Liam O'Flaherty
We regularly stock novels by Liam O’Flaherty such as Thy Neighbour’s Wife, The Black Soul, The Informer, Mr. Gilhooley, The Wilderness, The Assassin, Return of the Brute, The Ecstasy of Angus, Famine and Insurrection. Short stories such as The Sniper, Dúil, Spring Sowing, The Tent, The Mountain Tavern and Two Lovely Beasts. Children’s books The Fairy Goose and Two Other Stories, The Wild Swan and Other Stories. Non-fiction A Cure for Unemployment and Shame The Devil.
Liam O’Flaherty is considered to be one of Ireland’s greatest novelists and short storytellers, mainly from a socialist perspective. He was born in Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands in 1896. The Irish language was widely spoken in the area, but according to O’Flaherty, Irish was not approved at home by his father. This caused a rift in the family home and O’Flaherty rebelled, convincing the rest of his family to speak Irish. At school, O’Flaherty was mentored by his teacher David O’Callaghan. Honeing the craft of writing and installing a separatist patriotism belief system that he carried with him throughout his career. O’Flaherty studied at Blackrock College, he later enrolled in classics and philosophy at University College Dublin. In both colleges, he attempted to form a troop of Irish Volunteers.
At the age of sixteen, he won a gold medal from an organisation in Philadelphia for a piece written in Irish. Several years later, he pawned this medal to fund travling. In 1916 he joined the British Army as a member of the Irish Guards and was badly injured during the Battle of Langemarck, near Ypres in West Flanders. The shell shock he suffered profoundly affected his mental health at various times throughout his life.
After the War of Independence in Dublin, O’Flaherty left Ireland on July 9th, 1922, and moved to London where and became destitute and jobless. He started writing in 1923 and published his first short story, The Sniper. His first novel soon followed called Thy Neighbour’s Wife.
In 1925 he scored immediate commercial success with The Informer. The House of Gold published by Jonathan Cape in 1929 was the first novel banned by the Irish Free State, for alleged indecency. In 1935 his cousin, legendary Hollywood producer John Ford made the famous film adaptation of The Informer.
O’Flaherty liked to travel and visited the USSR, Cuba, South America, Canada and Europe before settling in California where he met his partner Kitty Tailer in 1940. The couple returned to Ireland in 1952. He died on 7 September 1984, aged 88, in Dublin and his ashes were scattered on the cliffs of his native Inis Mór.
Liam O’Flaherty is considered one of the greatest Irish writers of the 20th century, although opinion are mixed. His ability to describe visual beauty fiction and complexities of human nature in prose has cement a powerful legacy.
OUR BOOKS ARE SORTED IN THESE CATEGORIES:
 | O’FLAHERTY (O’FLAITHEARTA), Liam. Dúil. [SIGNED LIMITED EDITION] Baile Átha Cliath: Sáirséal agus Dill, 1953. Mauve cloth, titled in black. This edition limited to 500 numbered copies signed by Liam Ó Flaithearta. A very good copy in frayed dust jacket. €475.00 |
 | O’FLAHERTY, Liam: The Black Soul O’FLAHERTY, Liam. The Black Soul. London: Jonathan Cape, 1936. Fourth edition. pp. 256, 22 (Florin Books Catalogue). Beige cloth, title printed on upper cover and spine. A fine copy in near fine price clipped dust jacket. The story of a man shattered mentally and physically by war and despairing life… €120.00 |
 | O’FLAHERTY, LIAM: The House of Gold London: Cape, 1929. First. pp. 352. Orange cloth, title in gilt on spine. A fine copy in very good dust jacket. “Liam O’Flaherty (1897-1984), novelist, was born in Gort na gCapall on Inishmore in the Aran Islands. His father was active in the Land League and his mother was descended… €275.00 |
