O’Bri·en (?-br???n), Edna Born 1932? Irish writer whose works, including The Lonely Girl (1962) and Johnny I Hardly Knew You (1977), explore the lives of women in modern-day Ireland.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.