Breandán Ó hEithir (1930-90)

Life
b. Inishmore, Aran Islands, b. Inishmore, son of school-teacher whose sister was the mother of Liam O’Flaherty; ed. Coláiste Einde, Galway, and UCG; ; dropped out of college; worked on building sites in England, and on fishing-trawlers out of Grimsby; also as farm-labourer in East Anglia and a travelling bookseller in Ireland; became Irish Editor to Irish Press, 1957-63, and Irish lang. ed. for Sairséal agus Dill; wrote a column for Sunday Press; edited Comhar; established national presence as RTÉ Television sports broadcaster, covering GAA;
wrote films and newsreels for Gael-Linn; lived in Germany and France for some years prior to death; commuted for radio and television work; contributed column to the Irish Times; issued Thar Ghealchathair Soir (1973); Lig Sinn i gCathú (1976, rep. 1984), a bawdy novel about Galway undergraduate life, and English translation of same as Lead Us Into Temptation (1978), and in German as Führe uns in Veruchung (1985); Willie the Plain Pint agus an Pápa (1977); Over the Bar (Swords: Poolbeg 1984), a personal account of the GAA; Sionnach Ar Mo Dhuán (1988), a second novel, depicted sex frankly;
 
An Aran Reader (1991), was compiled by Ó hEithir and brought to completion by his son Ruairí on his death; also issued The Begrudger’s Guide to Irish Politics (1986); his distinctive high-pitched ‘voice’ was used by Brendan Behan in The Quare Fellow for commentary on hanging of the Kirwan-character. DIW OCIL

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Works
Reps. incl. Over the Bar (Swords: Poolbeg 1984; rep. Cork: Collins Press 2005); The Begrudger’s Guide to Irish Politics(1986).

THE GENTLE BLACK AND TAN
by Breandán Ó hEithir

Come all you staunch revisionists
And listen to my song,
It’s short and it’s unusual
And it won’t detain you long.
It’s all about a soldier
Who has carried history’s can,
Who dodged Tom Barry and Dan Breen
The gentle Black and Tan.

“Twas the curse of unemployment
That drove him to our shore.
His jacket black and trousers tan
Like a badge of shame he wore.
“Subdue the rebel Irish
And shoot them when you can!”
“May God forgive me if I do,”
Prayed the gentle Black and Tan.

The burning of Cork city
Was indeed a mighty blaze.
The jewellers’ shops were gutted
Not before the spoils were shared.
Gold and silver ornaments,
Rings and watches for each man,
“But I only struck the matches,”
Said the gentle Black and Tan.

Croke Park and Bloody Sunday
Was our hero’s greatest test.
The spectators on the terraces
Nigh impossible to miss.
With salt tears his eyes were blinded
And down his cheeks they ran,
So he only shot Mick Hogan
The gentle Black and Tan.

So take heed you blinkered Nationalists
Fair warning take from me.
If you want to live in safety
And keep this land at sea.
Take heed of our three heroes
Murphy, Edwards and Yer Man,
Who will sing the fame and clear the name
Of the gentle Black and Tan.
Posted on Facebook by Eoin Ó Murchú at the time of the RIC Commemorations Controversy in Ireland (07.01.2020).

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Criticism

  • Kevin Casey, ‘Paddywhackery’; Léirmheas ar Lead Us Not into Temptation le Breandán Ó hEither (Hibernia, 5 Oct. 1978).
  • Alan Harrison, ‘Go dté tú slán’, review of Lig Sinn I gCathú, in Nua-Aois (1976), pp.59-70.
  • Brendan Kennelly, ‘Martin’s Progress’, review of Lead Us Not Into Temptation, in Irish Times (7 Oct. 1978).
  • Vincent Lawrence, ‘Good ... but Obvious’, review of Lead Us Into Temptation, in Sunday Press (8 Oct. 1978).
  • Éanna Mac Cába, ‘touching on a Raw nerve’, review of Sionnach ar Mo Duán, in The Sunday Press (26 Feb 1989).
  • Prionsias Ó Drisceoil, ‘Lead Us Not Into Shenanigans’, review of Sionnach ar mo Dhuán in Irish Times (14 Eanáir 1989).
  • Muiris Ó Droigheáin, ‘Fealsúnacht Fágálaigh’, review of Lig sinn I gCathú, in An tUltach (Meitheamh 1976).
  • Aindreas Ó Gallchobhair, ‘O hEithir, Major Step Forward’, review of Sionnach ar no Dhuán, in Alpha (13 April 1989).
  • Tadhg Ó Dushláine, ‘Odaisé an Chraiceálaí Poitín’, review of Sionnach ar mo Dhuán, in Comhar (Aibreán 1989).
  • Liam Mac Con Iomaire, Breandán Ó hEithir: Iomramh Aonair (Cló Iar-Chonnacta 2000), 729pp. [For some listings of further reviews, see Alan Titley, An tÚrscéal Gaeilge, 1991.]

[Anthony] Riordan, ‘Old School Tie-ups’, review of Sionnach [... et al.], in Sunday Tribune (12 Feb. 1989); Séamus Martin, review of Liam Mac Con Iomaire, Breandán Ó hEithir: Iomramh Aonair (Cló Iar-Chonnacta 2000), in Irish Times (18 Nov. 2000) [infra].

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Commentary
Séamus Martin, review of Liam Mac Con Iomaire, Breandán Ó hEithir: Iomramh Aonair (Cló Iar-Chonnacta 2000), in Irish Times (18 Nov. 2000); notes “Faoileán Árainn” [prog.] on TnG4, marking 10th anniversary of his death, and this biography [trans., ‘Solitary Oarsman’]; b. Inishmore, son of school-teacher mother, sis. of Liam O’Flaherty; dealt unmercifully with politically-motivated cultural provincialism; leading current affairs journalist with Fíche (RTE). See also Irish Times (Friday 3 Nov.), notice of book launch.

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Notes
Namesake: Not to be confused with the scholar Brendan O Hehir who compiled Irish glossaries for Joyce (incl. Classical &c., with John Dillon) and editd Cooper's Hill of Sir John Denham in the California UP “Single Works” series.

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