Flann Ó Riain (18 September 1929 – 6 December 2008) was an Irish cartoonist, writer and Irish language activist. He was born on 18 September 1929 in

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November AD 39 – 30 April AD 65), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba, Hispania Baetica (present-day Córdoba, Spain). He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imper ...

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

. He was primarily known for his work as a political cartoonist with the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'' newspaper. Using the '' nom de plume'' "Doll", he appeared regularly in the newspaper, where he created satirical cartoons. He was also known as creator of the 1960s Irish language television series , and .

Early life

Ó Riain was born in

, to Edmund and Nora Ryan. His father, a member of the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

(police), took a posting in

Arranmore ''Árainn Mhór'' (English language, English name: Arranmore) is an island off the west coast of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland. Arranmore is the largest inhabited island of County Donegal, wit ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, in order to foster his son's interest in the Irish language. From there, he attended numerous

national schools In Ireland, a national school () is a type of primary school that is financed directly by the state, but typically administered jointly by the state, a patron body, and local representatives. In national schools, most major policies, such as the ...

throughout the country. From school, he attended

St Patrick's College, Dublin St Patrick's College (), often known as St Pat's, was a third level institution in Ireland, the leading function of which was as the country's largest primary teacher training college, which had at one time up to 2,000 students. Founded in Drum ...

, graduating as a primary school teacher. In 1977, he was confined in

Mountjoy Prison Mountjoy Prison (), 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 Ray Murtagh. History Mountjoy was designed by Cap ...

, having been fined for refusing to pay his

television licence A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or rece ...

in protest at what he saw as

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

's neglect of the Irish language. He was subsequently released after the fine was paid anonymously. He also was a writer of books on history and language.

Books

* ''Dáithí Lacha'' - (1965) * ''Dáithí Lacha '67'' - (1967) * ''I gComhar le Doll'' - (1970) * ''Euphoria is a lovely word'' - (1972) * ''Suas agus Siós: Sórt Scéil'' - (1976) * ''Lazy Way to Irish'' - (1995) * ''Lazy Way to Welsh'' - (1995) * ''Scéal An "Union Paddy"'' - (1995) * ''Townlands of Leinster and the People Who Lived There'' - (2000) * ''Duanairí 1'', illustrator - (1974) * ''Lazy Way to Gaelic'', illustrator - (1995)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ÓRiain, Flann 1929 births 2009 deaths Irish editorial cartoonists Irish nationalists Writers from County Dublin 20th-century Irish writers Irish-language writers