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EDNA O’BREIN: ‘She was a lady, there was a kind of aura about her.’

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Kennys Bookshop in Galway

By Tom Kenny

In the late forties, a young lady came into our shop, spent a few hours immersed in the books and left, empty handed. The following day, she was back, again immersed herself in the books and this time, bought two books. Our mother was intrigued by her and asked “What do you do?” She replied, “I work in a chemist shop, but I am hoping someday to become a writer.”
Her name was Edna O’Brien and she and mother became very close friends. Every time she came to Galway, she visited the shop. I can still hear the two of them laughing over cups of tea, probably at some mischievous piece of literary gossip.
She was a lady, there was a kind of aura about her. She was always calm, a born communicator and often, very funny. To hear her read from her own work was to sit there in awe and wonder at the power of the word. She shattered the glass ceiling over women writers in this country. She enriched our lives and left us a wonderful legacy. It was a privilege to have known her.  Solas na bhFhlaitheas dá h-anam. 

Last time she was in Scotland at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edna O’Brien met up with Scottish journalist Bill Heaney and writer Andrew O’Hagan.

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