大象传媒

Kirsty Young's castaway is the writer Edna O'Brien.

She was born and raised in a small village in County Clare, where the only books in the house were prayer books which sat alongside her father's bloodstock magazines. Her mother thought writing was in essence sinful and tried fiercely to stop her becoming an author.

She was living in England when she published her first novel, The Country Girls, in 1960. It was a huge hit and was critically well received - but in Ireland she was decried and her book was burnt in the streets. Edna lived in London for most of her adult life, but continued to draw on her Irish background for inspiration - she said: "it's in my roots, and when I dream at night it's the place I go".

Edna O'Brien died 27 July 2024 aged 93.

DISC ONE: The monks of the Benedictine Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos - Mandatum Novum do Vobis
DISC TWO: Maria Callas - Giacomo Puccini's Donde lieta usci (Mimi's farewell) (from La Boh猫me)
DISC THREE: Glenn Gould - Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations - Variations Nos. 1 & 2
DISC FOUR: The Chieftains & Sin茅ad O'Connor - The Foggy, Foggy Dew
DISC FIVE: The Pogues (feat. Kirsty MacColl) - Fairytale Of New York
DISC SIX: Michael Olatunji - Drums of Passion
DISC SEVEN: Munich Philharmonic Orchestra with the Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Christian Thielemann - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem in D minor (Lacrymosa)
DISC EIGHT: 脡dith Piaf - Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien

CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: The Chieftains & Sin茅ad O'Connor - The Foggy, Foggy Dew
BOOK CHOICE: Ulysses - James Joyce
LUXURY CHOICE: Vault of a very good white wine

Producer Leanne Buckle

First broadcast on 大象传媒 Radio 4 in January 2007.