 | O’Flaherty, Liam. Insurrection (First edition) London: Gollancz, 1950. First edition. pp. 254. Green cloth, title in black on spine. A fine copy in very good dustjacket. Published in 1950, Insurrection by Liam O’Flaherty is one of the most compelling Irish novels to confront the events of the Easter Rising of 1916. Best known for The… €125.00 |
 | O’FLAHERTY, Liam. A Cure for Unemployment (SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR) Illustrated. London: Lahr, 1931. Octavo. First edition. pp. 14. Printed wrappers. Signed by Liam O’Flaherty on titlepage. A very good copy. Very scarce. Pamphlet by Liam O’Flaherty (1896-1984), issued by the radical London bookseller-publisher Charles Lahr. In this brief tract O’Flaherty turns his black comic eye on the economic crisis… €225.00 |
 | O’FLAHERTY, Liam. A Tourist’s Guide to Ireland [SIGNED COPY] London: The Mandrake Press, 1929. pp. 134. First edition. Quarter linen on snakeskin design paper covered boards, title in gilt on worn printed label along spine. Signed by Liam O’Flaherty on front endpaper. Wear to corners as usual. A very good copy. Liam O’Flaherty (1897-1984), novelist, was born in Gort na gCapall on… €295.00 |
 | O’FLAHERTY, Liam. Famine (Signed by O’Flaherty) London: Gollancz, 1949. Second edition. pp. 448. Green cloth. Minor foxing to endpapers and fore-edge. Signed presentation copy from O’Flaherty to Tommy Smyth. A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket. “To review great books” wrote Sean O’Faolain of this work “is an easy task; to write a critique… €265.00 |
 | O’FLAHERTY, Liam. The Informer. FIRST EDITION OF THIS CLASSIC NOVEL London: Jonathan Cape, 1925. First edition, first impression, with the words “FIRST PUBLISHED 1925” printed on the copyright page. Crown octavo. pp. 272. Cloth. A fine copy in near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Liam O’Flaherty was born on August 28th 1896 at Gort-na-gCapall on Inis Mór, the largest of the… €2,350.00 |
 | O’FLAHERTY, Liam. The Life of Tim Healy. (SIGNED PRESENTATION COPY FROM O’FLAHERTY) Frontispiece. London: Cape, 1927. Octavo. First edition. pp. 320. Worn cloth, titled in gilt. Spine professionally rebacked. Signed presentation copy from Liam O’Flaherty to Tommy Smith. Cloth faded a very good copy. O’Flaherty’s biography of Timothy Michael Healy (1855-1931), barrister, Parnellite parliamentarian and, ultimately, the first Governor-General of the Irish… €385.00 |
 | O’FLAHERTY, Liam. The Test of Courage. Illustrated by Terence O’Connell. Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 1977. First edition. Octavo. Pictorial boards. Ex libris with stamp on front pastedown. A fine copy. [L3 7F] €65.00 |
 | O’FLAHERTY, Liam. The Wild Swans and other Stories Frontispiece by P.V. Moon and a foreword by Rhys Davies. Being No. 10 of the Furnival Books. London: Jackson, 1932. Printed at the Chiswick Press. Royal octavo. pp. 60. Publisher’s note tipped in. Brown cloth, title in gilt on upper cover and spine. Edition limited to 500 copies (No. 317)… €235.00 |
 | O’FLAHERTY, Liam. The Wilderness (SIGNED BY O’FLAHERTY) Illustrations by Jeanette Dunne. Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 1978. First edition. Octavo. pp. 212. Modern green buckram lettered in gilt. Signed by the author on half-title. Occasional mild spotting. A rare signed fine copy. €150.00 |
 | O’FLAITHEARTA, Liam. Dúil. IN ANNE YEATS DESIGN DUST JACKET Baile Átha Cliath: Sáirséal agus Dill, 1953. Octavo. An chéad chló. Mauve cloth, titled in black. A near fine copy in very good unclipped dust jacket, designed by Anne Yeats. Liam O’Flaherty (1897-1984), novelist and political activist, was born in Gort na gCapall on… €275.00 |
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