Paul Rouse: Sport generally lurked just off-stage in the work of Brendan Behan

The sporting activity that Behan really loved was swimming – he is still remembered by people jumping into the tide out at Seapoint and the 40 Foot.

TAKE A PEW: Dublin fan Johnny Sheridan from Blanchardstown sits beside the Brendan Behan statue Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie  

On March 20, 1964 Brendan Behan died in the Meath Hospital in Dublin. He was buried within Glasnevin cemetery after one of the biggest funerals seen in Dublin.

Behan was a complex, remarkable man. His last years were troubled. As Colbert Kearney has written, he lamented “his loss of faith in the extreme nationalism of his earlier years” and “he was fearful that exposure of his sexual interest in men would destroy his image as working-class tough guy.” At the height of his powers, though, he displayed truly unique gifts as a writer and entertainer whose linguistic virtuosity was dazzling.