Brian Behan
Encyclopedia
Brian Behan was an Irish
writer
and trade unionist.
Behan was born in Dublin, the son of Stephen Behan
, younger brother of Brendan Behan
and older brother of Dominic Behan
. After being caught stealing money from the gas meter of a neighbor (an act he later tended to gloss over – describing it as "some minor trouble"), he was sent to what was effectively a penal institution, the Artane Industrial School
, which could be described as a reformatory
. Brian later claimed he was systematically abused at Artane; investigations into the school later found widespread instances of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Brian's father, many of his uncles and three of his brothers were incarcerated at various times for political crimes, but his father refused to speak in Brian's defence during the hearing at which he was sentenced, and said "We've had all sorts in our family, but never a thief".
After Behan was released from Artane School he joined the Irish Army
's construction corps.
In 1950 Behan moved to London to work as a labourer
. Having long considered himself an anarcho-syndicalist, he became a prominent trade union activist and was imprisoned in Brixton Prison for leading a go-slow on the Festival of Britain
construction site.
Behan then joined the Communist Party of Great Britain
(CPGB) and soon became a member of its executive committee. He was taken on a tour of Eastern Europe
, Russia
and China
, meeting Joseph Stalin
and Mao Zedong
, but was unimpressed. In 1956, he left the CPGB in protest at the Soviet invasion of Hungary, instead joining the Trotskyist group The Club
, who were active in the Labour Party
. He quickly became the group's secretary, and in 1958, he wrote his first work, Socialists and the Trade Unions.
In 1958 Behan obtained work on the Shell Centre
site. He was soon fired, at which the shop steward's committee called a strike
, which was given the full support of The Club. Brendan Behan came to support his brother on the picket line
, but Brian was arrested after a scuffle and again jailed. The official union, the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers
, opposed the strike and this, combined with Behan's opposition to the Labour Party, convinced The Club to leave and constitute the organisation as the Socialist Labour League (SLL). Behan became increasingly uneasy about SLL leader Gerry Healy
's control of the organisation, and was also concerned that Healy was reluctant to cut ties with the Labour Party. In May 1960 he was expelled from the group, with a few supporters. Behan then founded a short-lived "Workers Party", which published Workers' Voice and was active in support of the Seaman's Strike.
Brian Behan was at odds with most of his family for much of his life; it could be said his politics were not typical of his background and it must be remembered that he came from a family background that was drenched in both politics and literature. Brian was perceived by both Brendan and Dominic Behan as treacherous; his father, Stephen saw him as simply untrustworthy; Behan's Mother, Kathleen felt Brian's fall from grace most of all; when Brian's name came up in company she would ask the collected body 'Where did I go wrong? Didn't I sing him the same songs as all the others?". Brian's Brother Brendan was never able to forgive Brian's political dilettantism; a close (from childhood) friend of IRA
Chief of Staff Cathal Goulding
Brendan asked Goulding to "have that bastard Brian shot; we've had all sorts in this family, but we've never had a traitor!"
In 1964, Behan wrote his first piece on his family life, With Breast Expanded. Forced to give up building work due to an arm injury, he moved to live on a boat in Shoreham-by-Sea
and studied history
and English
at Sussex University. He then studied teaching, before in 1973 becoming a lecturer in media studies
at the London College of Printing. In 1972, he contested a swearing
match at the British Museum
, to mark the republication of Robert Graves
' Lars Porsena.
Turning increasingly to writing, Behan completed Time To Go in 1979, Mother Of All The Behans in 1984, Kathleen in 1988, these last two inspired by his family life. In 1990, he retired from teaching and moved to Brighton
, where he took up nudism and worked on a number of plays, most of which were staged in the town.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and trade unionist.
Behan was born in Dublin, the son of Stephen Behan
Stephen Behan
Stephen Behan was an Irish republican who was father of writers Brendan, Brian and Dominic Behan.Behan lived in a house in Russell Street on the Northside of Dublin which belonged to his mother Christine English, who owned a number of properties in the area...
, younger brother of Brendan Behan
Brendan Behan
Brendan Francis Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.-Early life:...
and older brother of Dominic Behan
Dominic Behan
Dominic Behan was an Irish songwriter, short story writer, novelist and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also a committed socialist and Irish Republican...
. After being caught stealing money from the gas meter of a neighbor (an act he later tended to gloss over – describing it as "some minor trouble"), he was sent to what was effectively a penal institution, the Artane Industrial School
Artane Industrial school
St. Josephs Industrial School, Artane was an industrial school run by the Christian Brothers in Artane, Dublin from 1870 to 1969.It closed in 1969.-History:The school opened on 28 July 1870, in Artane Castle with fifty-six acres of land added....
, which could be described as a reformatory
Reformatory
Reformatory is a term that has had varied meanings within the penal system, depending on the jurisdiction and the era. It may refer to a youth detention center, or an adult correctional facility. The term is still in popular use for adult facilities throughout the United States, although most...
