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This chapter takes a look at Brian O'Nolan, who was also known as Flann O'Brien and Myles na Gopaleen in the literary world, introducing each of O'Nolan's literary personas, from the novelist and short-story writer (O'Brien), to the author of the funniest newspaper feature (na Gopaleen). From there the discussion focuses his two main novels, At Swim-Two-Birds and The Third Policeman. It notes that At Swim-Two-Birds was written through the second half of the 1930s and that it follows from the early writings of that decade. The Third Policeman, on the other hand, has lesser elements than the other novels, but is considered as more concentrated and serious.

This chapter looks at the group of authors and artists that contributed to and worked for The Bell. It exposes the relationships between O’Faoláin and O’Donnell to Flann O’Brien, Patrick Kavanagh and Austin Clarke. It also accounts for the bizarre ménage that existed between the Poetry Editor of The Bell, his wife, the painter Nora McGuinness and the established author Robert Graves and his mistress, the poet, Laura Riding. This scandal rocked literary England and had reverberations in Ireland and for The Bell. This chapter also discusses censorship in Ireland and places it in its proper international context; it does so by addressing O’Faoláin’s attitude to censorship and by complicating the traditional picture of him as a leading voice of secular liberalism against and oppressive state censorship.

Neil Murphy, comparing contemporary writers with Joyce, Beckett and Flann O'Brien, notes the complex and nuanced relationship between these texts and their cultural contexts. The ‘Celtic Tiger’ period, a moment of the most dramatic impact in recent Irish history, offers an opportunity to consider the nature of the possible relationship between literary fiction and its social and political contexts. Joyce's legendarily disinterested attitude towards World War 1, and his largely disengaged response to the revolutionary upheavals in Ireland between 1916 and 1923, are artistically revealing, particularly since the timeframe of the composition of Ulysses coincides with these historically cataclysmic years in European history. In a direct and antagonistic gesture towards referential writing, In this chapter, Murphy, through close readings of the works of John Banville and Dermot Healy, as well as consideration of Sebastian Barry and Anne Enright, suggests that while they may appear to gaze backwards in time, or into the depths of highly personalized ontological questions, or at the conundrums of artistic form, if one tilts the glass just a little it may be that the reflected image offers us a few useful glimpses of the Celtic Tiger years after all, but by potent, indirect vision

This chapter will discuss the contribution of the Mass Observation movement to the formation of The Bell, and the influence it had on the nature of the articles published there. It will also discuss O’Faoláin’s personal theory of the novel, where, following the lead of Henry James, he saw Ireland as a thinly-composed society. There is an outline of some of the more experimental works contained in The Bell specifically the work of Nick Nicholls, The White Stag Group, and the poet Freda Laughton. Also discussed is the editorial change from Seán O’Faoláin to Peadar O’Donnell and O’Donnell’s attempts to revive the flagging magazine with new subscriptions and new young authors.