Birth of John McGahern, Known Primarily for His Novel, the Dark

John McGahern, the acclaimed Irish writer, was born on November 12, 1934, in Knockanroe, County Leitrim, Ireland.

John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006) was an Irish writer and novelist. He is regarded as one of the most important writers of the latter half of the twentieth century.

He is best known for his novel “The Dark,” published in 1965. McGahern’s works often explore rural Irish life, family dynamics, and societal changes, and he is recognized as one of Ireland’s most significant contemporary novelists.

“The Dark” is a coming-of-age novel that delves into themes of familial relationships, societal expectations, and the impact of religion on Irish society. McGahern’s writing is known for its lyrical prose and insightful exploration of human nature.

In addition to “The Dark,” McGahern wrote several other notable works, including “The Barracks,” “The Leavetaking,” “Amongst Women,” and “That They May Face the Rising Sun” (published as “By the Lake” in the United States).

Known for the detailed dissection of Irish life found in works such as The Barracks, The Dark and Amongst Women, he was hailed by The Observer as “the greatest living Irish novelist” and in its obituary The Guardian described him as “arguably the most important Irish novelist since Samuel Beckett”.

John McGahern passed away on March 30, 2006, leaving behind a legacy of literary contributions that continue to be celebrated in Irish and international literature.

Novels

• The Barracks (1963) AE Memorial Award, McCauley Fellowship.
• The Dark (1965)
• The Leavetaking (1975)
• The Pornographer (1979)
• Amongst Women (1990), Irish Times/Aer Lingus Literary Award (1991), GPA Award (1992), nominated for the Booker Prize (1990).
• That They May Face the Rising Sun (2002), Irish Novel of the Year (2003), nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award. Published in the United States under the title By the Lake (2002)

Non-fiction

• Memoir (2005). Published in the United States in 2006 under the title All Will Be Well.
• Love of the World (2009) Collected non-fiction and essays.

Short story collections

• Nightlines (1970)
• Getting Through (1978)
• The Stoat (1978)
• High Ground (1985)
• The Collected Stories (1992), includes the three previous volumes of short stories (some of the stories appear in a slightly different form) and two additional stories “The Creamery Manager” and “The Country Funeral”. The former first appeared in - Krina (1989).
• Creatures of the Earth: New and Selected Stories (2006) contains several stories collected in The Collected Stories, here revised by McGahern for the last time. Again two new stories, “Creatures of the Earth” and “Love of the World”, are included.

Drama

• Sinclair (1971) (radio, adaptation of the short story, ‘Why We’re Here’)
• The Barracks (1971) (radio, adaptation of the novel of the same name)
• The Sisters (1971) (television, adaptation of the James Joyce short story of the same name)
• Swallows (1975) (television, adaptation of the short story of the same name)
• The Rockingham Shoot (1987) (television)
• The Power of Darkness (1991) (theatre)

Films

• Amongst Women was filmed as a television mini-series in 1998, directed by Tom Cairns, and starring Tony Doyle as Moran.