Brian O’Nolan, better known as Flann O’Brien and Myles na gCopaleen, would have been 101 today. To mark the occasion, Google has dedicated a doodle on its Irish homepage.
The cartoon shows O’Nolan hard at work on his beloved typewriter with a bicycle and police cap in tow. The letter L from Google is replaced with a saw and hammer.
Born in Stabane Co Tyrone in 1911, O'Brien held down a job as a civil servant while simultaneously working as a novelist, satirist and playwright.
Under the pseudonyms Flann O’Brien and Myles na gCopaleen, he wrote novels such as At Swim Two Birds and The Third Policeman as well as penning the satirical column Cruiskeen Lawn for the Irish Times from 1940 until his death at 54 in 1966.
Google regularly marks notable occasions and world events by changing the logo on its homepage.
The company’s first doodle was a stick figure placed between the 2nd "o" in Google, to mark founders attendance at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert.
Next Friday, O'Nolan's native Strabane and its Donegal neighbour Lifford will combine in the first annual Flann O’Brien Literary Festival Weekend. It runs from October 12th to 13th.