. Brian later claimed he was systematically abused at Artane; investigations into the school later found widespread instances of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Brian's father, many of his uncles and three of his brothers were incarcerated at various times for political crimes, but his father refused to speak in Brian's defence during the hearing at which he was sentenced, and said "We've had all sorts in our family, but never a thief".
After Behan was released from Artane School he joined the Irish Army
Irish Army
The Irish Army, officially named simply the Army is the main branch of the Defence Forces of Ireland. Approximately 8,500 men and women serve in the Irish Army, divided into three infantry Brigades...
's construction corps.
In 1950 Behan moved to London to work as a labourer
Manual labour
Manual labour , manual or manual work is physical work done by people, most especially in contrast to that done by machines, and also to that done by working animals...
. Having long considered himself an anarcho-syndicalist, he became a prominent trade union activist and was imprisoned in Brixton Prison for leading a go-slow on the Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
construction site.
Behan then joined the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
(CPGB) and soon became a member of its executive committee. He was taken on a tour of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, meeting Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
and Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
, but was unimpressed. In 1956, he left the CPGB in protest at the Soviet invasion of Hungary, instead joining the Trotskyist group The Club
The Club (Trotskyist)
The Club was a Trotskyist group in the United Kingdom. It operated inside the Labour Party and was the official section of the Fourth International from 1950 until 1953 when, after the FI split, it became part of the International Committee of the Fourth International...
, who were active in the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. He quickly became the group's secretary, and in 1958, he wrote his first work, Socialists and the Trade Unions.
In 1958 Behan obtained work on the Shell Centre
Shell Centre
Shell Centre, in London, United Kingdom is one of the two "central offices" of oil major Shell .Shell Centre is located on the Belvedere Road in the London Borough of Lambeth...
site. He was soon fired, at which the shop steward's committee called a strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
, which was given the full support of The Club. Brendan Behan came to support his brother on the picket line
Picket line
A picket line is a horizontal rope, along which horses are tied at intervals. The rope can be on the ground, at chest height , or overhead. The overhead form usually is called a high line....
, but Brian was arrested after a scuffle and again jailed. The official union, the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers
Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers
The Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers was a British trade union.The AUBTW was founded in 1921 when the Operative Society of Masons, Quarrymen and Allied Trades of England and Wales, the Operative Bricklayers' Society and the Manchester Unity of Operative Bricklayers' Society merged...
, opposed the strike and this, combined with Behan's opposition to the Labour Party, convinced The Club to leave and constitute the organisation as the Socialist Labour League (SLL). Behan became increasingly uneasy about SLL leader Gerry Healy
Gerry Healy
Thomas Gerard Healy, known as Gerry Healy , was a political activist, a co-founder of the International Committee of the Fourth International, and, according to former prominent U.S. supporter David North, the leader of the Trotskyist movement in Great Britain between 1950 – 1985...
's control of the organisation, and was also concerned that Healy was reluctant to cut ties with the Labour Party. In May 1960 he was expelled from the group, with a few supporters. Behan then founded a short-lived "Workers Party", which published Workers' Voice and was active in support of the Seaman's Strike.
Brian Behan was at odds with most of his family for much of his life; it could be said his politics were not typical of his background and it must be remembered that he came from a family background that was drenched in both politics and literature. Brian was perceived by both Brendan and Dominic Behan as treacherous; his father, Stephen saw him as simply untrustworthy; Behan's Mother, Kathleen felt Brian's fall from grace most of all; when Brian's name came up in company she would ask the collected body 'Where did I go wrong? Didn't I sing him the same songs as all the others?". Brian's Brother Brendan was never able to forgive Brian's political dilettantism; a close (from childhood) friend of IRA
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
Chief of Staff Cathal Goulding
Cathal Goulding
Cathal Goulding was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army and the Official IRA.One of seven children born into a republican family in East Arran Street in the north inner city of Dublin, Goulding was involved as teenager in Fianna Éireann, the IRA youth wing which he joined with his...
Brendan asked Goulding to "have that bastard Brian shot; we've had all sorts in this family, but we've never had a traitor!"
In 1964, Behan wrote his first piece on his family life, With Breast Expanded. Forced to give up building work due to an arm injury, he moved to live on a boat in Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea is a small town, port and seaside resort in West Sussex, England. Shoreham-by-Sea railway station is located less than a mile from the town centre and London Gatwick Airport is away...
and studied history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
at Sussex University. He then studied teaching, before in 1973 becoming a lecturer in media studies
Media studies
Media studies is an academic discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history and effects of various media; in particular, the 'mass media'. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly from its core disciplines of mass...
at the London College of Printing. In 1972, he contested a swearing
Profanity
Profanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
match at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, to mark the republication of Robert Graves
Robert Graves
Robert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
' Lars Porsena.
Turning increasingly to writing, Behan completed Time To Go in 1979, Mother Of All The Behans in 1984, Kathleen in 1988, these last two inspired by his family life. In 1990, he retired from teaching and moved to Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, where he took up nudism and worked on a number of plays, most of which were staged in the town.