Flannery is a bridge convention using an 2♦ opening bid to show a hand of minimal opening bid strength (11-15 high card points) with exactly four spades and five (or sometimes six) hearts. It was invented by American player William L. Flannery.

This convention was introduced because of the awkwardness of describing such a holding, especially with four-card major systems. For example, with the hand ♠ KQ82 ♥ AJ643 ♦ KJ ♣ 54, if the bidding starts 1♥ - 1NT (denying four spades), the opener cannot rebid 2♠, as it would be a reverse bid showing a stronger hand, 2♥ would show a six-card suit, and 2 of a minor would show 4 or at least good 3 cards. Thus, the opener cannot safely seek for a 5-3 fit in hearts. Five-card major openers are somewhat better placed, because 1NT denies both 3 hearts and 4 spades, so opener may safely pass. However, this convention is also useful when playing five-card majors in conjunctions with forcing notrump, to prevent opener from having to respond in a nonsuit after 1♥ – 1NT when not strong enough to reverse.

Responses[link]

Responder's only forcing bid is 2NT; all other bids are natural. The responses are:

• Pass, 2♥, 2♠, 3♣, 3♦ – to play
• 3NT, 4♥, 4♠ – to play
• 3♥, 3♠ – invitational
• 2NT – forcing bid. The opener describes his hand more precisely:
  • 3♣, 3♦ – 3 cards in the bid suit (i.e., 4=5=1=3 and 4=5=3=1 distribution, respectively)
  • 3♥ – 4=5=2=2, 11-13 points
  • 3♠ – 4=5=2=2, 14-15 points with weak minor-suit doubletons
  • 3NT – 4=5=2=2, 14-15 points, but good minor-suit doubletons
  • 4♣, 4♦ – 4 cards in the bid suit (i.e., 4=5=0=4 and 4=5=4=0 distribution, respectively)
  • 4♥ - a 6-card heart suit, for those who play this variant

Anti-Flannery[link]

"Anti-Flannery" is a variation used in systems which use canapé approach, where shorter suit is opened first. It is used in some variations of Blue Club and Lancia systems. With canapé in effect, hands with 4=5 in majors are naturally opened 1♠ with 2♥ rebid, however, hands with 5 spades and 4 hearts are the ones that present a problem. So, the bid of 2♦ shows 5 spades and 4 hearts. The further development is similar to the basic Flannery.

External links[link]

• BridgeGuys convention description
• William L. Flannery

Mick Flannery
Mick Flannery in 2008.
Background information
Born	(1983-11-28) 28 November 1983 (age 28)[1]
Origin	Blarney, County Cork, Ireland
Occupations	Singer–songwriter, stonemason
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, Piano
Labels	EMI Records
Website	http://www.mickflannery.com

Mick Flannery (born 28 November 1983) is an Irish singer and songwriter.

His debut album Evening Train resulted from his time spent studying music and management at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa in Cork. It featured tracks which had previously won Flannery two categories at the International Songwriting Competition in Nashville, Tennessee, as judged by his idol, Tom Waits. He was the first Irish musician to win in this event.

Flannery's second studio album White Lies was released on 12 September 2008, achieving a top ten position on the Irish Albums Chart. It later went platinum and was nominated for the Choice Music Prize.

The Irish Times placed him at number forty-six in a list of "The 50 Best Irish Acts Right Now" published in April 2009. Also that year Flannery won Best Irish Male at the 2009 Meteor Awards. Influences include Kurt Cobain, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan.

Early years[link]

Flannery was reared on farmland outside Blarney, County Cork.^[2][3][4]

Coming from a family with a keen musical interest, Flannery was introduced to folk and blues music at a young age.

