The author died peacefully on Saturday following a long illness, a statement from her agent and publishing house said. The statement added: “Our thoughts are with her family and friends, in particular her sons Marcus and Carlo.”
O’Brien – a novelist, short story writer, memoirist, poet and playwright – is best known for her portrayal of women’s lives against repressive expectations in Irish society.
Her first novel, The Country Girls, was published in 1960 and became part of a trilogy that was banned in Ireland for references to sex and social issues.
O’Brien, who lived in London since 1958, described an outraged response from people in Ireland in contrast to the book’s international success.
Mr Higgins praised O’Brien as a “fearless” and “superb” writer who possessed “the moral courage to confront Irish society with realities long ignored and suppressed”.
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