Sir, – Diarmaid Ferriter is of course right to say that Brendan Behan’s papers belong in Dublin (“Behan’s papers are in New Jersey. Surely they belong in his native city?”, Opinion & Analysis, February 10th).
A small section of Behan’s literary papers is in fact in the National Library in Dublin. In April 1953 Behan, then virtually unknown, wrote to my father Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh (principal of the publishers Sáirséal agus Dill) offering to write a book in Irish on his experiences as an IRA volunteer in Britain, and asking for an advance so that he could spend some time on the Aran Islands to improve his Irish.
My father agreed, and arranged a small regular subsidy (not without difficulty, as money was tight). Behan went to Inis Oírr for some months; but in spite of promises, no manuscript was ever delivered.
My father did not abandon hope until Christmas, when Behan failed to appear to collect a cheque and sign a contract, and parts of his story began to appear in the English-language press.
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It later became Borstal Boy, published by Hutchinson in 1958 to wide acclaim. My father could possibly have sued, but chose not to do so.
About 40 letters and notes about the project are in Sáirséal agus Dill’s archive, transferred to the National Library of Ireland in 2017 as a heritage donation.
Unfortunately the archive is not yet listed on the library’s website, but a detailed summary of the contents (Sáirséal agus Dill: Litirchomhaid) is available for consultation there.
The Behan material is listed on pages 292-295. – Yours, etc,
CIAN Ó hÉIGEARTAIGH,
Dublin 6.