Flannery cites an encounter with the music of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana as a direct influence on his desire to become a musician.^[2][4] Seeing Cobain perform "The Man Who Sold the World" on MTV Unplugged he promptly purchased a copy of MTV Unplugged in New York.^[2][3][4] He soon bought the album Blonde on Blonde as well.^[2] Flannery claims to have written his first song at the age of fifteen.^[6] His first completed song was called "Mad Man's Road", a tale of a murder which took place on the road in which he lived.^[6] He has been dismissive of his earlier material, referring to it as "tripe".^[7]

However, he is keen to express his fondness for stonemasonry and its position alongside his music: "I wasn't going to sit in a room and write songs seven days a week and live on bread and beans. I liked doing stonemasonry as well".^[7] He still does it on an occasional basis: "We wouldn’t be carving gravestones or anything. We’d do the fronts of houses, entrance walls, stuff like that".^[8]

History[link]

[edit] Evening Train

While undergoing a music and management course at Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa in Cork, Flannery commenced writing the album that would become Evening Train, an eleven-track concept album about the exploits of two brothers.^[2][9] His original intention had been to write a musical but this endeavour proved unsuccessful.^[2]

Before its release Flannery and a friend who worked alongside him in the stonemasonry business embarked on a three-month trip to the United States, living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.^[6][10] Flannery spent his time performing in New York.^[6] His sister was present for one of the months and assisted him with organising his performances.^[10] Flannery, however, quickly became disillusioned by the New York music scene, and referred to it in one interview as "a bit up its own arse".^[6]

Evening Train was received positively by critics in Ireland and the United States.^[2] Reviewers noted its "astute and sophisticated lyrics", its "strong, imaginative melodies", its Tom Waits sound.^[3][9][11] The RTÉ Guide later said, "His voice was like Tom Waits meets the howling of a grizzled freight train hobo".^[12] entertainment.ie reviewer Lauren Murphy described it as "an album dripping with maturity, poise and potential" and that "the most astounding thing" was his age of 21 years.^[6][11]

Flannery signed with EMI Records in 2007.^[2][6] That same year he was the subject of a programme called Mytunes, broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 on November 29.^[9] He performed on RTÉ Two's Other Voices television programme in 2008.^[2] This appearance led to increased interest in Flannery's music in Ireland.^[13]

[edit] White Lies

Mick Flannery performing live at Dublin's Tower Records in 2008

Flannery's second studio album White Lies was released on 12 September 2008,^[6] achieving a top ten position on the Irish Albums Chart and later going platinum in Ireland.^[3][14] On the day of the album's release Flannery performed "Tomorrow's Papers" on The Late Late Show.^[15][16] The song contributed to the increasing popularity of the singer-songwriter.^[17] entertainment.ie's Lauren Murphy said: "White Lies may not be a perfect album, but it's certainly a promising step forward for a real talent".^[11] RTÉ reviewer Harry Guerin commented: "If you're adamant that Ireland may sink with another singer-songwriter on tour, then this is a record to seek out; you won't notice the time passing and the nation will remain afloat".^[13]

Flannery began a tour of Ireland after the release of White Lies.^[7] He performed a duet of "Christmas Past" with Lisa Hannigan in December 2008 after Today FM's Tony Fenton paired them together for a radio show broadcast from a rooftop.^[10][18] He joined Hannigan at a show in Vicar Street to perform the same duet that month.^[19] "Tomorrow's Paper" was translated into the Irish language for a CD titled Ceol '09, an annual compilation released by Seachtain na Gaeilge.^[20] The Irish version was recorded in forty minutes at a studio in Dublin's Merrion Square.^[20] Flannery performed a cover version of "The River" on The Ray D'Arcy Show's Discover Ireland Feel Good Tour stopover in Carlingford and Cooley Peninsula in March 2009.^[21] A deluxe edition of White Lies, which featured a duet of the song "Christmas Past" with Kate Walsh, was released in 2009.^[10][22]

Flannery's largest headlining performance in Dublin at this stage occurred at Vicar Street on 25 May 2009.^[23] He performed alongside John Spillane at Live at the Marquee in Cork on 9 July 2009.^{[17][24][25][26]} Flannery said being asked to perform there was "daunting [...] In many ways I have drifted into this career and still have to pinch myself regularly to make sure I am not imagining it all".^[27] He also performed at the Bloom Festival as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of The Rose of Tralee in 2009.^[28] He made an appearance on the Crawdaddy Stage at Electric Picnic 2009.^[29][30][31] On 31 December 2009, he performed a date at the Cork Opera House as part of celebrations marking the end of the decade.^[32][33] He has sold out several other venues around Ireland and has also toured the UK.^[16][34]

