John Behan The Bull of Sherrif Street

Adrian Frazier’s story about his friend John Behan is an informed, compelling personal account of this remarkable man. It gives focus and depth to the life of one of Ireland’s leading visual artists. The narrative follows Behan’s childhood in east Dublin to his role as a pivotal member of the creative fusion that was 1960s Dublin ‘Baggotonia’ (including Patrick Kavanagh, John Montague, Seamus Heaney, Patrick Pye, Camille Souter and Thomas Kinsella) and of the Independent Artists’ group. John Behan has lived in Galway for many years, helping to establish the region and the city as a creative haven for its many artists and galleries: it is here that author and sculptor became friends. Beautifully designed and with over thirty full-colour photographs and illustrations, John Behan: The Bull of Sheriff Street is a fitting tribute and celebration of Ireland’s most famous living sculptor. The work includes a listing of one hundred of the artist’s principal works.

Adrian Frazier is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. He is currently Director of the MA in Drama and Theatre Studies and the MA in Writing at NUI Galway and has published on Irish poetry, drama, and fiction of the twentieth century. His book Hollywood Irish: Abbey Actors in Hollywood, 1936-1953 was published by The Lilliput Press in 2011. He is best known for his biography George Moore, 1852-1933 (Yale, 2000).