Irish author Edna O'Brien dies aged 93
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Irish author Edna O'Brien has died aged 93 after a long illness, her agent announced.
Born and raised in Co Clare, she has written over 20 novels including her debut trilogy, , , and , which were banned under censorship laws at the time in Ireland.
Ms O'Brien also wrote plays, screenplays and a memoir as well as the biographies of James Joyce and Lord Byron.
"Our thoughts are with her family and friends, in particular her sons Marcus and Carlo. The family has requested privacy at this time,” a statement from her agent said.
Paying tribute to the author, Faber said Edna O’Brien was “one of the greatest writers of our age”.
“She revolutionised Irish literature, capturing the lives of women and the complexities of the human condition in prose that was luminous and spare, and which had a profound influence on so many writers who followed her.
"The vitality of her prose was a mirror of her zest for life: she was the very best company, kind, generous, mischievous, brave.
“Edna was a dear friend to us all, and we will miss her dreadfully. It is Faber’s huge privilege to publish her, and her bold and brilliant body of work lives on.”
Paying tribute to Ms O'Brien, President Michael D Higgins called Ms O'Brien a "fearless teller of truths, a superb writer possessed of the moral courage to confront Irish society with realities long ignored and suppressed."
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"Edna O'Brien has been one of the outstanding writers of modern times, her work has been sought as a model all around the world," he said in a statement on Sunday.
"Through that deeply insightful work, rich in humanity, Edna O’Brien was one of the first writers to provide a true voice to the experiences of women in Ireland in their different generations and played an important role in transforming the status of women across Irish society.
"While the beauty of her work was immediately recognised abroad, it is important to remember the hostile reaction it provoked among those who wished for the lived experience of women to remain far from the world of Irish literature, with her books shamefully banned upon their early publication."
"That work will continue to celebrate the full freedom that a writer must have, the risks and contradictions of circumstance, the release into beauty that imagination makes possible."
President Higgins expressed his condolences to her children, family and friends.
Taoiseach Simon Harris called Edna O'Brien "one of modern Ireland's most celebrated and honoured writers."
"Ireland has lost an icon," he said in a statement.
"Edna O'Brien was a brave, gifted, dignified and magnetic person.
"She wrote her debut novel The Country Girls in just three weeks. Sixty-four years on it is not only a remarkable piece of work but still a landmark moment for Irish women and society.
"The book would be banned and burned but Edna O’Brien would never be silenced," Mr Harris said.
He added that most people would have "stopped and hidden away from the misogyny she faced" but Ms O'Brien kept working and "one of modern Ireland’s most celebrated and honoured writers."
"Her memoir, Country Girl, is a beautiful and raw piece of work where Edna O’Brien bares her soul," Mr Harris said.
"It is for all of us to reflect upon, and never forget, that to reach her potential Edna would leave Ireland and make London her home."
"She beautifully summed up herself and this Anglo/Irish experience and identity of so many people when she spoke of 'the wedding of the Country of Ireland and the Country of England in me'," Mr Harris added.