Patrick Swift

Patrick Swift was an established painter in London and part of a family of brothers who became friends of John McGahern in the city. His importance in McGahern’s early career lay not only in his standing as a painter but also in his place in the chain that brought the young writer’s prose before readers and publishers.

Identity and Connections

McGahern first met the youngest Swift brother, Tony, in a bar in a dancehall; through Tony he came to know the others. Among them was Patrick, already an established painter in London. The Swifts also included Jimmy Swift, whom McGahern describes as quietly brilliant and deeply read. McGahern sometimes visited the brothers’ advertising-display factory near Connolly Station as it was closing, and, when they were free, joined them for a drink.

Role in McGahern’s Early Writing

While McGahern was writing and discarding much of his work, enough of a first novel eventually survived to take shape. He showed it to Jimmy Swift, who liked it enough to send it to Patrick in London. Patrick was then editing X, a magazine devoted to painting and writing, with David Wright. Wright liked McGahern’s prose, and the magazine published extracts in the spring of 1960.

Literary Significance

The extracts attracted the attention of several publishers, placing Patrick within an important early link between McGahern’s private writing and its public reception. The first novel itself was, in McGahern’s later account, too flawed to show to Faber and Faber. He instead offered to write a second novel; on the strength of its first chapter, the publisher gave him a contract for The Barracks. Patrick’s contribution was therefore part of the route by which McGahern’s work began to circulate, rather than the final step in the publication of that novel.