IRISH FICTION UNDER NAMES OF AUTHORS, ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.
ANONYMOUS.
⸺ ADVENTURER, THE.
In Mitchel’s Life of Hugh O’Neill there is a note in reference to his wooing
of Sir Henry Bagenal’s sister, stating that a novel was published founded
on this story, and entitled The Adventurer. (Query in I.B.L., vol. iv., p. 161.)
This book does not seem to be in the British Museum Library, but I have
found in an old catalogue a book with the title “The Adventurers; or,
Scenes in Ireland in the Reign of Elizabeth, 1825.” This is probably the book
referred to by Mitchel.
⸺ ADVENTURES OF FELIX AND ROSARITO, THE; or, The Triumph
of Love and Friendship. Pp. 58. (Title-p. missing). 1802.
The hero is one Felix Dillon. Though the story begins and ends in Dublin,
its scene is chiefly France, and afterwards Spain.
⸺ ADVENTURES OF MR. MOSES FINEGAN, AN IRISH PERVERT.
(N.Y.: Benziger). $0.30.
⸺ ALBION AND IERNE: A Political Romance; by “An Officer.”
Pp. 192. (Marcus Ward). 1886.
An allegory in which the personages stand for countries and institutions.
Ierne is of course Ireland, Albion is England. Then there are minor
characters, such as Dash, Dupe, Plan, Sacrifice. Under this form the
relations between the two countries and the possible results of separation
are exhibited. Ends with the happy marriage of Albion with Kathleen,
Ierne’s sister, and the burial of the hereditary feud.
⸺ ANNA REILLY, THE IRISH GIRL. (N.Y.: Pratt). $1.50.
⸺ BALLYBLUNDER: an Irish story. Pp. 291. (London: Parker).
1860.
Scene: the N.E. coast of Ireland, with its rugged rocks and lofty cliffs.
The plot concerns the kindly family of “Ballyblunder,” on whose estate
sheep are constantly being killed. A priest instigates to the crime, and
encourages the perpetrators. Mr. Kindly’s son goes out to track the sheep-killers;
a friend of his is murdered, and Brady, the murderer, falls off a cliff
and is killed. The Kindlys eventually sell the estate. Some social scenes
are interspersed. Written in a spirit of religious intolerance.
⸺ BALLYRONAN.
“A wonderfully interesting story, written in an easy, rattling style, with
cleverly conceived plot, abundant humour, and no lack of incident. There
is an unmistakably Irish atmosphere about it, and it bespeaks an intimate
personal knowledge of the people, not only in regard to their speech, but also
as to many of their characteristic ways and customs.”—(Press Notices).
⸺ BLACK MONDAY INSURRECTION. Pp. 135-328.
Bound up with “The Puritan,” q.v. The story opens at Bandon with
the rescue of two of the principal characters who had been kidnapped by
Rapparees. Then follows the taking of Bandon by McCarthy More. The
battles of the Boyne and Aughrim, the sieges of Athlone and Limerick are also
dealt with, the two latter being described in detail. Standpoint: Williamite.
The Irish are “barbarians,” “brave and savage bacchanalians;” the Rapparees
are “infernal banditti,” &c., but on the whole the tone is not violent.
Through it all runs an interesting and curious story of the private fortunes of
several persons. See The Last of the O’Mahonys.
⸺ BOB NORBERRY; or, Sketches from the Note Book of an Irish Reporter;
ed. by “Captain Prout.” Pp. 360. Eighteen good illustr. by Henry
MacManus, A.R.H.A., and others. Dedicated to C. Bianconi. (Duffy).
1844.
The Author (Pref.) tells us that he has written the book to vindicate the
character of his countrymen, and to show Irish affairs to Englishmen in their
true light. Accordingly we have, not so much a novel, as a series of crowded
canvases depicting nearly every phase of life in Ireland from a period before
the Union to the date of this book. It begins with the marriage of the hero’s
grandparents in Dublin at the end of the 18th century (1780). We have a
glimpse of penal laws at work and of agrarian disturbances, but the Author
is especially at pains all through the book to set forth how the law works in
Ireland. There are swindling attorneys, bribed and perjured jurors, packed
benches, partisan judges, endless proceedings in Chancery, and so on. Young
Bob is sent first to a private school, then to Stonyhurst (an account is given
of the Jesuits). He is first intended for the priesthood and goes to Louvain,
but finally becomes a reporter on a Dublin paper. Here we have a picture
of low journalism. Bob shows up several frauds of self-styled philanthropists,
describes trial at Assizes of Lord Strangeways’ evicted tenants. This brings
in much about the agrarian question. The book ends with his elopement to
the Continent and marriage with Lady Mary Belmullet. There are
innumerable minor episodes and pictures. There is no literary refinement in
the style, and the colours of the picture are laid on thickly.
⸺ BRIDGET SULLIVAN; or, The Cup without a Handle. A Tale. 1854.
⸺ BY THE BROWN BOG; by “Owen Roe and Honor Urse.” Pp. 296.
(Longmans). Illustr. by silhouettes. 1913.
An imitation of the Somerville and Ross stories, but with their leading
features exaggerated. For Flurry we have Fossy, for Slipper Tinsy Conroy.
Instead of by an R.M. the stories are told by a young D.I. There is the same
background of comic and filthy peasants, the same general Irish slovenliness
and happy-go-luckiness, and universal drunkenness. The brogue is made
the most of. Moonlighters of a very sinister kind appear once or twice.
The incidents are such as hunting, racing, the local horseshow, country petty
sessions, &c. They are very well told, with a jaunty style, and in a vein of
broad comedy. There is a chapter purporting to relate experiences in
“The Black North,” but for the most part the scene is West Cork. Some of
these sketches appeared in the Badminton Magazine.
⸺ BYRNES OF GLENGOULAH, THE. Pp. 362. (U.S.A.)
“The incidents related in this tale really and truly occurred, though not in
the consecutive order in which they are placed” ... viz., “the
trial and execution, in February, 1846, at the town of Mullingar, Co. Westmeath,
of Bryan Seery for the murder of Sir Francis Hopkins, Bart.” “The
characters introduced are all real.” (Pref.) A sad and touching story of the
heartless treatment of the Irish peasantry by certain of the landlords, picturing
the deep religious faith of the former, and their patient resignation in their
sufferings. The plot, which is vigorously worked out, centres in the execution
of Bryan Seery for the attempted murder of Sir Francis Hopkins, a crime of
which he was innocent.
⸺ CAVERN IN THE WICKLOW MOUNTAINS, THE; or, Fate of
the O’Brien Family. Two Vols. 12mo. (Dublin, printed for the
Author). 1821.
Told in letters between “Augustus Tranton” and “Sir Edward Elbe.”
Said on title-p. to be “a tale founded on facts.” Seems to be a re-issue in a
slightly altered form of The United Irishman, q.v. The story is related
to “Aug. Tranton” by a gentleman (O’Brien) who had been a U.I., and as a
result had lost all, and was then in hiding in a cave near the Dargle river.
⸺ CHARACTERISTIC SKETCHES OF IRELAND AND THE IRISH.
16mo. Pp. 288. (Halifax). 1849.
A reprint of an earlier publication by Philip Dixon Hardy, the fourth
edition of which appeared in 1842. Contents: I. By Carleton:—“The Horse
Stealers,” “Owen McCarthy,” “Squire Warnock,” “The Abduction,” “Sir
Turlough.” II. By Lover:—“A Legend of Clanmacnoise” (sic), “Ballads
and Ballad Singers,” “Paddy Mullowney’s Travels in France.” III. By
Mrs. Hall:—“The Irish Agent,” “Philip Garraty.”
⸺ CHARLES MOWBRAY; or, Duelling, a tale founded on fact. Pp. 82.
(Cork). 1847.
By the author of “The Widow O’Leary.” Dr. B., whose parents live at Y.
(probably Youghal), has a practice in England. He is challenged to fight a
duel by Sir J. C. He is killed, and his parents both die from the shock.
A dull little book, with much moralising.
⸺ COLONEL ORMSBY; or, the genuine history of an Irish nobleman
in the French service. Two Vols. (Dublin). 1781.
In form of letters between the Colonel and Lady Beaumont, couched in the
most amatory terms. There is no reference to Ireland and little to the history
of the gallant Colonel: the correspondence is all about the private love affairs
of the writers.
⸺ DUNSANY: an Irish Story. Two Vols. 12mo. Pp. 278 + 308.
(London.) 1818.
The principal character and a few of the others, e.g., Mrs. Shady
O’Blarney (!), happen to be born in Ireland, and there is talk of the usual
tumbled-down castle somewhere in Ireland, but at this the Irishism of the
story stops. The scene is England, the persons wholly English in sympathy
and education. A sentimental and insipid story dealing chiefly with the
marrying off of impecunious sons and daughters. Interesting as giving a
picture, seen from an English standpoint, of the Irish society of the day.
No politics.
⸺ EARLY GAELIC ERIN; or, Old Gaelic Stories of People and Places.
(Dublin). 1901.
⸺ EDMOND OF LATERAGH: a novel founded on facts. Two vols.
(Dublin). 1806.
Two lovers kept apart by cruel circumstances and villainous plots meet
at last and are happy. This thread serves to connect many minor plots,
which bring us from Ireland (near Killarney) to England and then the
continent and back again, and introduce a great variety of personages. These
latter are nearly all of the Anglo-Irish Protestant gentry—Wharton, Wandesford,
Peyton, Ulverton, Blackwood, Elton—no Irish name is mentioned.
Great profusion of incident, but not very interestingly told. No historical
or social background. Relates rather a large number of instances of misconduct.
Speaks of “paraphernalia of Popish doctrine,” yet one of the
best characters is Father Issidore (sic).
⸺ EDMUND O’HARA: an Irish Tale. Pp. 358. (Dublin: Curry). 1828.
By the author of “Ellmer Castle.” A controversial story of an anti-Catholic
kind. The hero goes to Spain to be educated for the priesthood.
He meets Hamilton, who indoctrinates him with Protestantism. They are
wrecked off the Irish coast. A priest refuses them the money to take them
home to the North of Ireland, while the Protestants generously give it. He
falls in love with Miss Williams, who insists on a year’s probation so that he
may be sufficiently “adorned with Christian graces.” But he dies, and she
marries Hamilton.
⸺ ELLMER CASTLE. Pp. 320. (Dublin: Curry). 1827.
By the author of “Edmund O’Hara,” q.v. Henry Ellmer travels, and
comes back converted to convert his family. He causes only anger and
disturbance. They turn him out, and he departs with a blessing. But
after some adventures returns to his father’s deathbed. Contains much
controversial matter.
⸺ EMERALD GEMS. (Boston). 1879.
“A Chaplet of Irish Fireside Tales, Historic, Domestic, and Legendary.
Compiled from approved sources.”
⸺ FATHER BUTLER; or, Sketches of Irish Manners. 16mo. (Philadelphia).
1834.
I am not sure whether this is the American edition of a little Souper tract
by Carleton (q.v.) published by Curry in 1829, in which Father Butler finally
is convinced of the falsity of his religion and becomes a Protestant.
⸺ FATHER JOHN; or, Cromwell in Ireland (1649); by “S. E. A.”
Pp. 477. (Whittaker, later Gill). Still reprinted. [1842].
A well told story, with a love interest and a mystery admirably sustained
to the end. The plot largely turns on the misfortunes and sufferings brought
about by Father John’s fidelity to the secrecy of the confessional, a fidelity
which the author strongly condemns. The hero is a young Irish Protestant,
who before the close of the story has converted to his faith such of the Catholic
personages of the tale as do not rank as villains. The moral of the story is
the iniquity and falseness of the Catholic religion, for which the author
throughout displays a very genuine horror. The author’s political sympathies
are Ormondist, but Owen Roe O’Neill is favourably described. The massacres
of Drogheda and Wexford are described. It is “by the Author of ‘The
Luddite’s Sister,’ ‘Richard of York,’” &c.
⸺ FAVOURITE CHILD, THE; or, Mary Ann O’Halloran, an Irish tale:
by a retired priest. (Dublin). 1851.
⸺ FOLK-LORE AND LEGENDS (Ireland); edited by “C. J. T.”
16mo. Pp. 192. (Gibbings). 1889.
A volume of a good popular series which includes vols. on Oriental, English,
German, American, and other folk-lores. Thirty-three tales chosen from
published collections, chiefly Croker’s. A good selection. Humorous and
extravagant element not too prominent. Some in dialect. Some titles:—“Fuin”
(sic), “MacCumhal and the Salmon of Knowledge,” “Flory Cantillon’s
Funeral,” “Saint Brandon” (sic), and “Donagha,” “Larry Hayes,”
and “The Enchanted Man,” “The Brewery of Egg-shells,” “The Field of
Boliauns,” &c.
⸺ FORD FAMILY IN IRELAND, THE. Three Vols. (London: Newby).
1845.
Ford, an English merchant comes to the west coast of Ireland to pursue
a business speculation in grain, and brings his family. He is imprisoned
owing to a misunderstanding, and his daughter marries an officer, Macalbert,
who becomes chief of the pikemen, and eventually dies on the scaffold.
Period: ’98, soon after the landing of French at Killala. Point of view:
very sympathetic towards Ireland and anti-Orange. No religious bias. A
pathetic and a dramatic story.
⸺ FRANK O’MEARA; or, The Artist of Collingwood; by “T. M.”
Pp. 320. (Dublin: McGlashan & Gill). 1876.
Frank, of the tenant class, falls in love with the landlord’s daughter, Fanny.
Their love is discovered, and Frank finds it best to emigrate to Australia.
Here he has various adventures—bush-rangers, gold-diggings, and so on. A
comic element is afforded by the sayings and doings of his man, Jerry Doolin.
Meanwhile F’s father and his friend, another widower, contend for the
favours of the widow Daly—rather broad comedy—while Fanny, without
losing her place in society, is running a bookshop while waiting for Frank.
All is well in the end. A very pleasant story in every respect. “Collingwood”
is a village near Melbourne. Part of the story takes place at Bray.
⸺ GERALD AND AUGUSTA; or, The Irish Aristocracy. Pp. 320.
(Cameron & Ferguson). 6d. paper.
How Gerald, orphan son of Lord Clangore, is brought up in London to be
anti-Irish, while his sister is brought up by a Mr. Knightly (a stay-at-home
Irish squire absorbed in Ireland) to love Ireland. How chance brings Gerald
to Ireland where he is quite won over to her cause. This chance is a wreck
off the W. coast of Ireland resulting in Gerald’s falling temporarily into the
hands of “Captain Rock.” Many amusing adventures and situations follow.
The author’s sympathies are all for Ireland, but they are not blind or unreasoned
sympathies. Very ably written both in style and construction.
⸺ HAMPER OF HUMOUR, A; by Liam. Pp. 176. (Gill). 2s. 1913.
A series of character and genre studies—the shy man, the drunken driver
who wakes to find himself in a hearse and thinks it is his own funeral, the
returned American, the magistrates who do a good turn for their friends.
In this last and in several other sketches (notably in the two concerned with
Cork railways) there is a note of satire. There is plenty of genuine humour
to justify the title. The Cork accent is cleverly hit off; practically all the
sketches are more or less Corkonian.
⸺ HARRY O’BRIEN: a Tale for Boys. (N.Y.: Benziger. 0.25 net.
Burns and Lambert). 1859.
By the author of “Thomas Martin.” A little pious and moral Catholic
story. The scene is laid in London.
⸺ HERMITE EN IRLANDE, L’. Two Vols. 12mo. (Paris: Pillet
Ainé). 1826.
“Ou observations sur les mœurs et usages des irlandais au commencement
du xix siècle.” Interspersed with stories, occupying a large part of the book.
Titles:—“Le Cunnemara,” “Le naufrage,” “Mogue le Boiteux,” “Le
rebelle,” “La sorcière de Scollough’s Gap,” “Les bonnes gens,” “Les cluricaunes,”
“Bill le Protestant,” “Turncoat Watt ou l’apostat,” “Le double
vengeance,” “Le retour de l’absent,” etc. These are obviously taken for
the most part from Whitty’s book, q.v.
⸺ HONOR O’MORE’S THREE HOMES. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.25 net.
⸺ HUGH BRYAN: The Autobiography of an Irish Rebel. (Belfast).
Pp. 478. 1866.
Scene: Valley of Blackwater, Lismore. Time: end of eighteenth century
(1798) and beginning of nineteenth century. May be described as a Souper
story. Purports to be a moving picture of the last struggle of the Gael against
the English Planter, ending in failure, and resulting, in the hero’s case, in
conversion to Protestantism. He finally marries an escaped nun whom he
meets in an English town while engaged in slum-work.
⸺ IRISH BUBBLE AND SQUEAK, THE. Pp. 160. (London: Clarke
& Beeton). 1854.
“A selection [thirty-five in all] of the most popular Irish tales, anecdotes,
wit, and humour, illustrative of the manners and customs of the Irish
peasantry.” There is many a hearty laugh in these stories, especially for
ourselves, for in them the Irishman always comes out on top. Some of the
titles are:—“Serving a writ in Ireland,” “Anecdotes of Curran,” “Irish
Bulls,” “Paddy Doyle’s Trip to Cork,” “Lending a Congregation,” &c.
&c.
⸺ IRISH COQUETTE, THE: a novel. Vol. I. 1844.
No more published. Scene: an old Castle in the South of Ireland.
⸺ IRISH EXCURSION, THE; or, I Fear to Tell You. Four Vols.
Pp. 1205. (Dublin: Lane). 1801.
How Mrs. M’Gralahan and family came to London and what they heard
and saw and did there. The Irish are represented as dishonest, extravagant,
and many other things, but all this and more is to be remedied by
the great panacea—the Union—and the last of the four volumes closes with,
“Bless the Beloved Monarch of the Union.” Full of political discussions
and of lectures delivered to Ireland. What the Author “fears to tell” us is
not clear.
⸺ IRISH FAIRY TALES. Illustrated by Geoffry Strahan. (Gibbings).
2s. 6d.
A neat little volume, prettily illustrated, suitable as a present for children.
⸺ IRISH FIRESIDE STORIES, TALES AND LEGENDS. Pp. 400.
(N. Y.: Kenedy). 63 cents. net. Illustr. 1910.
“It brings out very well the true Irish wit, for which that race is famous.”—(Publ.).
⸺ IRISH GIRL, THE: a Religious Tale. Pp. 102. (London: Walker).
One engraving by Parris. 1814. Second ed. same year.
By the Author of “Coelebs Married.” The girl begins life in a mud hut
in the filthiest and most disgusting conditions. She is found in a barn and
taken in by kindly English people, and after a little management becomes a
Protestant at the age of fourteen, and indeed quite a theologian in her way.
A visit to a church in Cork and to Ardman, near Youghal, where the dust of
St. Dillon is sold by the bushel for miracle purposes, completes her conversion.
The book is full of the vilest slanders against the Catholic Church. The Irish
are represented as murderers and savages driven on by their priests.
⸺ IRISH GUARDIAN, THE: a Pathetic Story; by “A Lady.” Two
Vols. (Dublin). 1776.
Told in a series of letters to Miss Julia Nesbitt, Dublin, from Sophia Nesbitt,
of “Brandon Castle,” in Co. Antrim, and from Sabina Bruce, of “Edenvale,”
Co. Antrim. The two Miss Nesbitts fall in love, and the course of their love
affairs forms the chief subject of the letters. These are dated 1771. There
is some vague description of Irish places, but feminine matters, chiefly, absorb
the writers. To be found in Marsh’s Library, Dublin.
⸺ IRISH LOVE TALES. (N. Y.: Pratt). $1.50.
⸺ IRISHMAN AT HOME, THE. Pp. 302. (McGlashan & Orr). Five
Woodcuts by Geo. Measom. 1849.
“Characteristic Sketches of the Irish Peasantry.” In part reprinted from
the Dublin Penny Journal. “The Whiteboy” (1828) Cahill, a scullogue,
hanged an innocent man, for which the Whiteboys cut out his tongue. “The
Rockite” is a man who took the oath of the secret society when drunk and
had to go through with the business. “The Wrestler,” description of the
Bog of Allen and of a wake. “The False Step,” a pathetic story of an Irish
girl’s ruin, her broken heart, and her mother’s death. “The Fatal Meeting”
(1397). How a Palmer meets Raymond de Perrilleaux at St. Patrick’s
Purgatory in Lough Derg, and what came of the meeting. They nearly all
depict wild times. There is no religious bias, an absence of humour, and much
description of scenery.
⸺ IRISHMAN, THE; or, The Favourite of Fortune. Two Vols.
(London). 1772.
⸺ IRISHMEN, THE: a Military-Political Novel; by “A Native
Officer.” Two Vols. 12mo. (London: Newman). 1810.
Title-page:—“Wherein the idiom of each character is carefully preserved
and the utmost precaution constantly taken to render the ebullitionary
phrases peculiar to the sons of Erin inoffensive as well as entertaining.”
Told in letters between Major O’Grady and Major-General O’Lara, Miss
Harriet O’Grady, and Lady Arabella Fitzosborne. The letters are full of
italics and of the trifling gossip of fashionable or domestic life. The personages
all live in England. Letters from Patrick O’Rourke to Taddy McLenna—heavy
humour. Seem to contain no politics save a passing reference to the
war then (1808) in progress.
⸺ IRISH PEARL, THE: a Tale of the Time of Queen Anne. Pp. 98.
(Dublin: Oldham). 1850.
Reprinted from the Christian Ladies’ Magazine for 1847 and published
for charitable purposes. A religious tale of a strongly Evangelical and anti-Roman
character, in which Father Eustace, the hermit of Gougane Barra,
relates to Lady Glengeary his own conversion to Protestantism and that of
her mother. Lady G., in her turn, relates her conversion to Lady Ormond,
who tells the story to Queen Anne.
⸺ IRISH PLEASANTRY AND FUN. Pp. 380. 9¼ + 7 in. (Gill). 3s. 6d.
16 illustr. by J. F. O’Hea. [1892] 1910.
Still reprinted without change, and is as popular as ever. Seventy-two
stories, fourteen anonymous, the bulk of the remainder by Carleton, Lover,
and Lever. Maginn, Maxwell, and M. J. Barry are represented by two each;
Irwin, Lefanu, Lynam, Coyne, Sullivan by one each. Practically all the
tales are of the Lover (Handy Andy, q.v.) type, genuinely funny in their
way, but broadly comic, farcical, and full of brogue. The illustrations are
some of them clever, but inartistic and of the most pronouncedly Stage-Irish
kind.
⸺ IRISH PRIEST, THE; or, What for Ireland? Pp. 171. 16mo.
(Longman, Brown, Green, &c.). 1847.
“This sees the light with the earnest hope that it may conciliate prejudice,
disarm opposition....” The Author speaks of his “intensest sympathy for
a despoiled, neglected, ill-used people.” Supposed to be a MS. given to a
doctor in the W. of Ireland by a doctor on his deathbed. Sentimental and
emotional in style. A rambling series of incidents in priest’s life, with much
moralising of a non-Catholic tone. Incidents of land agitation given, without
explanation of their causes. Suggestions to make Ireland an ideal place, &c.
⸺ IRISH WIDOW, THE; or, A Picture from life of Erin and her Children;
by author of “Poor Paddy’s Cabin.” Pp. 205. 12mo. (London:
Wertheim and Macintosh). 1855.
Like the Author’s former work, this deals with the religious question in
Ireland from a Protestant (Evangelical) standpoint. But in this case the
personages are drawn from the middle classes, the causes of their enslavement
to Rome being set forth. It is full of religious controversy. See ch. xvi.
“The Fruits of an Irish Church Missions sermon,” and ch. xviii., “Priest
and Landlords.”
⸺ JIM EAGAN. (N.Y.: Pratt). $1.00.
⸺ KATE KAVANAGH. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.45 net.
⸺ LAST DROP OF ’68, THE: a Picture of Real Life with Imaginary
Characters; by “An Irish Bramwellian.” Pp. 127. (Hodges Figgis).
1s. 1885.
Begins in Dublin, the teller being a Dublin lawyer, but nearly all the incidents
take place out of Ireland. All the personages are more or less disreputable,
including the teller, but especially the hero, Helgate, who is a
thorough blackguard. The story consists chiefly in the doings of this latter,
a drunken, swindling wretch, who deceives foolish people and lives on them.
The writer does not seem to adopt any definite moral attitude. ’68 refers to the
vintage of that year.
⸺ LAST OF THE O’MAHONYS, THE; and other historical tales of the
English settlers in Munster. Three Vols. (Bentley). 1843.
Contents:—1. “The Title-story.” 2. “The Physician’s Daughter.” 3.
“The Apprentice.” 4. “Emma Cavendish.” 5. “The Puritan.” 6.
“Black Monday.” Scene: Co. Cork and chiefly around Bandon. All deal
with troublous times of 17th century as seen from the settlers’ point of
view, with which the Author is in sympathy. The Irish are painted in no
flattering colours. Useful historical notes are appended. Longer notices of
Nos. 5 and 6 are given as specimens of the whole.
⸺ LEGENDS AND FAIRY TALES OF IRELAND. With 50 wood
engravings. Large 12mo. (N.Y.: Kenedy). 63 cents net.
Being a complete collection of all the Fairy Tales published by Crofton
Croker and embodying the entire volumes of Kenedy’s Fictions of the Irish
Celts.
⸺ LIFE IN THE IRISH MILITIA; or, Tales of the Barrack Room. Pp.
255. (London: Ridgway). 1847.
The dedication (to O’Connell) is dated 1834, and the first words of the book
are “In the summer of 1833....” A very eccentric book, intended by
the Author (a lady) as a satire on the “fashionable depravities of the times,”
with intent to “exhibit folly and vice to public scorn and reproach.” (Pref.).
She is out against proselytism, bigotry, hypocrisy, aristocracy, race-hatred
between Ireland and England, and all abuses that bear heavily on the people.
This book consists of various parts:—I. “The Sojourner in Dublin”—a
young Englishman who lives in lodgings and tells what he sees and hears.
II. “The Modern Pharisees of the city of Shim-Sham in Ireland,” in the
form of a story. III. “Life in the Irish Militia”—a fierce attack on the
militia, especially a Northern and a Kerry regiment. IV. “A Visit to
Killarney.” V. An Allegorical Tale.
⸺ MAD MINSTREL, THE; or, The Irish Exile. (Murray). 1812.
⸺ MICK TRACY, THE IRISH SCRIPTURE READER; or, The
Martyred Convert and the Priest; by “W. A. C.” (Partridge). 3s. 6d.
Illustr., but without reference to the story. n.d.
The hero is “a day labourer reared in the R.C. communion but through
mercy enabled to see its delusions and to escape from them.” He is denounced
by the priest and assaulted by the parishioners. These are prosecuted, but
the only result is moonlighting, murder, and the kidnapping of converts.
Yet the converts multiply. The reproduction of the brogue is ludicrous.
See Tim Doolin.
⸺ MISTLETOE AND THE SHAMROCK, THE; or, The Chief of the
North. (Glasgow: Cameron & Ferguson). 6d.
In C. & F.’s “Sensation Series of Sixpenny Novels.”
⸺ MY OWN STORY: a Tale of Old Times. Pp. 168. (Curry). One
illustr. by Geo. Petrie, engraved by Kirkwood. 1829.
James O’Donnell is sworn in by a priest and joins the rebels, but later he
is made a “Bible Christian,” turns traitor, and is eventually hanged.
Period: some time in reign of George III. The country about Fort nan Gall
and the woods of Coolmore are described.
⸺ NATIONAL FEELING; or, The History of Fitzsimon: a Novel, with
Historical and Political Remarks; by “An Irishman.” Two Vols.
(Dublin). 1821.
A straggling story of the adventures in Ireland (Co. Mayo and Dublin) and
abroad of Edward F. Tells of the progress of his wooing of Matilda, which
is much interfered with by the machinations of a wicked lord. There are
also some minor love affairs. Pp. 103 sqq. of Vol. I. contain some pictures
of Dublin life at the time, introducing public personages such as the Duke of
Leinster, Lady Rossmore, Mr. Justice Fletcher, Alderman M’Kenny, &c.
The hero goes to the U.S. and then to S. America. The title of the tale
seems to be due to his meeting various peoples—Greeks, Argentiners, Chilians,
&c.—fighting for their national independence. See pp. 206, 217, 222. I
failed to come across Vol. II. Preface shows Author to be Nationalist in his
Irish views.
⸺ NICE DISTINCTIONS: a Tale. Pp. 330. (Hibernia Press Offices).
1820.
Scene: Co. Wicklow. The Courtneys of Glendalough Abbey have a
tutor named Charles Delacour, who makes friends with the clergyman’s
family—Mr. Vernon and his wife, son, and daughters. Presented ultimately
with a living, he marries Maria Vernon. Many subordinate characters of
no importance are introduced into this invertebrate tale, the style of which is
stilted and unnatural.
⸺ OLD COUNTRY, THE: a Christmas Annual. Pp. 200. Demy 8vo.
(Sealy, Bryers). 1s. 1893.
Irish Stories (and Poems) by Katherine Tynan, F. Langbridge, Dick
Donovan, Edwin Hamilton, W. B. Yeats, Edmund Downey, Nora Wynne,
&c., &c.
⸺ OUTCAST, THE: a Story of the Modern Reformation. Pp. 172.
(Curry). 1831.
The “Outcast” was educated for the priesthood, read Voltaire and
Rousseau, but did not finally awake to the error of the Roman “system” until
he had read Italy, by Lady Morgan. He ceases to believe in Catholicism;
is turned out by his father, while his mother dies of a broken heart. There
is a description of the Slaney. Contains much that would be extremely
offensive to Catholics and some remarks about Confession and Mass that
would appear to them blasphemous.
⸺ PASSION AND PEDANTRY: a Novel illustrative of Dublin Life.
Three Vols. (London: Newby). 1853.
A somewhat ordinary tale of the fortunes of young Charles Desmond, an
army officer, is made the vehicle for a careful and detailed picture of manners
and customs at the period, and for a presentation of the Author’s views on
things Irish, though with little reference to politics or to religion. The plot,
such as it is, turns chiefly on the question whether Charles will come in for
his old uncle’s money and will, in spite of whispering tongues, marry the lady—both
of which he does. The conversation of some of the personages is full
of pedantry and of quotations in various languages. Dublin life well portrayed
by a keen observer.
⸺ PEAS-BLOSSOM; by the Author of “Honour Bright.” (Wells,
Gardner). 3s. 6d. 30 illustr. by Helen Miles. C. 1911.
“‘Peas-blossom’ may be described as a rollicking, respectable Irish story,
the names of the juvenile pair of heroes being Pat and Paddy.... An exceptionally
readable volume.”—(Times).
⸺ PHILIP O’HARA’S ADVENTURES [and other tales]. Pp. 144.
(Chambers). 1885.
A young man’s adventures in the American Civil War. Only the first
story has the slightest connection with Ireland.
⸺ POOR PADDY’S CABIN; or, Slavery in Ireland. By “An Irishman.”
Pp. xii. + 242. 12mo. (London: Wertheimer & Macintosh).
2s. 6d. Second edition. 1854.
“A true representation of facts and characters,” names of persons and places
being disguised. “His [the Author’s] aim has been, along with a matter-of-fact
representation of the real state of things in Ireland, to exhibit in a parable ...
a just and true view of what the gracious dealings of the Almighty always
are.” (Pref.). A pamphlet in story form written against the Catholic Church
in Ireland and in support of the “Irish Reformation Movement.” Appendix,
giving with entire approval a bitterly anti-Catholic article from the Times
of November 29th, 1853 (?), and others of like nature from the Morning
Advertiser (Oct. 22nd, 1853). The characters are drawn from the peasant
class.
⸺ POPULAR TALES AND LEGENDS OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY.
Pp. 404. (Dublin: W. F. Wakeman). Illustr. by Samuel Lover. 1834.
Fifteen stories, including two by Carleton and one by Mrs. S. C. Hall. Five
are by Denis O’Donoho, three by J. L. L., and one each by J. M. L. and
B. A. P. Titles:—“Charley Fraser,” “The Whiteboy’s revenge,” “Laying
a ghost,” “The wife of two husbands,” “Mick Delany,” “The lost one,”
“The dance,” “The Fetch,” “The 3 devils,” “The Rebel Chief, 1799,”
&c., &c.
⸺ PRIESTS AND PEOPLE: a No-rent Romance; by the Author of
“Lotus,” etc. Three Vols. (London: Eden, Remington). 1891.
“Lotus” is by I. M. O. A book inspired by the bitterest dislike and
contempt for Ireland. The views expressed by the young English soldier
(p. 101) seem throughout to be those of the author. The interest turns almost
entirely on the relations between landlord, tenant, and League, and no effort
is spared to represent the two latter in the most odious light. It is the work of
a practised writer, and the descriptions are distinctly good and the story
well told. The brogue is painfully travestied. The author is ignorant of
Catholic matters.
⸺ PROTESTANT RECTOR, THE. Pp. 216. (Nesbit). 1830.
