He also left behind a lifetime of almost daily-written correspondence to family, friends and colleagues, and an extensive collection of papers.
Fifteen more collections of his short stories have been posthumously published. Within two years of his death in 1966, the second volume of his autobiography, an eighth book of translated Irish poetry and a sixth book of literary criticism appeared. He was also actively involved in a myriad of letter debates in Irish newspapers from the 1920s to the 1950s. O’Connor additionally gave his attention to a great deal of radio work which included talks, dramatic productions, and broadcasts of his short stories. He also published two novels, one book of original poetry, seven books of translated Irish poetry, a biography, an autobiography, three travelogues on Ireland, eight plays, two selected anthologies of Irish writing, five books of literary criticism, and over three hundred articles and reviews on cultural, social and political issues. In a literary career that spanned forty-four years (1922 - 1966), he produced eleven collections of short stories. Forty years later, this summation of O’Connor’s accomplishments is still germane.īorn Michael O’Donovan in Cork in 1903, he became a prolific writer under the pseudonym Frank O’Connor. Macmillan’s foreword captures something of O’Connor’s personality as well as the significance of his achievements. The young Irish rebel and the mature war-time friend of Britain, the eccentric librarian, the enthusiastic man of the theatre and the meticulous self-taught scholar, the sonorous translator of Irish poetry and the superlative short-story writer, the inspiring public lecturer and the dogged master of the seminar – all were unquestionably the same unique and original man.
Yet everything he did, however unexpected or even contradictory it might seem, was informed by the same single-minded and passionate integrity. Frank O’Connor had two names and lived a life of many facets.
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