 road to Roundwood and the N11 road, southeast of Bray town centre. It lies between the Little Sugar Loaf to ...

. In 1934 Farrell

wrote Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

, produced, and

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

''Some Say Chance'', notable as the screen debut of

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was a native Irish and naturalized American actress and singer, who became successful in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural ...

; Frances did

set design Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trained ...

and

location scouting Location scouting is a vital process in the pre-production stage of filmmaking and commercial photography. Once scriptwriters, producers or directors have decided what general kind of scenery they require for the various parts of their work t ...

. Farrell's

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

, ''Thy Tears Might Cease'', is a novel set in the

Irish revolutionary period The revolutionary period in Irish history was the period in the 1910s and early 1920s when Irish nationalist opinion shifted from the Home Rule-supporting Irish Parliamentary Party to the republican Sinn Féin movement. There were several wa ...

. Although the first draft was completed in 1937, it was published only posthumously in 1963, after editing by

Monk Gibbon William Monk Gibbon (1896 – 29 November 1987) was an Irish poet and prolific writer, known as "The Grand Old Man of Irish Letters". His collection of over twenty volumes of poetry, autobiography, travel and criticism are kept at Queen's Univ ...

. He contributed as "Gulliver" to ''The Bell''. Latterly he worked mainly in his wife's business.

References

Sources

* * * ' * *

Citations

1899 births 1962 deaths 20th-century Irish journalists 20th-century Irish novelists 20th-century Irish screenwriters Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish broadcasters Irish film directors Irish film producers Irish journalists Irish male novelists Irish screenwriters Writers from County Carlow Writers from County Wicklow People educated at Blackrock College People of the Irish War of Independence Silent film directors {{Ireland-writer-stub