At the hospitable Protestant rectory even the priest is received. This
priest “performed several masses on Sundays”: he is frequently drunk.
He goes to Rome and, at the “fearful sight” of the Pope treated as God, he
recoils in disgust, and is converted. On his return he is again welcomed at
the Rectory, where he converts many and dies a holy death.
⸺ PURITAN, THE. Pp. 134.
The interest of this story turns chiefly on the religious differences of the
times. The author is for “the calm and rational service of the Church of
England” as against the new fanaticism of the Parliamentarians. The
characters, such as those of Obadiah Thoroughgood and Lovegrace, are
well-drawn. There is but little local colour and no description of scenery.
The scene is laid at Bandon, Co. Cork. Bound up in one vol. with “Black
Monday Insurrection,” q.v., being Vol. III. of The Last of The O’Mahonys.
⸺ RIDGEWAY; by “Scian Dubh.” Pp. xx. + 262 (close print).
(Buffalo: McCarroll). 1868.
“An historical romance of the Fenian invasion of Canada,” June, 1866.
Introd. (pp. xx. close print) gives a view of Irish history and politics from a
bitterly anti-English point of view. England has been “a traitor, a perjurer,
a robber, and an assassin throughout the whole of her infamous career.”
Append. gives in 5 pp. an “Authentic Report” of the invasion of Canada,
Fenianism is fully discussed, especially in ch. vi. Career of Gen. O’Neill,
ch. vii. A love story of an ordinary kind is used as a medium for politics and
historical narrative.
⸺ ROBBER CHIEFTAIN, THE. Pp. 342. Post 8vo. (Duffy). 2s.
[1863]. Still in Print.
Scene chiefly Dublin Castle. Cromwellian cruelties under Ludlow depicted,
and early years of Restoration. The Robber Chieftain is Redmond O’Hanlon,
the Rapparee. The Ven. Oliver Plunket is also one of the characters. Some
incidents suggest Catholic standpoint, but in places the book reads like a
non-Catholic (though not anti-Catholic) tract. The hero and heroine are
Protestant. Full of sensational incidents, duels, waylayings by robber bands,
law court scenes, tavern brawls. Also many repulsive scenes of drunkenness
among the native Irish, and of murder, wild vengeance, and villainy of
all kinds. Hardly suitable for young people.
⸺ ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, THE. Pp. 298. (Curry). One illustr.
by Kirkwood. 1827.
A Catholic boy, Doyle, risks his life and saves a Protestant boy from
drowning. The boy’s father out of gratitude offers to send Doyle to T.C.D.,
guaranteeing that “he will not have to make even a temporary renunciation
of his religion.” But the priest refuses, and soon Doyle becomes a Protestant.
⸺ SAINT PATRICK: a National Tale of the Fifth Century; by “An
Antiquary.” Three Vols. (Edin.: Constable). 1819.
A romance of love and vengeance and druidical mysteries into which
St. Patrick enters as one of the dramatis personæ. There are plenty of exciting
incidents, some fine scenes, and a very good picture of druidism in the fifth
century. Very well written but for the unfortunate introduction of modern
Irish brogue and Scotch dialect. The religious point of view is Church of
Ireland, and there is an effort to represent the Christianity of those days
as essentially different from the Catholicism of these. Scene: chiefly Tara,
Dunluce, the Giant’s Causeway, the Bann.
⸺ SEPARATIST, THE; by “A New Writer.” Pp. 323. (Pitman).
6s. 1902.
The love story of Stella Mertoun, who is a Royalist, and Philip Venn, who
is on the Parliamentary side in the Civil War. Only a small portion of the
action takes place in Ireland. The author’s sympathies are with the Puritans,
but the bias is not pronounced.
⸺ SIEGE OF MAYNOOTH, THE; or, Romance in Ireland. Two Vols.
(Chelsea: Ridgeway). 1832.
A very long novel with a rather confused plot, but containing good scenes.
Purports to be a MS. given to her descendant by the old Countess of Desmond,
who has fallen on evil days, and relating stirring incidents of the Desmond
wars and of the rebellion of Silken Thomas, including the attack on Desmond
castle by the Butlers, the defeat and capture of Lord Grey in Glendalough,
the escape of Lord Thomas Fitzgerald from the Black Castle of Wicklow,
and the siege and betrayal of the Castle of Maynooth. Written on the whole
from the Irish point of view.
⸺ SIR ROGER DELANEY OF MEATH; by “Hal.” Pp. 228.
(Simpkin, Marshall). 6s. 1908.
The Sir Roger of the story (he is “10th baron Navan”) is an elderly married
man, blustering, cursing, lying, cheating, but described in such a way that
one does not see whether the author means him for a hero or not. He falls in
love with Lady Kitty, who is in love with somebody else. Sir Roger tries to
get the latter into disreputable situations. They fight a duel, and the curtain
falls on Sir Roger mortally wounded. The book is quite devoid of seriousness.
⸺ SMITH OF THE SHAMROCK GUARDS; by “An Officer.” (Stanley
Paul).
⸺ STORIES OF IRISH LIFE, PAST AND PRESENT; by “Slieve
Foy.” Pp. 160. (Lynwood), 1s. 1912.
Ten stories, amusing and pathetic, some of which have appeared in the
Weekly Freeman and the Irish Emerald.
⸺ STORY OF NELLY DILLON, THE; by the author of “Myself and
my Relatives.” Two Vols. (London: Newby). 1866.
Nelly Dillon, daughter of a Tipperary farmer, is abducted in suspicious
circumstances by a former lover, who is a Ribbonman and illicit distiller.
She is disowned by her parents but befriended and sheltered by Bet Fagan, a
fine character. The latter prevails upon the abductor, when under sentence
of death, to clear Nelly Dillon’s character in presence of the parish priest, who
afterwards tells the facts from the altar. The parents wish to receive Nelly
back, but she rejects their advances and dies. A sad story, well told, and with
a healthy moral.
⸺ TALES AND LEGENDS OF IRELAND. Two Vols. (Cork: Bolster).
1831.
“Illustrative of society, history, antiquities, manners, and literature, with
translations from the Irish, biographical notices, essays, etc.”
⸺ THOMAS FITZGERALD THE LORD OF OFFALEY; by “Mac
Erin O’Tara, the last of the Seanachies.” Three Vols. (London). 1836.
“The first of a projected series illustrative of the history of I.” (Title-p.).
See also Introd. (pp. xxx.) containing some interesting remarks about Irish
historical fiction. Claims to “give the history as it really occurred.” The
book is a quite good attempt to relate the rebellion of Silken Thomas in a
romantic vein (though with no love interest) and to picture the times. The
conversations, though somewhat long-drawn-out, are in very creditable
Elizabethan English, redolent of Shakespeare. Opens with a description of
Christmas in Dublin in 1533. The Author is not enthusiastically Nationalist,
but is quite fair to the Irish side.
⸺ TIM DOOLIN, THE IRISH EMIGRANT. Pp. 360 (close print).
(Partridge). 3s. 6d. Illustr. Third ed., 1869.
By the Author of “Mick Tracy” (q.v.). Tim, son of a small farmer in Co.
Cork, as a result of his conversion to Protestantism, has his house burned
down and his cattle killed. He emigrates to U.S.A., but soon passes to
Canada, and helps to repel the Fenian raid. He is joined by his family, and
all live happily at Castle Doolin. Less offensive than “Mick Tracy” in its
allusions to religious controversies.
⸺ UNITED IRISHMAN, THE; or, The Fatal Effects of Credulity.
Two Vols. (Dublin). 1819.
A United Irishman who had escaped from Dublin Castle by the heroism
of a sister, tells the tale of his woes to an Englishman, who meets him by
accident. The latter in turn tells his story, equally woeful. The writer seems
to be a Catholic and to sympathize more or less with the United Irishman.
The book contains material for a good story, but it is told in a rambling
manner, without art, and is full of sentimentality. No attempt to picture
events or life of the times.
⸺ VERTUE REWARDED; or, The Irish Princess. A New Novel.
Pp. 184. 16mo. (London: Bentley). 1893.
This is No. III. in Vol. xii. of “Modern Novels,” printed for R. Bentley,
1892-3. Dedicatory Epist. “To the Incomparable Marinda.” (Pref.) “To
the ill-natured reader.” A petty foreign prince in the train of William III.
falls in love with an Irish beauty whom he sees in a window when passing
through Clonmel. The story tells of the vicissitudes of his love suit. It is
eked out by several minor incidents. Nothing historical except the mention
of the siege of Limerick.
⸺ VEUVE IRLANDAISE ET SON FILS, LA; Histoire véritable. Pp.
36. (Paris: Delay). 1847.
A little Protestant religious tract telling how a poor Irish widow was brought
round to Protestant ideas by means of Bible readings.
⸺ WEIRD TALES. Irish. 256 pp. 18mo. (Paterson). [1890].
Eleven tales selected from Carleton (“The Lianhan Shee”), Lover (“The
Burial of O’Grady”), Lever, Croker (“The Banshee”), Mrs. Hall, and J. B.
O’Meara, together with some anonymous items.
⸺ WILLIAM AND JAMES; or, The Revolution of 1689; by “A Lady.”
Pp. xiv. + 354. (Dublin). 1857.
“An Historical Tale, in which the leading events of that ... period of
our history ... are faithfully and truly narrated.” Introduces William III.,
James II., Tyrconnell, Sarsfield, Richard Hamilton, &c. Describes Boyne
and Aughrim. Scene chiefly Co. Fermanagh. Tone strongly Protestant
(there are digressions on religious matters), but without offensiveness to
the other side. It is a rather rambling, ill-connected story, the work of a
prentice hand. The initials of the author seem to be J. M. M. K.
[ABRAHAM, J. Johnstone], a native of Coleraine. B.A., 1898; M.D.,
T.C.D., 1908; a consulting Surgeon in London; now serving in
R.A.M.C. Author of The Surgeon’s Log.
⸺ THE NIGHT NURSE. Pp. 318. (Chapman & Hall). 6s. Fifth
edition. 1913. 2s.
Life in a Dublin hospital, carefully observed. Sex problem of “the greater
and the lesser love,” studied in a distinctly “biological” way. As foil to
the main characters, who are of the respectable Protestant classes, we have
“R.C.’s” of a most undesirable type, and, in the background, the wholly
disreputable Irishry of a western town. The four plagues of Ireland are
Priests, Politicians, Pawnbrokers, and Publicans, according to one of the
personages. The medical interest is prominent throughout. By the same
Author: The Surgeon’s Log.
ADAMS, Joseph.
⸺ UNCONVENTIONAL MOLLY. Pp. 320. (Methuen). 6s. 1913.
The young heir of the old rackrenting absentee comes (from Cambridge)
incognito among his tenantry in the West and lives their life. He meets
the heroine who gives its title to the book—with the expected result. The
rest is a series of little episodes—fishing in a western mountain-stream, a
day’s shooting on a moor, a sail on Clew Bay, a petty sessions court, a matchmaking,
a fair, &c., &c., all with a splendid setting of Western scenery. Might
be written by a sympathetic and kindly visitor who had enjoyed his holiday.
ALEXANDER, Eleanor. Born at Strabane, daughter of the late Dr.
Alexander, Archbishop of Armagh (d. 1911), and of Mrs. Cecilia Frances
Alexander, both of them well known as poets. Educated at home. Has
written verse for the Spectator and for other periodicals. At the
outbreak of war was preparing for publication a collection of Ulster
stories illustrative of the peculiar humour of the North. Her Lady
Anne’s Walk, a miscellany of historical reminiscence woven round a place
and one who walked there long ago, contains an excellent bit of Ulster
dialect—the talk of the old gardener.
⸺ THE RAMBLING RECTOR. Pp. 344. (Arnold). Third impression,
1904. (N.Y.: Longmans). 1.50.
A story of love, marriage, and social intercourse among various classes of
Church of Ireland people in Ulster. Draws a sympathetic picture of clerical
life, the hero being a clergyman. Every character, and there are very many
interesting types, is drawn with sure and distinct traits. There are no mere
lay figures. John Robert is a curious and amusing study of a certain type of
servant. Full of shrewd observation and knowledge of human nature, at
least in all its outward aspects. Very well written. By the same author:
Lady Anne’s Walk, The Lady of the Well, &c.
ALEXANDER, Evelyn.
⸺ THE HEART OF A MONK. Pp. 318. (Long). 6s. 1910.
The love story of Ivor Jermyn, who for reasons connected with an hereditary
family curse is induced by his mother to become a Benedictine. During a
vacation five years after his profession he meets his former love at a country
house, and a liaison is formed. Taxed with this by his rival, the shock makes
him see the family “ghost”—the “old man of horror.” A fatal illness
results, and he leaves the field to his rival. Written pleasantly and lightly.
Shows little knowledge of Catholic ways and doctrines.
⸺ THE ESSENCE OF LIFE. Pp. 320. (Long). 6s. 1911.
Youth is “the Essence of Life,” as exemplified in the heroine’s crowded
moments in the social life of Dublin and London, closing with her marriage
with Lord Portstow, but shadowed by the tragedy of a beautiful actress,
who turns out to be her mother. The novel does not rise above the commonplace.—[Times
Lit. Suppl.].
ALEXANDER, L. C.
⸺ THE BOOK OF BALLYNOGGIN. Pp. 315. (Grant, Richards). 6s.
1902.
Stories of a miscellaneous kind, mostly humorous, told in a pleasant and
readable style. Shows little knowledge of Irish life. The peasantry are
treated somewhat contemptuously. The interest at times turns on the
absurdities of Irish politics and of Irish legal proceedings.
ALEXANDER, Miriam (Mrs. Stokes). Born at Birkenhead. Educated at
home, except for a short period at Alexandra College, Dublin. Has
almost finished another novel, dealing this time with modern Irish life.
Was much interested in the Gaelic League till alienated from it by recent
events.
⸺ THE HOUSE OF LISRONAN. Pp. 312. (Melrose). 6s. 1912.
A tale of the Williamite wars. Dermot Lisronan vows vengeance on the
brutal Dutchman who has driven him from his ancestral home and been the
death of his mother. The book is the story of that vengeance. Dermot by
a strange fatality marries the daughter of this Dutchman, and some fine
psychological and human interest is afforded by the struggle in her mind
between love (the love of Dermot’s once bosom friend Fitz Ulick) and wifely
duty. The book is full of exciting and dramatic incidents and situations,
and never flags from the lurid beginning to the tragic close. The characters
are clearly drawn and they are worth drawing:—Bartley, the Hedge-schoolmaster;
Taaffe, the besotted coward, sorry product of Williamite rule;
Father Talbot, the devoted priest of penal days; Barry Fitz Ulick, a kind
of Sir Launcelot, and the rest. William III. is painted in darkest colours,
and the penal days that he inaugurated are shown in their full horror, though
as an offset to this we have a picture of the persecution of Huguenots in
France.
N.B.—This novel gained a 250 guinea prize by the unanimous award of
three competent judges. Six editions were sold in less than two months.
⸺ PORT OF DREAMS, THE. Pp. 351. (Melrose). 6s. 1912.
Dedication: To Caitlín ni Houlihan. A stirring and vivid romance of
Jacobite days (18th century) in Ireland, containing some intensely dramatic
episodes, e.g., the escape of Prince Charles Edward. There are many threads
in the narrative, but the chief interest, perhaps, centres in a Jacobite who,
having served the cause well for twenty years, finds himself confronted with
the spectre of physical cowardice. To save the cause from disgrace, his
cousin Denis takes his place on the scaffold. The girl marries Clavering for
the same reason, not for love. The author interrupts her narrative at times
to express her views on Celticism (for which she is enthusiastic), religious
persecution, and modern degeneracy.
⸺ RIPPLE, THE. Pp. 367. (Melrose). 6s. 1913.
Opens in Mayo (Achill scenery described), but soon shifts to Poland and
then to France. Adventures of Deirdre van Kaarew (daughter of a recreant
Irishman who has Dutchified his name and turned Protestant), who has
followed her brother to rescue him from the designs of a hated kinsman.
She falls in love with Maurice de Saxe (of whom a careful and vivid portrait
is drawn), and the story of this “friendship” takes up much of the book.
She refuses him in the end, and marries the hated kinsman. A fine plot, full
of dramatic incidents.
⸺ MISS O’CORRA, M.F.H. (Melrose). 6s. 1915.
Miss O’Corra, who has become a rich heiress, leaves her English home and
comes to hunt in Ireland. She is quite ignorant of equine matters, and
various amusing difficulties beset her. She meets her fate in the person of a
young Irish sportsman.—(Press).
ALEXANDER, Rupert.
⸺ MAUREEN MOORE: a Romance of ’98. Pp. viii. + 355. (Burleigh).
6s. 1899.
A well told story, introducing Lord Edward and the other leaders. Maureen,
an American, is the niece of John Moore, who is driven into rebellion by the
persecution of the “Yeos.” His two sons, one a captain in the army, the
other a priest, also join the rebel ranks. A love interest with cross purposes
pervades the story. Larry Farrell is a great character, performing wonderful
deeds of bravery and having equally wonderful escapes. The book leans
entirely to the rebel side. The fight at New Ross and the atrocities of Wexford
are vividly described.
ALGER, Horatio. Author of over fifty books for Boys.
⸺ ONLY AN IRISH BOY. (N.Y.: Burt). $0.75. 1904.
ANCKETILL, W. R.
⸺ THE ADVENTURES OF MICK CALLIGHIN, M.P.: A Story of
Home Rule; and THE DE BURGHOS: A Romance. Pp. 243.
(Tinsley). Seven rather rough illustr. 1874. Second ed., Belfast,
1875. 1s.
1. Mick Callighin leaves Ballypooreen, somewhere near the Galtees, of
which there is a fine description, for Dublin and then London. He meets his
future wife in Kensington Gardens. The plot is slight, but there is a good
deal of pleasant wit, many political hits, and much satire, not of Home Rule
but of Home Rulers.
2. Arthur Mervyn meets Col. de Burgho and his daughter, home from Italy.
An Italian count, who is also a pirate, carries off Nora, but she is rescued and
married to Arthur. A pretty story, with some good descriptions of life among
the better classes in the West of Ireland.
ANDREWS, Elizabeth, F.R.I.A.
⸺ ULSTER FOLKLORE. Pp. 121. (Stock). 5s. net. Fourteen illustr.,
mainly from photos. 1914.
A series of papers read before local learned societies or contributed to
archæological journals. An endeavour to deal with the folk belief in fairies
from an archæological point of view. The conclusion is that the “souterrains”
were originally the abode of a primitive pigmy race. Imbedded
in these pages (the outcome of much personal research) are many good fairy
and folk stories.
ANDREWS, Marion.
⸺ COUSIN ISABEL. Pp. 147. (Wells Gardner, Darton). 1s. 6d.
Two illustr. 1903.
A tale, for young people, of the Siege of Londonderry, the hardships of
the defenders, and their brave patience. Isabel, a veritable angel of mercy
for her uncle and cousins is a pleasant study. Another fine character is old
Geoffrey Lambrick, drawn from a quiet life and his tulips into the smoke of
battle.
[ARCHDEACON, Matthew].
⸺ LEGENDS OF CONNAUGHT, TALES, &c. Pp. 406. (Dublin:
John Cumming). 1829.
Seven stories:—“Fitzgerald,” “The Banshee,” “The Election,” “Alice
Thomson,” “M’Mahon,” “The Rebel’s Grave,” “The Ribbonman.” “Almost
every incident in each tale is founded on fact.” (Pref.). The first story
(165 pp.) depicts Connaught “in a wild and stormy state of society” towards
the close of the eighteenth century, and records the wild deeds and memorable
exit of the very widely known individual who is its hero.
⸺ CONNAUGHT: a Tale of 1798. Pp. 394. (Dublin: printed for
M. Archdeacon). 1830.
The Author was “from infancy in the habit of hearing details of ‘the
time of the Frinch’” ... and has “had an opportunity of frequently
hearing the insurrectionary scenes described by some of the Actors themselves.”
(Pref.) The Author is loyalist, but not bitterly hostile to the
rebels. The rebellion is not painted in roseate colours, but it is not misrepresented.
Humbert’s campaign is vividly described, but history does
not absorb all the interest. The love story (the lovers are on the rebel
side) is told with zest, and there is abundance of exciting incident. Quite
well written.
⸺ SHAWN NA SAGGARTH, THE PRIESTHUNTER. (Duffy). 6s.
1843.
A tale of the Penal times.
ARCHER, Patrick, “MacFinegall.” Born at Oldtown, North County
Dublin, about fifty years ago. Lives in Dublin, where he is a Customs
Official.
⸺ THE HUMOURS OF SHANWALLA. Pp. 162. (Gill). 2s. 6d.
Frontisp. photo of Author. [1906]. New edition, 1s. 6d. 1913.
A series of sketches exhibiting the humorous side of village life in the
North County Dublin district, or thereabouts. Quite free from caricature;
in fact tending to set the people described in a favourable light, and to make
them more appreciated. There is a portrait of a priest, earnest, persevering,
and wholly taken up with his people’s good. Thoroughly hearty, wholesome
humour.
ARGYLE, Anna.
⸺ OLIVE LACY. Pp. 365. (Philadelphia: Lippincott). 1874, and
earlier editions.
Scene: Wicklow during rebellion. Story told in first person by Olive
Lacy, a peasant’s daughter, adopted into a country gentleman’s family.
Castlereagh and Curran are introduced. A good specimen of the latter’s
table talk is given. Olive’s father becomes a United Irishman, is betrayed
by a foreign monk (who goes about in a habit and cowl!), escapes, is rearrested,
and finally is shot. A general description of the rising is given.
Tone, healthy. Story well told, but for some improbabilities. Wrote also:
Cecilia; or, The Force of Circumstances. N.Y.: 1866; Cupid’s Album;
The General’s Daughter.
ARTHUR, F. B.
⸺ THE DUCHESS. (Nelson).
Scene: mainly in Donegal. Standpoint: Protestant and English. Not
unfair to peasantry. A pleasantly told little story. The hero implicated
in Fenian movement, and arrested, escapes from prison through the cleverness
of his little daughter, “the Duchess.”
[ASHWORTH, John H.] Author of The Saxon in Ireland.
⸺ RATHLYNN. Three Vols. (Hurst & Blackett). 1864.
A young Englishman, son of “Admiral Wyville,” takes up and works a
property in a remote district in Ireland. Told in first person. The chief
interest seems to lie in jealousies and consequent intrigues arising out of love
affairs.
“ATHENE” see HARRIS.
AUSTIN, Stella.
⸺ PAT: A Story for Boys and Girls. (Wells Gardner). 2s. 6d. Illustr.
“One of the prettiest stories of child life. Even the adult reader will take
a great liking to the lively Irish Boy”—(Christian World). By the same
Author: Stumps, Somebody, Tib and Sib, For Old Sake’s Sake, &c., &c.
“AYSCOUGH, John” [Mgr. Bickerstaffe Drew]. The Author is a Catholic
priest (a convert), now (August, 1915) acting as a chaplain in the British
Army in France. He is one of the best-known writers of the day.
⸺ DROMINA. Pp. 437. (Arrowsmith). 6s. 1909.
The Author brings together in a queer old castle on the Western
coast the M’Morrogh, descendant of a long line of Celtic princes,
his children by an Italian wife, his French sister-in-law, a band of gypsies of a
higher type, whose king is Louis XVII. of France, rescued from his persecutors
of the Terror and half-ignorant of his origin. These are some of the personages
of the tale. It is noteworthy that not one of the characters has a drop
of English blood. I shall not give the plot of the story. The last portion
is full of the highest moral beauty. The lad Enrique or Mudo, son of Henry
M’Morrogh (whose mother was an Italian) and of a Spanish gypsy princess,
is a wonderful conception. When the Author speaks, as he does constantly,
of things Catholic (notably the religious life and the Blessed Sacrament) he
does so not only correctly but in a reverential and understanding spirit.
The one exception is the character of Father O’Herlihy, which is offensive
to Catholic feeling, and unnatural. The moral tone throughout is high.
One of the episodes is the seduction of a peasant girl, but it is dealt with
delicately and without suggestiveness.
BANIM, John and Michael “The O’Hara Family.” John Banim (1798-1842)
and Michael Banim (1796-1876) worked together, and bear a close
resemblance to one another in style and in the treatment of their material;
but the work of John is often gloomy and tragic; that of Michael has
more humour, and is brighter. They have both a tendency to be melodramatic,
and can picture well savage and turbulent passion. They
have little lightness of humour or literary delicacy of touch, but they
often write with vigour and great realistic power. The object with
which the “O’Hara” Tales were written is thus stated by Michael
Banim: “To insinuate, through fiction, the causes of Irish discontent
and insinuate also that if crime were consequent on discontent, it was
no great wonder; the conclusion to be arrived at by the reader, not by
insisting on it on the part of the Author, but from sympathy with the
criminals.”
P. J. Kenedy, of New York, publishes an edition of the Banims’
works in ten volumes at seven dollars the set.
BANIM, John.
⸺ JOHN DOE; or, The Peep o’ Day. 1825.
The story of a young man who, for revenge, joins the Shanavests, a secret
society, terrible alike to landlord, tithe-proctor, and even priest. The first of
the Tales by the O’Hara Family, republished separately by Simms & M’Intyre,
1853; and Routledge, n.d.
⸺ THE FETCHES. (Duffy). [1825].
A gloomy story, turning on the influence of superstitious imaginations on
two nervous and high-strung minds. The fetch is the spirit of a person
about to die said to appear to friends. The story is somewhat lightened
by the introduction of two farcical characters.
⸺ THE NOWLANS. Pp. 256 (close print). [1826], 1853, &c.
The temptation and fall of a young priest, resulting in misery which leads
to repentance. Contains some of Banim’s most powerful scenes.
⸺ PETER OF THE CASTLE. Pp. 191. (Duffy). [1826].
A sensational and romantic tale. The opening chapters (by Michael
Banim) give a detailed description of country matchmaking and marriage
festivities at the time, c. 1770.
⸺ THE BOYNE WATER. Pp. 564. (Duffy). 2s. [1826]. Many
editions since.
In this great novel, which is closely modelled on Scott, scene after scene
of the great drama of the Williamite Wars passes before the reader. Every
detail of scenery and costume is carefully reproduced. Great historical
personages mingle in the action. The two rival kings with all their chief
generals are represented with remarkable vividness. Then there are Sarsfield
and Rev. George Walker, Galloping O’Hogan the Rapparee, Carolan the bard,
and many others. The politics and other burning questions of the day are
thrashed out in the conversations. The intervals of the great historical
events are filled by the adventures of the fictitious characters, exciting to
the verge of sensationalism, finely told, though the deus ex machina is rather
frequently called in, and the dialogue is somewhat old-fashioned. The wild
scenery of the Antrim coast is very fully described, also the scenes through
which Sarsfield passed on his famous ride. The standpoint is Catholic and
Jacobite, but great efforts are made to secure historical fairness. The book
ends with the Treaty of Limerick.
⸺ THE ANGLO-IRISH OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Three
Vols. (Colburn). [1828]. Republ. in one volume by Duffy in 1865
under title Lord Clangore.
Opens in London. Several members of Anglo-Irish Society are introduced—the
Minister (Castlereagh) and the Secretary (Wilson Croker). There are
long disquisitions on Emancipation, the conversion of the peasantry, &c.
Gerald Blount, younger son of an Irish peer, has all the anti-Irish bias of this
set. Flying after a duel he reaches Ireland, where he has many exciting
adventures with the Rockites. Finally he succeeds to the title and settles
down. The “double” (or mistaken identity) plays a part in this story, as in
so many of Banim’s. A meeting of the Catholic Association with O’Connell
and Shiel debating is finely described, also a Dublin dinner-party, at which
Scott’s son appears. The early part is somewhat tedious, but the later
scenes are powerful.
⸺ THE CONFORMISTS. Pp. 202. (Duffy). [1829].
Period: reign of George II. A very singular story, whose interest centres
in the denial under the Penal Laws of the right of education to Catholics.
A young man, crossed in love, resolves to become a “conformist” or pervert,
and thus at once disgrace his family, and oust his father from the property.
⸺ THE DENOUNCED; or, The Last Baron of Crana. Pp. 235.
(Duffy). [1826]. (Colburn). 1830. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.75.
Deals with the fortunes of two Catholic families in the period immediately
following the Treaty of Limerick. Depicts their struggles to practise their
religion, and the vexations they had to undergo at the hands of hostile
Protestants. The tale abounds in incident, often sensational. There is a
good deal in the story about the Rapparees.
⸺ THE CHANGELING. Three Vols. Pp. 315 + 350 + 414. (London).
1848.
Published anonymously. Preface tells us it was written some few years
before date of publication. Scene: City of Galway and Connemara (including
Aran). The main plot is concerned with the mystery surrounding the heir of
Ballymagawley, got out of the way in early childhood by the present owner,
Mr. Whaley, but returning in disguise to claim his rights. The interest is
threefold:—First, Mr. Whaley’s awful secret unknown to the daughter, whom
he loves with his whole soul, and who returns his love, and the desperate
efforts he makes to avert the revelation; 2nd, the study of character: Clara
Whaley, high-souled, intellectual, unworldly, scorning fashion and flirtation,
the astute worldly intellectual Hon. Augustus Foster, the empty-headed
Miss Fosters and so on; 3rd, a series of quite admirable and amusing vignettes
of the petite bourgeoisie of Galway—the vulgar and showy Mrs. Heffernan
with her absurd accent, the match-making Mrs. Flanagan (an inimitable
portrait), the mischief-making Peter Harry Joe, Considine the Butler, the
consequential Captain O’Connor, and the endless flirtations of the marriageable
young ladies. The peasantry are well drawn, but it is quite an outside view
of their life. The conversations are clever, but sometimes tediously long,
as are also the Author’s reflections.
BANIM, Michael.
⸺ CROHOORE OF THE BILLHOOK. (Duffy). [1825].
Has been a very popular book. The action lies in one of the darkest
periods of Irish history, when the peasantry, crushed under tithe-proctor,
middleman, and Penal laws, retorted by the savage outrages of the secret
societies. One of these latter was the “Whiteboys,” with the doings of
which this book largely deals. The Author does not justify outrage, but
explains it by a picture of the conditions of which it was an outcome. A
dark and terrible story. The scene is Kilkenny and neighbourhood. It must
be added that most of the characters savour strongly of what is now known
as the “stage Irishman.”
⸺ THE CROPPY. Pp. 420. (Duffy). 2s. Still reprinted. [1828].
Opens with a long and serious historical introduction. There follow
many pages of a love story of the better classes which is, perhaps, not very
convincing. Samples of the outrages by which the people were driven to
revolt are given. Then there are many scenes from the heart of the rebellion
itself, some of them acquired from conversation with eye-witnesses. The
attitude is that of a mild Nationalist, or rather Liberal, contemplating with
sorrow not unmixed with contempt the savage excesses of his misguided
countrymen. The rebellion is shown in its vulgarest and least romantic
aspect, and there are harrowing descriptions of rebel outrages on Vinegar
Hill and elsewhere. The one noble or even respectable character in the book,
Sir Thomas Hartley, is represented as in sympathy with constitutional
agitation, but utterly abhorring rebellion. The other chief actors in the
story are unattractive. They have no sympathy with the insurgents, and
the parts they play are connected merely accidentally with the rebellion.
There is much movement and spirit in the descriptive portions.
⸺ THE MAYOR OF WINDGAP. Pp. 190. (Duffy). [1834].
Romantic and sensational—attempted murders, abductions, &c. Not
suitable for the young. Interest and mystery well sustained. Scene:
Kilkenny in 1779. There was a Paris edition, 1835.
⸺ THE BIT O’ WRITING.
This is the title-story of a volume of stories. First published in London,
1838. It may be taken as typical of Michael Banim’s humour at his best.
It is a gem of story-telling, and, besides, a very close study of the ways and the
talk of the peasantry. The “ould admiral,” with his sailor’s lingo, is most
amusing. It was republished along with another story, The Ace of Clubs,
by Gill, in a little volume of the O’Connell Press Series, pp. 144, cloth, 6d.,
1886. The original volume, with twenty stories, is still published by Kenedy,
New York.
⸺ FATHER CONNELL. Pp. 358. [1840].
The scene is Kilkenny. The hero is an Irish country priest. The character,
modelled strictly (see Pref.) on that of a priest well known to the author,
is one of the noblest in fiction. He is the ideal Irish priest, almost childlike
in simplicity, pious, lavishly charitable, meek and long-suffering, but terrible
when circumstances roused him to action. Interwoven with his life-story
is that of Neddy Fennell, his orphan protégé, brave, honest, generous, loyal.
Father Connell is his ministering angel, warding off suffering and disaster,
saving him also from himself. The last scene, where, to save his protégé
from an unjust judicial sentence, Father Connell goes before the Viceroy, and
dies at his feet, is a piece of exquisite pathos. There is an element of the
sombre and the terrible. But the greater part of the book sparkles with a
humour at once so kindly, so homely, and so delicate, that the reader comes
to love the Author so revealed. The episodes depict many aspects of Irish
life. The character-drawing is masterly, as the best critics have acknowledged.
