Séamus Ó Néill's autobiographical Irish language novel Tonn Tuile, set in Dublin, portrays the personal and professional struggles of an Ulster-born journalist during the Emergency. At its publication in 1947, the work was well received, notably as the description of a new urban middle class. Might its subsequent neglect be seen as due to its forthright dealing with sensitive issues? How is the head-on approach of the story reflected in the form?

Séamus Ó Néill (1910-81), was a writer from Clarkhill (Clárchoill), Castlewellan, Co. Down. Following a primary degree from QUB, he did historical research under Eoin MacNeill at UCD. He spent periods as editor of the journals An Iris and Comhar.

Eithne O’Neill is a Dublin-born lecturer in literature, cinema history and translation, based at Université Paris 13. Her books include Stephen Frears (1994); Lubitsch: La Satire Romanesque (1987), and Le Voyage de Chihiro (2019). She is a member of the editorial board of the monthly Positif, has been a jury member for numerous film festivals and is a founding member of An Ghaeltacht sur Seine, and of the Séamus O’Neill Summer School, Castlewellan.

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