O’Brien Press founder Michael O’Brien dies at age of 81

The death has taken place of Michael O’Brien, one of Ireland’s best-known publishers. O’Brien, who was 81, founded O’Brien Press with his father, Tom, in 1974.

Tom O’Brien, a socialist poet who had fought in the Spanish Civil War, set up a small commercial printing firm when he returned to Ireland. At the time they had published a single book, The Liberties of Dublin, but it was an unexpected success, and they decided to continue as O’Brien Press. Tom O’Brien died shortly afterwards.

Since then the company has published thousands of books of Irish interest, for adults and for children. Michael O’Brien’s son Ivan, who is managing director of O’Brien Press, tweeted his shock at father’s sudden death.

In a statement O’Brien Press said its founder was somebody who was always breaking new ground in Irish publishing.

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“Perhaps his most important legacy is seeing the importance of a native children’s literature and acting on this. He drove the creation, nurturing and growth of a list of quality Irish children’s authors and books for all ages, as well as setting up national organisations supporting children’s books, which led directly to the vibrant children’s books scene we see in Ireland today,” the publisher said.

“Generations of young readers owe a debt to Michael’s vision to create authentic Irish children’s books and stories, from Marita Conlon-McKenna’s Under the Hawthorn Tree in 1991 to Eoin Colfer to Judi Curtin and many, many more.

Among the writers Michael O’Brien published are Gerry Adams, Eoin Colfer, Alice Taylor and Frank McGuinness. He was also the first to publish Brendan O’Carroll’s 1994 comic novel The Mammy, which eventually turned into the hugely successful series Mrs Brown’s Boys. He published Paul Williams The General which went on to be made into a film and was the first publisher of Paul Howard’s long-running Ross O’Carroll-Kelly series.

In 2013 he fulfilled James Joyce’s wish to be published in Dublin with Ulysses: The Dublin Illustrated Edition in collaboration with the James Joyce Centre.

O’Brien press concluded: “Michael leaves behind a rich publishing legacy – today, The O’Brien Press is Ireland’s leading independent publisher, with a diverse publishing programme covering many different areas including fiction (for both adults and children), architecture, humour, environmental issues, history, biography, autobiography, business, folklore, travel & tourism, photography, poetry, sport, music, politics, true crime, cookery, reference books and more.”

O’Brien, who lived his early life in Bray before moving to Dublin, has been credited with revitalising Irish writing for children in the late 1980s, a time when there were few Irish titles. “We decided... to create a new literature for Irish children that didn’t exist,” he told The Irish Times in 2014. “The area was dominated by the British, to the extent that they were reinventing Irish culture with corny ‘Oirish’ things, while Irish writers, to get published, were becoming Anglophile.”

Audrey Keane, the Arts Council’s literature manager, has paid tribute to O’Brien. “He worked tirelessly and with unswerving dedication and commitment, and his influence in the area of Irish publishing for children, in particular, leaves a lasting legacy. We send our deepest condolences to his friends and family and all at the O’Brien Press.”

[ Michael O’Brien: the reluctant publisher who ‘doesn’t tell lies’ ]

The Irish Ambassador to the United States, Dan Mulhall, has described O’Brien as a giant of Irish publishing.

Bob Johnston, of the Gutter Bookshop in Temple Bar in Dublin, tweeted: “Very sad to hear of the death of publisher Michael O’Brien of The O’Brien Press yesterday. He was a big supporter of Irish authors & publishing & the whole book industry in Ireland.”

O’Brien Press published Johnston’s first book for children, Our Big Day, earlier this year.

President Michael D Higgins said that Mr O’Brien was a “pioneering, brave and encouraging publisher”.

“He had a deep love of Dublin and its people which was reflected in his publication choices. He was rightly proud of the tradition that he and his father shared,” President Higgins added.

Minister for Arts Catherine Martin said O’Brien’s legacy will be “forever felt in Ireland’s literary landscape” and that he had established and published such writers as Marita Conlon-McKenna and Eoin Colfer.

Antony Farrell, the owner of Lilliput Press, said O’Brien had offered him work when he first returned from London looking for a job in publishing.

“He was the heart of Dublin letters and its legacy beats on through his son and successor Ivan,” he said.

“Warm, ebullient and charismatic, his cyclonic energy transformed our world, seeding the arid landscape of the late 1970s and 80s and beyond with his roster of authors and publications.”

Former RTÉ journalist turned children’s author Tom McCaughren said Mr O’Brien had been a great supporter of numerous Irish writers including himself. His book Run with the Wind, first published in 1985, became an international bestseller and won for him Children’s Book of the Decade in 1990.

Susan Lanigan’s whose First World War novel White Feathers was published by O’Brien Press in 2015, said O’Brien was “inquisitive, I would almost say hungry, in a way that perhaps others were not. He was prepared to take a chance. I’m deeply grateful he took one on me that time.”

A statement from Tramp Press said they were “shocked and saddened to hear of Michael O’Brien’s passing. He built a major publishing house from the ground up, and every house in Ireland surely has a few O’Brien Press books on the shelf. Thinking of his family and colleagues during this time. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.”

O’Brien, who died on Sunday, July 31st, is survived by his wife, Svetlana, children, Ivan, Eoin, Dara and Ferdia, grandchildren, sisters and brothers, and first wife, Valerie. His funeral details will follow.