There is Mrs. Molloy, Father Connell’s redoubtable housekeeper; Costigan,
the murderer and robber; Mary Cooney, the poor outcast and her mother,
the potato-beggar; and many more. The Author faithfully reproduces
the talk of the peasants, and enters into their point of view. Acknowledged
to be the most pleasing of the Banims’ novels.
⸺ THE GHOST HUNTER AND HIS FAMILY. (Simms & M’Intyre).
[1833]. 1852.
Still published by P. J. Kenedy, New York: 75 cents. An intricate plot
skilfully worked out, never flagging, and with a mystery admirably sustained
to the end. Gives curious glimpses of the life of the times (early nineteenth
century), as seen in a provincial town (Kilkenny). But the style often
offends against modern taste. The book soon turns to rather crude, if
exciting, melodrama. Moreover, though the Author is always on the side of
morality, there is too much about abduction, &c., and too many references
to the loose morals of the day to make it suitable reading for certain classes.
⸺ THE TOWN OF THE CASCADES. Two Vols. Pp. 283 + 283.
(Chapman & Hall). 1864.
Scene: sea-board town in West. A powerful story in which the chief
interest is a tragedy brought about by drink. The town seems to be Ennistymon,
Co. Clare. The characters belong to the peasant class, and of course
are drawn with thorough knowledge. The work could easily go in one not
very large volume.
“BAPTIST, Father” see Mgr. R. B. O’BRIEN.
BARBOUR, M. F.
⸺ THE IRISH ORPHAN BOY IN A SCOTTISH HOME. Pp. 87.
(London). [1866]. 1872.
“A sequel to ‘The Way Home,’ &c.” A little religious tract (Protestant)
in story form.
BARDAN, Patrick.
⸺ THE DEAD-WATCHERS. Pp. 83. (Mullingar: Office of Westmeath
Guardian). 1891.
“And other Folk-lore Tales of Westmeath.” The author is a member of
the Royal Society of Antiquaries. Intended as a contribution to folk-lore.
But the title-story (54 pp.) is a fantastic story told in melodramatic modern
English, and has little or no connexion with folk-lore. The remainder consists
of ghost stories, spirit-warnings, superstitions, chiefly of local interest.
Appended are a few explanatory notes of some value.
BARLOW, Jane.
⸺ IRISH IDYLLS. Pp. 284. (Hodder & Stoughton). 6s. [1892].
Ninth ed. (N.Y.: Dodd & Mead). 2.00. 1908.
Doings at Lisconnell, a poverty-stricken little hamlet, lost amidst a waste
of unlovely bogland. These sketches have been well described as “saturated
with the pathos of elementary tragedy.” Yet there is humour, too, and even
fun, as in the story of how the shebeeners tricked the police. The illustrated
edition contains about thirty exceptionally good reproductions of photographs
of Western life and scenery.
⸺ KERRIGAN’S QUALITY. Pp. 254. (Hodder & Stoughton). 6s.
Eight Illustr. [1893]. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.75. Second edition.
In this story the peasants only appear incidentally. The main characters
are Martin Kerrigan, a returned Irish-Australian; the invalid Lady O’Connor;
her son, Sir Ben; and her niece, Merle. The story is one of intense, almost
hopeless, sadness, yet it is ennobling in a high degree. It is full of exquisite
scraps of description.
⸺ STRANGERS AT LISCONNELL. Pp. 341. (Hodder & Stoughton).
6s. [1895]. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.75.
A second series of Irish Idylls, showing the Author’s qualities in perhaps
a higher degree even than the first. A more exquisite story than “A Good
Turn” it would be hard to find. Throughout there is the most thorough
sympathy with the poor folk. The peasant dialect is never rendered so as
to appear vulgar or absurd. It is full of an endless variety of picturesqueness
and quaint turns. No problems are discussed, yet the all but impossibility
of life under landlordism is brought out (see p. 15). There are studies of
many types familiar in Irish country life—the tinkers; Mr. Polymathers,
the pedagogue (a most pathetic figure); Mad Bell, the crazy tramp; and
Con the “Quare One.” It should be noted that, though there is in Miss
Barlow’s stories much pathos, there is an entire absence of emotional gush.
⸺ MAUREEN’S FAIRING. Pp. 191. (Dent). Six Illustr., of no great
value. [1895]. (N.Y.: Macmillan). 0.75.
Eight little stories reprinted from various magazines in a very dainty
little volume. Like all of Jane Barlow’s stories, they tell of the “tear and
the smile” in lowly peasant lives, with graceful humour or simple, tender
pathos. The stories are very varied in kind.
⸺ MRS. MARTIN’S COMPANY. (Dent). Uniform with Maureen’s
Fairing. [1896]. (N.Y.: Macmillan). 0.75.
“Seven stories, chiefly of a light and humorous kind, very tender in their
portrayal of the hearts of the poor. There is a touching sketch of child-life
and a police-court comedy.”—(Baker).
⸺ FROM THE EAST UNTO THE WEST. Pp. 342. (Methuen). 1s.
8vo. Cloth. First ed., 1898; new ed., 1905.
The first six of this collection of fifteen stories are tales of foreign lands—Arabia,
Greece, and others. The remainder deal with Irish peasant life. They
tell of the romance and pathos that is hidden in lives that seem most commonplace.
“The Field of the Frightful Beasts” is a pretty little story of childish
fancies. “An Advance Sheet” is weird and has a tragic ending.
⸺ FROM THE LAND OF THE SHAMROCK. Pp. 318. (Methuen). 5s.
(N.Y.: Pratt). 1.75. 1900. (N.Y.: Dodd & Mead). 1.50.
Fourteen stories, some humorous, some pathetic, including some of the
author’s best work. There is the usual sympathetic insight into the eccentricities
and queernesses of the minds of the peasant class, but little about the
higher spiritual qualities of the people, for that is not the author’s province.
Among the most amusing of the sketches is that which tells the doings of a
young harum-scarum, the terror of his elders.
⸺ THE FOUNDING OF FORTUNES. Pp. 335. (Methuen). 1s. Cloth.
8vo. [1902]. New ed. 1906.
The tale of how Timothy Galvin, a ragged urchin living in a mud cabin
and remarkable only for general dishonesty and shrewd selfishness, is given
a start in life by an ill-gotten purse, and rises by his mother wit to wealth.
The study of the despicable character of the parvenu is clever and unsparing.
Other types are introduced, the landlord of the old type, and two reforming
landlords, who appear also in Kerrigan’s Quality. The book displays Jane
Barlow’s qualities to the full.
⸺ BY BEACH AND BOGLAND. Pp. 301. (Fisher Unwin). 6s. One
Illustr. 1905.
Seventeen stories up to the level of the author’s best, the usual vein of
quiet humour, the pathos that is never mawkish, the perfect accuracy of the
conversations, and the faithful portrayal of characteristics. The study in
“A Money-crop at Lisconnell,” of the struggle between the Widow M’Gurk’s
deep-rooted Celtic pride and her kind heart, is most amusing. As usual,
there are delightful portraits of children.
⸺ IRISH NEIGHBOURS. Pp. 342. (Hutchinson). 1907.
Seventeen stories of Irish life, chiefly among the peasantry. They have
all Miss Barlow’s wonted sympathy and insight, her quiet humour and cheerful
outlook.
⸺ IRISH WAYS. Pp. 262. (George Allen). 15s. Sq. demy 8vo. Sixteen
Illustr. in colour. Headpieces to chapters. 1909.
Chapter I., “Ourselves and Our Island,” gives the author’s thoughts about
Ireland, its outward aspect, the peculiarities of its social life, its soul. It
includes an exquisite pen-picture of Irish landscape beauty. The remaining
fourteen sketches are “chapters from the history of some Irish country
folk,” whom she describes as “social, pleasure-loving, keen-witted,” but
“prone to melancholy and mysticism.” The last sketch is a picture, almost
photographic in its fidelity, of a little out-of-the-way country town and its
neighbourhood. The illustrations are pretty, and the artist, who, unlike
many illustrators of Irish books, has evidently been in Ireland, has made a
great effort to include in his pictures as much local colour as possible. Yet
it seems to us that un-Irish traits often intrude themselves despite him.
⸺ FLAWS. Pp. 344. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1911.
Embroidered upon an exceptionally involved plot—four times we are
introduced to a wholly new set of characters—we have the author’s usual
qualities, minute observation and depiction of curious aspects of character,
snatches of clever picturesque conversation, an occasional vivid glimpse of
nature. But in this case the caste is made up of spiteful, petty, small-minded
and generally disagreeable personages. They are nearly all drawn from
the middle and upper classes in the South of Ireland, Protestant and Anglicized.
The snobbishness, petty jealousies, selfishness of some of these people is set
forth in a vein of satire. The incidents include an unusually tragic suicide.
⸺ MAC’S ADVENTURES. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1911.
Eight stories in which Mac, or rather Macartney Valentine O’Neill Barry,
who is four years old in the first and six in the last, plays a leading part.
Indeed he is quite a little deus ex machina, or rather a good fairy in the affairs
of his elders. Mac is neither a paragon nor a youthful prodigy. He is just a
natural child, with a child’s love of mischief and “grubbiness,” and full of
quaint sayings. Bright and genial in tone.—(Press Notices).
⸺ DOINGS AND DEALINGS. Pp. 314. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1913.
Thirteen stories, all but one (the longest) dealing with peasant life in the
author’s wonted manner. Perhaps scarcely so good as some of her earlier
collections.
⸺ A CREEL OF IRISH STORIES. (Methuen). 1s. Cloth. 8vo. (N.Y.:
Dodd & Mead). 1.25.
The first of these, “The Keys of the Chest,” is a curious and original conception,
showing with what strange notions a child grew up in a lonely mansion
by the sea. The story of the suicide is a gem of story-telling. “Three Pint
Measures” is a comic sketch of low Dublin life.
⸺ ANOTHER CREEL OF IRISH STORIES. Published, I believe, in
U.S.A. (On sale by Pratt: N.Y.). 1.75.
[BARRETT, J. G.], “Erigena.”
⸺ EVELYN CLARE; or, The Wrecked Homesteads. Pp. viii. + 274.
(Derby: Richardson). 1870.
“An Irish story of love and landlordism.” Crude melodrama with all the
usual accessories—a landlord, “Lord Ironhoof,” and an agent, “Gore”—eviction,
agrarian murders, a disguised priest, and secret Mass, a poteen still,
an elopement, a changeling brought up in wealth, a lover supposed drowned,
and an innocent man unjustly convicted. No sense of reality. Scene:
West of Ireland, c. 1850. Several anachronisms.
BARRINGTON, F. Clinton.
⸺ FITZ-HERN; or, The Irish Patriot Chief. Pp. 122. (Glasgow:
Cameron & Ferguson). n.d.
Scene: Galway Bay. Crude melodrama, without historical significance.
Wicked married bishops, scheming foreign monks, and coarse fat friars are
the villains of the piece. But the hero, a smuggler of noble birth, always
escapes from their clutches, and finally marries the heroine. Specimen of
dialect:—“Arrah, gorrah, avic, father John, it’s the Pope o’ Rome ye bate,
out and out.” (p. 13).
BARRON, Percy.
⸺ THE HATE FLAME. Pp. 382. (Hodder & Stoughton). 6s. 1908.
The story of a noble life wrecked by racial hatred. The hero, a young
Englishman, Jack Bullen, fights a duel, in Heidelberg, with an Irish student,
and kills him. This deed comes in after years between him and the Irish
girl (cousin of the slain student, and pledged against her will to vengeance by
his father) whom he was to marry—and this through the plotting of her
rejected lover and a priest. Bullen had, for the upraising of the Irish people,
started a great peat factory in Ireland, and it had prospered. This work is
wrecked by the same agency that ruins his private happiness. Throughout
the book the Author attacks all the cherished ideas of Irish Nationalism and
of the present Irish revival, and sets over against them the ideals of England
and his personal views. Much bitterness is shown against the priests of
Ireland. The scene-painting and the handling of situation and of narrative
are very clever. There is nothing objectionable from a moral point of view.
BARRY, Canon William, D.D. Born in London, 1849. Educated at Oscott
and Rome. He is a man of very wide learning, a theologian and a man-of-letters,
known in literature both by his novels (The New Antigone, &c.)
and by important historical and religious works. Is now Rector of
St. Peter’s, Leamington.
⸺ THE WIZARD’S KNOT. Pp. 376. (Unwin). 6s. Second ed. (N.Y.:
Pratt). 3.00. 1900.
Dedicated to Douglas Hyde and Standish Hayes O’Grady. Scene: coast
of South-west Cork during famine times, of which some glimpses are shown.
There is a slight embroidery of Irish legend and a good deal about superstition,
but the incidents, characters, and conversations have little, if any, relation
to real life in Ireland. It is mainly a study of primitive passions. It might
be described as a dream of a peculiarly “creepy” and morbid kind. It is
wholly unlike the Author’s New Antigone.
BAYNE, Marie.
⸺ FAIRY STORIES FROM ERIN’S ISLE. Pp. 131. (Sands). 2s. 6d.
net. Illustr. by Mabel Dawson and John Petts. 1908.
Pretty and attractive picture-cover. Six little stories told in pretty,
poetic style, one about a fairy changeling, another about the mermaids.
The “Luck of the Griddle Darner” is in pleasant swinging verse. So is the
“Sleep of Earl Garrett.” Though intended for small children, none of the
stories are silly.
BENNETT, Louie. Born in Dublin, educated there by private tuition and
in London. Has done some journalistic work, but is chiefly interested
in social questions, in particular the woman’s movement and pacifism.
Resides near Bray, Co. Wicklow.
⸺ THE PROVING OF PRISCILLA. Pp. 303. (Harper). 1902.
Scene: varies between Mayo and Dublin. Story of an ill-assorted
marriage. The wife, daughter of a Protestant rector, is a Puritan of the
best type, simple, religious, and sincere. The husband is a fast man of
fashion, who cannot understand her “prejudices.” After much bickering
they part. Troubles fall on both. In the end his illness brings them together
again—each grown more tolerant. Quiet and simply but well written,
with nothing objectionable in the treatment.
⸺ PRISONER OF HIS WORD, A. Pp. 240. (Maunsel). 6s.
Handsome cover. 1908. New edition. 1s. 1914.
“A tale of real happenings” (sub-title). Opens at Ballynahinch, Co.
Down, in June, 1797. A pleasant, exciting romance, written in vigorous
and nervous style. A young Englishman joins the Northern rebellion. He
pledges himself to avenge his friend taken after the fight at Ballynahinch,
and hanged as a rebel. The story tells how he carries out the pledge. The
only historical character introduced is Thomas Russell. His pitiful failure
in 1803 to raise another rebellion in Ulster is related. The little heroine,
Kate Maxwell, is finely drawn.
BERENS, Mrs. E. M.
⸺ STEADFAST UNTO DEATH. Pp. 275. (Remington). Frontisp. by
Fairfield. 1880.
“A tale of the Irish famine of to-day.” Period: 1879-80. Place:
Ballinaveen, not far from Cork. Black Hugh, a kind of outlaw of the mountains
is the hero. He had loved Mrs. Sullivan before she married the drunken,
worthless Pat. He promises her when she is on her deathbed to care for
the children she is leaving, and the worthless husband. Hugh takes the
blame of the latter’s crime, and is hanged in Dublin. The family is rescued
by benevolent English people. A well-told, but very sad story. The people’s
miseries are feelingly depicted. Standpoint of a kind-hearted Englishwoman
who pities, but does not in the least understand Ireland.
BERTHET, Elie.
⸺ DERNIER IRLANDAIS, LE. Three Vols. 16mo. (Bruxelles:
Meline). 1851.
Ireland in the eighteen forties. Abortive rising under one of the O’Byrnes
of Wicklow (Le dernier Irlandais). O’Connell looms in the background as
the opponent of all this. The rebellion, which at once fizzles out, is the result
of an insult to O’Byrne’s sister by a roué named Clinton. O’B. flies to
Cunnemara (sic) with Nelly Avondale, daughter of the landlord of Glendalough,
is besieged there in a fortress. Nelly returns to marry the above-mentioned
roué and O’B. flies. The Author is evidently not consciously hostile to
Ireland, but he is totally ignorant of it. The peasants are travestied. They
are all drunkards, slovenly, sly, mean, lawless. Some descriptions of scenery
in Wicklow and Connemara.
BERTHOLDS, Mrs. W. M.
⸺ CONNOR D’ARCY’S STRUGGLES. (N.Y.: Benziger). 2s. 1914.
BESTE, Henry Digby, 1768-1836. Son of the prebendary of Lincoln.
Became a Catholic 1798. An interesting biographical sketch of him
(largely autobiographical) is prefixed to the novel here noticed. It
includes a full account of his conversion.
⸺ POVERTY AND THE BARONET’S FAMILY: An Irish Catholic
Novel. Pp. xxxii. + 415. (London: Jones). 1845.
Bryan O’Meara, son of a poor Irish migratory labourer, is educated as a
gentleman by Sir Cecil Foxglove, of Denham, near Grantham, in gratitude
for the rescue of his child by Bryan’s father. Coming to man’s estate,
and being refused by the Baronet’s daughter he returns to his father’s people
at Athlone, where for some time he plays at being a farmer’s lad—and at
rebellion. But a fortunate chance puts great wealth into his hands, and he
returns to marry the Baronet’s daughter. Interesting glimpses of Catholic
life in penal days (the story opens in 1805) when Catholicism was at the
lowest ebb in England. The Dublin Review says (1848, Vol. xxiv., p. 239):
“The hero is a pious pedant, a truculent fellow, and a self-conceited proser.
The story itself is purposeless; bitter in sentiment, and swamped in never-ending
small-talk.” The “small-talk,” however is, if anything, over-serious
and moral.
“BIRMINGHAM, George A.” Rev. James Owen Hannay, M.A., Canon of
St. Patrick’s Cathedral (1912). Born 1865, son of Rev. Robert Hannay,
vicar of Belfast. Educated at Temple Grove, East Sheen; Haileybury;
T.C.D. Curate of Delgany, Co. Wicklow. Rector of Westport, 1892-1913.
Has resigned this cure in order to devote himself to literature.
Is a member of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland. He has
shown himself equally at home in political satire, humorous fiction
and historical fiction. He is in sympathy with the ideals of the Gaelic
League, and has actively shown this sympathy. He seems on the
whole Nationalist in his views, but has nothing in common with the
Parliamentary Party. His earlier books showed strong aversion for
the Catholic Church, but, except perhaps in Hyacinth, he has never
striven to represent it in an odious light, and he is an enemy of all intolerance.
⸺ THE SEETHING POT. Pp. 299. (Arnold). 6s. 1904.
Main theme: the apparently hopeless embroilment of politics and ideas in
Ireland. Many aspects of Irish questions and conditions of life are dealt with.
Many of the characters are types of contemporary Irish life, some are thinly
disguised portraits of contemporary Irishmen, e.g., Dennis Browne, poet,
æsthete, egoist; Desmond O’Hara, journalistic freelance (said to be modelled
on Standish O’Grady); Sir Gerald Geoghegan, nationalist landlord; John
O’Neill, the Irish leader, who is deserted by his party and ruined by clerical
influence; and many others. All this is woven into a romance with a love
interest and a good deal of incident.
⸺ HYACINTH. (Arnold). 6s. 1906.
An account, conveyed by means of a slight plot, of contemporary movements
and personages in Ireland. Most of these are satirized and even
caricatured, especially “Robeen” Convent, by which seemed to be meant
Foxford Mills, directed by the Sisters of Charity (see New Ireland Review,
March, 1906). A grasping, unscrupulous selfishness is represented to be one
of the chief characteristics of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
⸺ THE BAD TIMES. Pp. 312. (Methuen). 6s. [1907]. New
edition, 1s. 1914.
Period: chiefly Isaac Butt’s Home Rule movement. Stephen Butler,
representative of a landlord family of strong Nationalist sympathies, determines
to work for Ireland. He joins the Home Rule Party, but he hates
agrarian outrage, and so, through the Land League, becomes unpopular in
his district in spite of all he has done. The author introduces types of nearly
every class of men then influential in Ireland: a priest who favours and a
priest who opposes the new agrarian movement, an incurably narrow-minded
English R.M., an old Fenian, and so on. The impression one draws from the
whole is much the same as that of the Seething Pot. The Author’s views are
strongly National, and there is no bitter word against any class of Irishmen,
except the present Parliamentary Party.
⸺ BENEDICT KAVANAGH. Pp. 324. (Arnold). 6s. 1907.
Dedication in Irish. Foreword in which the Author states that by
“Robeen” Convent he did not intend Foxford (cf. Hyacinth). A criticism
of Irish political life, free from rancour, and from injustice to any particular
class of Irishmen, showing strong sympathy for the Gaelic League, and all it
stands for. The hero is left at the parting of the ways, with the choice
before him of “respectability” and ease, or work for Ireland. The book
should set people asking why is it that Irishmen—no matter what their creed
or politics—cannot work together for their common country?
⸺ THE NORTHERN IRON. Pp. 320. (Maunsel). Bound in Irish linen.
1907. New ed. at 1s., 1909. Cheap ed. (Everett), 7d., 1912.
Scene: Antrim; a few incidents of the rising woven into a thrilling and
powerful romance. Splendid portraits—the United Irishmen James Hope,
Felix Matier, and Micah Ward, the loyal Lord Dunseverick, chivalrous and
fearless, Finlay the Informer, and others. Vivid presentment of the feelings
and ideas of the time, without undue bias, yet enlisting all the reader’s
sympathies on the side of Ireland.
⸺ SPANISH GOLD. (Methuen). 6s. 1908. Cheap ed., 1s. (N.Y.:
Doran). 1.20.
A comedy of Irish life, full of the most amusing situations. Scene: a
lonely island off the coast of Connaught, in which treasure is hidden. The
action consists of the adventures of various people who come to the island—an
Irish chief secretary, a retired colonel, a baronet, a librarian, a Catholic
priest, and a Protestant curate. This last, the Rev. J. J. Meldon, is a most
original creation. There are touches of social satire throughout, but without
bitterness or offensiveness.
⸺ THE SEARCH PARTY. Pp. 316. (Methuen). 6s. 1909. (N.Y.:
Doran). 1.20.
“How a mad Anarchist made bombs in a lonely house on the west coast
of Ireland, and imprisoned the local doctor for fear lest he should reveal the
secret. Mr. Birmingham’s irresponsible gaiety and the knowledge of Irish
character revealed in his more serious fiction carry the farce along at a fine
pace.”—(Times Lit. Suppl.).
⸺ LALAGE’S LOVERS. Pp. 312. (Methuen). 6s. (N.Y.: Doran).
1.20. 1911.
The main idea—in so far as the book is serious—may be stated thus:—How
much can one young person (aetat 14 sqq.) of perfect candour and fearlessness
do to upset the peace of comfortable people, who are jogging along
in the ruts of convention and compromise. Lalage begins with her governess,
then tries the bench of bishops, but causes most consternation by disturbing
an election with her Association for the Suppression of Public Lying. The
whole is full of fun and laughter. L. has been well described as “an
especially enterprising and slangy schoolboy in skirts.”
⸺ THE MAJOR’S NIECE. Pp. 302. (Smith, Elder). 6s. 1911.
Rev. J. J. Meldon in new situations. Major Kent expects from Australia
a grown-up niece, who turns out to be a naughty little girl of ten. Mr. Meldon
had made innumerable plans for the reception and treatment of the young
lady. How does he face the new situation? There are capital minor
characters—Doyle the hotel keeper, and Father MacCormack, and the housekeeper,
Mrs. O’Halloran.
⸺ THE SIMPKINS PLOT. Pp. 384. (Nelson). 2s. net. (N.Y.:
Doran). 1.20. 1911.
Scene: “Ballymoy.” Problem: how to get rid of Simpkins, a meddlesome
busybody. The interest of the plot mainly turns on the amusing
manœuvres of Rev. J. J. Meldon (the hero of Spanish Gold) to marry Simpkins
to a mysterious “Miss King,” a lady supposed to be identical with a Mrs.
Lorimer, recently acquitted, against the opinion of the Judge, of the murder
of her husband. Full throughout of fun, clever talk, and deftly sketched
character study. Sabina Gallagher, Sir Gilbert Hawksby, and Major Kent
are all well done, and there is no mistaking the nationalities.
⸺ THE INVIOLABLE SANCTUARY. Pp. 370. (Nelson). 2s. 1912.
How Frank Mannix comes for vacation to Rosnacree (in the wildest west
of Ireland) in all the glory and dignity of a Haileybury prefect. How, owing
to a sprained ankle, he is obliged to spend the time sailing in the bay with
Priscilla, his fifteen-year-old madcap cousin. How various exciting adventures
follow, including the finding, in most unexpected and comical circumstances,
by a Cabinet Minister of his daughter, who had eloped with a clergyman,
and how Frank and Priscilla were responsible for the reconciliation.
Told with all the Author’s sense of fun and flair for comic situations. But
why must all Irish peasants appear as liars?
⸺ THE RED HAND OF ULSTER. Pp. 318. (Smith, Elder). 6s.
Cheap ed., 6d. 1912.
How an Irish-American millionaire runs a revolution in Ireland, sweeping
into his plans the rabid Orangemen, who are in deadly earnest, the Tory M.P.
who only meant to bluff, and members of the Irish Tory aristocracy who
meant nothing in particular. Of this class is poor Lord Kilmore, who tells
the story, and was an unwilling actor in the whole business. The book is a
mixture of shrewd satire (e.g., Babberley, M.P., the Dean, and McConkey) in
which all parties receive their share, and of Gilbertian extravaganza. The
dénouement is both amusing and unexpected.
⸺ DOCTOR WHITTY. Pp. 320. (Methuen). 6s. 1913.
Types and humours of a west Connaught village—the P.P., the Protestant
Rector, Colonel Beresford, Thady Glynn, proprietor of “The Imperial Hotel,”
chairman of the League, and popular demagogue, J.P., general philosopher,
and “ipse dixit” of the village, and then the Doctor himself, genial, sociable,
“all things to all men” to an extent that gets him into fixes, and that is
not easily reconcilable with the moral order. There are broadly comical
situations from which the Doctor extricates himself, and emerges radiant as
ever. The seamy side of Irish life is depicted in the Author’s usual vein of
satire.
⸺ GENERAL JOHN REGAN. Pp. 324. (Hodder & Stoughton)
6s. Second ed., 1913.
A very slight plot, centering in the erection of a statue to an imaginary
native of Ballymoy. The real interest lies in the Author’s satirical
pictures of Irish life, and in his humorous delineations of such types as Dr.
O’Grady, Doyle the dishonest hotel-keeper, Major Kent, whom we have met in
Spanish Gold, Thady Gallagher, the editor of the local paper, and a rather
undignified and not wholly honest P.P. The thesis, if there be any, would
seem to be that the Irishman is so clever and humorous that he will allow
himself to be gulled, and will even gull himself for the pleasure of gulling
others.
⸺ MINNIE’S BISHOP, and Other Stories of Ireland. Pp. 320. (Hodder &
Stoughton). 6s. 1915.
Not all of these stories deal with Ireland, and those that do are very varied
in character. Some are in the Author’s most humorous vein, others are more
serious in tone. In several he pokes fun at Government methods in the
West, and some show the comic side of gun-running, despatch-riding, and
other Volunteer activities. In the background, at times, is a vision of the
hopeless poverty of the Western peasant’s lot.
BLACK, William. Born in Glasgow, 1841. One of the foremost of English
nineteenth century novelists. Published his first novel 1864; thirty-three
others appeared before his death in 1898, at Brighton, where he
had long resided.
⸺ SHANDON BELLS. Pp. 428. (Sampson, Low). 2s. 6d. [1883].
(N.Y.: Harper). 0.80. New and revised ed. 1893.
Scene: partly in London, partly in city and county of Cork. A young
Irishman goes to London to make his fortune. Disappointed in his first love,
he turns to love of nature. The book has all the fine qualities of W. Black’s
work. Sympathetic references to Irish life and beautiful descriptions of Irish
scenery in Cork. Willy Fitzgerald, the hero, had for prototype William
Barry, a brilliant young Corkman and a London journalist.
“BLACKBURNE, E. Owens.” Elizabeth O. B. Casey, 1848-1894. Born at
Slane, near the Boyne. Lived the first twenty-five years of her life in
Ireland; then went to London to take up journalistic work. In 1869
her first story was accepted, and in the early seventies her In at the
Death (afterwards published as A Woman Scorned) appeared in The
Nation. To the end she used the pen-name “E. Owens Blackburne.”
Other works of hers were A Modern Parrhasius, The Quest of the Heir,
Philosopher Push, Dean Swift’s Chest, The Love that Loves alway. “Her
stories are mostly occupied with descriptions of Irish peasant life, in
which she was so thoroughly at home that she has been compared to
Carleton. They are for the most part dramatic and picturesque; and
she understood well the art of weaving a plot which should hold the
reader’s interest.”—(Irish Lit.).
⸺ A WOMAN SCORNED. Three Vols. (Tinsley). [1876]. Also
one Vol. (Moxon). 1878.
Out-at-elbows Irish household—upper class—brother, sister, and young
step-sister (the heroine) Katherine. Captain Fitzgerald falls in love with
Katherine. The elder sister (the woman scorned) filled with jealousy plots
to marry K. to a rich elderly suitor. The plot miscarries, and she dies a
miserable death. Scene: near the Boyne. Some good descriptions of
river scenery.
⸺ THE WAY WOMEN LOVE. Three Vols. (Tinsley). 1877.
Hugh O’Neill, a Donegal man, after an unsuccessful career as an artist in
London, settles near Weirford (Waterford). He has two daughters—Moira,
handsome, proud of her ancient lineage and a poet, and Honor, plain and
domestic. The story is concerned with the loves of these two. Local
society cleverly hit off. Local newspapers and their editors come in for a
good deal of banter; several real characters, thinly disguised, being introduced.
Brogue very well done.
⸺ A BUNCH OF SHAMROCKS. Pp. 306. (N.Y.: Munro: “Seaside
Library”). [1879]. 1883.
A collection of tales and sketches, illustrating for the most part the gloomier
side of the national character, viewed, apparently, from a Protestant standpoint.
In one, “The Priest’s Boy,” there is much pathos.
⸺ MOLLY CAREW. Three Vols. (Tinsley). n.d. (1879).
A tale of the unrequited love of an Irish girl of talent, but of humble
origin, for a selfish and ruffianly English author named Eugene Wolfe. She
falls in love with him as a child and then, in young womanhood, falls still
more deeply in love with the ideal of him which she forms from his books.
Nothing can kill or even daunt this love, and for its sake she undergoes the
supremest sacrifices, but all in vain. The two chief characters are carefully
and consistently drawn, and there are some dramatic scenes. The action
passes chiefly in London, whither Molly Carew had followed her ideal.
⸺ THE GLEN OF SILVER BIRCHES. Two Vols. (Remington).
1880. (N.Y.: Harper). 1881.
Nuala O’Donnell’s extravagant father has mortgaged his estate in the
Donegal Highlands, near Glenvich (The Glen of Silver Birches). A scheming
attorney tries to get the family into his toils, and to marry N. The scheme
is defeated, and N. marries Thorburn, an English landlord, who has bought
the neighbouring estate. Some good characters, e.g., kindly old Aunt Nancy
and N.’s nationalist poet cousin.
⸺ THE HEART OF ERIN: An Irish story of To-day. Three Vols.
(N.Y.: Munro: “Seaside Library”). [1882]. 1883.
Standish Clinton, a clever speechmaker, raises himself to a foremost position
in Parliament. Getting into higher social circles he breaks with his faithful
Mary Shields. The mystery of his birth is cleared up in the end, and he
succeeds as lawful heir to the family mansion of the Hardinges. The campaign
of the Land League, with which the Author is in sympathy, forms the background.
The famous letter of Dr. Nulty, of Meath, is cited as an argument
for land reform. Interesting picture of the peasantry.
BLAKE-FORSTER, Charles Ffrench.
⸺ A COLLECTION OF THE OLDEST AND MOST POPULAR
LEGENDS OF THE PEASANTRY OF CLARE AND GALWAY.
⸺ THE IRISH CHIEFTAINS; or, A Struggle for the Crown. Pp. 728,
demy 8vo. (M’Glashan & Gill). 1872.
An account, in the form of a tale, of the Williamite Wars, from the landing of
James II. at Kinsale to the surrender of Galway, with all the battles and sieges
(except Derry). Into this is woven large sections of the family history of
the O’Shaughnessy and Blake-Forster clans of Co. Galway. This latter story
is carried past the Treaty of Limerick down to the final dispossession of the
O’Shaughnessys in 1770. It includes many episodes in the history of the
Irish Brigade in France and of the history of the period at home (including
the Penal Laws and the doings of the Rapparees). A surprising amount of
erudition drawn from public and private documents is included in the volume.
