Bruce Arnold (born 6 September 1936 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) is an English journalist and author who has lived in Ireland since 1957. His main expertise is in the fields of literary criticism and

art criticism Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is que ...

. In 1983 it emerged that his telephone had been bugged by

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

in the Irish phone tapping scandal. He and the other bugged journalists were considered to have "anti-national" views.

Early life

Arnold was educated at

Kingham Hill School Kingham Hill School is a Christian co-educational independent day and boarding school for children aged 11–18, located near the village of Kingham in Oxfordshire. It was founded by local landowner Charles Young in 1886, with buildings desi ...

and at Trinity College, Dublin, where he studied modern languages. His wife Mavis Arnold (née Ysabel Mavis Cleave) was also a journalist. Arnold's older brother

Guy Arnold Guy Arnold (6 May 1932 – 4 January 2020) was a British explorer, travel writer, political writer and specialist in north-south relations, who wrote mainly in the areas of African history, politics, and international affairs. He was based i ...

is also an author, largely on African politics.

Journalism

Arnold has worked for the main Irish newspapers based in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

– ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' from 1965; ''

The Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' (Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

'' and the '' Sunday Independent''. He also acted as Dublin correspondent of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. He has edited ''Hibernia'' and the ''Dublin Magazine'' (1962–68; formerly ''The Dubliner'').

Partial bibliography

(Fiction) * ''A Singer at the Wedding'' (London: Hamish Hamilton 1978; rep. Abacus 1991); * ''The Song of the Nightingale'' (London: Hamish Hamilton 1980; rep. Abacus 1991); * ''The Muted Swan'' (London: Hamish Hamilton 1981; rep. Abacus 1991); * ''Running to Paradise'' (London: Hamish Hamilton 1983; rep. Abacus 1991). (Non-fiction) * ''A Concise History of Irish Art'' (London: Thames & Hudson, 1969; also New York: Praeger 1968) * ''Orpen: Mirror to an Age'' ed. (London: Jonathan Cape, 1981) * ''What Kind of Country?'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1984) * ''

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

: A Study in Power'' (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1984) * ''An Art Atlas of Britain and Ireland'' (London: Penguin/Viking, 1991) * ''

William Orpen Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (27 November 1878 – 29 September 1931) was an Irish artist who worked mainly in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful painter of portraits for the well-to-do in ...

'' (Dublin: Town House, 1991) * ''The Scandal of Ulysses'' (London:

Sinclair Stevenson Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd is a British publisher founded in 1989 by Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson. Christopher Sinclair-Stevenson became an editor at Hamish Hamilton in 1961. Thirteen years later in 1974 he became managing director, establishing ...

1991; New York: St. Martin's Press 1992; Dublin: Liffey 2005) * ''

Mainie Jellett Mary Harriet "Mainie" Jellett (29 April 1897, Dublin – 16 February 1944, Dublin) was an Irish painter whose ''Decoration'' (1923) was among the first abstract paintings shown in Ireland when it was exhibited at the Society of Dublin Painter ...

and the Modern Movement in Ireland'' (London: Yale UP 1991; New York: Yale UP, 1992) * ''Haughey: His Life and Unlucky Deeds'' (London: HarperCollins, 1993) * ''Swift: An Illustrated Life'' (Dublin: Lilliput, 1999) * ''The Spire and Other Essays on Modern Irish Culture'' (foreword by

Charles Lysaght Charles Lysaght (born 23 September 1941) is an Irish lawyer, biographer, and occasional columnist. Legal career Lysaght was born in Dublin on 23 September 1941. He was educated at St Michael's College, Dublin and Gonzaga College. He read law an ...

) (Dublin: Liffey Press 2003) * ''He That Is Down Need Fear No Fall'' (Ashfield Press, 2008) * ''The Fight for Democracy: The Libertas Voice in Europe'' (2009) (about the Libertas Institute) * ''The Irish Gulag: How the State Betrayed its Innocent Children'' (2009) (published just before the

Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA) was one of a range of measures introduced by the Irish Government to investigate the extent and effects of abuse on children from 1936 onwards. Commencing its work in 1999, it was commonly known ...

report) * ''Biography of Derek Hill'' (2010) * ''The End of the Party'' with Jason O'Toole (Gill & MacMillan, 2011);

Film

* ''The Scandal of Ulysses; Images of Joyce'' * ''To Make it Live: Mainie Jellett 1897–1944''

Libretto

* ''A Passionate Man''

Awards

He is an honorary

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

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 ...

, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and an honorary member of the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by

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 ...

(UCD) and an OBE.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Bruce 1936 births Living people Alumni of Trinity College Dublin English art critics English expatriates in Ireland English magazine editors English non-fiction writers English political writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature People associated with University College Dublin Sunday Independent (Ireland) people The Guardian journalists The Irish Press people The Irish Times people People educated at Kingham Hill School Writers from London English male non-fiction writers English social commentators