First edition
| |
| Author | Elizabeth O'Conner |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Angus and Robertson, Australia |
Publication date | 1960 |
| Publication place | Australia |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 318pp |
| Preceded by | – |
| Followed by | Find a Woman |
The Irishman (1960) is a novel by Australian author Elizabeth O'Conner.[1] It won the 1960 Miles Franklin Award.[2]
The novel follows the experiences of Paddy Doolan, an Irish horse wagoner and his son Michael in the Gulf Country of north-eastern Australia.[3] It is set in the early 1920s when horse-drawn transport was challenged by the advent of motor vehicles and aircraft—change which Doolan cannot accept.[4]
Lisa Hill on the ANZLitLovers Litblog noted: "O’Conner won the prize in 1960, in the years of postwar prosperity and well before the Swinging Sixties challenged long-established mores across the globe. Cities in Australia were being transformed by post-war immigration from Europe and by the growth in manufacturing which was driven by the sudden availability of cheap labour. The Irishman, however, explores a different period of transition. O’Conner was writing about what was already a vanished era – the inter-war years when bush life was being transformed by the arrival of the motor-vehicle in the early 1920s. While at one level it’s an engaging coming-of-age story, it is also the story of a remote community confronting decline."[4]
In 1978, the book was adapted for the screen and directed by Donald Crombie in a film of the same name. The film featured Michael Craig, Simon Burke and Robyn Nevin in the lead roles.[5]
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