Michael McLaverty
Michael McLaverty was an Irish writer and educator, born in 1904 in Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, before moving to Belfast, a hub of Irish nationalism. He received his education at St. Malachy's College and Queen's University, where he earned a degree in science, later gaining a teaching credential in London. After starting his teaching career at St. John's School in Belfast in 1929, McLaverty published his first short stories in 1932 and released his first novel, *Call My Brother Back*, in 1939. His literary works often explore themes of migration, social class, and the complex dynamics between Catholic and Protestant communities in Ulster. Over his career, he published several short story collections and eight novels, including *Lost Fields* and *The Three Brothers*, which reflect on both urban and rural life in Ireland. McLaverty’s writing is characterized by its poignant portrayal of everyday struggles and the human condition, and he continued to contribute to literature until his passing in 1992. His works remain significant for their exploration of Irish identity and societal issues.
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Subject Terms
Michael McLaverty
Writer
- Born: July 5, 1904
- Birthplace: Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland
- Died: March 20, 1992
- Place of death: Ardglass, County Down, Northern Ireland
Biography
Michael McLaverty was born into a Catholic family in 1904 at Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland. After living in the country for five years, his family moved to the Falls Road area of Belfast, a center of Irish nationalism. McLaverty was educated at St. Malachy’s College, Belfast, and then at Queen’s University, Belfast, where he graduated in 1927 with a degree in science. He spent a year earning his teaching credential at Strawberry Hill College in London, where he became interested in literature. In 1929, he took a job teaching science at St. John’s School in Belfast. He earned his master’s degree in science in 1933, and that year he married Mary Conroy, with whom he had four children. He remained at St. John’s until 1957, when he was appointed principal at a new Belfast high school, St. Thomas Secondary, and he remained there until his retirement in 1964.
In 1932, McLaverty began publishing short stories in various periodicals. Some of his stories were collected in The White Mare, and Other Stories, published in 1943. Additional short- story collections appeared between 1947 and 2002.
His first novel, Call My Brother Back, was published in 1939, and many people consider this book the best of McLaverty’s eight novels. This novel, and all of McLaverty’s subsequent novels, are set in Ulster. Call My Brother Back tells the story of a boy who, like McLaverty, moves from the country to the slum areas of Belfast. McLaverty paints a depressing picture of conditions in a divided community, Catholic against Protestant, filled with ugliness and poverty.
His second novel, Lost Fields, contrasts Irish country and city life in its story about the Griffin family. The Griffins own land in the village of Toome, some thirty miles east of Belfast. They have to sell some of the land and migrate to the city to find work. The sons fall into petty criminality, while the grandmother dies a broken soul. McLaverty examines the typical Irish themes of migration, matriarchy, the hunger to own land, and class division in his next novel, In This Thy Day. The novel demonstrates his strength in depicting both urban and rural environments and the details of everyday life.
The Three Brothers is somewhat different than his previous novels. Set in middle-class Belfast, it deals with the fortunes of three brothers as they grow up and their father’s social ambitions for them. The book contains the Christian theme of suffering as a means of producing true wisdom and providing consolation. Truth in the Night is set in Rathlin Island, where once again suffering produces wisdom. The Choice examines the nature of life choices. The protagonist, Tom Magee, learns that his choice to return to his childhood home was a mistake, but he patiently suffers the consequences of his error. School for Hope and The Brightening Day are both about teachers who manage to put the past behind them. These novels deal with another Irish theme: the attempt to forget the pain of the past.
In Quiet Places, a collection of McLaverty’s stories, letters, and critical prose, was published in 1989. McLaverty died in Ardglass, County Down, Northern Ireland, in 1992.