Brendan Behan: Finding the real quare fellow

A new TV documentary on Brendan Behan attempts to separate the man from the myth, writes Richard Fitzpatrick

THE big influence on Brendan Behan was his grandmother, Christine English. A formidable woman, Behan’s mother was beholden to her for money while his father was in prison, and she convinced the young Brendan he could be somebody.

Not that his family didn’t already have some claims to fame. His uncle, Peader Kearney, had written the lyrics to ‘Amhrán na bhFiann’; another uncle ran the Queen’s Theatre.