Red to Blue[link]

Flannery has written most of his third album.^[8]

Style[link]

Flannery composes original lyrics and music.^[9] Among the topics he has written about is the subject of heartbreak, for which he has drawn on past experiences.^[12] He read the literary works of Charles Bukowski, Jonathan Miller and John Steinbeck from a young age.^[12] His biggest musical influences are Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, once sending a letter to Waits but receiving no reply.^[6] Flannery attended shows by Cohen at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham and Waits in the Phoenix Park when they came to Ireland in 2008.^[6] He is also fond of current music and likes the lyrics of Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys.^[6] The RTÉ Guide once described his lyrics as "so personal they seemed carved from his very soul" and his humour was said to be "as dry as a Good Friday in Glenstall Abbey [sic]".^[12]

Personal life[link]

Flannery's sister Sarah is a past winner of the Esat Young Scientist Exhibition.^[35] His mother's family live in Coolroe near Killarney.^[35]

Flannery is known to be a shy individual.^[6][7] He has admitted experiencing strong stage fright before performances.^[10] He does not often use a computer, preferring instead to ask others to update his Facebook and MySpace accounts, although this leaves him with "really sick" feelings when people come to him at his shows to thank him for replying to their messages.^[8]

Flannery tends to socialise with his fellow stonemasons instead of with other singer-songwriters.^[6] They prefer to talk about sex instead of music.^[12] He also enjoys playing poker.^[10] He has admitted: "I'm a dour bollocks. I wouldn't be the life and soul of any party. I'd be sitting in the corner".^[12]

Band members[link]

Current[link]

• Mick Flannery — lead vocals, piano, guitar

• Karen O'Doherty — Violin, vocals

• Yvonne Daly — Vocals

• Hugh Dillon — Electric guitar

• Brian Hassett — Bass guitar

• Christian Best — Drums

Former[link]

• Aaron Dillon — Harmonica (notably "In the Gutter" from the album Evening Train)^[36]

Discography[link]

Studio Albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

• Mick Flannery EP (2002) ^[38]

Awards[link]

The Irish Times placed him at number forty-six in a list of "The 50 Best Irish Acts Right Now" published in April 2009,^[39] commenting on his album White Lies: "With this stunning exhibition of the gravel-voiced musician’s abilities, Flannery turned his hand to mournful piano ballads and catchy guitar tunes with a flair that far surpasses his 25 years".^[40]

International Songwriting Competition[link]

Flannery won in two categories in the International Songwriting Competition in Nashville, Tennessee: "In the Gutter" in the category of Folk Singer-Songwriter and "The Tender" in the category of Lyrics Only.^[2][4] This came from a panel of judges which featured several renowned songwriters, including Flannery's idol, Tom Waits.^[2][3][6][7] He was the first Irish musician to win in this competition.^[2][9] The two songs featured on the album Evening Train.^[16]

[edit] Hot Press Reader's Poll

Flannery was Hot Press's Most Promising Act in its 2009 Reader's Poll.^[3]

Meteor Music Awards[link]

Flannery won Best Irish Male at the 2009 Meteor Awards.^{[3][16][35][41]} The result was unexpected as beforehand the winner was anticipated to be Duke Special or Jape.^[42]

Choice Music Prize[link]

In 2009, Flannery was nominated for the Choice Music Prize.^[43][44][45] He was one of seven of the ten nominated acts to perform at the award ceremony in Vicar Street on 4 March.^[46]

Flannery lost to Jape, though he was mentioned in the acceptance speech, as frontman Richie Egan mentioned what his mother had told him before the award: “They all deserve the award – sure my mother even told me that Mick Flannery was going to win, she said you're good, Ritchie [sic], but he's gorgeous”.^[47]

