He was taken prisoner in the fall of The Four Courts and spent almost two years in jail. 'I spent a good few months in continuous solitary confinement in 1923. I found it stimulating. I did encourage my mind, however, to steal out the window, to boats, islands, scenes I like' .
He later assembled his prison vision in Islanders. It is a convincing and haunting story of haunting story of epic simplicity in which a whole family comes to life. Under the author's spell we are taken into their world of poverty, hunger, laughter, and, above all, hope.