Remembering How We Stood

Edna O’Brien chose John Ryan’s memoirs as her Observer Book of the Year in 1975, describing it as ‘a fine and loving account of literary Dublin in the golden fifties, which purrs with life and anecdote’. This classic evocation of the period 1945-55 celebrates a city and its personalities – Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh, Myles na gCopaleen (Flann O’Brien), as well as Pope’ O’Mahony, Gainor Crist the original Ginger Man, and others – a remarkable group who revitalized post-war literature in Ireland. As friend, publisher, publican and fellow artist, Ryan paints a vivid picture of this ebullient, fertile milieu: ‘No more singular body of characters will ever rub shoulders again at any given time, or a city more uniquely bizarre than literary Dublin will ever be seen.’