Further reading[link]

• Huston, Jenny (2009-11-27). In Bloom—Irish Bands Now. Foreword by Glen Hansard. Currach Press. ISBN 978-1-85607-985-3. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mick Flannery

• Official website
• Mick Flannery on Myspace
• Mick Flannery on Twitter
• Mick Flannery on Other Voices
• International Song of the Year finalists
• ISC winners page

Jerry Flannery

Full name	Jeremiah Paul Flannery
Date of birth	(1978-10-17) 17 October 1978 (age 33)
Place of birth	Galway, Ireland
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	100 kg
School	St. Munchin's College
University	University College Cork
Notable relative(s)	Jerry Flannery(father)
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Hooker
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2001-2003 2003-2012	Connacht Munster	? 93	(?) (40)
correct as of 18 Jun 2011.
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2005-2011 2009	Ireland Lions	41 0	(15) (0)
correct as of 12 Sep 2011.

Jeremiah Paul "Jerry" Flannery (born 17 October 1978) is a former Irish rugby union player who played at hooker for Munster and Ireland. He retired in March 2012 due to injury problems.

Early career[link]

Although capped at Ireland Schools level while attending St Munchin's College Limerick, and with a fine underage pedigree, Flannery had to wait patiently for his opportunities, but made the most of those that eventually came his way.

He began his professional career with Connacht, where he spent two seasons vying for the hooker's jersey with Marnus Uijs.

Munster[link]

Flannery then moved to Munster, where he initially found his opportunities severely restricted by the consistent form of Frankie Sheahan, a regular Ireland international. He did, however, make his Heineken Cup debut as a replacement against Stade Français at Thomond Park in the quarter final in April 2004, which Munster won 37–32.

Following a serious neck injury to Sheahan in 2005, Flannery made the Munster Number 2 jersey his own. Voted Man-of-the-Match on his first try-scoring Heineken Cup start against Castres, Flannery's outstanding form and obvious ability to compete at the highest level meant that he was promptly called into the Ireland squad, and made his international debut against Romania in November 2005 where he came on as a replacement. He played a key part in Munster's Heineken Cup winning teams of 2005/06 and 2007/08. He missed the majority of the 2009/10 season through injury, playing only 6 matches, and has also missed much of the 2010/11 season, again through injury, featuring only against Toulon in October and Ulster in January so far. His most recent injury occurred during the Ulster game.

His last game for Munster was the above-mentioned fixture against Ulster in January 2011, a game which Munster won 35-10 in front of the Thomond Park crowd.

Ireland[link]

By January 2006, Flannery was installed as Ireland's first-choice hooker, and played his first full international game against Italy in the RBS 6 Nations. He retained his place in the side that claimed the Triple crown in 2006, and was unanimously chosen as the Six Nations' best hooker of that season. Bedevilled by injury in late 2006, Flannery briefly lost his place in the Ireland side to Ulster's Rory Best. Flannery did, however, appear as a replacement in each of Ireland's Six Nations fixtures in 2007. Having toured Argentina with the shadow squad, he was also a try-scoring member of Ireland's 2007 Rugby World Cup squad in France, starting the games against France and Argentina. He was a member of the victorious Ireland team that won the 2009 Six Nations Championship and Grand Slam.^[1] Flannery was suspended for 8 weeks in 2008 for stamping on Julien Bonnaire; the penalty was subsequently reduced to 4 weeks, which allowed him to play in the 6 Nations tournament.^[2][3] In February 2010, Flannery was cited for "an alleged kick" on France wing Alexis Palisson during the 2010 Six Nations Championship defeat in Paris.^[4] He received a six-week ban which ruled him out of the remainder of the 2010 Six Nations.^[5]

Flannery missed the 2010 June Tests, the 2010 November Tests and the 2011 Six Nations through injury, but was selected in Ireland's preliminary squad for the 2011 World Cup warms-ups in August. He made his comeback against Scotland in the 2011 Rugby World Cup warm-up in August, and was selected in Ireland's 30-man squad for the World Cup. Despite coming through Ireland's four warm-up Tests in August and the first pool game against US Eagles in September, Flannery suffered a recurrence of the troublesome calf injury in training and was forced to withdraw from Ireland's World Cup squad, being replaced by Damien Varley.^[6] He stayed in New Zealand for the second pool game a week later against Australia, handing out the match jerseys to the players before the fixture, an occasion described as 'emotional' by the Irish players and staff. The opening game against the USA turned out to be Flannery's last for Ireland, as injury ruled him out of the 2012 Six Nations Championship and forced him to retire in March 2012.

