Oliver St. John Gogarty

Oliver St John Gogarty (August 17, 1878-September 22, 1957) was an Irish physician and surgeon, who was also a poet and writer, one of the most prominent Dublin wits, and for some time a political figure of the Irish Free State. He is perhaps now best known as the inspiration for Buck Mulligan in James Joyce's novel Ulysses.

Related Topics:
August 17 - 1878 - September 22 - 1957 - Physician - Surgeon - Wit - Irish Free State - Buck Mulligan - James Joyce - Ulysses

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Born in Dublin, Gogarty was a medical student and joker who wrote humorous verse and stories. His verse was admired by W. B. Yeats. He had a strained relationship with Joyce that ended when Joyce left Ireland; Gogarty claimed a gun was involved. One of his best known bits of doggerel, The Ballad of Jumping Jesus, was quoted in the first chapter of Ulysses.

Related Topics:
Dublin - W. B. Yeats - Ireland - Doggerel - The Ballad of Jumping Jesus - Ulysses

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Gogarty's 1937 memoir As I Was Going Down Sackville Street resulted in a libel lawsuit. Henry Sinclair, an uncle of Samuel Beckett's, claimed that Gogarty characterized his grandfather, Morris Harris, as a usurer. The trial received a fair amount of public attention at the time, and the as-yet-unknown Beckett filed one of two affidavits on behalf of his uncle's lawsuit and played a key role in the trial proper, which Gogarty ultimately lost.

Related Topics:
As I Was Going Down Sackville Street - Samuel Beckett

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In later life, he moved widely in British society, and the USA. He died in New York City.

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