The Sniper is a short story written by the Irish writer Liam O'Flaherty. Set during the early weeks of the Irish Civil War, during the Battle of Dublin, it is O'Flaherty's first published work of fiction. It was published in a small London-based socialist weekly, The New Leader (12 January 1923)[1][2] while the war that it depicted was still ongoing. The favorable notice that it generated helped to get other works by O'Flaherty published, and started his career.
The short story is widely read today in secondary schools of many English-speaking countries because it is easy to read, it is brief and it has a notable surprise ending.[3][4]
