2025/11/25 by Paul Fagan · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Irish and British Studies #Media Studies and Communication #Radio, Podcasts, and Digital Media
paper · doi:10.16995/pr.24888
openalex created_date 2025/11/25 · openalex publication_date 2025/11/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.This article spotlights H.L. Morrow as a significant adaptor of Brian O’Nolan’s writing for radio. As well as adapting Thirst as the half-hour television broadcast ‘After Hours’ (1959) for the BBC, Morrow adapted O’Nolan’s work for three Radio Éireann broadcasts: ‘Thirst’ (1958), ‘Something in the Air’ (1959), and ‘Faustus Kelly’ (1960). The article first traces the development of Morrow’s radiogenic aesthetic alongside that of his relationship with O’Nolan as a contemporary and collaborator. Then, it draws on new archival materials – including production scripts, correspondence, newspaper reporting, and audio recordings – to detail the production histories and analyse the specifics of Morrow’s adaptations. It argues that foregrounding Morrow as the first major adaptor of O’Nolan’s writing for radio grants us new insights into the harmonies and disharmonies that existed between O’Nolan’s work and the aesthetic, technological, and institutional specifics of radio broadcasting in 1950s Ireland.