Friel’s short stories, while in some cases providing the groundwork for later plays, should not be seen as apprentice work

Brian Friel was one of the great Irish dramatists of the last century .

His plays, including Dancing at Lughnasa and Faith Healer , established him as a playwright.

Friel 's short stories, while in some cases providing the groundwork for later plays, should not be seen as apprentice work.

The best example of the power of illusion in Friel ’s work is Foundry House ’, which he rewrote for the stage as Aristocrats ( 1979 ) The story leaves us with the sense that the Sergeant is part of a vanishing world and will soon be supplanted by his younger deputy.

In “ The Gold in the Sea ” a salmon fisherman hides the truth of an old wreck from his crewmates.

That doesn’t lessen the great power of a work like “ Foundry House ”, but between Friel ’s retirement from the short story and his conversation with O’Toole , a new generation of writers John McGahern , John Banville , Julia O’Faolain , Desmond Hogan , Neil Jordan , Dermot Healy had remade the Irish short story. For Friel , the path to becoming not just a skilled practitioner but an original one, too, lay on the stage..