Acclaimed Irish Writer Dies at 93

Edna O’Brien, one of Ireland’s most celebrated authors, died on Saturday at the age of 93 after a long illness. “Our thoughts are with her family and friends, in particular her sons Marcus and Carlo,” read the joint statement announcing her passing, written by her agent and publisher.

Irish President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to the author, describing her as a “a fearless teller of truths”.

“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,” he said.

“While the beauty of her work was immediately recognized 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.

“Thankfully Edna O’Brien’s work is now recognized for the superb works of art which they are.”

For more than half a century—and through dozens of novels and short story collections—O’Brien’s writing explored loves lost and the dark contradictions in women’s lives.

Her explicit prose and depictions of female sexuality were highly controversial and the source of personal attacks in Ireland, despite being celebrated outside of her home country.

The author’s first novel, “The Country Girls,” was published in 1960, and followed two Irish girls rebelling against their Roman Catholic upbringing. This title and others by O’Brien were banned in Ireland with the approval of the Catholic Church.

Attitudes towards O’Brien shifted in Ireland in the early aughts. In 2001, she received the Irish PEN lifetime achievement award and the 2006 Ulysses medal. She was awarded the nation’s highest literary accolade, the Saoi of Aosdána, in 2015.