The cultured life and times of a singular man

Biography, The Lives of Daniel Binchy: Irish Scholar, Diplomat, Public Intellectual, By Tom Garvin, Irish Academic Press, €24.95

Daniel Binchy: a brilliant career, but a closed private life Pic: Peter O'Connell

Daniel Binchy does not seem to have had much in common with his niece Maeve. When the future bestselling novelist was a 15-year-old schoolgirl, she went to visit her uncle and tried his patience with a half-hour stream of aimless chatter. In the end, he told her: “My dear Maeve, I have a ten-shilling note in my pocket. If I give you this princely sum, will you promise never to enter this room ...