British and Irish Lions[link]

On 21 April 2009, Flannery was named as a member of the British and Irish Lions for the 2009 tour to South Africa.^[7] On 21 May, however, he sustained an elbow injury during training which ruled him out of the tour.^[8]

Retirement[link]

On March 21, 2012 Flannery, who had battled against a series of long-term injuries, announced his retirement.^[9]

Upon retiring, the 33 year old released the following statement...

"I'm very sad to have to announce my immediate retirement from rugby due to injury. Since my injury at the 2011 World Cup, I've struggled to regain the level of fitness required to play at this level and, after consulting with the medical staff at Munster and at Ireland, I am announcing my retirement with immediate effect. I would like to thank all the medical staff who have worked so hard on my behalf and shown great patience in dealing with me.

I feel incredibly privileged to have played with so many great players with Munster and with Ireland. To train hard and win trophies for Munster and Ireland alongside some of my best friends has been an amazing experience. I'm incredibly grateful for all the opportunities rugby has given me to date and I would like to thank all my friends, family, coaches and teammates for their support along the way.

Finally, I would like to thank all the Munster and Irish rugby fans who I have been so proud to represent over the course of my career, your level of support has been amazing and I can never thank you all enough. It's been emotional!" ^[10]

His career after rugby will be focussed on the pub his family owns in Catherine Street, Limerick, "Jerry Flannery's bar". He has also started a masters degree in Sports Performance at the University of Limerick.^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Munster profile
• IRFU profile
• ESPNscrum profile

Mary Flannery O'Connor (March 25, 1925 – August 3, 1964) was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist. An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries. She was a Southern writer who often wrote in a Southern Gothic style and relied heavily on regional settings and grotesque characters. O'Connor's writing also reflected her own Roman Catholic faith, and frequently examined questions of morality and ethics.

Her Complete Stories won the 1972 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction^[2] and was named the "Best of the National Book Awards" by internet visitors in 2009.^[a]

Biography[link]

Flannery O'Connor was born on March 25, 1925, in Savannah, Georgia, the only child of Edward F. O'Connor and Regina Cline. O'Connor described herself as a "pigeon-toed child with a receding chin and a you-leave-me-alone-or-I'll-bite-you complex."^[3] When O'Connor was six, she experienced her first brush with celebrity status. The Pathé News people filmed "Little Mary O'Connor" with her trained chicken, and showed the film around the country. She said, "When I was six I had a chicken that walked backward and was in the Pathé News. I was in it too with the chicken. I was just there to assist the chicken but it was the high point in my life. Everything since has been anticlimax.”^[4] In 1937 O'Connor's father was diagnosed with the disease systemic lupus erythematosus. The disease led to his eventual death on February 1, 1941, and the 15-year-old Flannery was left devastated.^[5]

Flannery O'Connor with Arthur Koestler (left) and Robie Macauley at the University of Iowa in 1947. Photo by C. Cameron Macauley.

O'Connor attended the Peabody Laboratory School, from which she graduated in 1942. She entered Georgia State College for Women (now Georgia College & State University), in an accelerated three-year program, and graduated in June 1945 with a Social Sciences degree. In 1946, she was accepted into the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, where she first went to study journalism. While there she got to know several important writers and critics who lectured or taught in the program, among them Robert Penn Warren, John Crowe Ransom, Robie Macauley, Austin Warren and Andrew Lytle. Lytle, for many years editor of the Sewanee Review, was one of the earliest admirers of O'Connor's fiction. He later published several of her stories in the Sewanee Review, as well as critical essays on her work. Workshop director Paul Engle was the first to read and comment on the initial drafts of what would become Wise Blood.