The notes occupy from p. 429 to 573. An Appendix, pp. 574 to end, contains
many valuable documents, relating largely to family history, but also to
political history. The standpoint is Jacobite and national.
“BLAYNEY, Owen,” Robert White.
⸺ THE MACMAHON; or, The Story of the Seven Johns. Pp. x + 351.
(Constable). 6s. 1898.
Founded on a County Monaghan tradition. Colonel MacMahon escaping
from the defeat at the Boyne entrusts his infant son to John M’Kinley, a
settler. The boy grows up, falls in love with M’Kinley’s daughter, and after
unsuccessfully pleading his cause with the father, abducts her. M’Kinley
calls to his aid six other settlers of the name of John, pursues the fugitives,
seizes them, and hangs MacMahon on the windmill at Carrickmacross. A
powerful story giving a faithful picture of the times. Ulster dialect good.
[BLENKINSOP, A.]
⸺ PADDIANA; or, Scraps and Sketches of Irish Life, Past and Present.
Two Vols. (Bentley). [1847]. Second ed. 1848.
By the Author (an Englishman, see p. 2) of A Hot Water Cure. Contents:—1.
“Mr. Smith’s Irish Love.” 2. “Mick Doolan’s Head.” 3. “Still-Hunting.”
4. “A Mystery among the Mountains.” 5. “The Adventure of Tim Daley.”
6. “Mrs. Fogarty’s Tea Party.” 7. “A Quiet Day at Farrellstown.” 8.
“A Duel.” 9. “Mr. H⸺.” 10. “The Old Head of Kinsale.” 11.
“Barney O’Hay.” 12. “Headbreaking.” 13. “Cads, Fools, and Beggars.”
14. “The Mendicity Association.” 15. “The Dog-Fancier.” 16. “Dublin
Carmen.” 17. “Horses.” 18. “Priests: Catholic and Others.” 19. “An
Irish Stew.” Vol. II.—1. “Executions.” 2. “Ronayne’s Ghost.” 3.
“The Last Pigtail.” 4. “The Green Traveller.” 5. “Larry Lynch.” 6.
“Potatoes.” Then (pp. 142-275) follows “Irish History”—scraps from
various Irish annals and histories, told in a facetious and anti-Irish spirit.
All the old calumnies are raked up and set down here. The Author concludes
that the Irish are an uncivilized people, and that their national character is
“a jumble of contradictions.” The stories are told with considerable verve.
BLESSINGTON, Countess of. Marguerite Power, born near Clonmel,
1789, daughter of Edmund Power and Ellen Sheehy. In 1818 she
married the Earl of Blessington, and became a leader of society in London,
afterwards in Paris, and then again in London. Wrote upwards of thirty
books—novels, travel, reminiscences, &c. Died 1849.
⸺ THE REPEALERS; or, Grace Cassidy. (London). [1833].
“Contains scarcely any plot and few delineations of character, the greater
part being filled with dialogues, criticisms, and reflections. Her ladyship
is sometimes sarcastic, sometimes moral, and more frequently personal. One
female sketch, that of Grace Cassidy, a young Irish wife, shows that the Author
was most at home among the scenes of her early days.”—(Chambers’ Cyclopædia
of English Literature).
⸺ COUNTRY QUARTERS. Three Vols. (London: Shoberl). [1850].
Port. Second ed. 1852.
In Vol. I., pp. iii.-xxiii., memoir of Author by M. A. P. Scene: South of
Ireland (descriptions of Glanmire and references to Waterford and to the
Blackwater), among county and garrison people. There is a great deal about
their courtships and marriages, much small talk and pages of reflections.
Grace, the heroine, is loved by two officers, friendly rivals. Mordaunt makes
Vernon propose. V. is refused, but M. is too poor to marry. However,
after many vicissitudes, Grace is united to M. Full of sentimentality.
BLOOD SMITH, Miss, see “DOROTHEA CONYERS.”
BODKIN, M. M’Donnell, K.C.; County Court Judge of Clare since 1907.
Born 1850. Son of Dr. Bodkin, of Tuam, Co. Galway. Educated at
Tullabeg Jesuit College; Catholic University. Was for some years
Nationalist M.P. for North Roscommon. Besides works of fiction, has
published an historical work on Grattan’s Parliament. Resides in
Dublin.—(Who’s Who).
⸺ POTEEN PUNCH. (Gill). 1s. 1890.
“After-dinner stories of love-making, fun, and fighting,” supposed to be
told in presence of Lord Carlisle, one of the Viceroys, in a house at Cong,
whither he had been obliged to go, having been refused a lodging at Maam
by order of Lord Leitrim. The stories are of a very strong nationalist flavour,
some humorous, some pathetic.
⸺ PAT O’ NINE TALES. (Gill). 1894. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.90.
Stories of various kinds, all pleasantly told. The first and longest is a
pathetic tale, introducing an eviction scene vividly described. Among other
stories there is “The Leprachaun,” humorous, and told in dialect; a “ghost”
story; a story of unlooked for evidence at a trial; a tale of Fontenoy, &c.
The last, “The Prodigal Daughter,” is, from its subject, hardly suitable for
certain classes of readers.
⸺ LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD. Pp. 415. (Chapman & Hall). 1896.
The story of the earlier years of Lord Edward is woven into the love-story
of one Maurice Blake. Pictures Irish social life at the time in a lively, vivid
way. Hepenstal, the “walking gallows,” Beresford and his riding school, the
infamous yeomanry and their doings, these are prominent in the book. The
standpoint is strongly national. “History supplies the most romantic part
of this historical romance. The main incidents of Lord Edward’s marvellous
career, even his adoption into the Indian tribe of the Great Bear, are absolutely
true. Some liberties have, however, been taken with dates.”—(Pref.).
⸺ THE REBELS. Pp. 358. (Duffy). 2s. [1899]. (N.Y.: Benziger).
0.60. 1908.
Sequel to Lord Edward. Later years of Lord Edward’s life. Shows Castlereagh
and Clare planning the rebellion. Shows us Government bribery and
dealings with informers. Some glimpses of the fighting under Father John
Murphy, also of Humbert’s invasion and the Races of Castlebar. A stirring
and vigorous tale, strongly nationalist.
⸺ SHILLELAGH AND SHAMROCK. (Chatto). 3s. 6d. 1902.
Short stories dealing mainly with the wild scenes of old election days.
Pictures of evictions and the old-time fox-hunting, whiskey-drinking landlord.
Always on the peasants’ side. Tales full of voluble humour and “go.” The
peasants’ talk is faithfully and vividly reproduced.
⸺ IN THE DAYS OF GOLDSMITH. Pp. 309. (Long). 6s. 1903.
A panegyric of Goldsmith, dealing with the part of his life spent in England.
Conversations introducing Reynolds, Beauclerk, Johnson, etc., the latter’s
talk recorded with Boswellian fidelity. A picture, too, of the life and manners
of the day drawn with such frankness as to render the book unfit for the
perusal of certain classes of readers.
⸺ PATSY THE OMADHAUN. Pp. 260. (Chatto). 3s. 6d. (N.Y.:
Benziger). 0.60. 1904.
A dozen short stories, in which the village tailor recounts the exploits of
Patsy, who proves to be by no means the fool he seems, and extricates himself
and his friends from all kinds of comical situations. All told in broadest
brogue. Somewhat farcical comicality.
⸺ TRUE MAN AND TRAITOR. (Duffy). 1910.
The career of Robert Emmet from his Trinity days to his tragic end, told
in the Author’s usual spirited fashion. Emmet is represented as an able and
practical organizer, but the story of his love for Sarah Curran is not neglected.
The historical facts are thoroughly leavened with romance—Emmet’s perilous
voyage to France in a fishing-hooker, the detailed accounts of his interviews
with Napoleon, the character of Malachi Neelin, the traitor: these and
many other things are blended with the narrative of real events.
[BOLES, Agnes], “J. A. P.”
⸺ THE BELFAST BOY. Pp. 464. (Nutt). 5s. 1912.
Opens in Belfast during the great riots of twenty-five years ago. The
hero, falsely accused of murder, flees to South Africa, where he becomes a
millionaire, and is known as “The Belfast Boy.” The heroine, when she is
going out to marry him, omits to mention that she is leaving a son and his
father (the villain) in Belfast. These are conveniently got rid of, one by
lightning, the other by lightning-like small-pox. Several real persons are
introduced as personages in the story. Many of the incidents are sensational,
there is much dialect, and the style in places is far from refined. An intense
love for Belfast and its surroundings pervades the book.—(Press Notices).
BOVET, Madame.
⸺ TERRE D’EMERAUDE.
BOWLES, Emily.
⸺ IRISH DIAMONDS: A Chronicle of Peterstown. Pp. 219. (Richardson).
1864.
A story of landlord and tenant, of illicit distilling, and of proselytising.
A Bible reader, an agent, and the sister of a landlord are the villains of the
piece. Tone strongly Catholic and anti-Protestant. There is a love interest
and a certain amount of adventure, which are not made subordinate to the
pictures of Souperism. In 1878 a writer in the Dublin Review said of it:
“It has not been surpassed since it was written.... The characters are so
well drawn that even those in barest outline are interesting and individual....
Told in the brightest, most natural, and most quietly humorous way.”
Miss B. published more than a dozen other books, largely translations.
BOYCE, Rev. John, D.D. [From Inishowen and Tirconnell, by W. J.
Doherty]. Born in Donegal, 1810. Ordained, Maynooth, 1837. Emigrated
to U.S.A., 1845. Died 1864. Besides the three novels mentioned
in the body of this work, he published lectures on the Influence of
Catholicity on the Arts and Sciences, Mary Queen of Scots, Queen
Elizabeth, Charles Dickens, Henry Grattan, &c.
⸺ SHANDY MAGUIRE; or, Tricks upon Travellers. (N.Y.: Pratt).
1.75. [1848]. Also (Richardson) 1855, and Warren, Kilmainham, n.d.
“First appeared in a Boston periodical, with the pen-name of Paul Peppergrass.
It attracted at once the attention of Bishop Fenwick of Boston. Dr.
Brownson, in his Quarterly Review, pronounced upon the book the highest
eulogium, and assigned to the writer a place equal if not superior to any
writers of Irish romance. Shandy Maguire was recognised by the London
Press and the Dublin Review as a work of great merit. It has been successfully
dramatized and translated into German” (from Inishowen and Tirconnell,
by W. J. Doherty).
⸺ THE SPAEWIFE: or, The Queen’s Secret. [1853]. Still in print.
(Boston: Marlier). 1.50.
Begins at Hampton Court. The facility with which Father Boyce makes
Nell Gower, the Scotch Spaewife (a woman gifted with second sight), discourse
in broad Scotch dialect, in contrast with the stately and imperious language
of Elizabeth, displays an unusual power of transition. No finer character
could be depicted than Alice Wentworth, daughter of Sir Geoffrey Wentworth,
the representative of an old English Catholic baronetage, who suffered persecution
under Elizabeth; whilst Roger O’Brien, attached to the Court of
Mary Queen of Scots, affords an opportunity of presenting the high-spirited
and brave qualities that ought to belong to an Irish gentleman. Elizabeth
appears in anything but a favourable light.
⸺ MARY LEE; or, The Yankee in Ireland. (U.S.A.). (N.Y.: Pratt).
1.75. (Baltimore: Kelly & Piet). 1864. Pp. 391. Frontisp. by J.
Harley.
The last story written by this Author, for whom see General Note. It is
considered to display an intimate knowledge of Irish character and to contain
an excellent description of the typical Yankee. The scene is Donegal. Time
185-.
BOYLE, William. Born in Dromiskin, Co. Louth, 1853; educated St. Mary’s
College, Dundalk. Has written many poems, songs, and plays, including
some of the best of modern Irish comedies. The atmosphere of his stories
is thoroughly Irish and their humour and pathos are genuine.
⸺ A KISH OF BROGUES. (O’Donoghue). Pp. 252. 2s. 6d. 1899.
The humour and pathos of country life, Co. Louth. The Author knows the
people thoroughly, and understands them. There is much very faithful
character-drawing of many Irish peasant types and a few good poems.
BOYSE, E. C.
⸺ THAT MOST DISTRESSFUL COUNTRY. Three Vols. (F. V.
White). 1886.
A tale of love and marriage. Scene: first in Wexford, opening with
pleasant pictures of country-house life and merry-making. Then there is an
account of some minor incidents of the rebellion, viewed from loyalist standpoint,
with insistence on savage cruelty of rebels. Then the scene shifts to
London, and thence to Dublin, where we have pictures of life in military
society. Finally, the scene is transferred to Tuam, where word is brought of
Humbert’s campaign in the West. Pleasant style, but the conversations,
full of chaff and nonsense, are long drawn out. Author says in preface that
the incidents are taken from private letters or accounts of eye-witnesses.
BRAY, Lady.
⸺ EVE’S PARADISE. (Wells, Gardner). 6s. Etched frontispiece and
title-page.
“Lady B.’s descriptions of child life are admirable, well-observed, and
cleverly done.”—(Pall Mall Gazette).
⸺ A TROUBLESOME TRIO; or, Grandfather’s Wife. (Wells, Gardner).
2s. 6d. Second ed.
BRERETON, F. S.
⸺ IN THE KING’S SERVICE. Pp. 352. (Blackie). Attractive cover.
Eight Illustr. by Stanley L. Wood. (N.Y.: Scribner). 1.50. n.d. (1901).
Exciting adventures, abounding in dramatic climaxes, of an English cavalier
during Cromwell’s Irish campaign. Chief scenes of latter described from
English cavalier standpoint. Burlesque brogue. Juvenile.
BREW, Margaret W. Wrote much for the Irish Monthly and other Irish
periodicals.
⸺ THE BURTONS OF DUNROE. Three Vols. Pp. 934. (Tinsley).
1880.
Scene: Munster c. 1810, also Dublin and (in third vol.) Spain, when the
hero, William Burton, takes part in the Peninsular War. Robert marries
beneath him, and is disinherited by disappointed father, who had meant
him for his cousin Isabella. Rose, Robert’s wife dies. Robert goes to the
wars, and returns covered with glory to marry Isabel and settle down in
respectable prosperity. Conventional and a little dull. Much brogue as
comic relief to the prevailing appeal to the tender feelings.
⸺ CHRONICLES OF CASTLE CLOYNE. Three Vols. (Chapman
& Hall). 1886.
Highly praised by the Times, the Standard, the Morning Post, the Scotsman,
&c., &c. The Irish Monthly says: “It is an excellent Irish tale, full
of truth and sympathy, without any harsh caricaturing on the one hand, or
any patronizing sentimentality on the other. The heroine, Oonagh M’Dermott,
the Dillons, Pat Flanagan, and Father Rafferty are the principal personages,
all excellent portraits in their way; and some of the minor characters are
very happily drawn. The conversation of the humbler people is full of wit
and common sense; and the changes of the story give room for pathos sometimes
as a contrast to the humour which predominates. Miss Brew understands
well the Irish heart and language; and altogether her “Pictures of
Munster Life” (for this is the second title of the tale) is one of the most
satisfactory additions to the store of Irish fiction from Castle Rackrent to
Marcella Grace.”
[BRITTAINE, Rev. George]. Was Rector of Kilcormack, Diocese of
Ardagh. Died in Dublin, 1847. The Athenæum of December 14,
1839, said of the first three works mentioned below: “The sad trash
which is here put forward as a portraiture of the social condition of the
Irish peasantry needs no refutation; in his ardour to calumniate, the
Author has forgotten that there are limits to possibility, and that when
they are overstepped the intended effect of the libel is lost in its absurdity.”
All this writer’s books seem to have appeared anonymously.
⸺ CONFESSIONS OF HONOR DELANY. Pp. 86. (Dublin: Tims).
1s. 6d. [1830]. Third ed., 1839.
She admits getting a pension as a reward for “turning.”
⸺ IRISH PRIESTS AND ENGLISH LANDLORDS. Pp. 249.
(Dublin: Tims). [1830]. Second ed., 1839; others 1871, 1879.
“By the author of Hyacinth O’Gara.” A priest has authority from a
bishop to marry a girl to a man against her will. She refuses, and subsequently
dies—a martyr for the Protestant faith.
⸺ RECOLLECTIONS OF HYACINTH O’GARA. Pp. 64. (Dublin:
Tims). 6d. Fifth ed., 1839.
The above three books were originally written by Rev. Geo. Brittaine,
Rector of Kilcormack, Co. Limerick. They were “re-written and completely
revised” by Rev. H. Seddall, Vicar of Dunany, Co. Louth, and published by
Hunt, London, 1871. They are frankly proselytising tales designed “to
give a true picture of the Irish peasantry, and how priestcraft has wound
itself into all their concerns.” (Pref.) The peasantry are represented as
exceedingly debased, the priesthood as conscienceless and selfish tyrants.
Religion is practically the sole theme throughout. There is practically
no reference to contemporary questions. One reviewer says: “There is
nothing more graphic in all the pages of The Absentee, or Castle Rackrent
than the account of Kit M’Royster’s disclosures to his brother, the
Popish Bishop, about the heretical purity of their niece; or the description
of Priest Moloney’s oratory about the offerings at the funeral of old Mrs.
O’Brien.”—Christian Examiner.
⸺ IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN. Pp. 219. (Dublin: Tims). 1831.
⸺ JOHNNY DERRIVAN’S TRAVELS. Pp. 36. (Dublin: Tims).
6d. [1833]. Second ed., 1839.
Not religious in subject. Deals with Irish amusements, drinking, &c.
⸺ MOTHERS AND SONS. Pp. 297. (Dublin: Tims). 1833.
A lady turns Methodist at the age of 44. The Author thereby takes
occasion to condemn dyed hair and wigs, and many other things. The story
includes a murder of which a Curate is the victim. The murderer dies
howling for the priest.
⸺ NURSE M’VOURNEEN. Pp. 33. (Dublin: Tims). Second ed.,
c. 1839.
⸺ THE ELECTION. Pp. 331. (Dublin: Tims). 1840.
Election manœuvres described. There is a murder in the story. Tone
very anti-Catholic.
[BRONTE, Rev. Patrick, B.A.]. 1777-1861. A county Down man, father of
the famous novelists.
⸺ THE MAID OF KILLARNEY; or, Albion and Flora. Pp. 166.
(Baldwin). [1818]. 1898.
Albion, an Englishman, visits Killarney, and falls in love with Flora
Loughlean. The tale exhibits the anti-Catholic bias of the time.
BROOKE, Richard Sinclair, D.D. (1802-1882). Incumbent of Mariners’
Church, Kingstown, afterwards Rector of Eyton. Published several
volumes of verse and prose. Father of Stopford Brooke.
⸺ THE STORY OF PARSON ANNALY. Pp. 429. (Drought). 1870.
A long, rather involved story, in part reprinted from Dublin University
Magazine. It contains some excellent descriptions of Donegal scenery—Glenveagh
and Barnesmore.
BROPHY, Michael, ex-Sergeant, R.I.C.
⸺ TALES OF THE ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY. Pp. xx. + 192.
(Dublin: Bernard Doyle). 2s. [1888]. 1896.
Intended as the first volume of a series. Introduction gives a condensed
history of the Force. This is followed by a long story founded on facts—“The
Lord of Kilrush, Fate of Marion, and Last Vicissitudes of Lord Edward
Fitzgerald’s Estate.” This tells how Sub-Constable Butler, a real
“character,” bought in the Encumbered Estates Court the property of Lord
Edward near the Curragh of Kildare, but was subsequently dispossessed—a
curious tale, containing much out-of-the-way information, including an
enquiry into the parentage of Pamela. Then follow “Episodes of ’48”
(Ballingarry, &c.), and “The Story of a Sword,” (8 pp.) Sub-Constable
Butler and Sub-Inspector Tom Trant are amusing personages.
BROWN, Rev. J. Irwin. Minister of the Scottish Church in Rotterdam,
and son of Rev. Dr. Brown, of Drumachose, Derry, in his time a well-known
public speaker, and a defender of the Irish tenant farmers.
⸺ IRELAND: Its Humour and Pathos. (Rotterdam: J. M. Bredee).
1910.
The book contains some racy stories, and is bright and readable throughout.—I.B.L.
BRUEYRE, Loys. Born in Paris, 1835. A French folk-lorist, Vice-President
of the Société des Traditions Populaires. A frequent contributor to
French folk-lore periodicals.
⸺ CONTES POPULAIRES DE LA GRANDE BRETAGNE. Pp. 382.
(Paris: Hachette).
Contains 100 tales. A very few are English (chiefly Cornish), none are
Welsh. The majority are Scotch (largely from Campbell’s collection) but
there are a good many Irish, taken from Croker and Kennedy. The book is
entirely in French.
BUCHANAN, Robert, 1841-1901. Born in Staffordshire, son of Robert B.,
“Socialist, Missionary, and Journalist.” Educated at Glasgow. Published
many volumes of poetry and several plays, among others a dramatised
version of Harriett Jay’s Queen of Connaught (q.v.). In 1876
published his first novel—The Shadow of the Sword. Many others
followed. In 1874 he settled at Rosspoint, Co. Mayo, but left Ireland in
1877. Father Anthony was written during this period, but not published
till later. See the notice in D.N.B., and the Life, published in 1903,
by Harriet Jay, his adopted daughter.
⸺ FATHER ANTHONY. (Long). 6s. Sixteen illustr. Many editions.
1903. New edition, 6d. 1911.
Scene: a country village in the West of Ireland. Father Anthony is a
young priest, who for his brother’s sake has sacrificed a career in the world to
devote himself to God’s poor. He finds himself called upon in virtue of his
sacred office to keep the secret of the confessional when by a word he could
save his brother from the hangman’s hands. The pathos of the young
priest’s agony of mind is depicted with great power and sympathy. The
other priest, Father John, is drawn as the true parish priest of the old type,
blood and bone of the people, jovial, homely, lovable and beloved. The
Author, though alien in faith and race, tells us that he knew intimately and
loved both priests and people during his stay in Ireland.
⸺ THE PEEP-O’-DAY BOY: A Romance of ’98. (Dicks). 6d. n.d.
A conventional sensational tale, little above the “shilling shocker,” with
oath-bound societies meeting in under-ground caverns, abductions, informers,
an absentee landlord, the Earl of Dromore, whose daughter loves the expatriated
owner, The O’Connormore, and soforth. The three chapters on the
insurrection are from Cassell’s History of Ireland. The story is scarcely
worthy of this Author.
BUCKLEY, William. Born in Cork, and educated there at St. Vincent’s
Seminary and the Queen’s College. His first literary work appeared in
MacMillan’s Magazine. Resides in Dublin.
⸺ CROPPIES LIE DOWN. Pp. 511. (Duckworth). 6s. 1903.
Scene: Wexford, the year of the rising. The Author banishes all romance
and artistic glamour, and deals with the horrors of the time in a spirit of
relentless realism. Quite apart from historical interest, the book is thrilling
as a story of adventure. The tone is impartial, but the writer clearly means
the events and scenes described to tell for the Irish side. The New Ireland
Review says that “it sketches the origin and course of the Wexford insurrection
with a conscientious accuracy which would do credit to a professed
historian”; and it praises the Author’s “exceptional literary ability” and
the “intense reality of his characters.” “Rather more than justice is done
to the English authorities (e.g., Castlereagh), to the Irish Protestants, and
even to the government spies.”—(Baker, 2).
⸺ CAMBIA CARTY AND OTHER STORIES. Pp. 230. (Maunsel).
1s. 1907.
Close descriptions of lower and middle classes in modern Youghal. In
places will be unpleasant reading for the people of Youghal. Picture of
Cork snobbery decidedly unfavourable to Cork people, and on the whole
disagreeable and sordid.
BUGGE, Alexander, Professor in University of Christiania, ed.
⸺ CATHREIM CELLACHAIN CAISIL: The Victorious Career of Cellachain
of Cashel. Pp. xix. + 171. (Christiania). 1905.
The original Irish text, from the Book of Lismore, is edited in a scholarly
way and accompanied with an English translation, notes, and index. There
is an interesting introduction. It is a story of the struggles of Cellachan and
the Danes in the tenth century.
BULLOCK, Shan F. Born Co. Fermanagh, 1865. Son of a Protestant
landowner on Lough Erne. Depicts with vigour and truth the country
where the Protestant North meets the Catholic and almost Irish-speaking
West. There is at times a curious dreariness in his outlook which mars
his popularity. But his work is “extraordinarily sincere, and at times
touched with a singular pathos and beauty.... He writes always
with evident passion for the beauty of his country, and an almost pathetic
desire to assimilate, as it were, national ideals, of which one yet perceives
him a little incredulous.”—(Stephen Gwynn).
⸺ THE AWKWARD SQUADS. (Cassell). 5s. 1893.
The Author’s first book. Has all the qualities for which his subsequent
books are remarkable. It is a study of the people of his native country—the
borders of Cavan and Fermanagh—their political ideas, general outlook,
humours and failings, their peculiar dialect and turns of thought. Four
stories in all:—“The title story,” “The White Terror,” “A State Official,”
“One of the Unfortunates.”
⸺ BY THRASNA RIVER. Pp. 403. (Ward, Lock). 6s. Illustr. 1895.
The experiences of two lads on an Ulster farm in the district where the
Author lays nearly all his scenes. There are many clever studies of peasant
types. The hero is an Englishman, an amusing character. The story of his
unsuccessful love-affair with the “Poppy Charmer” is told by one of the
lads familiar to us as Jan Farmer. There is no approach to anything objectionable
in the book. Chapter XXI., “Our Distressful Country,” is good
reading.
⸺ RING O’ RUSHES. Pp. 195. (Ward, Lock). 1s. 6d. (Chicago:
Stone). 1.00. 1896.
A cycle of eleven stories dealing with various aspects of Ulster life in the
neighbourhood of Lough Erne. In “His Magnificence” an enriched peasant
returns to his native village and tries to show off his grandeur. “Her Soger
Boy” recounts a mother’s innocent fraud and her soldier lad’s savage retaliation.—(Baker,
2).
⸺ THE BARRYS. Pp. 422. (Methuen). 1s. Full-sized cloth. 1899.
(N.Y.: Doubleday). 1.25.
Book I. has its scene on Innishrath, an island in Lough Erne. Frank Barry,
on a visit from London to his uncle, betrays a peasant girl named Nan. In
Book II. we find Nan in London. She discovers Frank’s treachery. So does
Frank’s wife, and the nemesis of his deeds overtakes him. But Nan finds
consolation with her still faithful lover, Ted. A study in temperaments.
⸺ IRISH PASTORALS. Pp. 308. (Grant Richards). 6s. (N.Y.:
McClure). 1.50. 1901.
A series of pictures—the Planters, the Turf-cutters, the Mowers, the Haymakers,
the Reapers, the Diggers, &c.—forming an almost complete view of
life among the rural classes in Co. Cavan. These pictures are the setting for
country idylls, humorous, pathetic, or tragic. In all there is the actuality,
the minute fidelity that can be attained only by one who has lived the life
he describes and has the closest personal sympathy with the people. The
descriptions of natural scenes, the weather, &c., are admirable.
⸺ THE SQUIREEN. Pp. 288. (Methuen). 1s. Cloth, full-sized.
(N.Y.: McClure). 1.50. 1903.
A study of Ulster marriage customs. Jane Fallon is practically sold to
the Squireen by her family, and, after long resistance, yields, and marries him.
Tragic consequences follow. Most of the characters are Ulster Protestant
peasants. “The Squireen” is a study of the old type of fox-hunting
gentleman-farmer.
⸺ THE RED LEAGUERS. Pp. 315. (Methuen). 6s. (N.Y.: Pratt).
0.75. 1904.
Scenes from an imaginary rebellion in Ireland, purporting to be related by
a Protestant who has sided with the rebels and captains the men of Armoy,
a barony a little to the north of the Woodford River (the Thrasna of the
story), which enters Lough Erne about two miles to the west of where the
River Erne flows into the same. England having left Ireland almost without
a garrison, the Protestants are all (except in a few places) killed or taken,
the Irish Republic triumphs. Then the country gives itself up to an orgy of
thoughtless rejoicing and more or less drunken revelling. In “a handful
of weeks” the “land is hungry, wasted, lawless, disorganized, an Ireland
gone to wrack.” The story closes with the news of English troops landing
in Cork and Derry and Dublin. The author does not write simply from the
standpoint of the dominant class, much less is he merely anti-Catholic and
anti-Irish. He merely lacks faith in the wisdom and staying power of Irish
character. He tries to show the actualities of the rebellion in their naked
realism, eschewing all romance. He succeeds in being strangely vivid and
realistic without apparent effort. Of the leaders on the Irish side one is a
coward and a swaggerer, another is bloodthirsty, all are selfish and vulgar.
The heroes are in the opposite camp.
N.B.—The scene of this story is also the scene of the Author’s other North
of Ireland studies and sketches.
⸺ THE CUBS. Pp. 349. (Werner Laurie). 6s. 1906.
A story of life in an Irish school, recognized by old schoolfellows of the
Author as bearing a strong resemblance to the Author’s old school of Farra,
near Mullingar. It is naturally thought to be partly autobiographical. It
is the history of a great friendship. It includes also some scenes of home
life.
⸺ DAN THE DOLLAR. (Maunsel). 3s. 6d. [1906]. New edition. 1908.
A study of national character and of human nature in which the touch is
delicate, sure, and true. The whole study is concentrated on five persons.
First there is the picture of the neglected farm of the happy, easy-going Felix.
His wife is a contrast with him in all, yet they agree perfectly. Then there
is Mary Troy, a Catholic girl living with them, a beautifully-drawn character,
and Felim, the dreamer of dreams. Into their lives suddenly comes Dan,
who after years of hard, sordid striving in the States, has made his pile.
He brings his hard, practical American materialism to bear on the improvement
of “this God-forsaken country,” with what result the reader will see.
There is a love story of an exceptional kind, handled with much subtlety and
knowledge of human nature. There is much pathos and moral beauty in the
story.
⸺ MASTER JOHN. Pp. 281. (Werner, Laurie). 6s. 1909.
Master John is a strong man, who makes his way in the world and returns
wealthy to settle in Fermanagh. The place he buys has a curse upon it, and
strange things happen. The story is told by an old retainer—now a car-driver—whose
verbosity and ramblingness are very quaint and amusing.
⸺ HETTY: The Story of an Ulster Family. Pp. 322. (Laurie). 6s.
1911.
Essentially what the sub-title suggests, a domestic story, with careful
delineation of character for its chief interest. Old Dell is perhaps the central
figure, an old Northern farmer, reserved, silent, conservative, with his love of
the land and his unwillingness to part with his authority, even to the end.
Then there is the contrast between Hetty, quiet, retiring, peace-loving, and
her wilful, wayward younger sister Rhona, lively, quick of tongue, and beautiful.
The coming of Rhona makes shipwreck of poor Hetty’s happiness and
well-nigh brings tragedy into the family life. A quiet, slow-moving story,
intensely faithful to reality. “Problems” are in the background but are
not wearisomely worked out. There is an occasional gleam of humour,
but there is much true pathos.
BUNBURY, Selina. Daughter of Rev. Henry Bunbury. Born about
1804, probably in Kilsaran House, County Louth, and lived at Beaulieu.
First work published in 1821, and for fifty years she was a prolific author,
her last appearing in 1870. After the death of her parents, she began
to travel, and visited every country in Europe except Turkey, recording
her adventures in many volumes. Her most successful work was Coombe
Abbey: an Historical Tale of the Days of James 1st. (Curry, Dublin,
1843). She died at Cheltenham sometime in “the seventies,” and
some of her works are still reprinted.
⸺ CABIN CONVERSATIONS AND CASTLE SCENES. Pp. 173.
(Nisbet). One illustr. 1827.
Period 1815, but public events are not dealt with.
⸺ MY FOSTER BROTHER. Pp. 134. (Tims). [1827]. Second edition,
1833.
Alick, foster-brother to Mr. Redmond’s boy, converts the latter, Bible in
hand. The boy dies a pious death.
⸺ THE ABBEY OF INNISMOYLE: A Tale of another Century.
Pp. 336. (Curry). [1828]. Second edition, 1829. Engraved frontisp.
Consists largely of the history of the Abbey from its foundation in the
twelfth century. The story is very rambling and obscure. Introduces,
incidentally, a “cold, ambitious plotting Jesuit,” and inveighs against the
“monstrous creed of Jesuitism.” The Abbey is in “an unfrequented part
of the north-western coast of Ireland.” We take leave of it in Protestant
hands.
⸺ TALES OF MY COUNTRY. Pp. 301. (Curry). 1833.
Viz. 1. “A visit to Clairville Park, and the Story of Rose Mulroon.”
2. “An Arrival at Moneyhaigue, and the Doctor’s Story of Eveleen O’Connor.”
3. “A Tale of Monan-a-gleena.” 4. “Six Weeks at the Rectory.” In 3
the Irish are represented as cherishing a diabolical thirst for vengeance.
4 is a long lecture. 1 is a ’98 story.
