O'Brien, Flann

Flann O'Brien was born as Brian O Nuallain (Brian O'Nolan) in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Brian was the third of twelve children in a Gaelic-speaking Catholic family, and he did not learn to speak English until he started school at the age of twelve. Although he was later to write in both languages, he always had a special attachment to his native tongue. It is said that a proficient Gaelic speaker can live a whole life without having to use the same word twice.