`We're Away in a Hack'

Flann O’Brien, né Brian Ó Nualláin, aka Brian O’Nolan, aka Myles na gCopaleen, died on April Fool's Day 1966. In At Swim-Two-Birds (1939), characters created by novelist-within-the-novel Dermot Trellis, including the hero Finn MacCool, talk among themselves:

"I will relate, said Finn.

"We're off again, said Furriskey.

"The first matter that I will occupy with honey-words and melodious recital, said Finn, is the reason and the first cause for Sweeney's frenzy.

"Draw in your chairs, boys, said Shanahan, we're right for the night. We're away in a hack."