⸺ SIR GUY D’ESTERRE. Two Vols. (Routledge). 1858.
Sir Guy is a young soldier in the train first of Sir Philip Sidney, then of
Essex. Before the latter he comes to Ireland—“the cursedest of all lands,”
in his opinion—where he is captured, and taken to the Castle of the O’Connors.
Here he falls in love, and here begin his troubles. Enemies plot his ruin.
He is thrown into the Tower, but is released by Essex, and goes with him to
Ireland on his fatal campaign. Careful and vivid portraits of Elizabeth,
Essex, Hugh O’Neill, and other historical characters. A vigorously-written
and interesting historical novel, not Nationalist, but fair and even sympathetic
to Ireland. No religious bias. Essex meeting with O’Neill, V. II.,
p. 151.
BURKE, Edmund.
⸺ A CLUSTER OF SHAMROCKS. Pp. 312. (Lynwood). 6s. 1912.
“Very pleasing and human tales of humble life, Swiss, Breton, Norwegian,
English, &c.; some of them rather in the school of Hans Anderson.”—(T. Lit.
Suppl.). “Pleasantly-written short stories drawn from many sources,
home and Continental. There is a purity of feeling about them which
renders them exceptionally suitable for young people.”—I.B.L. The Author
shows himself a lover of flowers and of nature generally. Press notices
speak of him as Mr. E. Burke, of Liverpool, an M.A. of T.C.D.
BURKE, John.
⸺ CARRIGAHOLT: a Tale of Eighty Years ago. Pp. 77. (Hodges
Figgis), 1s. 1885.
A story of Ireland (S.W.) in early days of 19th century. Shows us the
goodnatured spendthrift landlord, the gombeenman, the nice young ladies
whose education has been “finished” in Belgium, the young men of property
whose objects in life are sport and attentions to the young ladies;
and the scapegrace youth, who narrowly escapes being hanged for forgery.
BURROW, Charles Kennett.
⸺ PATRICIA OF THE HILLS. Pp. 330. (Lawrence & Bullen). 6s.
1902.
A love story of which the incidents take place during the Famine years
and the Young Ireland movement. With the latter the hero, who tells the
story, is clearly in sympathy, though no controversial matter is introduced.
The characters (exceptionally well drawn) are types, but also very live personalities.
Locality not indicated. An interesting and uncommon tale.
By same author: The Lifted Shadow, The Way of the Wind, &c.
BURTON, J. Bloundelle.
⸺ THE LAND OF BONDAGE. (F. V. White). 6s. 1904.
Ireland and England in 1727; then the colony of Virginia, adventures
with Indians, &c. The last pages bring us to 1748.—(Nield).
BUTLER, A.
⸺ SHAMROCK LEAVES. (Sealy, Bryers). Pp. 84. 1s. 1886.
“The (five) stories are founded—not upon unreliable, secondhand information—but
bona fide facts.”—(Preface). “A kindly Irish spirit runs through
these Tales.”—Nation.
BUTLER, Mary E. Mrs. O’Nowlan. Daughter of Peter Lambert Butler,
and granddaughter of William Butler, of Bunnahow, Co. Clare. Educated
privately, and at Alexandra College, Dublin. Married (1907)
the late Thomas O’Nowlan, Professor of Classics and Irish in University
College, and at Maynooth. Lives in Dublin.—(Cath. Who’s Who).
⸺ A BUNDLE OF RUSHES. Pp. 150. (Sealy, Bryers). 1s. 1899.
A little volume of short stories, pleasantly written; Irish in tone and
poetic. Well received by the Press, and by the public—(Press Notice). Fifteen
stories in all. Six are prose idyls of ancient Celtic inspiration, nine are lively
little modern sketches in which he and she get happily married in the end.—(I.M.).
⸺ THE RING OF DAY. Pp. 360. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1906.
A romance the interest of which centres in the aspirations of the Irish
Ireland movement. Highly idealized, but full of intense earnestness and
conviction. The characters are types and talk as such. Eoin, however,
is a strong personality.
BUTT, Isaac. Born in Glenfin, Co. Donegal, 1813. Son of Rev. Robert
Butt, Rector of Stranorlar. Educated Royal School, Raphoe, and
T.C.D. Helped to found the Dublin University Magazine, 1833,
and was editor from 1834-38. Was called to the Bar and distinguished
himself there. Opposed O’Connell and Repeal. Defended Smith
O’Brien, 1848, and the Fenian prisoners in 1865-9. Became a Home
Ruler, practically founded the party in 1870, and worked strenuously
for it. Died 1879. Wrote important works on many subjects, Irish
and other.
⸺ IRISH LIFE IN COURT AND CASTLE. Three Vols. (London). 1840.
Story of a young barrister named Tarleton, who while studying in London
forms a firm friendship with Gerald MacCullagh (really O’Donnell), who
becomes a nationalist leader. The latter, in spite of himself, sees the national
movement drift into one of incendiarism and robbery, resulting, among other
things, in a night attack (fully described) on Merton Castle, somewhere in
Co. Clare. Tarleton refusing to give up his friend is disowned by his father,
and comes to live in a Dublin boarding house. There are good pictures of
Dublin life, the amusing foibles of a peculiar section of the upper classes
being well hit off. The Author gives his views on the various questions of
the day. Shows how the Bar was injured by the prevalent jobbery. There
are a good many incidents, but perhaps they scarcely rescue the book from
being dull.
⸺ THE GAP OF BARNESMORE. Three Vols, each about 335 pp.
(London). 1848.
“A tale of the Irish Highlands and the Revolution of 1688.” Appeared
without the author’s name. An attempt to portray, without partisan bias,
the events of the time and the heroism of both sides in the Williamite Wars.
The whole question at issue between the colonists and the native Irish is well
discussed in a conversation between Father Meehan, representing the latter,
and Captain Spencer, representing the former. Every word of it applies,
as it was meant to apply, to modern times.
⸺ CHAPTERS OF COLLEGE ROMANCE. Pp. 344. (London). 1863.
A reprint of stories that first appeared in the Dublin University Magazine,
some of them as far back as 1834. The purpose and character of these
stories is well described in Preface:—“When I say that these pages are the
romance of truth, I mean that they are true.... I am very sure that if I
succeed in simply bringing before the reader’s eyes the life and the death of
many whom I myself remember gay and light-hearted.... I shall have done
something towards impressing on his mind the lesson, ‘remember thy
Creator.’” He tells us also, “I was much, very much longer an inmate of
Alma Mater than falls to the average of her sons.” Five Stories, tragic for
the most part, viz. I. “The Billiard Table” (ruinous results of gambling.)
II. “Reading for Honours” (a harrowing story of the fatal results of
jealousy). III. “The Mariner’s Son.” IV. “The Murdered Fellow; an
incident of 1734.” V. “The Sizar,” “a story of a young heart broken in the
struggle for distinction.”
⸺ CHILDREN OF SORROW.
An obituary notice in, I think, the Irish Times describes this as Butt’s
first essay in fiction, but the book is not in the British Museum Library, and
I have been unable to trace it.
BUXTON, E. M. Wilmot-, see WILMOT-BUXTON.
[BYRNE, E. J.]. Author of Without a God.
⸺ AN IRISH LOVER. Pp. 271. (Kegan Paul). 6s. 1914.
A melodrama full of plot and murder and hair-breadth escape, in which
the hero wins his way to the heroine through unheard of perils from swindlers,
assassins, jealous rivals, and all the other dramatis personæ of melodrama.
Yet the hero and heroine start with a peaceful youth in Tipperary as members
of the small farmer class. Parents oppose the match, and the hero goes to
Dublin, where he falls into the hands of a gang of desperadoes. Then the
scene shifts to America, to return to Ireland only for the wedding bells of the
close. The Irish peasant at home is appreciatively described, his intense
spirit of faith being dwelt on.
CADDELL, Cecilia Mary, 1814-1877.
⸺ NELLIE NETTERVILLE; or, One of the Transplanted. (N.Y.:
Catholic Publication Co.). 1878.
“A tale of Ireland in the time of Cromwell.”
CALLWELL, J. M. Mrs. Callwell, a member of the famous family, the
Martins of Ross, Galway, is a frequent contributor to Blackwood’s
Magazine, and Author of Old Irish Life, 1912.
⸺ A LITTLE IRISH GIRL. Pp. 240. (Blackie). 2s. 6d. Four good
pictures by Harold Copping. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.25. 1908.
Scene: West of Ireland. The doings and adventures of a lot of very
natural and “human” children, particularly the bright, wild little heroine,
and Manus, a typical English-reared schoolboy. Peasants seen in relation to
better class, but treated with sympathy and understanding. No moralizing.
CAMPBELL, Frances. A county Antrim woman.
⸺ LOVE, THE ATONEMENT. Pp. 345. (Digby, Long). 6s. Second
edition. 1902.
A very pretty and highly idealized little romance of marriage, with a
serious lesson of life somewhere in the background all the while. It opens—and
closes—in an old baronial mansion somewhere in the West of Ireland,
but the chief part of the action passes amid vice-regal society in Australia.
Two quaint Australian children furnish delightful interludes.
CAMPBELL, J[Iain] F., of Islay.
⸺ POPULAR TALES OF THE WEST HIGHLANDS. Four Vols.,
containing in all cxxxi. + 1743 pp. (Paisley: Gardner). [1861]. New
edition, an exact reprint of first, 1890. Handsome binding.
Ranks among the world’s greatest collections of folk-lore. Of great scientific
value to the folk-lorist, for each tale is “given as it was gathered in the
rough.” (Preface). Moreover, the table of contents gives, besides title of
story, name of teller and of collector, date and place of telling. Most, if not
all of the stories are in origin Irish. The Gaelic text is given along with
translation. Exceptionally interesting Introduction—untechnical, pleasantly
written, and full of curious information.
CAMPBELL, J. F.
⸺ THE CELTIC DRAGON MYTH. Pp. li. + 172. (Edinburgh:
Grant). 6s. net. Good illustr. in colour by Miss R. A. Grant-Duff.
1911.
The Author set down the whole Celtic Dragon legend—perhaps the most
important and widespread of myths, and the basis of the state-myth of
England, Russia, and Japan—in English, on the authority of many oral
sources accessible between 1862 and 1884. To this is here added “The Geste
of Fraoch and the Dragon” in Gaelic, with translation by G. Henderson,
Lecturer in Celtic at Glasgow University. Also Gaelic text of “The Three
Ways,” and “The Fisherman.” Introduction, 40 pp., and Notes. Full of
Irish names, references, and incidents. The English of the translation is
simple and pleasant. The whole book is very well turned out.
CAMPBELL, John Gregorson, of Tiree.
⸺ THE FIANS. Pp. xxxviii. + 292. (Nutt). 7s. 6d. net. One illustr.
by E. Griset. 1891.
Introduction by A. Nutt treats of nature and antiquity of Gaelic folk-tales,
theories about the Fenian cycle, and the classification of texts composing
it, and makes some interesting remarks about its value and import.
His notes at the end chiefly consist of references to D’Arbois de Jubainville’s
List of Irish Sources, and to Campbell of Islay’s Leabhar na Féinne. The
book collects a mass of floating and fragmentary oral tradition about the
Fians. Sources entirely oral, many of the translators knowing no word
of English. Through the greater part of the book the collector gives the
substance of what he heard, but he gives also verbatim in Gaelic, with an
English translation, many tales, poems, ballads. Nature-myth, God-myth,
folk-fancy and hero tale, prose and poetry, are mingled. Naturally the
quality varies a good deal. Some of the tales are extravagant and even silly.
Many are so corrupted in oral transmission as no longer to be intelligible.
Some are very archaic, some modern. A few are noble heroic legends in
verse, but the literal prose translation makes them somewhat obscure.
Index.
CAMPION, Dr. J. T. Born in Kilkenny, 1814. Contributed much verse and
some prose stories to National papers, such as The Nation, United
Irishman, The Irish Felon, Irish People, Shamrock, &c., &c.
⸺ THE LAST STRUGGLES OF THE IRISH SEA SMUGGLERS.
Pp. 119. (Glasgow: Cameron & Ferguson). 1869.
Scene: Wicklow coast, around Bray head, “about 50 years ago.” Struggles
between smugglers and Government officials, with a love interest, and a
moral. Has the elements of a very good story, but is long drawn out, and is
told in a turgid style repugnant to modern taste.
⸺ MICHAEL DWYER, THE INSURGENT CAPTAIN. Pp. 128.
(Gill). 1s. 6d. Very cheap paper and print. n.d.
A reprint of a book first published many years ago. An account of the life,
exploits, and death of a Wicklow outlaw, 1798-1805. The anecdotes are for
the most part given as handed down among the Wicklow peasantry. They
are not arranged in any special order. Many of them are so wonderful as to
be scarcely credible, yet most of them are, in the main, well authenticated.
The style is turgid and highflown to the verge of absurdity.
CANNING, Hon. Albert S., D.L. for Counties Down and Derry. Born 1832,
second son of 1st Baron Garvagh. Resides in Rostrevor, Co. Down.
Has published about thirty works, chiefly on Scott, Macaulay, Dickens,
and Shakespeare. Also religious works, and two books about Ireland.
⸺ BALDEARG O’DONNELL: a Tale of 1690. Two Vols. (Marcus
Ward). 1881.
This O’Donnell was for a short time an independent, half-guerilla, leader
on the Irish side. Afterwards, on the promise of a pension, he deserted to
the English. “He had the shallowness, the arrogance, the presumption,
the want of sincerity and patriotism of too many Irish chiefs”—(D’Alton:
History of Ireland).
⸺ HEIR AND NO HEIR. Pp. 271. (Eden Remington). 5s. 1890.
The scene opens in Dalragh (Garvagh, Co. Derry), shifts to London and
back again. Time: the eve of the outbreak of ’98. The people, with their
sharply divided religious and political opinions are well described, and the
northern accent and idiom ring true. Two priests, Father O’Connor and his
curate, O’Mahony, the one imbued with loyalist principles, the other leaning
towards the United Irishmen, are naturally and sympathetically drawn.
The plot is founded on the well known story of the disinheritance of George
Canning, the father of the Prime Minister, here called Randolph Stratford,
a good-hearted and popular scapegrace, easily led astray. It is a pleasant,
healthy, and well told tale.
CANNON, Frances E.
⸺ IERNE O’NEAL. Pp. 446. (Whitcomb & Tombs). 3s. 6d. net.
1911.
A long, gentle, and pleasing tale of an Irish girl of good family, from her
childhood with her grandfather in Ireland to her life in London society
(including a little turn as factory girl) and her marriage.—(Times Lit. Suppl.).
“CARBERY, Ethna”; Anna Macmanus. Mrs. Macmanus, wife of Seumas
Macmanus, was a Miss Johnston. She was born in Ballymena, Co.
Antrim, in 1866. Her early death in 1902 robbed her friends of a most
lovable personality, and Ireland of one of the most promising of her
poets. Her poems in The Four Winds of Erinn are full of passionate
love of Ireland. A short notice of her life will be found prefixed to the
volume just mentioned.
⸺ THE PASSIONATE HEARTS. Pp. 128. (Gill). 2s. 1903.
Studies of the heart, tender, passionate, and deep, told in language of
refined beauty. No one else has written, or perhaps ever will write, like this,
of pure love in the heart of a pure peasant girl. These are prose poems,
as perfect in artistic construction as a sonnet. They are full too of the love
of nature, as seen in the glens and coasts of Donegal. They are all intensely
sad, but without morbidness and pessimism.
⸺ IN THE CELTIC PAST. Pp. 120. (Gill). 1904.
Contents: “The Sorrowing of Conal Cearnach”; “The Travelling
Scholars;” “Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grainne;” “The Death of Diarmuid
O’Dubhine;” “The Shearing of the Fairy Fleeces;” “How Oisin convinced
Patric the Cleric,” &c. Told in refined and poetic language.
CAREY, Mrs. Stanley.
⸺ GERALD MARSDALE: a Tale of the Penal Times. (N.Y.: Benziger).
1.50, 0.30, 0.63.
Sub-title:—or, “The Out-Quarters of St. Andrew’s Priory: a Tale of
the reign of Queen Elizabeth.” This story was announced for serial publication
in Duffy’s Hibernian Magazine, 1861, and ran through the Vols. for
1862-63 under its sub-title.
CARLETON, William. Born in Prillisk, Clogher, Co. Tyrone, 1794. His
father, a tenant farmer, who supported fourteen children on as many
acres, was remarkable for his extraordinary memory and had a thorough
acquaintance with Irish folk-lore. The family was bilingual. Carleton was
chiefly educated at hedge-schools and at a small classical school at Donagh
(Co. Monaghan). Somewhere about 1814 Carleton made the Lough
Derg Pilgrimage, afterwards described in a story with that title written
for the Christian Examiner. About the same period he seems to have
gradually lost his faith, and subsequently he became a Protestant,
but for most of his life was indifferent to all forms of religion. After
many vicissitudes he came to Dublin, where he had very varied and
painful experiences in the effort to make a living. He wrote for the
Christian Examiner, the Family Magazine, the Dublin University
Magazine, &c. He also wrote for the Nation, though, as Mr.
O’Donoghue says, “Carleton never was a Nationalist, and was quite
incapable of adopting the principles of the Young Irelanders.” What
he wrote from the Nationalist standpoint was written through the need
of earning his bread. For, though famous long before his death, he
never freed himself from money troubles. Died 1869. See D. J.
O’Donoghue’s Life of Carleton, two vols., which includes Carleton’s
Autobiography.
⸺ AMUSING IRISH TALES. Two Series in One. Fourth edition. 256 pp.
(Published 5s.).
Not to be confounded with Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry, by
the same Author. This is an entirely different work. Contains:—“Buckram
Back, the Country Dancing Master”; “Mary Murray, the Irish Matchmaker”;
“Bob Pentland, the Irish Smuggler”; “Tom Gressley, the Irish
Sennachie”; “Barney M’Haigney, the Irish Prophecy Man,” and ten
others.
⸺ ANNE COSGRAVE.
“A vigorous attempt to exhibit the manners and customs, and especially
the religious feelings, of the Ulster people. Some of the chapters are very
graphic, and there is no lack of Carleton’s peculiar humour.”—(O’Donoghue).
⸺ FATHER BUTLER AND THE LOUGH DERG PILGRIM: Sketches
of Irish Manners. Pp. 302. (Curry). 1829.
Published anonymously. Two of Carleton’s most virulently anti-Catholic
writings. The second, in particular, contains passages which, for Catholics,
are blasphemous.
⸺ THE POOR SCHOLAR; and other Tales. Pp. 252. (Duffy). 1s.
Still in print. [1830].
Selections, comprising some of Carleton’s best work, and quite free from
religious and political rancour. The Poor Scholar is full of human interest.
Carleton works powerfully upon all our best feelings in turn. Particularly
touching is his picture of the depth and tenderness of family affections (he
was himself a doting father). The pictures of the hedge-schoolmaster’s
brutalities, and of the days of the pestilence are vivid. He is in this story
altogether on the side of the peasant. This little volume contains also eight
other stories, humorous for the most part, all excellent.
⸺ TALES OF IRELAND. [1834].
Contains: “The Death of a Devotee;” “The Priest’s Funeral;” “Lachlin
Murray and the Blessed Candle;” “Neal Malone;” “The Dream of a
Broken Heart,” &c. This last has been described as one of the purest and
noblest stories in our literature; but the remainder are among Carleton’s
feeblest efforts, and are full of rank bigotry.
⸺ FARDOROUGHA THE MISER. Pp. 280. (Downey). [1839]. n.d.
(N.Y.: Haverty). 0.50.
Prefaces by the Author and by D. J. O’Donoghue. A powerful novel,
full of strong character study, and of deep and tragic pathos, relieved by
humorous scenes. Carleton tells us that all the characters save one are
drawn from originals well known to himself. The original of the miser’s wife,
a perfect type of the Catholic Irish mother, was his own mother. Una O’Brien
is one of the loveliest of Carleton’s heroines. Honor O’Donovan is scarcely
less admirable. The mental struggles of the miser, torn between the love
of his son and the love of his money, are finely depicted.
⸺ THE FAWN OF SPRINGVALE; THE CLARIONET, AND OTHER
TALES. Two Vols. 1841.
⸺ PADDY GO EASY AND HIS WIFE NANCY. (Duffy), 1s. [1845].
Still reprinted.
Racy sketch of humorous and good-natured but lazy, thriftless, good-for-nothing
Irishman, drawn with much humour and with the faithfulness of a
keen observer. But the book leaves on the reader the absurd impression
that this character is typical of the average peasant. The story is a prototype
of the famous Adventures of Mick M’Quaid. The first title of this book was
originally Parra Sastha.
⸺ VALENTINE M’CLUTCHY. (Duffy). 2s. [1845]. Numerous editions
since. Still reprinted. (N.Y.: Sadleir). 1.50.
A detailed study of the character and career of an Irish land agent of the
worst type. It puts the reader on intimate terms with the prejudices, feelings,
aims, and manners of the Orangemen of the day, and bitterly satirizes them.
It gives vivid pictures of both Anglican and Dissenting proselytizing efforts.
Written from a strongly national and even Catholic standpoint. Contains
several remarkable character studies. There is Solomon M’Slime, “the
religious attorney,” sanctimonious, canting, hypocritical; Darby O’Drive,
M’Clutchy’s ruffianly bailiff, a converted Papist; the Rev. Mr. Lucre, a very
superior absentee clergyman of the Establishment, and an ardent proselytizer;
the old priest, Father Roche, very sympathetically drawn. The bias throughout
is very strong and undisguised. There are some grotesquely and irresistibly
comic scenes, but there are also fine scenes of tragic interest. “Nothing in
literature,” says Mr. O’Donoghue, “could be more terrible than some of the
scenes in this book.” He calls it “one of Carleton’s most amazing efforts.”
Of the book as a whole, Mr. Krans says: “It is one of the most daring pictures
of Irish country life ever executed.” And Mr. G. Barnett Smith speaks of the
eviction scene as “unexampled for its sadness and pathos.”
⸺ RODY THE ROVER. (Duffy). 1s. [1845]. Still in print.
Study of the origin of Ribbonism, and of its effects upon countryside.
The hero is an emissary of the Society. The latter is represented as organized
and worked by a set of self-interested rascals who deluded the peasantry
with hopes of removing grievances, whilst they themselves pursued their
personal ends, and were often at the same time in the pay of the Castle.
The Government spy system is denounced.
⸺ DENIS O’SHAUGHNESSY GOING TO MAYNOOTH. Pp. 200.
(Routledge). 1845. Illustrated by W. H. Brooke.
⸺ ART MAGUIRE. (Duffy). 1s. [1847]. Still reprinted. (N.Y.:
Sadleir). 0.15.
The story of a man ruined by drink. Conventional and obviously written
for a purpose, yet enlivened by scenes of humour and pathos, written in
Carleton’s best vein. Dedicated in very flattering terms to Father Theobald
Mathew, and irreproachable from a Catholic point of view. Incidentally
there is an interesting picture of one of Father Mathew’s meetings. Father
Mathew himself thought highly of the book.
⸺ THE BLACK PROPHET. Pp. 408. (Lawrence & Bullen). [1847].
Introd. by D. J. O’Donoghue, and Illustr. by J. B. Yeats. 1899. (N.Y.:
Sadleir). 1.50.
The plot centres in a rural murder mystery, but there are many threads
in the narrative. As a background there is the Famine and typhus-plague
of 1817, described with appalling power and realism. Of this the Author himself
was a witness, and he assures us that he has in no wise exaggerated the
horrors. All through there are passages of true and heart-rending pathos,
lit up by the humorous passages of arms between Jemmy Branigan and his
master, the middleman, Dick o’ the Grange. Many peculiar types of that
day appear: Skinadre the rural miser, Donnell Dhu the Prophecyman.
There is not a word in the book that could hurt Catholic or national feeling.
⸺ THE EMIGRANTS OF AHADARRA. [1847]. (Routledge). 1s.
(N.Y.: Sadleir). 1.50.
A story of rural life, depicting with much beauty and pathos the sadness
of emigration. The book is first and foremost a love story and has no didactic
object. It contains one of Carleton’s most exquisite portraits of an Irish
peasant girl. The struggle between her love and her stern and uncompromising
zeal for the faith is finely drawn. O’Finigan, with his half-tipsy
grandiloquence, is also cleverly done. A kindly spirit pervades the book,
and it is almost entirely free from the bad taste, coarseness, and rancour
which show themselves at times in Carleton.
⸺ THE TITHE-PROCTOR. (Belfast: Simms & M’Intyre). [1849].
Founded on real events, the murder of the Bolands, a terrible agrarian
crime. Written in a mood of savage resentment against his countrymen.
D. J. O’Donoghue says of this book: “It is a vicious picture of the worst
passions of the people, a rancorous description of the just war of the peasantry
against tithes, and some of the vilest types of the race are there held up to
odium, not as rare instances of villainy, but as specimens of humanity quite
commonly to be met with.” Yet there are good portraits and good scenes.
Among the former are Mogue Moylan, the Cannie Soogah, Dare-devil O’Driscoll,
Buck English, and the Proctor himself. The latter, hated of the
people, is painted in dark colours. “As a study of villainy,” says Mr.
O’Donoghue, “the book is convincing. There is one touching and fine
scene—that in which the priest stealthily carries a sack of oats to the starving
Protestant minister and his family.” “As a study of Irish life,” says Mr.
O’Donoghue again, “even in the anti-tithe war time it is a perversion of
facts, and a grotesque accumulation of melodramatic horrors.”
⸺ JANE SINCLAIR; or, The Fawn of Springvale. [1849].
A melancholy story of middle-class life, with many truthful touches, but
overcharged with a sentiment that to modern taste appears somewhat strained
and somewhat insipid. Contains a highly eulogistic portrait of a dissenting
minister, John Sinclair—Calvinistic, didactic, but warm-hearted and truly
charitable.
⸺ TALES AND SKETCHES OF IRISH LIFE AND CHARACTER.
(Dublin). Plates by Phiz. 1845. This is the original 1s. edition of the
following and Amusing Irish Tales, ante.
⸺ TALES AND SKETCHES OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY. 1851.
Is as good as the Traits, and has, moreover, little that is objectionable.
⸺ THE SQUANDERS OF CASTLE SQUANDER. [1852]. Two Vols.
Pp. 326 + 311. Illustr.
An attempt to present the life of the gentry, a task for which Carleton
was imperfectly qualified. “It reminds one,” says Mr. O’Donoghue, “at a
superficial examination, of Lever, but is far inferior to any of that writer’s
works. It is full of rancour and rage, and makes painful and exasperating
reading: the best that can be said for it is that there are pages here and
there not unworthy of the Author’s better self. The latter part of the book
is an acrid political argument.” There is an amusing story of a trick played
upon a gauger.
⸺ WILLY REILLY AND HIS DEAR COLLEEN BAWN. (Duffy).
2s. [1855]. 1908.
Introduction by E. A. Baker, M.A., LL.D., who included this in his series,
“Half-Forgotten Books.” (Routledge). 2s. 1904. The most popular of
Carleton’s works, having passed through more than fifty large editions. A
pleasant, readable romantic melodrama, founded on the famous ballad,
“Now rise up, Willy Reilly,” which refers to an episode of the Penal days, c.
1745-52. It is practically free from political and religious bias, but is greatly
inferior to his earlier works.
⸺ THE BLACK BARONET. Pp. 476, close print. (Duffy). 2s. [1856].
Still reprinted.
A tragedy of upper-class society life. The interest lies chiefly in the intricate
plot, which, however, is distinctly melodramatic. There is little attempt
to portray the manners of the society about which the book treats, and there
is little character-drawing. The tragedy is relieved by humorous scenes
from peasant life. In the Preface the Author tells us that the circumstances
related in the story really happened. Contains a touching picture of an
evicted tenant, who leaves the hut in which his wife lies dead and his children
fever-stricken to seek subsistence by a life of crime. “There is nothing,”
says G. Barnett Smith in The XIXth. Century (Author of notice of C. in
D.N.B.), “more dramatic in the whole of Carleton’s works than the closing
scene of this novel.” And he rates it very high.
⸺ THE EVIL EYE; or, the Black Spectre. (Duffy). 2s. [1860]. Still
reprinted.
“Probably the weakest of his works.” Perilously near the ridiculous in
style and plot.
⸺ REDMOND O’HANLON. Pp. 199. 16mo. (Duffy). 1s. [1862].
Still reprinted.
The exploits of a daring Rapparee. A fine subject feebly treated. From
National point of view the book is not inspiring. Very slight plot, consisting
mainly in the rescue by O’Hanlon of a girl who had been abducted. Moral
tone good. An appendix (32 pages) by T. C. Luby gives the historical facts
connected with the hero.
⸺ THE RED-HAIRED MAN’S WIFE. Pp. viii. + 274. (Sealy,
Bryers). 1889.
Exploits of one Leeam O’Connor, a notorious “lady-killer.” One of the
chief characters Hugh O’Donnell is implicated in the Fenian movement.
Father Moran and Rev. Mr. Bayley, the priest and the rector, bosom friends,
are finely portrayed. There are flashes here and there of Carleton’s old
powers. Mr. O’Donoghue (Life of Carleton, ii., p. 321) states that part of the
original MS. was destroyed in a fire, and that the missing portions were supplied
after Carleton’s death by a Mr. MacDermott and published, first in the
Carlow College Magazine (1870), then in book form as above.
⸺ TRAITS AND STORIES OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY. Many
editions, e.g. (Routledge). One Vol. 3s. 6d. N.Y.: (Dutton). 1.50.
Perhaps the best is that edited in four volumes, 3s. 6d. net each, by D. J.
O’Donoghue, and published in 1896 by Dent. Its special features are:
handsome binding, print, and general get-up; reproduction of original
illustrations by Phiz; portraits of Carleton; inclusion of Carleton’s Introduction;
biography and critical introduction by Editor. The original
edition first appeared in 1830-33. Contents: (1) “Ned M’Keown;” (2)
“Three Tasks;” (3) “Shane Fadh’s Wedding;” (4) “Larry M’Farland’s
Wake;” (5) “The Station;” (6) “An Essay on Irish Swearing;” (7)
“The Battle of the Factions;” (8) “The Midnight Mass;” (9) “The
Party Fight and Funeral;” (10) “The Hedge School;” (11) “The Lough
Derg Pilgrim;” (12) “The Donagh, or the Horse Stealers;” (13) “Phil
Purcel, the Pig Driver;” (14) “The Leanhan Shee;” (15) “The Geography
of an Irish Oath;” (16) “The Poor Scholar;” (17) “Wildgoose Lodge;”
(18) “Tubber Derg;” (19) “Dennis O’Shaughnessy going to Maynooth;”
(20) “Phelim O’Toole’s Courtship;” (21) “Neal Malone.”
This work constitutes the completest and most authentic picture ever given
to us of the life of the peasantry in the first quarter of the last century. It
is the more interesting in that it depicts an Ireland wholly different from the
Ireland of our days, a state of things that has quite passed away. Speaking
of the Traits, Mr. D. J. O’Donoghue says that, “taken as a whole, there is
nothing in Irish literature within reasonable distance of them for completeness,
variety, character-drawing, humour, pathos and dramatic power.” And
most Irishmen would be at one with him. About the absolute life-like
reality of his peasants there can be no doubt. But reserves must be made
as to his fairness and impartiality. To the edition of 1854 he prefixed an
introduction, in which he states his intention “to aid in removing many
absurd prejudices ... against his countrymen,” and in particular the conception
of the “stage Irishman.” He then enters into a vindication and a
eulogy of the national character which is fully in accord with national sentiment.
But many of the stories were originally written for a violently anti-national
and anti-Catholic periodical. Some of the Traits were consequently
marred by offensive passages, some of which the author himself afterwards
regretted. He frequently betrays the rancour he felt against the religion
which he had abandoned. The Catholic clergy in particular he never treated
fairly, and in some of the Traits ridicule is showered upon them, e.g., in “The
Station.” Yet in others, e.g., “The Poor Scholar,” things Catholic are treated
with perfect propriety. In 1845 Thomas Davis wrote for the Nation a very
appreciative article on Carleton. The illustrations by Phiz are very clever,
but many of them are simply caricatures of the Irish peasantry.
⸺ STORIES FROM CARLETON, with an Introduction by W. B. Yeats.
Pp. xvii. + 302. (Walter Scott), 1s. n.d.
Contains: “The Poor Scholar;” “Tubber Derg;” “Wildgoose Lodge;”
“Shane Fadh’s Wedding;” “The Hedge School.” Mr. Yeats says of
Carleton: “He is the greatest novelist of Ireland, by right of the most Celtic
eyes that ever gazed from under the brows of storyteller.”
CARMICHAEL, Alexander.
⸺ DEIRDRE AND THE LAY OF THE CHILDREN OF UISNE.
Pp. 146. (Gill, &c.). 1905.
Orally collected in 1867 from the recital of John MacNeill (aged 83), of
the Island of Barra. Scotch-Gaelic and English on opposite pages. Differs
from the average Irish version in numerous details.
