Brendan Behan in Connemara.10/06/1959<br />
Brendan Francis Behan, an Irish playwright, began to write while imprisoned for IRA terrorist activities. His plays The Quare Fellow (1956) and The Hostage (1958) were produced by Joan Littelwood and Behan's colourful memoir Borstal Boy (1958) established him as a leading Irish writer.  He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.<br />
However alcoholism later resulted in his premature death.