Brendan Behan on Kindness
Brendan Behan and his wife Beatrice
‘I respect kindness in human beings first of all, and kindness to animals. I don’t respect the law, I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer’ [Brendan Behan]
Opening Reflection When I read this wonderful quote, I was transported back to my youth and young adult life. I thought of my earlier years in Dublin and my admiration for Brendan Behan’s work and his transition from the family painting business to literary genius.
Behan’s Early Life and Values
Behan was born in Dublin in 1923 to a family steeped in communism. His mother was hugely political and republican and influenced the young Behan. It was she who sowed the seeds of morality in his young mind.
In his formative years he experienced poverty and imprisonment. He was a very interesting character too because he had little or no respect for authority, law and order or accepted social rules.
The above opening quote shows his level of respect for his fellow human beings first of all and then kindness to animals.
His statement about his total lack of respect for law and order is clear and unequivocal.
It shows that Behan prioritised and judged society’s attitude and dealings with real human beings rather than their tacit obedience and respect for the law. I just love his interest in making roads safer, beer stronger and food cheaper and making old people warmer in winter and happier in summer. It could equally be applied in today’s world when we are all experiencing spiralling prices for everything, and we have too many horrific road traffic accidents.
The title of my piece illustrates that kindness was a high priority for Behan. It was much higher up in the pecking order than wealth or status in society.
Behan married Beatrice Ffrench-Salkeld, an artist in 1955 at Donnybrook Church in Dublin and they had one daughter together named Blanaid, born in 1963.
Behan also had a son named Brendan, born in 1962 to Valerie Danby-Smith. Behan died in 1964 without meeting him; Valerie later married Gregory Hemingway, and the boy was adopted and raised as Hemingway.
Behan died in 1964, at just 41 years of age. His death, at such a young age was both a tragedy and a waste.
When we arrived as young students in Dublin in 1965, we were infused with his work and life. People spoke about him in glowing terms as a larger-than-life character.
Behan’s Work and Legacy
I loved to sing his Auld Triangle song in which he details his time in prison. It was a sad song as you see in the words of the opening verse
A hungry feeling came o’er me stealing
And the mice were squealing in my prison cell
And that old triangle went jingle jangle
All along the banks of The Royal Canal
I love his humour in the middle with “To begin the morning the screw was bawling”
The song was immortalised by Luke Kelly and The Dubliners and later by The Pogues, Bob Dylan and U2’s Bono. The late Glen Hansard also did an amazing cover of the Auld Triangle
The old triangle was sounded in the morning to wake prisoners for breakfast. It still hangs inside Mountjoy Prison today on a metal gate but is no longer used.
The song also sets the scene for Behan’s seminal work “The Quare Fellow”. This dealt with his critique of capital punishment, the dehumanizing nature of the prison system, and the routines of institutional life.
He also wrote The Hostage, originally written in Irish as An Ghiall, which told the story of a British soldier held captive in a Dublin Brothel
In both the Hostage and Borstal Boy Behan questions Irish nationalism and its violence, while his innate kindness and belief that individual human relationships and compassion are more important than political ideology shows through.
As well as his autobiographical novel “The Borstal Boy” Behan was also a sensitive poet. One of his best-known poems was The Laughing Boy, or its original Irish title "An Buachaill Geal Gáireach” which he wrote while still a teenager to honour Michael Collins. I give you a flavour of it here;
It was on an August morning, all in the dawning hours,I went to take the warming air, all in the month of flowers,And there I saw a maiden, and mournful was her cry:"Oh what will mend my broken heart, I've lost my Laughing Boy.
So strong, so wild, and brave he was, I'll mourn his loss too sore,When thinking that I'll hear the laugh or springing step no more.I cursed the times and said the laws my heart to crucify,An Irish son with a rebel gun shot down my Laughing Boy."
While Behan continued to write and do some radio work his health declined rapidly. He suffered from chronic diabetes and alcoholism which affected his liver and kidneys. He is buried in Glasnevin cemetery where he was given a huge republican funeral. His grave remained unmarked for about 10 years after his death when a huge granite stone was erected. It was vandalised but repaired. I remember going out to visit Glasnevin Cemetery a few times and saw that Behan’s grave was often adorned with full and empty pint glasses.
Kindness in Today’s World
In today’s world, Behan’s words still challenge us to build a society that is safer, fairer and kinder. Making roads safer, simple pleasures more affordable, and the basics of life accessible to everyone are not abstract ideals, They are practical measures of how seriously we value human dignity.
That same spirit asks Ireland, and each of us, to care more deliberately for vulnerable people, animals, our environment, and the neighbourhoods in which we live. We will finally be judged not by wealth, status or obedience to systems, but by the everyday kindness we show to one another.
The Milk of Human Kindness
The play ‘Macbeth’, by William Shakespeare, was first performed around 1606. Lady Macbeth thought Macbeth was too compassionate to seize the throne of King Duncan.
If you studied Macbeth as part of your English course in your school days you may remember this line “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness. She solved that problem by plotting King Duncan’s murder by Macbeth.
In today’s world when we say someone has “the milk of human kindness,” we mean they have a strong instinct to be compassionate or benevolent toward others.
The Irish saying “Is ar scáth a chéile a mhairimíd” brings the essay back to Behan’s central belief: we live in one another’s shelter.
It reflects a deeply Irish philosophy of community, interdependence and mutual support. In simple English, it means that we look out for one another, rely on one another, and survive best through simple acts of kindness. Behan set that example in his own fierce, irreverent way. The challenge for us is to embrace and to follow it.
Mick O Callaghan September 11th. 2026
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