Description
Frank O’Dowd was born in Galway and lived most of his life in Dublin. He and his wife May had six children. He was a reluctant businessman, and his real passion was in the creative area – writing poetry, short stories, plays and satire, and occasionally art and song. In another time, writing and scholarship might have been his career.
‘Words! Words and languages! What a fascinating and revering study this is! The study of this ordinary and yet marvellous means of communication between men has occupied scholars for time immemorial and deservedly so.’
These lines, taken from one of Frank’s stories, perfectly captures Frank’s love and delight in words and language. This collection has been curated to preserve the best of his work and to allow his talent, his wit and his sharp observations to be shared with a wider audience. His words give us a glimpse of his world while shining a light on himself. To quote William Faulkner, ‘I never know what I think about something until I read what I’ve written on it.’ We learnt a lot about what Frank thought by reading what he wrote.