John McGahern
Aughawillan School, where John's mother taught until her illness and death in 1944 The Barracks, in Cootehall, where John lived from the age of 10 The grave of John and his mother Susan John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006) is regarded as one of the most important Irish writers of the latter half of the twentieth century. Known for the intrinsic and precise dissection of Irish life found in works such as The Barracks, The Dark and Amongst Women, The Observer hailed him as "the greatest living Irish novelist" before his death in 2006.