BEING ONE of Ireland’s finest writers, a Gaeilgeoir, and a veteran of the War of Independence, did not prevent Liam O’Flaherty from escaping the censor.
The Aran Islander saw his 1926 novel, The House of Gold, become the first book to be officially banned by the State. In response to this and the Censorship of Publications Act, he wrote the novel The Puritan, published in 1932, which was also banned!
Unlike other banned publication, the novel contains no “indecency” other than murder. It was banned because the titular character was the theme. A Puritan who took the thinking behind censorship to its ultimate conclusion: literally preventing “unclean” ideas from permeating society.
The Puritan will be discussed by The Liam O'Flaherty Reading Circle on Wednesday November 19 at 6.30pm in Westside Library. This event is and all are welcome.
