Brendan Behan’s fame was based upon his literary achievements
coupled with an alcohol-fuelled violently iconoclastic public life. With such
notable plays as The Hostage and The Quare Fellow and his best-selling
memoir Borstal Boy behind him he died aged just 41 from the effects of
his lifelong drinking.
His sojourn in Liverpool came when he was just 16 and most
of his time here was spent in Walton Gaol where he was on remand after being
arrested in possession of bomb-making equipment. Prior to his arrest he was
lodging at 17 Aubrey Street L6 which stood where there is now open ground
adjacent to the Everton Water Tower. Having just been recruited into the IRA
Behan had barely set foot in Liverpool before he was being tailed by the
police, informed of his mission by their Irish counterparts. Arrested at the
house in Aubrey Street he remained in Walton Gaol until his trial in February
1940 when he was found guilty and sentenced to three years borstal detention.
His time in Walton and Hollesley Bay borstal in Suffolk were the subject of his
autobiographical Borstal Boy.
