Peadar
O'Donnell
was
born in County Donegal, Ireland in 1893.
He attended St Patrick's College, Dublin, where he trained as a teacher.
He taught on Arranmore Island before spending time in Scotland.
O'Donnell joined the Irish
Republican Army (IRA) during the War of Independence. He was imprisoned
in Mountjoy Gaol and went on hunger-strike for 41 days.
In 1924 he became a member
of the Executive and Army Council of the IRA. His attempts at persuading
the IRA to become a socialist organization ended in failure.
O'Donnell published his
first novel, Storm in 1925. This
was followed by Islanders (1928),
Adrigool (1929), The
Knife (1930) and On the Edge of
the Stream (1934)
O'Donnell remained active
in politics and helped establish the Workers' Revolutionary Party
and edited its newspaper, The Workers' Voice.
A founder member of the Republican
Congress, O'Donnell, was also a leading opponent of Eoin
O'Duffy and the Blue
Shirts.
On the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War O'Donnell urged the formation
of volunteer regiments to support the Popular
Front government. O'Donnell and Frank
Ryan
established the Connolly
Column
(named after James
Connolly)
and in December 1936, Ryan
and
eighty volunteers left Dublin for Spain.
The majority came from the Free State but there were also a group
of socialists from Belfast. O'Donnell also went to Spain and later
published Salud! An Irishman in Spain
(1937).
After the Second
World War O'Donnell edited the Irish literary journel, The
Bell (1946-54). Other books by O'Donnell include The
Big Window (1955) and Proud Island
(1975). O'Donnell also published two volumes of autobiography, The
Gates Flew Open (1932) and There
Will be Another Day (1963). Peadar
O'Donnell died
in 1986.
(1)
Peadar O'Donnell, The Gates Flew Open (1932)
The one thi
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