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Gerard Mannix Flynn

Mannix Flynn

Author, playwright and local politician Gerard Mannix Flynn (usually "Mannix Flynn") was in Letterfrack Industrial School in Co Galway, run by the Christian Brothers, in 1968-69. On 22 December 2002 the Sunday Independent published an article by Bridgit McLaughlin, based on an interview with Mr. Flynn. This asserted there there had been a "Holocaust" in Letterfrack with hundreds of bodies buried all over the grounds and also a "top peoples" paedophile ring. The Christian Brothers pointed out that no child had died while Mannix Flynn was resident there and that the last boy to died in Letterfrack was buried in their cemetry in 1942.

In early February 2003 Mannix Flynn was elected a member of Aosdana, a state funded association of creative artists. This was less than two months after the publication of the Sunday Independent article.

On 20 January 2004 John O'Donoghue TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, announced that he had appointed the writer and actor Gerard Mannix Flynn to the Board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Announcing the appointment, Minister O'Donoghue said "I am very happy that that Mannix Flynn has accepted my invitation to join the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art. I value his contribution to the work and art of the 'outsider' and I know that he will make an important contribution to the work of the Museum".

Mannix Flynn was a candidate in the June 2009 local elections in Dublin, and was elected as an independent councillor to Dublin City Council. He unsuccessfully contested the 2011 General Election in the Dublin South East constituency.

Rory Connor
updated 3 June 2011

Mannix Flynn: To Hell in Connaught - Sunday Independent, December 2002 and Christian Brothers Reply

Mannix Flynn
and Cynthia Owen (my article of 22 March 2007 referring to above Sunday Independent article)

Mannix Flynn Replies to Christian Brothers in February 2003 (my article dated 29 March 2007)

Hell-Raiser Beats his Demons to Come Back, Sunday Times profile - 9 February 2003

Mannix Flynn reviews "The Irish Gulag" by Bruce Arnold - 2 June 2009