Billy O'Flagherty was born near Belfast Northern Ireland in 1961. A late developer, he has only recently become recognised by the literary world for his unique combination of trenchant observation and pungent insight. Indeed, in recent times his work has been variously described as "brilliant", "a tribute to the human intellect", "sublime" and "the work of genius". He has even been compared to William Blake and Mother Theresa.

We should not be surprised by such comparisons, for O'Flagherty is perhaps the last of the true renaissance men in the mould of da Vinci et al. The breadth of his vision belies its depth, as exemplified by his mastery of the long-neglected tradition of kite poetry and his revolutionary Theory of Lists. In his own words, "depending on the slope, a fairly high mountain can be easier to climb than a relatively low rock face, and you'll probably need less equipment".

In his spare time O'Flagherty is a great lover of animals. Notably he always appreciates a cat, especially when it has, to use one of those haunting oflaghertyesque phrases, "a logh o' chaps threw roun' at".

This rare partial image of the reclusive O'Flagherty is one of very few in existence.