''The Tailor and Ansty'' is a memoir by Eric Cross about the life of the Irish

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

and storyteller, Timothy Buckley or in Irish (1860–1945), and his wife Anastasia ("Ansty" or in Irish) Buckley (née McCarthy, (1872–1947)) who lived in Garrynapeaka near

Gougane Barra Gougane Barra () is a scenic valley and heritage site in the Shehy Mountains of County Cork, Ireland. It is near Ballingeary in the Muskerry ''Gaeltacht''. Gougane Barra is at the source of the River Lee and includes a lake with an oratory bu ...

in County Cork. The memoir was first serialised in

Seán Ó Faoláin Seán Proinsias Ó Faoláin (27 February 1900 – 20 April 1991) was one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Irish culture. A short-story writer of international repute, he was also a leading commentator and critic. Biography Ó ...

's periodical, '' The Bell'', then published in book form in 1942. It was banned by the Censorship of Publications Board because of its depiction of premarital cohabitation, and its sexual frankness.

Senate debate

''The Tailor and Ansty'' was the subject of four days' debate in December 1942 in

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

, Ireland's

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

, in which Buckley was accused of being "sex-obsessed", and his wife of being a "moron". It was said that they were examples of the "sores of moral leprosy" that could "undermine Christianity". Parts of the Seanad debate were struck from the record because they contained quotes from the book made by Sir John Keane, to determine if they were really obscene or not. Keane also made the point that an opponent, Professor Magennis, did not know what

sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...

was. The wider debate concerned the activities of the then "Free State Board of Book Censors", and Keane's motion was defeated on a vote by 34–2. In his introduction to the 1964 edition, the author

Frank O'Connor Frank O'Connor (born Michael Francis O'Donovan; 17 September 1903 – 10 March 1966) was an Irish author and translator. He wrote poetry (original and translations from Irish), dramatic works, memoirs, journalistic columns and features on as ...

wrote that Magennis "was a windbag with a nasty streak of malice" and that reading the Senate proceedings was "like a long, slow swim through a sewage bed." The local clergy arrived at the Buckleys' home, and forced them to burn their copy of the book.

, who had become an authority on the issue, said that a

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

had been arranged against the couple. The ban on the book remained in place for 20 years. Before it was reprinted in 1962, copies were unavailable and even the author himself had no copy of it.

Adaptations

The book was adapted for the stage in 1968 by P.J. O'Connor, with Eamon Kelly and Brid Lynch playing the Tailor and his wife. In 2004, Ronan Wilmot and Nuala Hayes revived the play with Ronan Wilmot playing the Tailor and Nuala Hayes playing Ansty, respectively. In October 2004,

Cónal Creedon Cónal Creedon is an Irish novelist, dramatist, playwright and documentary filmmaker. Published books Creedon has written a number of novel-length works. * ''Pancho and Lefty Ride Out ''(Collins Press 1995) * ''Passion Play ''(Poolbeg Press ...

wrote a radio adaptation, which was broadcast by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), with a cast of readers headed by

Niall Toibin Niall is a male given name of Irish origin. The original meaning of the name is unknown, but popular modern sources have suggested that it means "champion" (derived from the Old Irish word ''niadh''). According to John Ryan, Professor of Early and ...

. This production was rebroadcast in May 2007.“The Tailer and Ansty”
First broadcast, October 2004; second broadcast, May 2007. ''Raidió Teilifís Éireann''. Retrieved May 9, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tailor and Ansty, The 1942 books Irish books Censored books Irish memoirs