by Kate Heaney
EDNA O’Brien, internationally acclaimed author, found the peace of West Donegal an escape from the frenetic world of London society and writing.
She owned a house near Carrickfin for almost 20 years, and according to her friend and poet Anne Enright when the builders left the site every evening, “the cement blocks they had put up were being removed, before they had hardened, and thrown down in defiance”.
The author whose book, the Country Girls, was banned, burned and condemned from the pulpit, died this week at the age of 93. O’Brien was born in County Clare and there she will be buried on Holy Island there, as was her wish.
She purchased a cottage on the Carrickfinn Peninsula in the late 1990s, remarking at the time: “Donegal is for outdoor things. I found I couldn’t write here at all,” but loved the outdoor time entertaining and enjoying the company of family, especially watching the grandchildren play on the beach below the house.”
At 76 years of age in 2008 she decided it was time to part with her Donegal hide away which had been massively renovated under the guidance of her son, architect Sasha Gebler. Franklin’s Estate Agents brought it to market with an €850,000 asking price. However, following the global financial melt-down the house finally sold in 2010 for €490,000.
Edna O’Brien carved a long literary career of more than 50 years, writing novels and short stories, winning plaudits and prizes and had a reputation as a controversial, ground-breaking and gifted author.
She was a regular presence on TV and radio. In 1979, she took part in the first edition of Question Time, alongside the MPs Teddy Taylor and Michael Foot. She was the last surviving member of that panel.
Several of her books have been adapted for stage and screen. The Country Girls took three weeks to write, but her memoir, The Country Girl, published in 2012, took as many years.
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