Liam O'Flaherty Two Short Stories

"The Peddler's Revenge"  (1976, 11 pages)

Irish Short Story Month

March 1 to March 31

Liam O'Flaherty-Inishmore-

1896 to 1984

Event Resources

Please consider joining us for the event.  All you need to do is complete a post on any Irish Short Story or related matter and let me know about it.  I will publicize your post and keep a master list. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. 

Liam O'Flaherty (1897 to 1984) was born in Inishmore on one of the Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland.  His cousin was the famous Hollywood movie director  John Ford.    Like Frank O'Conner and Sean O'Faolain he was involved in the Irish War for independence against the British (largely a guerrilla war)1919 to 1921.    It was a bloody war of brother against brother in many cases.   It ended in Southern Ireland becoming an independent country with largely Protestant Northern Ireland staying under British rule.    

O'Flaherty worked for a time as a teacher until he became successful with novels like The Informer (which his cousin made into a movie) .     O'Flaherty moved the USA around 1923 to live in Hollywood so he could work with his cousin, among other reasons.   He was for a time a communist but returned to his Roman Catholic roots in latter years.   He had an affair with Elizabeth Bowen.    He was deeply into the reading life with a passion for French and Russian literature.    Much of his adult life was lived in the USA, his  writings nearly all deal with Ireland.   

Last year I posted on one of his most famous short stories, "Going Into Exile".  I admit I have been jealous of him ever since I heard he had an affair with Elizabeth Bowen!

"Liam, give me a call"-Carmilla

"The Peddler's Revenge" is a very interesting story, told in the third person, about the life long hate of two men, one a peddler whose was very small and other a giant of a man with gargantuan appetite for food.    Both men are in their late seventies but the hatred started when they were school boys and the peddler was bullied by the other boy.  The story is set in the rural areas of Ireland and makes use of the dialect of the time in a very delightful and not hard follow for an outsider fashion.  There is a beautiful rhythm to the conversations, you can almost hear the lilt in their voices.  The big man has been found dead but just before he died he told people he had been poisoned by the peddler.  The local constable is called and he questions the peddler.  He admits he hated the other man and did not mourn his death but he says the claim he poisoned him is just ludicrous.   When I found out what had happened I said OK this is a guess of kind of poetic justice.  The ending will make you smile and think and gives is a glimpse of a way of life that is no more.  I really enjoyed reading this story.  

I have an ebook of 14 of his short stories so I will be returning to his work at some point in the future, I hope.