Sean O'Callaghan was born in Killavullen, Co Cork in 1918. He was commissioned in the Irish Army in 1936. On leaving the army he became a journalist in Fleet St, as well as in Nairobi. He published his first book, The Easter Lily, in 1956, and became a full-time writer. He died as To Hell or Barbados went to press, in August 2000.