The writer Enda O’Brien is to be buried on Holy Island off the Co Clare shore of Lough Derg this weekend, in accordance with her wishes.
Ms O’Brien who was originally from Tuamgraney near Scarrif in Co Clare died peacefully on July 27th, 2024 at Belgravia House, Halkin Place, London.
She rose to fame in the 1960s after her trilogy, The Country Girls was published. It was banned by the censor.
She lived most of her life in London but frequently returned to Co Clare for holidays and family. In 2015 she was elected to Aosdána by her fellow artists and honoured with the title Saoi. In 2018, she was appointed an honorary Dame of the Order of the British Empire.
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Her nephew Michael Blake said last week that she wished to buried on Holy Island, an ancient monastic site where her grandparents are buried.
She “always loved coming home to Ireland, but often said it was easier to write about Ireland from outside of it” as there was obviously more anonymity in living somewhere like London, he told the RTÉ programme Drivetime.
According to her funeral details published on RIP.ie on Tuesday, Ms O’Brien was predeceased by her brother John, sisters Patricia and Eileen and her husband Ernest Gebler. The notice says her death was deeply regretted by her sons Carlo Gebler and Marcus Gebler, daughter-in-law Tyga Gebler, Marcus’s partner Marieme Dieng, her grandchildren India, Jack, Finn, Georgia, Euan and Oscar, great-grandchildren Sam, Noah and Lexi, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.
Ms O’Brien’s remains will repose at St. Joseph’s Church, Tuamgraney, Co. Clare on Friday, August 9th, from 5pm with prayers at 8pm. Funeral mass will be held on Saturday at 11am with burial afterwards in Holy Island.
The funeral is to be broadcast live on https://vimeo.com/event/4492324
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