Arts Council expresses its sadness at the passing of Aosdána member and Saoi, writer Edna O’Brien 

The Arts Council has expressed great sadness at the passing of the distinguished Irish writer, Edna O’Brien, who has passed away at the age of 93.  

Elected to Aosdána  by her peers and fellow Irish artists, she was honoured with the title Saoi in 2015.

Born in Co. Clare in 1930, Edna was a trailblazing Irish writer.

Writing about Ireland from her residence in London gave her a distance from the country’s oppressive culture and granted her freedom of expression.

Her novels, several of which were banned in the 1960s, include The Country Girls (1960), The Lonely Girl (1962), The Girl With the Green Eyes (1962), Girls in their Married Bliss (1963), August is a Wicked Month (1964), Casualties of Peace (1966), Night (1972), A Pagan Place (1970), Night (1972), The High Road (1988), Time and Tide (1992), House of Splendid Isolation (1994), Down by River (1996) and Wild Decembers (1999).  

 Recognised as one of “the greatest Irish writers of the twentieth century” (Dwight Garner, New York Times) and “the most gifted woman now writing in English” (Philip Roth), Edna O’Brien was a bestselling novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short story writer.

In 2001, Edna received the Irish PEN Award, in 2006 she was awarded the Ulysses Medal by University College Dublin, and she won the 2018 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature.  

Maura McGrath, Chair of the Arts Council, said: “Edna O’Brien was a singular voice in the landscape of Irish literature.

“With Country Girls, she was fearless and unwavering in her storytelling of Irish women during an oppressive time in our history.

“Her writing gave identity to a generation of women with complex and contradictory relationships with their own rural communities across the country.”

Maureen Kennelly, Director of the Arts Council, said. “Despite protest and outrage, Edna’s writing revolutionized Irish literature and is now recognised as an intricate part of our culture.

“Eloquence, intelligence, defiance and resilience could be seen as Edna’s defining qualities.

“However, her generosity, her wit and her mischievous nature wove together a fascinating, outspoken and gifted writer.”

On the 15th September 2015 Edna O’Brien was elected Saoi of Aosdána in a ceremony presided over by President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, where she was presented with the symbol of the office of Saoi, the gold Torc.  

Edna is survived by her sons Carlo Gébler, writer and fellow Aosdána member, Sasha Gébler, founding director and Chairman of Gébler Tooth Architects.