CARROLL, Rev. P. J.
⸺ ROUND ABOUT HOME: Irish Scenes and Memories. Pp. 234.
(U.S.A.: Notre Dame, Ind.). $1. 1915.
Idylls of Irish country life (West Limerick), told with simplicity and genuine
sympathy in language charged with feeling, and often of much beauty.
Memory has no doubt cast a golden haze over the scenes and persons, idealizing
them somewhat, yet they are very real for all that. They are nearly all in
the form of stories, and are told with zest. Some are sad enough, but with a
sadness that is softened by the kindly genial spirit of the teller. The writer
is of course in complete sympathy with the people. Many queer types
(Micky the Fenian, the bell-man, Mad Matt the tramp, the polite beggar,
the believer in ghosts, &c.) are studied in these sketches. “There is not one
of the twenty-six sketches that is not in its way a masterpiece.”—(C.B.N.).
CASEY, W. F.
⸺ ZOE: a Portrait. Pp. 376. (Herbert & Daniel). 6s. 1911.
A study from the life of an exceedingly unpleasant Dublin girl, an inveterate
society flirt. The plot is chiefly concerned with her treatment of her various
suitors, including a loveless marriage, contracted with one of them in order
to spite another. Incidentally there are other clever character studies—Major
Delaney, Barry Conway, Maurice Daly. Some are doubtless studies
from life. Incidentally there is a clever and accurate picture of the Dublin
middle-class, with its golf, its bridge, and its theatres. The Author has
written successful plays for the Abbey Theatre.—(Press Notices).
CASSIDY, Patrick Sarsfield.
⸺ GLENVEAGH; or, The Victims of Vengeance. (Boston). 1870.
First appeared in the Boston Pilot; afterwards in book form. The
Author was born at Dunkineely, Co. Donegal, 1852. In 1869 or so he
emigrated to America, where he became a journalist. Deals with the
celebrated Glenveagh trials, arising from difficulties between landlord and
tenant, at which the author had been present in boyhood. He wrote also
The Borrowed Bride: a Fairy Love Legend of Donegal. Pp. 255. (N.Y.:
Holt). 1892. A long story in verse.
CAWLEY, Rev. Thomas.
⸺ AN IRISH PARISH, ITS SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS. Pp. 189.
(Boston: Angel Guardian Press). 1911.
Stories collected from magazines in which they first appeared (“Irish
Rosary,” “C.Y.M.,” “Irish Packet”). Giving pictures drawn with knowledge
and skill, and considerable humour of local celebrities and their political
careers. Satirises the shady side of local politics, and depicts the ruin wrought
by drink. But the moral is not too much obtruded. Father Cawley is a
curate in Galway City.
⸺ LEADING LIGHTS ALL: a Contentious Volume. Pp. 129. (Galway:
The Connaught Tribune). 6d. 1913.
Reprinted from “An Irish Parish,” q.v.
[CHAIGNEAU, William].
⸺ THE HISTORY OF JACK CONNOR. Two Vols. 12mo. (Dublin).
Plates. [1751]. Fourth edition. 1766.
Dedicated to Lord Holland (then Henry Fox). A series of adventures of
Jack Connor alias Conyers. Born 1720, son of a Williamite soldier. Though
affecting to be on the side of morality, the writer describes minutely a long
series of scandalous adventures in Dublin, London, Paris, &c., of the hero.
The intervals between these are filled up by disquisitions of various kinds,
e.g., the schemes of benevolent landlords, &c. Facetious tone affected
throughout. No real description of contemporary manners or of politics.
The foreword to this edition gives us to understand that the previous edition
contained still more objectionable matter. Gives fairly accurately the
average Protestant’s views of priests and “popery” at the time.
CHARLES, Mrs. Rundle.
⸺ ATTILA AND HIS CONQUERORS. Pp. 327. (S.P.C.K.). 2s.
Episodes of the inroad of the Huns and their contact with Christianity,
chiefly in the person of St. Leo, from whose writings much of the matter is
borrowed. Two young Irish converts of St. Patrick are carried off by
British pirates. The story tells of their adventures on the Continent. St.
Patrick’s historical Epistle to Coroticus is introduced. The story is somewhat
in the conventional Sunday School manner, being obviously intended
solely for the conveyance of moral instruction. Has no denominational bias.
CHISHOLM, Louey.
⸺ CELTIC TALES. Pp. 113. 12mo. (Jack). 1s. 6d. (N.Y.: Dutton).
Eight coloured pictures by K. Cameron. [1905]. 1911, &c.
In “Told to the Children” series. Three tales:—“The Star-eyed
Deirdre,” “The Four White Swans,” “Dermat and Grauna.” Moderately
well told.
CHRISTINA, Sister M., a native of Youghal, and now a member of the
Community of Loreto Convent, Fermoy, Co. Cork. Her only published
volume hitherto is the book noted below, but she has written serials both
in French and in English for various periodicals, “Kilvara,” “The
Forbidden Flame,” “A Modern Cinderella,” “Sir Rupert’s Wife,”
“A Steel King” (all Irish in subject), “Yolanda,” “A Royal Exile,”
“Une gerbe de lis,” “Mis à l’épreuve,” are some of the titles. She is
an enthusiast in the cause of a literature which, while genuinely Irish,
should be also Catholic in spirit.
⸺ LORD CLANDONNELL. Pp. 166. (Washbourne). 2s. 1914.
An ingenious and pious little story, pleasantly written, with abundance
of incident (secret marriage, lost papers, rightful heir restored to his own in
wonderful manner), and many characters. The scene shifts between Donegal,
Italy, America, and Rostrevor. The Clandonnell family, in spite of the bigoted
old Lord, is brought back into the Catholic Church.—(I.B.L. and C.B.N.).
CHURCH, Samuel Harden.
⸺ JOHN MARMADUKE. (Putnam). 6s. 0.50. [1889]. Fifth edition,
1898.
Opens 1649 at Arklow. Captain M., who tells the story, is an officer under
the Cromwellian General Ireton. Closes shortly after massacre of
Drogheda. The author says in his Oliver Cromwell, a History (p. 487): “He
(Cromwell) had overthrown a bloody rebellion in Ireland, and transformed
the environment of that mad people into industry and peace.” Elsewhere he
speaks of Cromwell’s “pure patriotism, his sacrifice to duty, his public
wisdom, his endeavour for the right course in every difficulty.” The novel is
written in the spirit of the history, a panegyric of Cromwell. It is full of
battles, sieges, and exciting adventures. The Author tells us that he “went
to Ireland, traced again the line of the Cromwell Invasion, and gave some
studious attention to the language and literature of the country” (Pref.).
Anti-Catholic in tone.
CLARK, Jackson C.
⸺ KNOCKINSCREEN DAYS. Pp. 308. (Methuen). 6s. Illustr.
1913.
Episodes in a Lough Neagh-side village conceived in a vein of broad comedy,
in which Mr. Peter Carmichael, a young squire on the look-out for amusement
and his irresponsible—and resourceful—friend Billy Devine are the chief
characters. How the two of them defeated the Nationalist candidate for the
dispensary, and how two members of the Force arrested the County Inspector
on a charge of Sunday drinking. The local colour and the dialect are perfect,
and the local types well sketched.
CLARKE, Mrs. Charles M.; “Miriam Drake.”
⸺ STRONG AS DEATH. Pp. 538. (Aberdeen: Moran). 6s.
The scene is laid in Ulster: the personages are Irish Presbyterians. The
Author’s sympathies are with the rebels, but she does justice to the men on the
loyalist side. The book contains many stirring adventures, but is far removed
from mere sensationalism (Publ.).
CLERY, Arthur E.; “A. Synan.” Born in Dublin, 1879. Educated at
Clongowes Wood College, Catholic University School. Professor of
Law in University College, N.U.I., since 1910. Author of The Idea of a
Nation, and of some books on law. Usual pen-name “Chanel.”
⸺ THE COMING OF THE KING: a Jacobite Romance. Pp. 143.
(C.T.S. of Ireland). 1s. Pretty binding. 1909.
Deals with an imaginary landing of James II. to head a rising in Ireland.
Scene: first on shores of Bantry Bay, then in Celbridge. A plot to seize
Dublin Castle, in which the King is aided by Swift, fails through divisions
caused by sectarian hatred. A rapidly moving story with many exciting
situations. Though no elaborate picture of the times is attempted, innumerable
small touches show the Author’s thorough acquaintance with
their history and literature. The style is pleasant, and the conversations
seldom jar by being too modern in tone.
COATES, H. J.
⸺ THE WEIRD WOMAN OF THE WRAAGH; or, Burton and Le
Moore. Four Vols. Pp. 1224. (London: Newman). 1830.
Wild adventures in 1783 sqq. The Wraagh is a cave near Baltinglass.
The scene frequently shifts from one part of Ireland to another—Cork,
Wicklow, Kilkenny, Cashel (historical sketch given), &c. Kidnappings,
hairbreadth escapes from robbers, a duel, love story of Walter (whose identity
is long a mystery) with Lena Fitzgerald, and their final marriage. Several
long stories are sandwiched in here and there. Tone quite patriotic. Well-written
on the whole.
⸺ LUCIUS CAREY; or, The Mysterious Female of Mora’s Dell. Four
Vols. Pp. 1007. (London: Newman). 1831.
Dedicated to O’Connell. Lucius goes over to England with his followers,
fights in the Royalist cause, and finally returns to Ireland. Sympathies:
Royalist, and Irish. But the noble characters are for the most part English,
some of the Irish characters being little better than buffoons. The book is
full of Astrology. There are some interesting allusions to Irish heroic legend.
⸺ THE WATER QUEEN; or, The Mermaid of Loch Lene, and other
Tales. Three Vols. (London: Newman). 1832.
A very romantic story of Killarney in the days of Elizabeth’s wars with
Hugh O’Neill. Sir Bertram Fitzroy, a gallant young Englishman, comes
over with Essex, and is sent down to Killarney. He becomes friendly with
the Irish and falls in love with the “Mermaid” Eva, a young lady who chose
this disguise for greater safety. She wins him to love Ireland. They are
kept apart by the schemes of the villain O’Fergus, standard bearer to O’Neill.
But, after a scene of considerable dramatic power in which O’Fergus is slain,
they are united again. There are many adventures, and much fighting.
Killarney well described. In sympathy with Ireland. No religious bias.
COGAN, J. J.
⸺ OLD IRISH HEARTS AND HOMES: A Romance of Real Life.
Pp. 271. (Melbourne: Linehan). 3s. [n.d.]. New edition, 1908.
A series of episodes, somewhat idealised by memory, from the annals of
an Irish Catholic family of the well-to-do farmer class. There is not much
literary skill, but this is made up for by the evident faithfulness and the
intrinsic interest of the pictures. Old de Prendergast is admirably drawn.
Brings out well how thoroughly penetrated with religious spirit many such
families in I. are. A sad little boy-and-girl love story runs through the
book. Scene: Dublin (election of Alderman well described) and West
Wicklow.
COLLINS, William. (1838-1890). A Tyrone man who emigrated to Canada
and U.S.A.
⸺ DALARADIA. (N.Y.: Kenedy). 36 cents net.
“A tale of the days of King Milcho,” the time of St. Patrick.
COLTHURST, Miss E. “A Cork lady of marked poetical ability. She
wrote also some prose works, such as The Irish Scripture Reader, The
Little Ones of Innisfail, &c. Most of her works were publ. anon. She
was associated with the Rev. E. Nangle’s mission to Achill” (D. J.
O’Donoghue, Poets of Ireland).
⸺ THE IRISH SCRIPTURE READER.
⸺ IRRELAGH: or, The Last of the Chiefs. Pp. 448. (London: Houlston
& Stoneman). 1849.
Dedication dated from Danesfort, Killarney. Scene: Killarney. Time:
towards the close of 17th century, but there is no reference to historical
events, and the tone and the atmosphere are quite modern. A Waldensian
pastor comes to live in the family of the O’Donoghue, and converts that
family and some of the neighbouring chieftains’ families. A great deal of
Protestant doctrine is introduced; Catholic doctrines (e.g., the Rosary, p. 49)
are referred to with strong disapproval. There is a slight love interest and
some vague descriptions of scenery. The style is somewhat turgid.
⸺ THE LITTLE ONES OF INNISFAIL.
COLUM, Padraic. Born in Longford, 1881. Has published several plays,
which have been acted with success in the Abbey Theatre and elsewhere;
a volume of verse; and a very interesting social study of Ireland, My
Irish Year.
⸺ A BOY IN EIRINN. Pp. 255. (N.Y.: Dutton). Frontisp. in colour
and four Illustr. by Jack B. Yeats. 1913. New ed. (Dent), 1915.
Third volume in “Little Schoolmate Series.” Adventures of peasant lad,
Finn O’Donnell at home in the Midlands and on his way to Dublin by Tara
in the time of the Land War. Charming pictures of the world as seen with
the wondering eyes of a child. Finn learns Irish legend and history from
stories told by his grandfather, a priest, and others. The pictures of things
seen and lived in Ireland are what one might expect from the Author of
My Irish Year—literal reality vividly but very simply presented. This boy
is not idealised; he is very life-like and natural. The Author does not
“write down” to children.
N.B.—In this case at least the reader would do well to take the book before
the Preface, which latter is by the general editor of the series.
CONCANNON, Mrs., née Helena Walsh. Born in Maghera, Co. Derry, 1878.
Educated there and at Loreto College, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin;
also at Berlin, Rome, and Paris. M.A. (R.U.I.) with Honours in Mod.
Lit. Besides the story mentioned below, she has published A Garden
of Girls (Educational Co. of Ireland), and is about to publish a Life of
St. Columbanus which won against noteworthy competitors a prize
offered by Dr. Shahan of the Catholic University of America. Has
contributed to Catholic magazines. Resides in Galway. Her husband
is prominently connected with the Gaelic League, and she herself reads
and speaks Irish.
⸺ THE SORROW OF LYCADOON. 12mo. Pp. 150. (C.T.S.I.: Iona
Series), 1s. 1912.
Story of the life and martyrdom (1584) of Dermot O’Hurley and of the
first mission of the Jesuits to Ireland. The author has an “historic
imagination” of exceptional vividness. The incidents and the colouring
are both solidly based on historic fact. But erudition is never allowed to
obtrude itself on the reader. The characters are flesh and blood, and the
story has a pathetic human interest of its own. It is told with much charm
of style.
CONDON, John A., O.S.A. Born in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, in 1867.
Educated locally at the Augustinian Seminary and at Castleknock
College. Became an Augustinian 1883. Has studied in Rome and
travelled in U.S.A. and Canada. He has resided in various parts of
Ireland—New Ross, Cork, Dublin. Has held positions of special trust
in his Order.
⸺ THE CRACKLING OF THORNS. Pp. 175. (Gill). 3s. 6d. Six
Illustr. by M. Power O’Malley. 1915.
Ten stories of various types. The majority are of the high-class magazine
type and very up-to-date in subject and treatment, but here and there one
comes upon bits of real life observed at first hand and pictured with genuine
feeling. Several are Irish-American, and their interest turns on the sorrow
and hardship of emigration. The last, “By the Way,” in which Sergeant
Maguire, R.I.C., spins yarns, is full of the most genuine Irish humour (dialect
perfect), and is a fine piece of story-telling.
CONYERS, Dorothea. Born 1871. Daughter of Colonel J. Blood Smyth,
Fedamore, Co. Limerick. Has published, besides the works here
mentioned, Recollections of Sport in Ireland. Resides near Limerick.
It may be said of her books in general that they are humorous, lively
stories of Irish sport, full of incident, with quick perception of the surfaces
and broad outlines of character. Her dramatis personæ are hunting
people, garrison officers, horse dealers, and the peasantry seen more or
less from their point of view.
⸺ THE THORN BIT. Pp. 332. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1900.
An earlier effort, with the Author’s qualities not yet developed. Society
in a small country town, days with the hounds, clever situations.
⸺ PETER’S PEDIGREE. Pp. 326. (Arnold). 6s. 1904.
Perhaps the best of the lot. Hunting, horse-dealing, and love-making in
Co. Cork.
⸺ AUNT JANE AND UNCLE JAMES. Pp. 342. (Hutchinson). 6s.
1908.
A sequel to the last, with the same vivid descriptions of “runs” and
“deals.” A murder trial enters into the plot.
⸺ THE BOY, SOME HORSES, AND A GIRL. Pp. 307. (Arnold). 6s.
1908.
Of the same type as the last and scarcely inferior. Irish peasants and
servants are described with much truth as well as humour. Full of glorious
hunts and pleasant hunting people.
⸺ THREE GIRLS AND A HERMIT. Pp. 328. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1908.
Life in a small garrison town. Many droll situations.
⸺ THE CONVERSION OF CON CREGAN. Pp. 327. (Hutchinson). 6s.
1909.
Thirteen stories, dealing mostly with horses and hunting. Full of shrewd
wit and kindly humour. Shows a good knowledge of Irish life and character,
and an understanding of the relations between the classes. One of the
stories is a novel in itself.
⸺ THE STRAYINGS OF SANDY. Pp. 362. (Hutchinson). 6s. and 1s.
1909.
The externals of Irish country life as seen by a London business man on a
holiday. Study of Irish character as seen chiefly in sporting types—needy,
good-natured, spendthrift—as contrasted with the Englishman, wealthy,
businesslike, and miserly. Contact with Irish life softens the Englishman’s
asperities. Full of genuinely humorous and amusing adventures of Sandy
with race-horses and hounds, and other things. The brogue is not overdone
and we are not, on the whole, caricatured. Scene: West coast.
⸺ TWO IMPOSTORS AND TINKER. Pp. 344. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1910.
One impostor is Derrick Bourke Herring who, under his namesake cousin’s
name, took up the Mullenboden hounds, and the other was his sister Jo who,
in man’s clothes, acted as whip. Tinker is a yellow mongrel who does many
wonderful things in the course of the story. The main interest centres in the
doings of these three, chiefly in the hunting field. A melodramatic element
is introduced by the attempt of the father of the wealthy heiress Grania
Hume to steal her jewels. Of course there are love affairs also. A breezy
story, with much lively incident and pleasant humour.
⸺ SOME HAPPENINGS OF GLENDALYNE. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1911.
Eve O’Neill is under the guardianship of The O’Neill, an eccentric, rapidly
growing into a maniac. His mania is religious, he has a passion for horse-racing,
and keeps the heir Hugh O’Neill (supposed to be dead) shut up in a
deserted wing of the old mansion. Here this latter is accidentally discovered
by Eve, and then there are thrilling adventures. Atmosphere throughout
weird and terrifying in the manner of Lefanu. Peasantry little understood
and almost caricatured.—(Press Notice).
⸺ THE ARRIVAL OF ANTONY. Pp. 348. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1912.
Anthony Doyle, brought up from childhood in Germany, and with the
breeding of a gentleman, comes home to help his old uncle, a horsedealer
living in an old-fashioned thatched farmhouse in a remote country district
in Ireland. Tells of the wholly inexperienced Antony’s adventures among
horse-sharpers, of his devotion to his old uncle, and of the social barriers
that for long keep him aloof from his own class and from his future wife.
The backwardness and slovenliness of Irish life are a good deal exaggerated,
but the story is very cleverly told, with a good deal of dry humour. The
Author’s satire is not hostile.
⸺ SALLY. Pp. 307. (Methuen). 6s. 1912.
How Sally Stannard charms the hero from his melancholia more efficaciously
than the hunting in Connemara on which he was relying for his cure. Has
all the appearances of a story dashed off carelessly and in haste for the publishers.
Nothing in it is studied or finished.
⸺ OLD ANDY. Pp. 309. (Methuen). 6s. 1914.
Peasant life in Co. Limerick.
⸺ A MIXED PACK. Pp. 296. (Methuen). 6s. 1915.
A collection of stories of very various type—hunting sketches, the strange
experience of an engine driver, the adventures of a traveller for a firm of
jewellers.
⸺ MEAVE. Pp. 336. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1915.
Here the scene is laid in England, and the characters are English, all but
a wild little Irish girl, Meave, who plays one of the chief parts. The story is
full of hunting scenes.
CONYNGHAM, Major David Power, LL.D.; “Allen H. Clington.” Born in
Killenaule, Co. Tipperary. Took part, along with his kinsman Charles
Kickham, in the rising of 1848. Fought in the American Civil War in
the ’Sixties, after which he engaged in journalism until his death in 1883.
Wrote many works on Irish and American subjects.
⸺ FRANK O’DONNELL: a Tale of Irish life; edited by “Allen H.
Clington.” Pp. 370. (Duffy). 5s. 1861.
Tipperary in the years before (and during) the Famine of 1846. Glimpses of
Tipperary homes, both clerical and lay. Almost every aspect of Irish life at
the time is pictured—the Famine, Souperism, an Irish agent and his victims
(ch. xii.), how St. Patrick’s Day is kept, Irish horse races (ch. ii.), &c. “I
have shewn how the people are made the catspaw of aspiring politicians
[elections are described] and needy landlords.” Author says the characters
are taken from real life. They are for the most part very well drawn, e.g.,
Mr. Baker, “a regular Jack Falstaff,” full of boast about wonderful but
wholly imaginary exploits; and Father O’Donnell. A pleasant little love-story
runs through the book. The whole is racy of the soil. The dialect is
good, but the conversations of the upper class are artificial and scarcely true
to life. Introduces the episode of the execution of the Bros. C⸺ in N⸺.
⸺ SARSFIELD; or, The Last Great Struggle for Ireland. (Boston:
Donahue). Port. of Sarsfield. 1871.
The Author calls this a historical romance, but the element of romance
is very small. Ch. I. gives a backward glance over Ireland’s national struggle
in the past. The nominal hero is Hugh O’Donnell and the heroine Eveleen,
granddaughter of Florence McCarthy, killed on the Rhine. But Sarsfield is
the central figure, and the Author contrives to give us his whole career.
There is plenty of exciting incident, partly fictitious—forays of the Rapparees,
captures, escapes. In spite of the schemes of the villain rival, Saunders,
hero and heroine are united. The historical standpoint seems fair if not
quite impartial.
⸺ THE O’DONNELLS OF GLEN COTTAGE. Pp. 498. (N.Y.: Kenedy).
n.d. (1874). Still in print.
Scene: Tipperary during the Famine years. The fortunes of a family in
the bad times. Famine and eviction and death wreck its peace, and things
are only partially righted after many years. The author, whose view-point
is nationalist and Catholic, vividly describes the evils of the time—the terrible
sufferings of the Famine, eviction as carried out by a heartless agent, souperism
in the person of Rev. Mr. Sly, judicial murder as exemplified by the execution
of the M’Cormacks.
⸺ THE O’MAHONY, CHIEF OF THE COMERAGHS. Pp. 268. (N.Y.:
Sadlier). 1879.
A tale of Co. Waterford in 1798, written from a strongly Irish and Catholic
standpoint. Depicts the tyranny of the Protestant gentry, the savagery of
the yeomanry. Typical scenes are introduced, e.g., a flogging at the cart’s
tail through the streets of Clonmel, seizures for tithes, the execution of Father
Sheehy (an avowed anachronism), &c. Chief historical personages: Sir
Judkin Fitzgerald, the “flogging” Sheriff, and Earl Kingston. A vivid
picture, though obviously partisan, and marred by some inartistic melodrama.
⸺ ROSE PARNELL, THE FLOWER OF AVONDALE. Pp. 429.
(N.Y.: Sadlier). 1883.
A tale of the rebellion of ’98.
COSTELLO, Mary.
⸺ PEGGY THE MILLIONAIRE. (C.T.S. of Ireland: Iona Series). 1s.
1910.
The story of an Irish girl living in “Loughros,” in the West of Ireland,
some fifty years ago. She is the third and plain daughter of a disappointed
“fine lady,” who has married a country doctor out of pique, and rues her
fate for the rest of her life, as she cannot appreciate her husband’s good heart
and he cannot give her luxuries and grandeur. To this home Peggy comes
from school. And the book tells us, with plenty of good fun in the telling,
how she made her fortune and how she scattered happiness and blessings
around her.—(Press Notice).
COTTON, Rev. S. G.
⸺ THE THREE WHISPERS, AND OTHER TALES. Pp. 256.
(Dublin: Robertson). c. 1850.
In the title story we have two attempted suicides of parents distraught
with grief, the return of a former convict, and an inheritance for the people
who were dying with hunger. Dublin is the scene. The next story, “Grace
Kennedy,” takes place in the Queen’s Co.: a mother murders her boy, the
sister holds the corpse to the fire and “nestles beside him.” In “The
Foundling” the mother drowns herself, but some charitable Protestants
rescue her child and bring him up in their religion. “Ellen Seaton” tells
how Ellen’s father goes off to be a priest and her mother to be a nun, and
deals with the efforts made by priests and nuns to get hold of her. Finally
she converts her nun jailer and both escape. In some of these stories the
Author introduces very vulgar brogue, with coarse expressions.
CRAIG, Richard Manifold, 1845-1913. Born in Dublin, and educated there.
He entered the army as surgeon, and retired with the rank of Lieut.-Colonel.
His other works of fiction—A Widow Well Left, All Trumps,
A Sacrifice of Fools, &c.—do not deal with Irish subjects.
⸺ THE WEIRD OF “THE SILKEN THOMAS.” Pp. 230. (Aberdeen:
Moran). 1900.
The story of how Lord Thomas Fitzgerald was drawn into revolt by the
treachery of a private enemy. Purports to be a narrative written at the
time by Martyn Baruch Fallon, “scrivener and cripple,” a loyal inhabitant
of Maynooth, with some account of the latter’s private affairs. Written in
quaint, antique language difficult to follow, especially at the outset of the
book. It seems of little value from an historical point of view.
⸺ LANTY RIORDAN’S RED LIGHT.
I am not certain whether this story appeared in book form. It is not in
the B. Museum Library.
CRAIG, J. Duncan, D.D.
⸺ BRUCE REYNALL, M.A. Pp. 271. (Elliot Stock). 3s. 6d. 1898.
Author of “Real Pictures of Clerical Life in Ireland,” and of several learned
works. A story of an Oxford man who came to Ireland as locum tenens in
the most disturbed time, and found life a good deal more exciting than at
his English curacy. The Orangemen are very favourably represented. In
the preface to the following work the Author says of this, “The Reign of
Terror which prevailed in Ireland while the horrors of the Land League were
brooding over the land, and a picture of which I have endeavoured to
delineate in Bruce Reynall.”
⸺ REAL PICTURES OF CLERICAL LIFE IN IRELAND. Pp. 351.
(Elliot Stock). [1875]. 1900.
The first six chapters are autobiographical, the remaining sixty-five are a
series of anecdotes and stories in which the Catholic clergy and the doctrines
of the Church appear to great disadvantage. The lawlessness and brutality
of the peasantry are also much insisted on, and the conversion of Ireland to
Protestantism seems to obsess the writer. Some of the incidents related are
improbable in the extreme, and it is not clear from the Preface to what extent
the Author intended them as narratives of actual fact. At all events they
are told in the form of fiction. There are also gruesome reminiscences of
agrarian disturbances and of the Fenian outbreak, and a chapter against
Home Rule. The Author was born in Dublin in the twenties, of Scottish
parents. He went to T.C.D. in 1847. He was long Vicar of Kinsale. He was
remarkable as the author of several important works on the Provençal
language and literature. He died in 1909.
CRANE, Stephen, and BARR, Robert.
⸺ THE O’RUDDY. (Methuen). 6s. 1904.
Has been well described as a fairy story for grown-ups, with plenty of
humorous incident—love affairs, duels, &c. The O’Ruddy is a reckless,
rollicking, lovable character. There is little or no connexion with real life.—(The
Academy).
CRAWFORD, Mrs. A.
⸺ LISMORE. Three Vols. (London: Newby). 1853.
A rambling and sentimental tale, the scene of which is Southern Ireland
(Lismore and Ardmore) and Italy in 1659-60. It is in no sense historical,
nor does the Author seem to have any knowledge of the period dealt with.
The personages live in “suburbs” and ring the “breakfast-bell.” An
amusing ignorance of Catholic matters is evidenced. The plot is confused
and without unity.
CRAWFORD, Mary S.; “Coragh Travers.”
⸺ HAZEL GRAFTON. Pp. 350. (Long). 6s. 1911.
Hazel leaves Bournemouth and her school days and two rejected suitors—both
curates—to live with her adoring parents in the W. of Ireland. She
and Denis Martin fall in love, but the course of love does not run smooth.
The two are kept apart by their parents, who are intent on other matches.
A quarrel completes the breach, but all comes right in the end by help of a
divorce and a death. Trips to Dublin and to Bundoran and the performances
of a genuine stage-Irishman are introduced to enliven the tale.
CRAWFORD, Michael George.
⸺ LEGENDARY STORIES OF THE CARLINGFORD LOUGH
DISTRICT. Pp. 201, close print. (Newry: Offices of “The Frontier
Sentinel”). 1s. 1914.
Thirty-four stories, embodying the legends of a district exceptionally rich
in memories of old Gaelic Ireland—Cuchulain and the Red Branch—and also
with great Irish-Norman families like the De Courcys and De Burgos. By a
writer thoroughly acquainted with the district.
CRICHTON, Mrs. F. E. Born in Belfast, 1877; educated at a private
school near Richmond. Travelled much in Italy, Switzerland, and
Germany. Besides the three novels noted below she publ. some short
stories, a little book The Precepts of Andy Saul, based on the character of
an old gardener, and some books for children.
⸺ THE SOUNDLESS TIDE. Pp. 328. (Arnold). 6s. 1911.
Life of country gentry and peasantry in County Down. With the latter
the Author is particularly effective, bringing out their characteristics with
quiet “pawky” humour. Especially, there is Mrs. M’Killop and her wise
saws. But the Colonel and his wife are also very well drawn. There is
pathos as well as humour. Noteworthy also are the descriptions of sea-coast
scenery, and the story of the fight on the “twalth”—(I.B.L.). It is a
simple tale of lover’s misunderstandings. Religious strife is pictured with
perhaps undue insistence.
⸺ TINKER’S HOLLOW. Pp. 336. (Arnold). 6s. 1912.
A charming and delicately-told love story, with a background of life among
the Presbyterians (both the better class, and the peasantry and servants)
near a small town in Co. Antrim. Shows an intimate and sympathetic
knowledge of the people that furnishes the characters of the story. The
dialect is perfectly reproduced. There is a pleasant picture of the bright
and sunny Sally Bruce growing from girlhood into womanhood amid the dull
austerity of Coole House, in the society of her two maiden aunts and her
bachelor uncle. There are pleasant gleams of Northern humour, not a few
gems of rustic philosophy, and vignettes of Antrim scenery. The human
interest is, however, strongest of all.
⸺ THE BLIND SIDE OF THE HEART. Pp. 299. (Maunsel). 6s.
1915.
The story of Dick Sandford’s choice between his cousin Betty—English like
himself—bright, charming, wholly of this world, and Ethne Blake whom he
meets while on a visit to Ireland. The book is really a study, or rather an
imaginative presentment of this strange, almost unearthly, figure as typifying
the mystic, faery side of the Celtic temperament, and of the background of
haunted Irish landscape and peasant fairy-lore, against which she moves.
The vital difference in the two temperaments, Celt and Saxon, is
suggested throughout. The peasantry of the remote mountain glens are
pictured with sympathy and insight.
CROKER, Mrs. B. M., wife of Lieut.-Col. Croker, late Royal Munster
Fusiliers; daughter of Rev. W. Sheppard, Rector of Kilgefin, Co.
Roscommon; educated at Rockferry, Cheshire. She spent fourteen years
in the East, whence the Eastern subjects of some of her novels. These
number nearly forty. She resides for the most part in London and
Folkestone.
⸺ A BIRD OF PASSAGE. Pp. 366. (Chatto & Windus). [1886.]
New edition. 1903.
A love story, beginning in the Andamans. There is a lively picture of
garrison life, including the clever portrait of the “leading lady” (and tyrant),
Mrs. Creery. The lovers are separated by the scheming of an unsuccessful
rival. The girl first lives a Cinderella life, with disagreeable relations in
London, then is a governess, and finally (p. 256) goes to a relation in Ireland.
Then there are amusing studies of Irish types—carmen (Larry Flood, with
his famous “Finnigan’s mare”), and servants, and a family of broken-down
gentry. Things come right in the end.
⸺ IN THE KINGDOM OF KERRY. (Chatto & Windus). 3s. 6d.
1896.
“Seven sketchy little stories of poor folk, written in light and merry style.”—(Baker).
⸺ BEYOND THE PALE. (Chatto & Windus). 3s. 6d. and 6d. (N.Y.:
Fenno). 0.50. 1897.
Story of an Irish girl of good family, who is obliged to train horses for a
living, but ends successfully. Scene: a hunting county three hours’ journey
from Dublin. Much stress is laid on the feudal spirit of the peasantry,
who are viewed from the point of view of the upper classes, but sympathetically.
