Brian O’Nolan is one of Ireland’s greatest writers but perhaps the most enigmatic. Who was he really? Was he the brilliant Flann O’Brien, an internationally acclaimed experimental novelist, was he Myles na gCopaleen, the beloved satirical daily columnist, or was he a frustrated, hard drinking, civil servant in the department of ‘yokel’ government? This hybrid drama-documentary examines the life and work of the man who introduced the world to Bicycle-obsessed Policemen, ‘Pint of Plain’ supping Brothers, and mythological characters with backsides wide enough for ‘Three fifties of fosterlings’ to play handball against.
The story interweaves views of writers, actors and literary historians with rowdy contributions from O’Nolan’s various avatars, including 10 year-old Gaeilgeoir Brían Ó Nualláin, hell-raising undergrad Brother Barnabas, and jaded provincial newspaperman George Knowall. These disparate characters jostle to claim their right to tell their version of O’Nolan’s story, not unlike the unbiddable characters of his own ‘At Swim Two Birds’. Told in a form reminiscent of ‘The Goon Show’, the popular, yet anarchic, comedy by another Irishman, his absurdly brilliant contemporary, Spike Milligan.
Following O’Nolan’s sage advice, ‘Bones of Contention’, intends to discover ‘The first beginnings of wisdom…’ by looking into the multifarious faces of Flann, asking ‘many questions but never answering any.’
A Cleverality Production for RTÉ lyric fm, funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland from the Television Licence Fee.
(First broadcast March 31st 2017)
RTÉ lyric fm, Friday 16th June, 7.02pm-8pm