In 1949, O'Connor met and eventually accepted an invitation to stay with Robert Fitzgerald (the well-known translator of the classics) and his wife, Sally, in Redding, Connecticut.^[b]

In 1951, like her father, she was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus, and subsequently returned to her ancestral farm, Andalusia, in Milledgeville, Georgia. Although expected to live only five more years, she managed fourteen. At Andalusia, she raised and nurtured some 100 peafowl. Fascinated by birds of all kinds, she raised ducks, hens, geese, and any sort of exotic bird she could obtain, while incorporating images of peacocks into her books. She describes her peacocks in an essay entitled "The King of the Birds." Despite her sheltered life, her writing reveals an uncanny grasp of the nuances of human behavior. She was a devout Catholic living in the "Bible Belt," the Protestant South. She collected books on Catholic theology and at times gave lectures on faith and literature, traveling quite far despite her frail health. She also maintained a wide correspondence, including such famous writers as Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop. She never married, relying for companionship on her correspondence and on her close relationship with her mother, Regina Cline O'Connor.

O'Connor completed more than two dozen short stories and two novels while battling lupus. She died on August 3, 1964, at the age of 39, of complications from lupus, at Baldwin County Hospital and was buried in Milledgeville, Georgia, at Memory Hill Cemetery. Her mother died in 1997.

Career[link]

Regarding her emphasis of the grotesque, O'Connor said: "anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to be called realistic."^[6] Her texts usually take place in the South and revolve around morally flawed characters, while the issue of race often appears in the background. One of her trademarks is foreshadowing, giving a reader an idea of what will happen far before it happens. Most of her works feature disturbing elements, though she did not like to be characterized as cynical. "I am tired of reading reviews that call A Good Man brutal and sarcastic," she writes. "The stories are hard but they are hard because there is nothing harder or less sentimental than Christian realism... when I see these stories described as horror stories I am always amused because the reviewer always has hold of the wrong horror."^[7]

Her two novels were Wise Blood (1952) and The Violent Bear It Away (1960). She also published two books of short stories: A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955) and Everything That Rises Must Converge (published posthumously in 1965).

She felt deeply informed by the sacramental, and by the Thomist notion that the created world is charged with God. Yet she would not write apologetic fiction of the kind prevalent in the Catholic literature of the time, explaining that a writer's meaning must be evident in his or her fiction without didacticism. She wrote ironic, subtly allegorical fiction about deceptively backward Southern characters, usually fundamentalist Protestants, who undergo transformations of character that to O'Connor's thinking brought them closer to the Catholic mind. The transformation is often accomplished through pain, violence, and ludicrous behavior in the pursuit of the holy. However grotesque the setting, she tried to portray her characters as they might be touched by divine grace. This ruled out a sentimental understanding of the stories' violence, as of her own illness. O'Connor wrote: "Grace changes us and change is painful." She also had a deeply sardonic sense of humor, often based in the disparity between her characters' limited perceptions and the awesome fate awaiting them. Another source of humor is frequently found in the attempt of well-meaning liberals to cope with the rural South on their own terms. O'Connor uses such characters' inability to come to terms with race, poverty, and fundamentalism, other than in sentimental illusions, as an example of the failure of the secular world in the twentieth century.

However, several stories reveal that O'Connor was familiar with some of the most sensitive contemporary issues that her liberal and fundamentalist characters might encounter. She addressed the Holocaust in her famous story "The Displaced Person," and racial integration in "Everything that Rises Must Converge." O'Connor's fiction often included references to the problem of race in the South; occasionally, racial issues come to the forefront, as in "The Artificial Nigger," "Everything that Rises Must Converge," and "Judgment Day," her last short story and a drastically rewritten version of her first published story, "The Geranium." Fragments exist of an unfinished novel tentatively titled Why Do the Heathen Rage? that draws from several of her short stories, including "Why Do the Heathen Rage?," "The Enduring Chill," and "The Partridge Festival."

