Elbow room

17 August 1878 – 22 September 1957

Oliver Joseph St. John Gogarty, born in Rutland Square, Dublin, Ireland, was an Irish poet, author, otolaryngologist, athlete, amateur aviator, politician, and well-known conversationalist. He served as the inspiration for Buck Mulligan in James Joyce's novel *Ulysses*. In 1898 he went to the medical school at Trinity College in Dublin, where a serious interest in poetry and literature also began to manifest itself. Between 1901 and 1903, he won three successive Vice-Chancellor's prizes for verse. In 1900 he made the acquaintance of W. B. Yeats and George Moore and began to frequent Dublin literary circles. He also formed close friendships with other up-and-coming young poets, such as Seamu…