kavanagh worked as a part-time journalist, writing a gossip column in the "irish press" under the pseudonym piers plowman from 1942 to 1944 and acted as film critic for the same publication from 1945 to 1949. in 1946 the archbishop of dublin, john charles mcquaid, found kavanagh a job on the catholic magazine "the standard". mcquaid continued to support him throughout his life. "tarry flynn", a semi-autobiographical novel, was published in 1948 and was banned for a time. it is a fictional account of rural life. it was later made into a play, performed at the abbey theatre in 1966.