Niall Sheridan
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Niall Sheridan (1912–1998) was an Irish poet, fiction-writer, and broadcaster, remembered primarily for his friendships with better-known Irish writers Brian O'Nolan (who published under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien) and
Donagh MacDonagh Donagh MacDonagh (22 November 1912 – 1 January 1968) was an Irish writer, judge, presenter, broadcaster, and playwright. Personal life MacDonagh was born in Dublin on St Cecilia's Day in 1912. He was still a young child when his father Th ...
.


Academic life and early work

As a student at
University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 33,284 student ...
he cofounded the journal ''Blather'' with O'Nolan and his brother Ciaran O'Nolan. Sheridan was also the editor of the college literary magazine ''Comhthrom Feinne'' (Fair Play). Sheridan was one of the founders of the so-called "Cult of Joyce" at UCD, which also included O'Nolan, Denis Devlin,
Donagh MacDonagh Donagh MacDonagh (22 November 1912 – 1 January 1968) was an Irish writer, judge, presenter, broadcaster, and playwright. Personal life MacDonagh was born in Dublin on St Cecilia's Day in 1912. He was still a young child when his father Th ...
, and other latterly influential writers. While a student, Sheridan shared a room with MacDonagh in
Rathmines Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...
, in a house featuring a
Great Dane The Great Dane is a large sized dog breed originating from Germany. The Great Dane descends from hunting dogs from the Middle Ages used to hunt wild boar and deer, and as guardians of German nobility. It is one of the largest breeds in the worl ...
named Thor and numerous visits from other aspirant writers, artists, and thinkers. The poet and left-wing agitator Charles Donnelly was a particularly frequent guest. Sheridan and MacDonagh published a book titled ''Twenty Poems'' (they contributed ten each), which
Colm Ó Lochlainn Colm Ó Lochlainn (1892 – 26 June 1972) was a printer, typographer, collector of Irish ballads and traditional Irish Uilleann piper. He was notably the author of ''Irish Street Ballads'' published in 1939 and ''More Irish Street Ballads'' in 1 ...
printed in a limited edition of 300 copies in 1934.


Relationship with Flann O'Brien

Sheridan remained close to O'Nolan, and the two conspired on provocations on the letters pages of the ''Irish Times''. At the same time, with other UCD friends at Grogan's Pub in Dublin, they were making plans for a literary revolution in the form of a collaboratively written political novel (never completed) to be titled ''Children of Destiny''. As the literary stature of some of his friends grew, and these early plans gave way to major accomplishments, Sheridan's formative role was remembered. He is represented closely by the character of Brinsley in O'Nolan's ''
At Swim-Two-Birds ''At Swim-Two-Birds'' is a 1939 novel by Irish writer Brian O'Nolan, writing under the pseudonym Flann O'Brien. It is widely considered to be O'Brien's masterpiece, and one of the most sophisticated examples of metafiction. The novel's title ...
'', a highly literate fellow student of the narrator described as "an intellectual Meath-man; given to close-knit epigrammatic talk." Many details of Sheridan's life and work were incorporated into O'Nolan's novel, including his early translations of
Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His ...
(featured in ''Twenty Poems''). Following the book's publication, Sheridan brought it to
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
in Paris, though Joyce told him he had already read it. In 1949, Sheridan and O'Nolan published, anonymously, an interview with
John Stanislaus Joyce John Stanislaus Joyce (4 July 1849 – 29 December 1931) was the father of writer James Joyce, and a well known Dublin man about town. The son of James and Ellen (''née'' O'Connell) Joyce, John Joyce grew up in Cork (city), Cork, where his mo ...
, James Joyce's father. The authenticity of this interview was later doubted, and it was chalked up as one of O'Nolan's many literary pranks. Nevertheless, Sheridan insisted to Joyce's biographer
Richard Ellmann Richard David Ellmann, FBA (March 15, 1918 – May 13, 1987) was an American literary critic and biographer of the Irish writers James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and William Butler Yeats. He won the U.S. National Book Award for Nonfiction for ''Jame ...
that the interview had happened, and the question remains unsettled.


Later life and broadcasting

In 1939, Sheridan married Monica Treanor, a chef. Like Monica, Sheridan became a broadcaster, working on the show ''Information Please'' 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 transmit ...
. As his employer, now Raidió Teilifís Éireann, expanded into television, Sheridan contributed such works as a teleplay titled "A Dog's Life" and several productions about O'Nolan/O'Brien. Sheridan continued to be active in the literary world, often on behalf of the friends of his youth; in 1950, for example, he published an introduction to Devlin's "The Heavenly Foreigner" in ''Poetry Ireland'', noting that "on careful reading, superficial obscurities vanish." Following MacDonagh's death in 1968, Sheridan wrote a preface for his poetry collection ''A Warning to Conquerors''. He worked occasionally on his own pieces as well, and his play ''Seven Men and a Dog'' was performed by the
Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...
in 1958.


See also

*
James Casey (poet-priest) James Kevin Casey (1824–1909) was an Irish priest in Ballygar and Athleague and principal of St John's seminary in Sligo. He composed many didactic poems which were popular and published in collections. Their subjects included materialism, d ...
, who inspired another character in ''At Swim-Two-Birds''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheridan, Niall 1912 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Irish poets Alumni of University College Dublin Irish broadcasters Irish television writers