Her best friend, Betty Hester, received a weekly letter from O'Connor for more than a decade. These letters provided the bulk of the correspondence collected in The Habit of Being, a selection of O'Connor's letters edited by Sally Fitzgerald. The reclusive Hester was given the pseudonym "A.," and her identity was not known until after she killed herself in 1998. Much of O'Connor's best-known writing on religion, writing, and the South is contained in these and other letters, including letters written to her friends Brainard Cheney and Samuel Ashley Brown. The complete collection of the unedited letters between O'Connor and Hester was unveiled by Emory University on May 12, 2007; the letters were given to the university in 1987 with the stipulation that they not be released to the public for 20 years.^[8]

The Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, named in honor of O'Connor by the University of Georgia Press, is a prize given annually to an outstanding collection of short stories.

O'Connor was the first fiction writer born in the twentieth century to have her works collected and published by the Library of America.

A Catholic life[link]

From 1956 through 1964, O'Connor wrote more than one hundred book reviews for two Catholic diocesan newspapers in Georgia: The Bulletin, and The Southern Cross. According to fellow reviewer Joey Zuber, the wide range of books O'Connor chose to review demonstrated that she was profoundly intellectual. Her reviews consistently confront theological and ethical themes in books written by the most serious and demanding theologians of her time.^[9] Professor of English Carter Martin, an authority on O'Connor's writings, notes simply that her "book reviews are at one with her religious life."^[10]

Works[link]

Novels[link]

• Wise Blood, 1952
• The Violent Bear It Away, 1960

Short story collections[link]

• A Good Man Is Hard to Find, 1955
• Everything That Rises Must Converge, 1965
• The Complete Stories, 1971 —National Book Award^[2]

Other works[link]

• Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose, 1969
• The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor, 1979
• The Presence of Grace: and Other Book Reviews, 1983
• Flannery O'Connor: Collected Works, 1988

Notes[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Harold Bloom, ed., Flannery O'Connor
• [GCSU], Postmarked Milledgeville: A Guide to Flannery O’Connor’s Correspondence in Libraries and Archives, Georgia College & State University, 2002
• Lorraine V. Murray, The Abbess of Andalusia: A spiritual biography of Flannery O'Connor (publisher page), Saint Benedict Press, 2009
• R. Neil Scott, Flannery O'Connor: An Annotated Reference Guide to Criticism (publisher page), Timberlane Books, 2002
• Melissa Simpson, Flannery O'Connor: A Biography, 2005
• Louise Westling, Sacred Groves and Ravaged Gardens, 2008
• Ralph Wood, Flannery O'Connor and the Christ Haunted South, 2004

External links[link]

• "Southern Discomfort", By Wendy Lesser Bookforum (Feb/Mar 2009).
• The Flannery O'Connor Repository
• Flannery O'Connor Collection at the Georgia College & State University.
• Postmarked Milledgeville Flannery O'Connor's letters
• Works by or about Flannery O'Connor in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Flannery O'Connor entry in New Georgia Encyclopedia
• Flannery O'Connor's Private Life Revealed in Letters – All Things Considered audio file, 6mins. May 12, 2007
• JCO on Flannery O'Connor Five O'Connor essays by Joyce Carol Oates
• "Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor" A review by the Oxonian Review April 27, 2009 Issue 9.1
• Andalusia: Photographs of Flannery O'Conner's Farm." Southern Spaces, April 28, 2008. Glimpsing Andalusia in the O'Connor-Hester Letters." Southern Spaces, October 23, 2008.