⸺ TERENCE. Pp. 342. (Chatto & Windus). 6s. Six illustr. by
Sidney Paget. (N.Y.: Buckles). 1.25. 1899.
Scene: an anglers’ hotel in Waterville, Co. Kerry, and the neighbourhood,
which the Author knows and describes well. A tale of love and foolish
jealousy. The personages belong to the Protestant upper classes. The
chief interest is in the working out of the plot, which is well sustained all
through. “Contains comedy of a broad and sometimes vulgar kind, turning
on jealousy and scandal.”—(Baker 2).
⸺ JOHANNA. Pp. 315. (Methuen). 1903.
The story of a beautiful but very stupid peasant girl who, forced by a
tyrannical stepmother to fly from her home in Kerry, sets off for Dublin. On
the way she loses the address of the house she is going to, is snapped up by
the keeper of a lodging-house, and there lives as a slavey a life of dreadful
drudgery and of suffering from unpleasant boarders.
⸺ A NINE DAYS’ WONDER. Pp. 310. (Methuen). 6s. [1905].
How Mary Foley, brought up for twenty-one years in an Irish cabin,
is suddenly claimed as his daughter by an English peer, and becomes Lady
Joseline Dene. How she gives Society a sensation by her countrified speech
and manners, and by her too truthful and pointed remarks, but carries it by
storm in the end, and marries her early love. The writer has a good knowledge
of the talk of the lower middle classes. There is no bias in the story, which
is a thoroughly pleasant one.
⸺ LISMOYLE: an Experiment in Ireland. Pp. 384. (Hutchinson).
6s. 1914.
The six months’ visit of a young English heiress to the stately, dilapidated
mansion of Lismoyle, in the Co. Tipperary, involving a comedy of courtship,
many amusing situations, and some description of the small social affairs
of the county. No Irish “problem” is touched upon.
The Scenes of some others of her novels are laid partly in Ireland, e.g.,
TWO MASTERS (Chatto), 1890; and INTERFERENCE (Chatto), 1894.
CROKER, T. Crofton. Born in Cork, 1798; died in London, 1854. Was
one of the most celebrated of Irish antiquaries, folk-lorists, and collectors
of ancient airs. He helped to found the Camden Society (1839), the Percy
Society (1840), and the British Archæological Association (1843). Was
a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and of many Continental societies.
Wrote or edited a great number of works. His leisure hours were spent
in rambles in company with a Quaker gentleman of tastes similar to his
own. In these excursions he gained that intimate knowledge of the
people, their ideas, traditions, and tales, which he afterwards turned to
good account.
⸺ LEGENDS OF THE LAKES. [1829]. Illustr. by Maclise.
Killarney. A series of stories, similar to those in the Fairy Legends, of
fairies, ghosts, banshees, &c.
⸺ KILLARNEY LEGENDS. Pp. 294. 16mo. (London: Fisher).
Some steel engravings (quite fanciful). [1831]. Second edition, 1879.
An abbreviated ed. of Legends of the Lakes. Second ed. was edited by
Author’s son, T. F. D. Croker. Topographical Index.
⸺ FAIRY LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS OF THE SOUTH OF
IRELAND. New and complete edition. Illustr. by Maclise & Green.
1882.
First appeared 1825; often republished since. Classified under the
headings:—The Shefro; the Cluricaune; the Banshee; the Phooka;
Thierna na oge (sic); the Merrow; the Dullahan, &c. “I make no pretension
to originality, and avow at once that there is no story in my book which has
not been told by half the old women of the district in which the scene is laid.
I give them as I found them” (Pref.). This is the first collection of Irish
folk-lore apart from the peddler’s chap-books. Dr. Douglas Hyde (Pref. to
Beside the Fire) calls this a delightful book, and speaks of Croker’s “light
style, his pleasant parallels from classics and foreign literature, and his
delightful annotations,” but says that he manipulated for the English market,
not only the form, but often the substance, of his stories. Scott praised
the book very highly in the notes to the 1830 ed. of the Waverley Novels, as
well as in his Demonology and Witchcraft. The original ed. was trans. into
German by the Bros. Grimm, 1826, and into French by P. A. Dufour, 1828.
CROKER, Mrs. T. Crofton.
⸺ BARNEY MAHONEY. [1832].
“Has for a hero an Irish peasant, who conceals under a vacant countenance
and blundering demeanour shrewdness, quick wit, and, despite a touch of
rascality, real kindness of heart.”—(Krans).
CROMARTIE, Countess of; Sibell Lilian Mackenzie, Viscountess of Tarbat,
Baroness of Castlehaven and Macleod. Born 1878. Lives at Castle
Leod, Strathpeffer, N.B. Publ. The End of the Song, 1904, The Web of
the Past, The Golden Guard, &c.
⸺ SONS OF THE MILESIANS. Pp. 306. (Eveleigh, Nash). 1906.
Short stories, some Irish, some Highland Scotch, somewhat in the manner
of Fiona MacLeod’s beautiful Barbaric Tales. The stories deal with various
periods from the time of the Emperor Julian to the present day, and they
are vivid pictures of life and manners at these different epochs. The standpoint
is thoroughly Gaelic, and there is much pathos and much beauty in the
tales.
⸺ THE DAYS OF FIRE. Pp. 114. (Wellby). Artistic cover in white
and gold. 1908.
The scene is laid in Ireland in the days of the first Milesians, but does not
deal with historical events. Tells of the love of Heremon the King for a
beautiful slave. Full of sensuous description in a smooth, dreamy style.
Frankly pagan in spirit.
⸺ THE GOLDEN GUARD. Pp. 407. (Allen). 6s. 1912.
“A tale of ‘far off things and battles long ago,’ when King Heremon the
Beautiful, who reigned at Tara over Milesian and Phoenician ..., fought
with his Golden Guard against the Northern Barbarians. Lady Cromartie
gives fire and passion to the shadowy figures, filling her imaginative pages
with crowded hours of love and fighting, toil, pleasure, and vigorous life.”—(T.
Lit. Suppl.).
CROMIE, Robert. Born at Clough, Co. Down, the son of Dr. Cromie. Was
on the staff of Belfast Northern Whig, and died suddenly about ten
years ago.
⸺ THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS. Pp. 326. (Ward & Locke). 6s.
1902.
A sympathetic study of Ulster Presbyterian life is the background for the
romance, ending in tragedy, of a young minister. Besides the occasional
dialect (well handled) there is little of Ireland in the book, but the story is
told with much skill, and never flags. Bromley, an unbeliever, almost a
cynic, but a true man and unselfish to the point of heroism, is a remarkable
study. The author has also published The Crack of Doom, The King’s Oak,
For England’s Sake, &c.
CROMMELIN, May de la Cherois. Born in Ireland. Daughter of late S.
de la Cherois Crommelin, of Carrowdore Castle, Co. Down, a descendant
of Louis Crommelin, a Huguenot refugee, who founded the linen trade
in Ulster. Educated at home. Early life spent in Ireland; resided
since in London; has travelled much. Publ. more than thirty novels.—(Who’s
Who). Queenie was the Author’s first novel. A Jewel of a
Girl deals with Ireland and Holland.
⸺ ORANGE LILY. Two Vols., afterwards One Vol. (Hurst & Blackett).
1879.
The story of Lily Keag, daughter of a Co. Down Orangeman, who, to the
disgust of her social circle, falls in love with her father’s servant boy. The
latter goes to America, and thence returns, a wealthy man, to claim Lily.
The scenery is well described and the dialect well rendered. A healthy and
high-toned novel.
⸺ BLACK ABBEY. Pp. 447. (Sampson, Low). [1880]. 1882.
We are first introduced to a delightful circle, the three children of Black
Abbey (somewhere in Co. Down) and those about them, their German governess
and Irish nurse and their playmate Bella, born in America, granddaughter
of the old Presbyterian minister. The picture of their home-life is pleasant
and life-like, with a vein of quiet humour. Then they grow up and things
no longer run smoothly. Bella, by her marriage, well-nigh wrecks four lives,
including her own, but things seem to be righting themselves as the story closes.
The dialect of the Northern servants is very well done. The tone of the book
is most wholesome though by no means “goody-goody.”
⸺ DIVIL-MAY-CARE; alias Richard Burke, sometime Adjutant of the
Black Northerns. Pp. x. + 306. (F. V. White). 6s. 1899.
A series of humorous and exciting episodes, forming the adventures of an
officer home from India on sick leave. Most of them are located in Antrim.
No religious or political bias, but a tinge of the stage Irishman.
⸺ THE GOLDEN BOW. (Holden & Hardingham). 6s. c. 1912.
Story of the sorrows and suitors, from her unhappy childhood to a happy
engagement, of an Irish girl, who is poor, proud, and pretty. A lovable
character is Judith’s crippled sister Melissa. Scene: N. of Ireland. There
is a good deal of dialect, and the ways of the peasantry are faithfully depicted.
CROSBIE, Mary. Born in England. Educated privately and at various
English schools. Has frequently visited and stayed in Ireland. Her
first novel, Disciples, was publ. in 1907; but it was the second that
was most successful, three editions being called for within a short time.
⸺ KINSMEN’S CLAY. Pp. 389. (Close print). (Methuen). 6s. First
and second editions. 1910.
Main theme: wife and lover waiting for invalid and impossible husband to
die. The treatment of this theme and that of a minor plot makes the book
unsuited for certain classes of readers. Moreover, the tone is alien to religion.
God is “perhaps the flowering of men’s ideals under the rain of their tears.”
But the tone is not frankly anti-moral. The personages are all of the country
Anglo-Irish gentry, except one peasant family, and this shows up badly.
The types are drawn with much skill, and there is constant clever analysis of
moods and emotions. The story brings out in a vague way the transmission
through a family of ancestral peculiarities.
⸺ BRIDGET CONSIDINE. Pp. 347. (Bell). 6s. 1914.
Bridget’s father is the son of a broken-down shopkeeper somewhere beyond
the Shannon, but clings to aristocratic notions. She grows up in London
along with “Lennie-next-door,” but her mind outgrows his. She goes to
stay W. of the Shannon as secretary to a rich lady. There she becomes
engaged to Hugh Delmege, a young landowner. All her yearnings seem
fulfilled, yet somehow it is not what she had expected; a short separation
from Hugh still further opens her eyes, and she returns disillusioned. This
is the bare skeleton: it does not do justice to the philosophy and the style
of the book, both of which are remarkable.
CROSBIE, W. J.
⸺ DAVID MAXWELL. (Jarrold). 6s. 1902.
’98 from the loyalist standpoint, and adventures in Mexico and South
Texas, &c. “David” is “Scotch-Irish.”—(Baker, 2).
CROSFIELD, H. C.
⸺ FOR THREE KINGDOMS. Pp. 241. (Elliott Stock). 1909.
“Recollections of Robert Warden, a servant of King James.” By a series
of accidents the teller finds himself on board one of the ships that raises the
blockade of Derry; he escapes and goes to Dublin, where he has exciting
adventures. Tyrconnell is introduced—a very unfavourable portrait; and
the hero goes through the Boyne Campaign. Told in lively style, with plenty
of incident.
CROTTIE, Julia M. Born in Lismore, Co. Waterford. Educated privately
and at the Presentation Convent, Lismore. Contributed to the Catholic
World, N.Y., and to other American Catholic periodicals, also to the
Month, the Rosary, &c. She resides in Ramsay, Isle of Man.
⸺ NEIGHBOURS. Pp. 307. (Unwin). 6s. 1900.
Pictures of very unlovely aspects of life in a small stagnant town. Twenty
separate sketches. Wonderfully true to reality and to the petty unpleasant
sides of human nature. The gossip of the back lane is faithfully reproduced,
though without vulgarity. The stories are told with great skill.
⸺ THE LOST LAND. Pp. 266. (Fisher Unwin). 6s. [1901]. 1907.
“A tale of a Cromwellian Irish town [in Munster]. Being the autobiography
of Miss Annita Lombard.” A picture of the pitiful failure of the United
Irishmen to raise and inspirit a people turned to mean, timid, and crawling
slaves by ages of oppression. Thad Lombard, sacrificing fortune, home,
happiness, and at last his life for the Lost Land, is a noble figure. The book
is a biting and powerful satire upon various types of anglicized or vulgar or
pharisaical Catholicism (the author is a Catholic). The whole is a picture of
unrelieved gloom. The style, beautiful, and often poetic, but deepens the
sadness. Thad Lombard, a hundred years before the time, pursues the ideals
of the Gaelic League. Period: c. 1780-1797.
CROWE, Eyre Evans, 1799-1868. Though born in England, this distinguished
historian and journalist was of Irish origin, and was educated
at Trinity. In Blackwood he first published several of his Irish novels.
Though imperfectly acquainted with the art of a novelist this writer is
often correct and happy in his descriptions and historical summaries.
Like Banim he has ventured on the stormy period of 1798, and has been
more minute than his great rival in sketching the circumstances of the
rebellion.—(Chambers’s Cyclopædia of English Literature).
⸺ TO-DAY IN IRELAND. Three Vols. (London: Knight). 1825.
Four stories:—1. “The Carders.” 2. “Connemara.” 3. “Old and New Light.”
4. “The O’Toole’s Warning.” The scene of 1 is “Rathfinnan,” on Lough Ree,
not far from Athlone. It is a very dark picture of the secret societies and
of the peasants in general, but an equally merciless picture of certain types
of the Ascendancy class, notably a Protestant curate and Papist-hunter
named Crosthwaite. The hero Arthur Dillon (a true hero of romance) is
a young Catholic student of T.C.D., who narrowly escapes being implicated
in the secret societies. He dreams of rebellion, and is nearly caught in the
meshes of a villainous-plotting Jesuit. There is a love story, with a happy
ending. 2. Is a burlesque story telling how M’Laughlin, a sort of King
of Connemara, escaped his debtors in a coffin. Some smuggling episodes.
Description of the fair of Ballinasloe, p. 196. Much about wild feudal
hospitality and lawlessness. 3. Is a satirical study of Protestant religious
life at “Ardenmore,” Co. Louth. “Sir Starcourt Gibbs” seems obviously
intended as a portrait of Sir Harcourt Lees, an Evangelical Orange leader
in Dublin in the twenties and thirties.
⸺ CONNEMARA OU UMA ELEIÇÃO NA IRLANDA: Romance
Irlandez tradusido por C[amillo] A[ureliano] da S[ilva] e S[ousa]
(Porto). 1843.
⸺ YESTERDAY IN IRELAND. Three Vols., containing two long
stories, viz.: 1. “Corramahon.” Pp. 600. Large loose print.
O’Mahon, an Irish Jacobite soldier of fortune, is the hero. The plot
consists mainly of the intertwined love stories of men and women separated by
barriers of class, creed, and nationality. Good picture of politics at the
time. Hardships of Penal days illustrated (good description of Midnight
Mass). Ulick O’More, the Rapparee, is a fine figure. Interest sustained
by exciting incidents. Scene laid near town of Carlow.
2. “The Northerns of ’98.” Pp. 367.
Scene: Mid-Antrim. Adventures of various persons in ’98 (Winter and
Orde are the chief names). Feelings and sentiments of the times portrayed,
especially those of United Irishmen. Battle of Antrim described. Author
leans somewhat to National side.
[CRUMPE, Miss]. Daughter of Dr. Crumpe (1766-1796), a famous physician
in Limerick. According to the Madden MSS., she wrote several other
novels.
⸺ GERALDINE OF DESMOND; or, Ireland in the Reign of Queen
Elizabeth. Three Vols. (London: Colburn). 1829.
Dedicated to Thomas Moore. A story of the Desmond Rebellion 1580-2,
(battle of Monaster-ni-via, the massacre of Smerwick, &c.) with, as personages
in the story, the chief historical figures of the time:—the Desmonds
and Ormonds, Fr. Allen, S.J., Sanders, Sir Henry Sidney, Sir William Drury,
Dr. Dee the Astrologer, Queen Elizabeth herself. The Author has worked
into the slight framework of her story an elaborate and careful picture of
the times, the fruit, she tells us, of years of study and research. As a result
the romance is overlaid and well-nigh smothered with erudition, apart even
from the learned notes appended to each volume. The Author is obviously
inspired by a great love and enthusiasm for Ireland, and takes the national
side thoroughly. The book is ably written, but resembles rather a treatise
than a novel.
⸺ THE DEATH FLAG; or, The Irish Buccaneers. Three Vols.
(London). 1851.
CUNINGHAME, Richard.
⸺ THE BROKEN SWORD OF ULSTER: A brief relation of the Events
of one of the most stirring and momentous eras in the Annals of Ireland.
Crown 8vo. (Hodges & Figgis). 3s. 6d. 1904.
Account of chief events. Not in form of fiction. Tone somewhat anti-national
(cf. authorities chiefly relied on). Moral: Ireland’s crowning need
is to accept the teaching of St. Paul on charity. This is “the God-provided
cure for all her woes.” This Author wrote also In Bonds but Fetterless, 1875.
CURTIN, Jeremiah, 1840-1916. Born in Milwaukee, educated at Harvard.
A distinguished American traveller, linguist, and ethnologist. Has
translated great numbers of books from the Russian and the Polish, and
has published many works on the folk-lore of the Russians, Magyars,
Mongols, American Aborigines, &c. Visited Ireland in 1887 and 1891.
⸺ MYTHS AND FOLK-LORE OF IRELAND. (Sampson, Low). 9s.
Etched frontispiece. 1890.
“Twenty tales” says Douglas Hyde (Pref. to Beside the Fire), “told
very well, and with much less cooking and flavouring than his predecessors
employed.” The tales were got from Gaelic speakers through an interpreter
(Mr. Curtin knowing not a word of Gaelic). Beyond this fact he
does not tell us where, from whom, or how he collected the stories. Dr.
Hyde says again, “From my own knowledge of Folk-lore, such as it is, I
can easily recognise that Mr. Curtin has approached the fountain-head more
nearly than any other.”
⸺ HERO TALES OF IRELAND, collected by. Pp. lii. + 558. (Macmillan).
7s. 6d. 1894.
Learned introduction speculates on origin of myths of primitive races.
Compares Gaelic myths with those of other races, especially North American
Indians. Contends that the characters in the tales are personifications of
natural forces and the elements, and that the tales themselves in their
earliest form give man’s primitive ideas of the creation, &c. The volume
consists of twenty-four folk-lore stories dealing chiefly with heroes of the
Gaelic cycles. Not interesting in themselves, and with much sameness in
style, matter, and incident. There is some naturalistic coarseness here and
there, and the tone in some places is vulgar. The stories were told to the
Author by Kerry, Connemara, and Donegal peasants, whose names are given
in a note on p. 549.
⸺ TALES OF THE FAIRIES AND OF THE GHOST WORLD. Pp.
ix. + 198. (Nutt). 1895.
Preface by Alfred Nutt. This collection supplements the two previous
collections. It is collected from oral tradition chiefly in S.-W. Munster.
Illustrates the present-day belief of the peasantry in ghosts, fairies, &c. There
are thirty tales, many of them new. A good number of them are, of course,
grotesque and extravagant. They contain nothing objectionable, but
obviously are hardly suitable for children.
CURTIS, Robert.
⸺ THE IRISH POLICE OFFICER. Pp. vii. + 216. (Ward, Lock). 1861.
Six short stories, reprinted from Dublin University Magazine, entitled
“The Identification,” “The Banker of Ballyfree,” “The Reprieve,” “The
Two Mullanys,” “M’Cormack’s Grudge,” “How ‘The Chief’ was Robbed.”
They deal chiefly with remarkable trials in Ireland. “They are all founded
upon facts which occurred within my own personal knowledge; and for the
accuracy of which not only I, but others, can vouch.”—(Pref.). Author
was Inspector of Police, and published (1869) The History of the R.I.C. and
The Trial of Captain Alcohol. Pp. 48. (McGlashan & Gill). 1871.
⸺ RORY OF THE HILLS. Pp. 356. Post 8vo. (Duffy). 2s. [1870].
Still in print.
A faithful and sympathetic picture of the peasant life and manners at the
time (early nineteenth century). The Author, a police officer, has drawn on
his professional experiences. The tale, founded on fact, is an edifying one
despite the unrelieved villainy of Tom Murdock. The influence of religion is
felt throughout, especially in the heroic charity of the heroine even towards
the murderer of her lover. Peasant speech reproduced to the life.
CURRAN, H. G. (1800-1876). Natural son of John Philpot Curran, and a
barrister.
⸺ CONFESSIONS OF A WHITEFOOT. Pp. 306. (Bentley). (Edited
by G. C. H., Esq., B.L.). 1844.
The supposed teller began as a supporter of “law and order,” but the
conviction of the abuses of landlordism is forced upon him by experience and
observation, and he ends by joining the secret society of the Whitefeet.
He makes no secret of the crimes of this body, and many of them are described
in the course of the narrative.
CUSACK, Mary Frances, known as “The Nun of Kenmare.” Originally a
Protestant, she became a Catholic and a Poor Clare. From her convent
in Kenmare she issued quite a library of books on many subjects—Irish
history, general and local, Irish biography, stories, poems, works
of piety and of instruction. Subsequently she left her convent, went
to America, and reverted to Protestantism. Died Leamington, 1899,
aged 70. She has published her autobiography.
⸺ NED RUSHEEN; or, Who Fired the First Shot? Pp. 373. (Burns &
Oates. Boston: Donahoe). Four rather mediocre Illus. 1871.
A murder mystery. The hero is wrongly accused, but is acquitted in the
end. The real culprit (scapegrace son of the victim, Lord Elmsdale) confesses
when dying. The mystery is well kept up to the end. Indeed, the
explanation of it is by no means clear, even at the close. The moral purpose
is kept prominently before the reader throughout. Tone strongly religious
and Catholic, the Protestant religion being more than once compared, to its
disadvantage, with the Catholic.
⸺ TIM O’HALLORAN’S CHOICE; or, From Killarney to New York.
Pp. 262. (London: Burns). [1877]. 1878.
“This little story gives a strong picture of the heroic faith, sufferings, and
native humour of the Irish poor.”—(Press Notice). When Tim is dying a
priest and a “Souper” contend for possession of his boy Thade. Tim is
faithful to his Church, but after his death the boy is kidnapped by the proselytisers.
He escapes, and is sheltered by a good Catholic named O’Grady.
Subsequently he finds favour with a rich American, who takes him off to
New York.
D’ARBOIS DE JUBAINVILLE, Henri. Born in Nancy, 1827. Died 1910.
Educated in École des Chartes. A biographical notice of him, followed
by a bibliography of his works, will be found in the Revue Celtique (Vol.
32, p. 456, 1911), which he edited for many years. The list of his works
contains 238 items, the greater number of which concern Celts. Perhaps
rather more than half deal with Ireland. They include a Cours de
Littérature Celtique in 12 vols., a history of the Celts, a work on the
Irish mythological cycle, and a catalogue of the epic literature of Ireland.
That on the Irish mythological cycle has been well translated by R. I.
Best (Hodges & Figgis). 1903. Pp. xv. + 240.
D’ARCY, Hal.
⸺ A HANDFUL OF DAYS. Pp. 319. (Long). 6s. 1914.
“How John O’Grady left his irritating wife and selfish children to revisit
the home of his fathers in I. for a short time; how he met ... Mary O’Connor
...; how he fell in love, and told her so—forgetting to mention the irritating
wife, &c.... The picture of the old Irish priest, Mary’s uncle, is the one
redeeming feature of a mawkish, unsatisfactory tale.”—(T. Litt. Suppl.).
This fairly describes the story. Non-Catholic, but not prejudiced. Scene:
Glendalough.
DAMANT, Mary. The Author is a daughter of General Chesney, the Asiatic
explorer.
⸺ PEGGY. Pp. 405. (Allen). 1887.
Domestic life in North Antrim previous to, and during, the Rebellion of
1798. “Many of the facts of my little tale were told me in childhood by those,
whose recollection of the rising was rendered vivid by desolate homes, loss
of relations, &c.”—(Pref.). Eschews historical or political questions.
Favourable to “poor deluded peasants.” Thinks little of United Irishmen
who are “imbued with the poison of revolutionary principles.” Well and
pleasantly written in autobiographical form.
DAUNT, Alice O’Neill, 1848-1915. Was the only daughter of W. J. O’Neill
Daunt. Contributed to The Lamp, Ireland’s Own, and other magazines.
She wrote many little stories, as serials or in book form, for the
most part religious (Catholic) and didactic.
⸺ EVA; or, as the Child, so the Woman. Pp. 107. 16mo. (Richardson).
1s. 1882.
One of a little series of Catholic Tales for the young. A sad little story,
full of piety. Scene in Ireland, but the story is not specially Irish in any way.
DAUNT, W. J. O’Neill. Born in Tullamore, 1807. Son of Joseph Daunt,
of Ballyneen, Cork. Became a Catholic about 1827. Was in Repeal
Association from the first, and remained to the end one of O’Connell’s
most loyal co-operators. Died 1894. His biography has been published
under the title, A Life Spent for Ireland, 1896.
⸺ SAINTS AND SINNERS. Two Vols. aftds. One Vol. (Duffy). (N.Y.:
Pratt). 0.50. 1843, &c.
“The reader who expects in this narrative what is commonly called the
plot, or story, of a novel will, we fairly warn him, be disappointed. Our
object in becoming the historian of Howard is merely to trace the impressions
produced on his mind by the very varied principles and notions with which
he came in contact” (beginning of chap. xiii.). The book is, besides, a very
satirical study of various types of Ulster Protestantism, and a controversial
novel, reference to Scripture and to various Catholic authorities being frequently
given in footnotes. The story, a slight one, moves slowly, but the
situations have a good deal of humour.
⸺ HUGH TALBOT. Pp. 473. (Duffy). 1846.
“A Tale of the Irish confiscations of the 17th century,” i.e., the reign of
James I. Scene varies between England, Ireland, and Scotland. Opens in
1609. Portrait of James I. No other historical personage. Persecution,
arrest, and adventures of Father Hugh Talbot. Chief interest lies in the
picture of the times, which is carefully drawn. The story, however, is well
told, the conversations clever and fairly natural, the character-drawing
good. The Author is strongly opposed to religious persecution. The Irish
localities are not specified.
⸺ THE GENTLEMAN IN DEBT. Pp. 339. (Cameron & Ferguson).
1s. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.50. [1848]. 1851, &c.
Adventures of a penniless young gentleman trying to get a position. Depicts
(after Lever), first life in Galway, among impecunious, fox-hunting, hard-drinking,
duelling squires (Blakes, Bodkins, and O’Carrolls); then the vapid
life of Castle aristocracy in the Dublin of the time, with its place-hunting
and ignoble time-serving. Incidentally (for the author does not
moralise) we have glimpses of the working of the Penal laws. The story is an
unexciting one of rather matter-of-fact courtship and of domestic intrigue.
There are not a few amusing scenes, nothing objectionable, and little bias.
A striking character study is that of the Rev. Julius Blake, who is of the tribe
of Pecksniff, but with quite distinctive features.
[DEACON, W. F.].
⸺ THE EXILE OF ERIN; or, the Sorrows of a Bashful Irishman.
Two Vols. (Whittaker). 1835.
Early 19th century. Adventures of a villain of the worst type in Ireland,
England, and on the Continent. Commits almost every conceivable crime,
including bigamy and embezzlement. Acts every part from strolling player
to journalist and political partisan. Tells all this in first person. Incidentally
the book is a bitter satire on Ireland, Irish priests, Irish politicians. Represents
the “O’Connellite rabble” as capable of any outrage and O’Connell himself
(under the name of O’Cromwell) as a political adventurer. Author admits
not being Irish.
⸺ ADVENTURES OF A BASHFUL IRISHMAN. (London). 1862.
This is a new ed. of The Exile of Erin; or, the Sorrows of a Bashful Irishman.
DEASE, Alice. Daughter of J. A. Dease, of Turbotstown, Co. Westmeath.
Lives Simonstown, Coole, Co. Westmeath.—(Cath. Who’s Who).
⸺ THE BECKONING OF THE WAND. Pp. 164. (Sands). 3s. 6d..
Very tastefully bound. 1908. (N.Y.: Benziger). 1.00. Cheap edition,
1s. 6d. 1915.
We are used to having depicted with painful realism all our faults, all the
defects of Irish life on the material side. This little book denies none of
these, but it shows another side of the Irish character, the deep-rooted,
intense Catholic faith, the union with the supernatural, that brightens even
the most squalid lives. The anecdotes, which are true, are related with
delicate insight by one who knows and loves the people. There is a vivid
sketch of a Lough Derg pilgrimage.
⸺ OLD-TIME STORIES OF ERIN. Pp. 215. (Browne & Nolan). 2s.
Illustr. by C. A. Mills. 1908.
Sixteen old Gaelic hero legends retold in simple, lucid style for children.
Most of them are well known: “The Wise Judgment of Cormac Mac Art;”
“The Neck Pin of Queen Macha;” “The Chivalry of Goll Mac Morna,” &c.
⸺ GOOD MEN OF ERIN. (Browne & Nolan). 2s. Six Illustr. 1910.
Stories of a quaint legendary kind connected with nine Irish Saints. Prettily
told.
⸺ THE MARRYING OF BRYAN; and Other Stories. Pp. 83. (Sands).
7d. Coloured frontisp. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.50. Second edition. 1911.
Six little tales, slight in theme, but delicately wrought. They are the
poetry of real life, mostly Irish peasant life. A moral may be gleaned from
each, but there is no irritating insistence on it. One tells how, through his
love for birds and his fear of frightening them, a good old P.P. loses his chance
of a canonry. Another tells of the beautiful neighbourly charity of the Irish
peasant. Four are love stories. They are perfect of their kind.
⸺ SOME IRISH STORIES. Pp. 96. (C.T.S.). 6d. Stiff wrapper.
1912.
Eight little stories similar in character and qualities to Down West, q.v.
⸺ THE LADY OF MYSTERY. Pp. 159. (Duffy). 2s. 1913.
Better class Catholic family life somewhere in the West—O’Malleys, Dillons,
Burkes. Two interwoven love-stories, a mystery of identity, and the
story of a philanthropic enterprise, the Drinagh Mills. Thoroughly Catholic
atmosphere and moral purpose.
⸺ DOWN WEST, and Other Sketches of Irish Life. Pp. 119. (Roehampton:
The Catholic Library). 1s. Preface by Sir H. Bellingham.
1914.
Glimpses of real life in Connemara and Aran (described p. 48 sq.), dealing
less with outward incidents than with the beauty of the people’s faith, the
hardness of their lot, the joys and sorrows of their lives. Told with a very
delicate suggestiveness, full of touches of humour and of feeling, without
preaching or moralising, by one in thorough sympathy with the people, and
alive, too, to all the influences of nature. The dialect is reproduced with
great fidelity.
DEASE, Charlotte.
⸺ CHILDREN OF THE GAEL. Pp. 196. (Washbourne). 2s. 6d.
(N.Y.: Benziger). 0.75. 1911.
Eight little studies—vignettes—of Irish peasant types, evidently drawn
direct from real life. They are in narrative form, but in most the incident is
slight. They give curiously vivid glimpses of the life of the poor, of which the
Author has intimate knowledge. The tone is Catholic and “Gaelic.” The
Author avoids phonetic renderings of peasant dialect.
DEBENHAM, Mary H.
⸺ CONAN THE WONDER WORKER. Pp. 302. (National Society).
3s. 6d. Four or five illustr. (N.Y.: Whittaker). 1902.
Norway, c. 912-3. Conan is a Christian Scot (i.e., Irishman) who is
captured by a Viking, and brought to Norway. In time he converts the Viking
and his family. A good story for children and even for grown-ups.
⸺ THE SHEPHERD PRIOR; and other Stories for Sunday Evenings.
Pp. 252. (National Society). 2s. 6d. Four illustr. by Violet M. Smith.
(N.Y.: Whittaker). 1907.
Written for children in a religious vein, with a moral attached. Only one
story deals with Ireland, “The Great Handwriting.” In it the conversion
of the King’s daughters by St. Patrick is prettily told. Protestant, but not
unsuited to Catholic children.
DEENEY, Daniel.
⸺ PEASANT LORE FROM GAELIC IRELAND. Second edition.
Pp. 80. (Nutt). 1s. Stiff wrapper. 1901.
Relates to the Donegal Highlands and Connemara, in the latter of which
(at Spiddal, I believe) the writer taught Irish. Consists of illustrations of
the peasants’ belief in the preternatural world of spirits and fairies and
influences, with examples of common superstitious practices. The writer,
if he does not share these beliefs, at least is very far from despising them.
“The majority of them [the items included] were related to me in the broken
English of a Western peasant”—(Introd.). The book is chiefly interesting to
folk-lorists.
The same Author’s Tales and Superstitions of the Connaught Peasants.
(Nutt), 1s., 1901, is a collection similar to the preceding.
DENANCE, L. V.
⸺ O’SULLIVAN, DERNIÈRE INSURRECTION DE L’IRLANDE.
Pp. 130. (Limoges: Ardant et Thibant). 1874?
Historical introd. very favourable to Ireland. Scene of story: Cork.
