Brian Friel: Legacy

One of Ireland’s most talented playwrights has passed away aged 86. Born near Omagh, Friel was the son of a schoolmaster. An intensely private person, he worked as a maths teacher in Derry before moving to Donegal in the 1960s. Friel is well known for his plays Philadelphia here I come! (1964), Translations (1980) and Dancing at Lughnasa (1990). The small rural village of Ballybeg features in many of his works, often struggling against modernisation. Friel is often an unreliable narrator, leaving his audience to rely more on hazy memories and imagination rather than facts.