Lisa Hannigan
Lisa Hannigan in Temple Bar, Dublin
Background information
Birth name	Lisa Margaret Hannigan[1]
Born	(1981-02-12) 12 February 1981 (age 31)
Origin	Kilcloon, County Meath, Republic of Ireland
Genres	Indie folk
Occupations	Musician
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Barp/ATO Records/Play It Again Sam[2]
Associated acts	Damien Rice, Vyvienne Long, Tom Osander, The Frames, Mic Christopher, David Kitt, Herbie Hancock, Paul Noonan, David Geraghty, Bell X1, The Cake Sale, Gary Lightbody,[3] Cathy Davey,[4] Jason Mraz,[5] Mick Flannery.[6][7]
Website	http://www.lisahannigan.ie/

Lisa Margaret Hannigan (born 12 February 1981) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. For several years she was a member of Damien Rice's band before beginning her solo career in 2008. To date she has released two albums: Sea Sew (2008) and Passenger (2011).

Hannigan has been the recipient of various award nominations and critical praise both in Ireland and the USA. She has performed and been associated with Cathy Davey, Mic Christopher, Mick Flannery, David Kitt and members of Snow Patrol, The Frames and Bell X1. She has performed at the Glastonbury Festival both as a solo artist and with Damien Rice.

Early life and education[link]

Hannigan was born in Dublin but grew up in Kilcloon, County Meath, Ireland.^[8] She attended primary school at Scoil Oilibhéir Naofa^[9] in Kilcloon and secondary school at The King's Hospital in Palmerstown.^[10] At the age of eighteen, she enrolled at Trinity College, Dublin, where she studied Art History.^[11]

Career[link]

2001–2007[link]

Hannigan began her six year collaboration with Damien Rice at a concert in the Temple Bar Music Centre in Dublin in early 2001.^[12][13][14] She sang on most of the tracks for Rice's 2002 album O. In 2006, she sang the lead vocal on Rice's song "9 Crimes" and performed at the Electric Picnic music festival in Stradbally, County Laois.^{[12][13][13][15]} As a member of Rice's live performance band, she contributed vocals and on occasion electric guitar, bass and drums.^[12][13]

In 2007, Hannigan left the Damien Rice band to pursue a solo career.^[14][16] “It was upsetting, but worse things have happened. For everybody it was coming to the end of its cycle.”^[15] Hannigan returned to Dublin and began her solo career.^[7][8][16] The singer later said of the split: "I suppose it was coming for a long time. I had become pretty outspoken about my frustrations at the direction the band was going in, and I'm sure he was starting to find me a pain."^[8] Rice said that their incompatible song writing styles were to blame for the inadequacies in his song "Unplayed Piano".^[17] She was comforted by members of The Magic Numbers and has not spoken to Rice since the split.^[8]

2008–2010[link]

Some of Hannigan's live recordings were made available through trading networks radio shows. These recordings included: "Willy" by Joni Mitchell, "Be My Husband" by Nina Simone (from the 1965 album Pastel Blues), "Mercedes Benz" by Janis Joplin and "Love Hurts" by Roy Orbison.^[13] Hannigan also performed live with her own band, called The Daisy Okell Quartet and contributed guest vocals to the recordings of Mic Christopher, The Frames and Herbie Hancock.^[13]

Lisa Hannigan's debut solo album, titled Sea Sew, was rehearsed in a barn in Thomastown and recorded in Dublin before being released in Ireland in September 2008.^[18] The lead single, "Lille", was made available as a free Internet download and other tracks were available for preview on her Myspace page.^[19] The sleeve featured needle-work by Hannigan.^[4][20] Some music critics called the recording one of the best Irish albums of the year.^[21][22]

Sea Sew was played on the American radio station KCRW and received favourable reviews in the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.^[8][23] The single "Lille", released in August 2008 on Irish and American radio stations.^[7] Hannigan performed at Electric Picnic 2008.^[24] Hannigan supported singer-songwriter Jason Mraz on a 42-date U.S. tour in 2008.^[5]

Also in 2008, she appeared on the charity album Even Better Than the Disco Thing and performed a duet of Mick Flannery's new song "Christmas Past" with Flannery on Tony Fenton's Christmas Special on Today FM.^[6][25] In December 2008, she made her UK solo debut at St Johns Church in London.^[26] Hannigan signed with ATO Records in the U.S., where her album was released in February 2009.^[27]