WRITER

Brendan Behan

1923 - 1964

Photo of Brendan Behan

Icon of person Brendan Behan

Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( BEE-ən; Irish: Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican, an activist who wrote in both English and Irish. His widely acknowledged alcohol dependence, despite attempts to treat it, impacted his creative capacities and contributed to health and social problems which curtailed his artistic output and finally his life. An Irish Republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Behan was born in Dublin into a staunchly republican family, becoming a member of the IRA's youth organization Fianna Éireann at the age of fourteen. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Brendan Behan has received more than 1,169,150 page views. His biography is available in 35 different languages on Wikipedia. Brendan Behan is the 3,769th most popular writer (down from 3,481st in 2019), the 152nd most popular biography from Ireland (down from 139th in 2019) and the 24th most popular Irish Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.2M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 50.90

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 35

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.45

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.72

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Brendan Behan's island
Biography, Description and travel, Homes and haunts
1962
Confessions of an Irish rebel
Biography, Revolutionaries, Authors, Irish
1965
The hostage
English drama, Irish authors
1958
The complete plays
Drama, Scripts
1978
Borstal boy
Social life and customs, Gay men, Gay
**From Amazon.com:** This miracle of autobiography and prison literature begins: "Friday, in the evening, the landlady shouted up the stairs: 'Oh God, oh Jesus, oh Sacred Heart, Boy, there's two gentlemen here to see you.' I knew by the screeches of her that the gentlemen were not calling to inquire after my health . . . I grabbed my suitcase, containing Pot. Chlor., Sulph Ac, gelignite, detonators, electrical and ignition, and the rest of my Sinn Fein conjurer's outfit, and carried it to the window..." The men were, of course, the police, who knew seventeen-year-old Behan for the anti-imperialist terrorist he was and arrested him. He spent three years as a prisoner in England, primarily in Borstal (reform school), and was then expelled to his homeland, a changed but hardly defeated rebel. Once banned in the Irish Republic, Borstal Boy is both a riveting self-portrait and a clear look into the problems, passions, and heartbreak of Ireland.
1958

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Brendan Behan ranks 3,769 out of 7,302. Before him are Friedrich Theodor Vischer, Alaiza Pashkevich, Dares Phrygius, Brandon Sanderson, Angelo de Gubernatis, and Adile Sultan. After him are Nick Hornby, Mary Renault, Ferdinand Freiligrath, Friederike Mayröcker, Said Akl, and Lucrezia Marinella.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1923, Brendan Behan ranks 239. Before him are Betsy Blair, Alice Coachman, Rafael Addiego Bruno, Og Mandino, Mrinal Sen, and Mikhail Yegorov. After him are Karl Vaino, Gordon R. Dickson, François Cavanna, Netti Witziers-Timmer, Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat, and Giuseppe Rotunno. Among people deceased in 1964, Brendan Behan ranks 112. Before him are Henry Maitland Wilson, Olga Desmond, Cedric Hardwicke, Joseph Marx, Maksym Rylsky, and Adolfo Díaz. After him are Amrit Kaur, Jean-Baptiste Janssens, Eugen Varga, Maurice Farman, Moa Martinson, and Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor.

Others Born in 1923

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Others Deceased in 1964

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In Ireland

Among people born in Ireland, Brendan Behan ranks 152 out of 549. Before him are Adomnán (624), Edward Bruce (1275), Ninette de Valois (1898), Eddie Jordan (1948), Edna O'Brien (1930), and Michael William Balfe (1808). After him are William Howard Russell (1820), Jane Wilde (1821), Ronnie Drew (1934), Edward Sabine (1788), Herbert Brenon (1880), and William Orpen (1878).

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Among WRITERS In Ireland

Among writers born in Ireland, Brendan Behan ranks 24. Before him are Patrick Pearse (1879), Charles Maturin (1780), John Millington Synge (1871), Cornelius Ryan (1920), John Boyne (1971), and Edna O'Brien (1930). After him are Jane Wilde (1821), Elizabeth Bowen (1899), Seán O'Casey (1880), Maeve Binchy (1939), William Trevor (1928), and Colm Tóibín (1955).

Irish born Writers

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