The Ginger Man: Seventy years since JP Donleavy's book was banned in Ireland 

The notoriety of the Irish-American author's Dublin-set tale helped ensure it was much sought after, despite the best efforts of Ireland's draconian censorship regime 

The late JP Donleavy, author of The Ginger Man, in Co Westmeath. Picture: Eamonn Farrell

It was a very different Ireland 70 years ago when The Ginger Man was added to a lengthy list of books banned by the Censorship of Publications Board. Author JP Donleavy’s legendary tome was published in 1955, and banned early in 1956 — the same year Ireland accepted 541 Hungarian refugees following the Soviet invasion, and endured petrol rationing due to the Suez Crisis.

Cited for its “unremitting obscenity”, the book was also banned in Australia, the United States and France. Having set himself the task of “writing a novel that would shake the world”, the tale by the Brooklyn-born Irish-American tells of debauchery in Dublin, revolving around American expat Sebastian Dangerfield studying law at Trinity College and idling away his time in the many watering holes across the city. “Dangerfield drinks, fornicates and blasphemes his way through the novel, while managing to elude all responsibility and work of any kind,” was how one reviewer put it.