Eimar O'Duffy

Eimar Ultan O'Duffy (29 September 1893 – 21 March 1935) was an Irish writer who was involved in the Irish nationalist movement until the events of the 1916 Easter Rising.

Early life Eimar Ultan O'Duffy was born on 29 September 1893 in Dublin, the son of Kevin O'Duffy, a prominent society dentist. He was educated at Belvedere College in Dublin, Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, and University College Dublin, where he took a degree in dentistry, although he never practised the profession. During his time at university, O'Duffy developed strong political and cultural interests, editing the student magazine St Stephen's. His father had wished for him to join the British army, but O'Duffy refused and was consequently estranged from his family.

Writing career Eimar O'Duffy’s writing career began in the mid-1910s with drama and periodical contributions. In 1915, two of his early plays, The Phoenix on the Roof and The Walls of Athens, were staged by Edward Martyn’s Irish Theatre. In 1919, he published Bricriu's Feast, a comedy drawing on Irish mythology and featuring characters such as Cú Chulainn, the Red Branch Knights, and Queen Maeve.

Personal life O'Duffy married Kathleen Cruise in 1920. The couple had two children, Brian, born in 1921, and Rosalind, born in 1924. He died of a duodenal ulcer on 21 March 1935 in Surrey, England. The Phoenix on the Roof (1915) The Wasted Island (1919) The Lion and the Fox (1921) Printer's Errors (1922) Miss Rudd and Some Lovers (1923) King Goshawk and the Birds (1926) - satire The Spacious Adventures of the Man in the Street (1928) - satire Life and Money: Being a Critical Examination of the Principles and Practice of Orthodox Economics The Bird Cage (New York, 1932), The Secret Enemy (New York, 1932) Asses in Clover (London: Putnam's 1933) - satire Consumer Credit: A Pamphlet. London: The Prosperity League, 1934 Heart of a Girl: A Mystery Novel (London: Geoffrey Bles, 1935 New York, 1935)