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Famed Irish author's daughter leaves almost ￡340k to Sinn Féin4 September 2025ShareSaveEnda McClaffertyBBC News NI political editorShareSaveGetty ImagesLiam O'Flaherty wrote The loteria federal sabado dia 22Informer and The Puritan - he is pictured here in 1939The daughter of a renowned Irish author has left almost ￡340,000 to Sinn Féin in her will.Pegeen O'Sullivan died three years ago at her home in England aged 96.Her father Liam O'Flaherty was regarded as one of Ireland's most significant literary figures of the early 20th Century.She was described as a lifelong Republican who was dedicated to causes such as prisoner support.Details of Pegeen O'Sullivan's appeared in the latest update from the Northern Ireland Electoral Commission on political donations.Electoral Commission records state that "Ms Elizabeth known as Pegeen O'Sullivan" donated ￡338,550.17 in cash to Sinn Féin. The party accepted the donation in May 2025. At her funeral in 2022, Sinn Féin TD (member of the Irish parliament) Maurice Quinlivan said Mrs O'Sullivan was a dedicated activist who regularly appeared at protests in to her 90s.He said she had a "deep sense of opposition to partition".Who was Liam O'Flaherty?The writer published 16 novels, the best known of which was The Informer published in 1925 - it was adapted into an Oscar-winning film by famed director John Ford in 1935.Born in 1896 on the island of Inishmore, off the coast of County Galway, O'Flaherty served in World War One in the Army's Irish Guards regiment and was badly injured on the western front.He returned home and became a political activist, co-founding the Communist Party of Ireland. He also fought on the Anti-Treaty side during the Irish Civil War in 1922.He moved to London the same year and began his writing career, publishing his first short story, The Sniper, and novel, Thy Neighbour's Wife, in 1923.His 1929 novel The House of Gold became the first novel banned by the Irish Free State - as Ireland was then known - for alleged indecency. He published his last novel, Insurrection, in 1950 and died 34 years later in Dublin at the age of 88. The priest at his funeral described the writer as "a man of vision and a rebel". More on this story Calls for political donation transparencyWhy are party donations often so controversial?https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-45270294Sinn FéinNorthern IrelandElectoral Commission