Relates incidents of ’98, including French expedition. Told by O’S. himself,
part of whose adventures take place in Africa. The last page brings him back
to Ireland.
DENNY, Madge E.
⸺ IRISH TOWN AND COUNTRY TALES. Pp. 232. (Sealy, Bryers).
1s. An ugly cover.
Pleasant little tales, some of them humorous, written in a light, breezy
style. Many of them deal with love and courtship, and are sentimental
enough, but not in the least objectionable.
DENVIR, John. Born 1834. Lived nearly all his life in England (Liverpool,
London, and Birmingham). Throughout his long career has never
ceased to work for Ireland. Conducted for some years the Catholic
Times. Publ. The Irish in England and his own autobiography, The
Life Story of an Old Rebel (1910), new ed., 1914. He is still living in
London. He has publ. there a considerable number of popular books
about Ireland, including “Denver’s Irish Library,” booklets at a penny
each.
⸺ THE BRANDONS: a Story of Irish life in England. Pp. 153.
(Denver’s Irish Library). 2s. 6d. Paper 1s. 1903.
An Italian carbonaro tragedy that by a strange combination of circumstances
comes into a peaceful back water of Liverpool, Homer’s Gardens,
and mingles with the lives of its Irish inhabitants. A romantic interest is
added by the love of Hugh and Jack Brandon for Rose Aylmer. Jack’s self-sacrifice
is rewarded in the end. There are several pleasant Irish characters
besides Hugh and Jack—Father MacMahon, genial, generous, and fatherly;
Mick Muldowney and his wife, rough customers enough, but always cheery,
and willing to share their last crust with anyone in need.
⸺ OLAF THE DANE. Pp. 103. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. Paper.
Scene: Donegal. Extraordinary story, full of sensational incidents.
It turns chiefly on a prophecy made in the ninth century about men then
living, which is fulfilled in their descendants of the nineteenth century. One
of these latter is endowed with supernatural powers. There are some pretty
faithful pictures of the peasantry.
[DERENZY, M. G.].
⸺ THE OLD IRISH KNIGHT: a Milesian Tale of the Fifth Century.
Pp. 186. (London: Poole & Edwards). 1828.
By the Author of A Whisper to a Newly-married Pair, Parnassian Geography,
&c. In spite of an apparent effort to be archæologically correct the book is
full of rather absurd anachronisms. There are already in Ireland abbeys
with long lines of arches, there is talk of the finest organ in Europe being
purchased for one of them, and so on. The story does not hang together. It
is merely a string of disjointed incidents, most of them wholly improbable.
D’ESPARBÈS, Georges.
⸺ LE BRISEUR DE FERS. Pp. 316. (Paris: Louis-Michaud). 3fr.10.
[1908]. New edition, 1911.
Dedication (to Colonel Arthur Lynch), and Preface (telling about the
erection of the Humbert Memorial at Ballina). Humbert’s invasion told in
impassioned and somewhat high-flown language. Describes some of the
episodes with extraordinary vividness. Based mainly on reliable works, but
not strictly historical. The Author is a distinguished writer, and very prolific,
having produced a long series of novels, volumes of verse, &c. Born 1863 in
the department of Tarn-et-Garonne.
DEVINE, D. C. Is a native of Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo, where at present
he is a National School Teacher. Is a man of about 45.
⸺ FAITHFUL EVER, and Other Tales. Pp. 280. (Duffy). 2s. 1910.
Eleven stories of Sligo peasant life. The Author has thorough sympathy
with the aspects of life about which he writes. Three of the tales are love
stories, one is a story of ’67, others are humorous, e.g., “Meehaul M’Cann’s
Wooing.” We have a glimpse of the dance, the pattern, rustic courtship,
lake and mountain scenery. The Author avoids politics, but the Catholic
atmosphere is pronounced, throughout. The literary standard is, perhaps,
not of a high order.
⸺ BEFORE THE DAWN IN ERIN. Pp. 308. (Duffy). 2s. [1913].
Second edition. 1914.
A story of landlord, agent, and tenant in the County Sligo, about the
eighteen thirties or forties, bringing out what a hostile agent can do to make
the lot of the peasants a very hard one, and showing how in the end his
machinations are brought to nought thanks to Father Pat. This latter and
Father Tom are fine types of Irish priests. The Author has a good eye for
characters and a keen sense of humour.
DILLON, Patricia. Born in Dublin. Educated chiefly in France. Has lived
most of her life in London. Has written for periodicals on historical
subjects for the most part.
⸺ EARL OR CHIEFTAIN. Pp. 140. (C.T.S. of Ireland). 1s. 1910.
The opening career of Hugh O’Neill looked at on its romantic side, including
his marriage with Mabel Bagenal. Other historic characters appear in the
tale, notably Feagh MacHugh O’Byrne.
DODGE, W. P.
⸺ THE CRESCENT MOON. Pp. 125. (Long). 1s. 6d. 1911.
A little love story, told skilfully enough in letters from Sir Desmond Fitzgerald
to his brother in S. Africa.—[T. Lit. Suppl.].
DOLLARD, Rev. J. B.
⸺ THE GAELS OF MOONDHARRIG. Pp. 124. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d.
A collection of pleasant, breezy tales of the exploits, especially in hurling,
of the young men of Moondharrig (South Kilkenny), showing an intimate
knowledge and love of the people of the author’s native place. An unobtrusive
spirit of piety runs through it.
DORSEY, Anna Hanson.[3] Born Georgetown, D.C., 1815. Received into
the Catholic Church, 1840. She is a pioneer of Catholic light literature
in the States. Nearly all her stories—there are more than thirty of
them—have a religious purpose, but as a rule this is not too much forced
on the reader. She was a Laetare medallist, described as the highest
honour the Church in America can bestow. Some titles of her books
are—Tears on the Diadem, Dummy, Tangled Paths, Warp and Woof, and
her last Palms, which was by many considered her best.
⸺ THE HEIRESS OF CARRIGMONA. Pp. 381. (Boston: Murphy).
Third thousand. (Washbourne). 4s. 1910.
Scene: Co. Wicklow and Western U.S.A. Chiefly concerned with the
fortunes of an Irish peasant family named Travers, especially the son, who
goes to America, gets into trouble, is rescued, and then⸺. A strong
warning against emigration is conveyed in this latter part of the story. Mrs.
Dorsey’s peasants here, as usual, are lifelike and interesting. Their best
qualities—trust in Providence, resignation under trial, piety, self-sacrifice—are
well brought out. The brogue is not overdone. Anti-Irish characters
are represented as mean and hypocritical.
⸺ MONA THE VESTAL. Pp. 163-324. (N.Y.: Christian Press Association
Publishing Co.). n.d.
Bound in same vol. as “Norah Brady’s Vow” and under latter title. An
endeavour to place the heroic virtues of new Christians in contrast with the
decaying Druidic paganism. The writer claims the Abbé McGeoghegan’s
authority (also that of Mooney and Carey) for her descriptions of the Ireland
of the time. But, with the exception of the incident of Patrick’s arrival at
Tara, the story and its setting are purely imaginary and ideal. The Druids
worship in vast temples with long corridors and fine carvings. Tara is a
great city of marble palaces.
⸺ NORA BRADY’S VOW. Pp. 160. (N.Y.: Christian Press Association
Publishing Co.). 0.50. n.d.
Nora is only a servant girl, but is, without suspecting it, a true heroine.
But she is no saint, and has a sharp tongue in her head. Her witty sallies
are cleverly reproduced. The author tells us that Nora was a “real and
living person.” John Halloran takes part in the rising of ’48, and is obliged to
fly to America. Nora vows not to settle down in life until the fortunes of
the Hallorans are restored. She goes to America, works to support the
family, which has been ruined by an informer, and at length finds Halloran and
reunites the family once more. Scene: near Holy Cross Abbey on the Suir;
afterwards Boston. On the whole the tone and style are very emotional,
but with an emotion that rings true. This is relieved by not a few gleams
of pleasant humour. Irish dialect well done. Sympathy strongly national.
⸺ THE OLD HOUSE AT GLENARAN. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.80. In
print. (Washbourne). 4s.
DOTTIN, Henry Georges. Born 1863 in France. Prof. of Greek Lit. (1905)
at the University of Rennes. Has contributed to learned reviews and
has published several learned works, La religion des Celtes, 1903; La
Bretagne et le Culte du passé, 1903.
⸺ CONTES IRLANDAIS TRADUITS DU GAËLIQUE. Pp. 274.
(Rennes). 1901.
Tales, thirty-five in number, collected in Connaught and republished from
the “Annales de Bretagne,” tome x.
N.B.—A book with the title of “Contes Irlandais” was published by Messrs.
Gill, of Dublin, 70 pp., 4to, 7s. 6d. It consists of extracts from the untranslated
portion of Douglas Hyde’s “Leabhar Sgeuluigheachta” translated into
French by M. Georges Dottin, with the original Irish text in Roman letters
on the opposite page.
⸺ CONTES ET LÉGENDES D’IRLANDE. Pp. 218. (Le Havre). 3fr. 50.
1901.
See previous item. Thirty-eight tales translated from Irish texts, published
without translation in the Gaelic Journal since 1882. Collected in all parts
of Ireland, e.g., Les exploits de Fion MacCumhail et de son géant Seachrin.
Fion MacCumhail et son pouce de science. Le Gobán Saor et Saint Moling.
La belle fille rusée du Gobán Saor. Le trèfle à quatre feuilles, &c.
DOUGLAS, James. Born in Belfast of a Tyrone family. Is assistant editor
and literary critic of the London Star. Author of The Man in the Pulpit,
Adventures in London, &c. Contributes to Athenæum, Bookman, &c.
⸺ THE UNPARDONABLE SIN. Pp. x + 418. 6s. (Grant Richards).
1907.
Falls into two parts. Part I. describes upbringing of a boy in Belfast
(Bigotsborough). Pictures sectarian hatred leading to riots, in one of which,
vividly described, the hero loses a little brother. Other characters finely
portrayed are “Jane the Nailor” and the then Head Master of the Model
School (“the Castle”). In Part II. the boy has become a great preacher.
All London flocks to hear him, but he is beset with doubts and difficulties.
W. B. Yeats and Miss Maud Gonne are introduced under thinly disguised
names. The first part has been called by editor of I. B. L. “the finest delineation
of Belfast boyhood ever penned.” The second part has been not inaptly
described as “the dream of an opium-eater.”
DOWLING, Richard. Born in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, 1846. Educated St.
Munchin’s, Limerick. Much of his life was passed in journalistic work,
first for the Nation, then for London papers. He edited the short-lived
comic papers Zozimus and Yorick, and was a leading spirit in another,
Ireland’s Eye. In 1879 came his Irish romance, The Mystery of
Killard; but he found that there was no public at the time for Irish
novels, so he devoted himself to writing sensational stories for the English
public. He published some delightful volumes of essays, Ignorant
Essays and Indolent Essays. These deal with all kinds of subjects in a
quaint, humorous, fanciful vein. Other novels—The Sport of Fate,
Under St. Paul’s, The Weird Sisters, &c., seventeen or so in all.
⸺ THE MYSTERY OF KILLARD. Pp. 357. (Tinsley Bros.) [1879].
New edition, 1884.
A tale of the Clare coast and its fishing population (drawn with much skill
and fidelity) half a century back. The story centres in a mysterious and
romantic rock unapproachable by sea and connected with the land by a
single rope only. There is a mysterious owner, or rather a series of them,
and mysterious gold. But the central idea of the book (one of the most
original in literature, it has been justly called) is the study of a deaf-mute who,
by brooding on his own misfortune, grows to envy and then to hate his own
child, because the child can hear and speak.
⸺ SWEET INNISFAIL. Three Vols. (Tinsley). 1882.
Scene: chiefly the neighbourhood of Clonmel. The interest is mainly
in the plot, which is full of dramatic adventure and of movement, without any
very serious study of Irish character.
⸺ OLD CORCORAN’S MONEY. Pp. 310. (Chatto & Windus). Crown
8vo. Cloth. 3s. 6d. 1897.
Money is stolen from an old miser. The interest of the complicated plot
centres in the detection of the thief. Clever sketches of life in a southern
town. Characters carefully and faithfully drawn, especially Head-Constable
Cassidy, R.I.C.
⸺ ZOZIMUS PAPERS. (N.Y.: Kenedy). 38 cents net. 1909.
“A series of comic and sentimental tales and legends of Ireland.” The
title is most misleading. There are six pages of an introduction dealing
with Michael Moran, a famous Dublin “character,” nicknamed Zozimus.
The rest of the book consists of a series of stories by Carleton, Lover, Lever,
Barrington, &c. The contents have nothing to do with Dowling nor with
the famous periodical Zozimus.
DOWNE, Walmer.
⸺ BY SHAMROCK AND HEATHER. Pp. 325. (Digby, Long). 1898.
Scene: mainly in Ards of Down, near Strangford Lough, but shifts to
Edinburgh, London, and Capetown. Theme: an American girl visiting her
father’s native place in Ireland. Consists largely of gossip about the characters
introduced, not rising above this level. The writer likes Ireland and
the Irish, but knows little of them. There is an air of unreality and improbability
about the whole book. Some prejudice against Church of Ireland
clergymen is displayed.
DOWNEY, Edmund; “F. M. Allen.” Born (1856) and educated in Waterford.
Being the son of a shipbroker, he came to know well the various sea
types that frequent a port. Went to London at twenty-two, and became
partner in the firm of Ward and Downey. Retired in 1890, and in 1894
founded Downey & Co. Both of these firms, especially the latter, did
a great deal for the publishing of Irish books. His writings are many
and varied. They include humorous sketches, extravaganzas, sea
stories, fairy tales, sensational stories, a biography of Lever, a volume
of reminiscences, and a history of Waterford, and the two novels, Clashmore
and the Merchant of Killogue. He at present carries on a publishing
business in Waterford.
⸺ IN ONE TOWN. (Ward & Downey). 2s. [1884].
A seafarer’s life ashore. Scene: a port not unlike Waterford. Many
portraits of old salts, &c., drawn from life. Some descriptions of scenery.
“By turns romantic, pathetic, and humorous”—(Review).
⸺ ANCHOR WATCH YARNS. Pp. 315. (Downey). [1884]. Seventh
edition. n.d.
Yarns told in a quaint nautical lingo by old salts around the inn fire in a
seaport town. The characters of the tellers are very cleverly brought out
in the telling. Full of humour without mere farce.
⸺ THROUGH GREEN GLASSES. (Ward & Downey). Various prices
from 6s. to 6d. [1887]. Many editions since.
This now famous book belongs to the same class as the Comic History of
England, but its humour is much superior in quality. It consists of a series
of historical or pseudo-historical episodes purporting to be related by a
humorous Waterford countryman, Dan Banim, as seen from his point of
view. Kings and princes, saints and ancient heroes, all play their parts
in the delightful comedy, and talk in the broadest brogue. “From Portlaw to
Paradise,” one of the best known, may be taken as a type. King James’s
escape after the Boyne is also admirably done.
⸺ THE VOYAGE OF THE ARK. (Ward & Downey). 1s. [1888].
Several editions since.
The scriptural narrative of Noah and the Ark is made the basis for a series
of farcical episodes related in brogue.
⸺ FROM THE GREEN BAG. (Ward & Downey). 2s. 6d. and 1s. 1889.
More stories by “Dan Banim,” like those in Through Green Glasses. The
Pope and St. Patrick, Horatius and Julius Cæsar figure in the stories. We
cannot see that these stories are “irreverent” in any serious sense, though
they have sometimes been taxed with irreverence.
⸺ BRAYHARD. (Ward & Downey). 2s. 6d. 1890.
Extravaganza founded on legends of the Seven Champions of Christendom.
Full of jokes, repartees, and comic situations.
⸺ CAPTAIN LANAGAN’S LOG. (Ward & Downey). 2s. (N.Y.: Pratt).
1.75. 1891, and since.
Story of an Irish-Canadian lad who runs away to sea, and goes through
all sorts of adventures full of excitement and fun.
⸺ GREEN AS GRASS. (Chatto & Windus). 3s. 6d. (N.Y.: Pratt).
1.75. 1892.
More “Dan Banim” stories. The first, running to 160 pages, is a humorous
account of Dermot MacMurrough’s love affair with Devorgilla, and his
betrayal of Ireland. Another tells how the Earl of Kildare found out that
Lambert Simnel was an imposter by the latter’s skill in cooking griddle cakes.
⸺ THE ROUND TOWER OF BABEL. (Ward & Downey). 1s.
Several editions; first, 1892.
Further adventures in foreign parts of descendants of the Co. Waterford
voyagers in the Ark.
⸺ THE LAND-SMELLER. (Ward & Downey). [1892], and several
editions since.
Yarns of sea-captains.
⸺ THE MERCHANT OF KILLOGUE: a Munster Tale. Three Vols.
(Heinemann). 1894.
The Author’s first attempt at serious fiction, and one of his finest works.
⸺ BALLYBEG JUNCTION. Pp. 276. (Downey). Very well illustr. by
John F. O’Hea. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.75. 1895.
A comedy of southern Irish life, full of fun, without farcical exaggeration,
and true to reality.
⸺ PINCHES OF SALT. Pp. 246. (Downey). 3s. 6d. 1895.
Nine Irish tales, mostly humorous, not told in dialect; full of keen observation
of Irish life.—(Review). “The Eviction at Ballyhack,” and “The
Viceroy’s Visit” are among the best.
⸺ GLIMPSES OF ENGLISH HISTORY. (Downey). 3s. 6d. Illustr.
by J. F. Sullivan. 1901.
Versions of episodes in English History told by “Dan Banim” in his usual
dialect.
⸺ THE LITTLE GREEN MAN. Pp. 152. (Downey). Illustr. very
tastefully by Brinsley Lefanu.
The pranks of the Leprechaun and his dealings with his human friend
Denis. A delightful fairy-tale, told with a purpose, which does not take
anything from its interest.
⸺ CLASHMORE. Pp. 406. (Waterford: Downey). 1s. [1903].
New edition. 1909.
A tale of a mystery centering in the strange disappearance of Lord Clashmore
and his agent. The story is healthy in tone, and never flags. There
is a pleasant love interest. The dénouement is of an original and unexpected
kind. The scene is the neighbourhood of Tramore and Dunmore, Co. Waterford.
There is little or no study of national problems or national life, but
some shrewd remarks about things Irish are scattered here and there in the
book. The characters are not elaborately studied, but are well drawn.
⸺ DUNLEARY: Humours of a Munster Town. Pp. 323. (Sampson,
Low). 6s. 1911.
Fourteen capital yarns told with great verve and go just for the sake
of the story. They are all humorous, just avoiding uproarious farce. The
personages of the stories are the various queer types to be met with in a small
southern port:—the convivial spirits in the local semi-genteel club, those
of lower degree who foregather in the bar parlour of the “Dragon,” the
rival editors of the local papers, the candidates for the harbour mastership,
the skippers of the Dunleary steam-packet company, the professional jail-bird—Micky
Malowney, and the “general play boy” Jeremiah Maguire.
There is no stage Irishism, and no politics. Dunleary is, of course, W—rf—d.
DOYLE, J. J.
⸺ CATHAIR CONROI, and other Tales. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d.
Written for the Oireachtas, 1902, and now translated by the Author from
his own Irish original. They are for the most part Munster folk-lore.
“DOYLE, Lynn”; Leslie A. Montgomery. Born Downpatrick, Co. Down.
Educated at Educational Institution, Dundalk. Has written a successful
play, “Love and Land.” Is a bank-manager, residing at Skerries, Co.
Dublin.
⸺ BALLYGULLION. Pp. 249. (Maunsel). 6s. Handsome cover. 1908.
Cheap edition. 1s. 1915.
A dozen stories supposed to be told by one Pat Murphy, in the humorous
brogue affected by country story-tellers. Comic character and incident in
neighbourhood of Northern town. Considerably above the usual books of
comic sketches. A good example of the humour is “The Creamery Society”—the
visit of the Department’s expert, and his failure to make butter from
whitewash, and the difficulties that arise incidentally between Nationalists
and Orangemen, followed by Father Connolly’s famous speech. Perhaps
“Father Con’s Card-table” ought to have been omitted.
[DOYLE, M.]; “M. E. T.”
⸺ EXILED FROM ERIN. Pp. 266. (Duffy). n.d. (N.Y.: Benziger).
0.45.
A homely, pleasant tale relating the pathetic life-story of two brothers of the
peasant class. The scene of the first part of the tale is laid in Shankill,
Vale of Shanganagh, Co. Dublin, afterwards it changes to Wales, and then
to America. The Author tells us that his story is a true one, and that his
endeavour throughout has been to draw a faithful and sympathetic picture
of the life of the humbler classes. The sorrow and misfortune of emigration
is feelingly rendered.
“DRAKE, Miriam”; Mrs. Clarke, née Marion Doak (q.v.). Born Dromard,
Co. Down.
DREISER, Theodore.
⸺ JENNIE GERHART. (Harper). 6s. $1.35. 1911.
“A piece of industrial realism, inartistic and undramatic, but thoroughly
honest and full of serious thought. The fortunes of two immigrant families,
German and Irish, are contrasted. Jennie is the daughter of the unsuccessful
German, and falls a victim to the pleasure-loving son of the enterprising
Irishman, who illustrates the dangers of our ... social organization.”—(Baker
2).
DROHOJOWSKA, Mme. la Comtesse.
⸺ RÉCITS DU FOYER, LÉGENDES IRLANDAISES, SCÈNES DE
MŒURS. Pp. 208. (Paris: Josse). 1861.
Introd. very favourable to Ireland, but based on insufficient and not first-hand
information. It dwells chiefly on Irish religious faith; also on superstition
in Ireland. Then come the legends—King Laura Lyngsky, Glendalough
(King O’Toole’s Goose), Donaghoo (a learned schoolmaster, who found
a gold mine); King O’Donoghue (Killarney), Grace O’Malley and Queen
Elizabeth, The King of Claddagh, John O’Glyn (a fisherman who marries a
mermaid, and joins her in the sea), James Lynch, &c.
DUFF GORDON, Lady.
⸺ STELLA AND VANESSA. Trans. (Ward, Lock). [1850: Bentley].
1859.
Days of Swift, c. 1730. From the French of Léon de Wailly. The scene is
laid entirely in Ireland. The story opens at Laracor. Swift is, of course,
one of the central figures.
DUGGAN, Ruby M.
⸺ ONLY A LASS. Pp. 169. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. Paper.
A sensational story with nothing really Irish about it. The only Irish
character is almost a caricature.
DUNBAR, Aldis.
⸺ THE SONS O’ CORMAC; an’ Tales of other Men’s Sons. Pp. x. +
240. (Longmans). 6s. Eight illustr. by Myra Luxmoore. 1904.
“Some of the old heroic legends retold by a humorous Irishman for children.”—(Baker).
The stories (there are twelve) are very clever, picturesque,
and, like all good tales of faërie, full of unconscious poetry.—I.E.R.
DUNN, Joseph.
⸺ THE ANCIENT IRISH EPIC TALE: TÁIN BO CUALGNE,
THE CUALGNE CATTLE RAID. Now for the first time done entire
into English out of the Irish of the Book of Leinster and allied Manuscripts.
Pp. xxxvi. + 382. Demy 8vo. (Nutt). 25s. 1914.
Pref., on Irish Epic in general, and on the Táin in particular. The Editor
calls it “the wildest and most fascinating saga tale, not only of the entire
Celtic world, but even of all Western Europe.” The work is a scholarly one,
the various MSS. being carefully collated by means of marginal- and foot-notes.
The Irish text is not given. Index of place and personal names.
A somewhat archaic style is adopted, but this is not overdone. “The
Táin,” says the Ed. truly, “is one of the most precious monuments of the
world’s literature.” The Ed. is a professor in the Catholic University of
Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
[DUNN, N. J.].
⸺ VULTURES OF ERIN: a Tale of the Penal Laws. Pp. 530
(N.Y.: Kenedy). 1.50. One woodcut. 1884.
Edward Fitzgerald is robbed of his property by his enemy, Templeton, who
accuses him falsely of a murder instigated by himself. Shemus M’Andrew
plots and plans to save Fitzg., but the latter is nevertheless condemned to
death, and his wife loses her reason. He escapes, however, and after many
years returns with proof of T.’s guilt. The wife recovers, and all ends
happily. Scene: between Slieve Bouchta and Lough Derg. Religion not
formally introduced, but Catholic bias very strong. Penal laws denounced,
and scripture-readers appear in unfavourable light.
DUNNE, Finley Peter.
⸺ THE DOOLEY BOOKS:—
1. MR. D. IN PEACE AND WAR. (Routledge). Seventh edition, 1906.
2. MR. D.’S PHILOSOPHY. (Heinemann). 3s. 6d. Illustr. 1901.
3. MR. D.’S OPINIONS. (Heinemann). 3s. 6d. 1905.
4. MR. D. IN THE HEARTS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN. 1909.
5. OBSERVATIONS BY MR. D. (Heinemann). 3s. 6d.
6. DISSERTATIONS BY MR. D. (Harper). 6s.
7. MR. DOOLEY SAYS. (Heinemann). 3s. 6d. 1910.
A series of fictitious conversations purporting to take place over the counter
of his bar in Archey Road, a seedy Irish quarter of New York, between Mr.
Dooley, “traveller, historian, social observer, saloon-keeper, economist, and
philosopher,” who has not been out of his ward for twenty-five years “but
twict,” and his friend Hennessy. From the cool heights of life in the Archey
Road Mr. Dooley muses, philosophizes, moralizes on the events and ideas of
the day. He talks in broad brogue (perhaps overdone), but his sayings are
full of dry humour, and the laugh is always with him. Many of these sayings
have the point and brevity of epigrams. No ridicule is cast on Irish character,
with which the Author, himself an Irishman, obviously sympathizes. The
view of politics, &c., is wholly at variance with that which comes to us from
the English Press.
DUNNE, F. W.
⸺ THE PIRATE OF BOFINE: an historical romance. Three Vols.
12mo. (London). 1832.
A strange medley of melodramatic episodes. The story jumps from place to
place in the most bewildering way, and wholly without warning to the reader.
Scene laid in various parts of the W. of I. (Boffin, Galway, Bantry, &c.) in
reign of Henry VIII. Historical characters are introduced, but without
historical background. Style: “Know you aught of my maternal parent.”
(Vol. III., p. 15). “Fire flashed from his eyes, and death sat upon his gleaming
blade,” and soforth.
“EBLANA,” see ROONEY.
ECCLES, Charlotte O’Connor; “Hal Godfrey.” Died 1911. Was a daughter
of A. O’C. Eccles, of Ballingard Ho., Co. Roscommon. She wrote first
for Irish periodicals. Later she went to London, and became a prominent
lady journalist there. Her The Rejuvenation of Miss Semaphore
is a very clever and witty novel.
⸺ ALIENS OF THE WEST. Pp. 351. (Cassell). 6s. 1904.
Six stories reprinted from the American Ecclesiastical Review (Catholic),
and the Pall Mall Magazine. Scene: “Toomevara,” an Irish country town
of about 2,000 inhabitants, near Shannon estuary. Life in this town is
depicted in a realistic and objective way, without moralizing, and without
obtrusive religious or political bias. Yet there are lessons—the miseries
of class distinctions and of social and religious cleavage; the disasters of
education above one’s sphere (even in a convent). There is much pathos in
the death of the peasant boy-poet, and in the faithfulness of the servant
girl to the fallen fortunes of the family. A serious and earnest book.
EDELSTEIN, Joseph.
⸺ THE MONEYLENDER. Pp. 110. (Dublin: Dollard). Illustr. by
Phil Blake. 1908.
A strangely realistic story of Jewish life in Dublin, told with rude power.
Written by a Jew, it gives a dreadful picture of the life of the poor in Dublin
slums, and of the misery wrought by the Jewish moneylender, who grows rich
on their misery. The Jew, Levenstein, who is driven on in his evil course by
desire to avenge the sufferings of his persecuted race is a revolting, yet a
pathetic figure.
EDGE, John Henry, M.A., K.C. Born 1841. Son of late John Dallas Edge,
B.L. Lives in Clyde Road, Dublin.
⸺ AN IRISH UTOPIA. Pp. 296. (Hodges & Figgis). 3s. 6d. Frontisp.,
View of Glendalough. 1906 and 1910. Fourth ed. (Cassell), with
fine portraits and interesting autobiographical introduction, 1915.
“A Story of a Phase of the Land Problem.” Scene: Wicklow County
and Shropshire, England. A slender plot, telling of the abortive attempt
of a younger twin to oust the rightful heir from title and property, ending
with a lawsuit in which some well known lawyers are introduced under
slightly disguised names. Father O’Toole is a very pleasant character
study. The famous “J.K.L.” Dr. Doyle, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin,
figures in the story. The standpoint is that of an Irish Conservative, without
religious bias, and sympathizing with certain Irish grievances. Humour,
pathos, and brogue are absent.
⸺ THE QUICKSANDS OF LIFE. Pp. 392. (Milne). 6s. 1908.
Scene: first half in England, portion of second half on an estate somewhere
in the South of Ireland. The interest centres chiefly in the plot, which is complicated,
a great many of the personages passing through quite an extraordinary
number of vicissitudes. Though the Author is never prurient, a
considerable number of dishonest “love” intrigues are introduced, treated
in a matter-of-fact way as every-day occurrences. Of Ireland there is not
very much. The land troubles furnish incidents for the story, but are not
discussed. The Irish aristocracy shows up somewhat badly in the book.
Some tributes are paid to the virtues of the Irish peasantry.
EDGEWORTH, Maria. Scott, in his Preface to Waverley (1829), speaks
of “the extended and well-merited fame of Miss Edgeworth, whose
Irish characters have gone so far to make the English familiar with the
character of their gay and kind-hearted neighbours of Ireland.” And
he continues: “Without being so presumptuous as to hope to emulate
the rich humour, the pathetic tenderness, and admirable tact, which
pervade the works of my accomplished friend, I felt that something
might be attempted for my own country, of the same kind as that which
Miss Edgeworth has so fortunately achieved for Ireland.” She came
of an old County Longford family, but was born in England in 1767;
her father was a landed proprietor at Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford,
whose life she afterwards wrote. Most of her long life was spent in
Ireland. She came to know the Irish peasantry very well, though from
outside, and also the country life of the nobility and gentry. She had
much sympathy for Ireland, but was unable to understand that radical
changes were needful if the grievances that weighed upon the country
were to be removed. She died in 1849. The circulation of her books
has been enormous, and they are still frequently reprinted both in these
countries and in America.[4]
Uniform editions of her works: (1) Macmillan, with excellent illustrations,
2s. 6d. and 3s. 6d. each; pocket edition, 2s., and leather, 3s.
(2) Dent, in twelve vols., 2s. 6d. each, very tasteful binding, etched
frontisp., ed. by W. Harvey. Messrs. Routledge also publish Stories of
Ireland; introduction by Professor Henry Morley; 1s.
⸺ WORKS, collected in eighteen Vols. 1832.
⸺ TALES AND MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. Nine Vols. (London).
1848.
These were received with a chorus of praise by critics, such as Lord Jeffery,
Lord Dudley, and Sir James Mackintosh. Scott called them “a sort of
essence of common sense.”
⸺ CASTLE RACKRENT. (Macmillan, &c.). (N.Y.: Pratt). 0.75.
[1800].
A picture of the feudal gentry in the latter half of the seventeenth century,
in the form of reminiscences by an old retainer of the glories of the family he
had served. One after another, he tells the careers of his various masters,
the wild waste and endless prodigality of one, the skinflint exactingness of
another. There is no religious bias nor discussion of problems, the chief
interest being the ingenuous and unquestioning devotion of the old servant
and his quaint observations. The literary merits of the book are usually
rated very high.
⸺ THE ABSENTEE. (Macmillan, &c.). (N.Y.: Pratt). 0.75. [1809].
A vivid impression of the Irish nobility trying to dazzle London society,
and to prove itself more English than the English themselves, while the
English great ladies mock at their parvenu extravagance and outlandish
ways. The fine lady spends her days in social emulation, while her lord
sinks to the company of toadies and hangers-on, until the conscience of the
young heir is aroused by a tour in Ireland, and he brings the family back
to their estates. The peasants are drawn purely in their relation of grateful
and patient dependents.
⸺ ENNUI. [1809].
The Earl of Glenthorn, an English-bred absentee landlord, is afflicted with
ennui. He determines to attempt a cure by a visit to Ireland, and the cure
is effected in a very unlooked for way. The Author draws in an amusing
and vivid way the contrast, as felt by Lord Glenthorn, between English
tastes, prejudices, and decorum and the strange Irish ways, which surprise
him at every turn.—(Krans).
⸺ ORMOND. Pp. 379. (Macmillan, Dent, &c.) [1817].
Pictures of the scheming, political, extravagant gentry, especially of a type
of the Catholic country gentleman, the good-natured, happy-go-lucky
Cornelius O’Shane, known to his worshipping tenantry as King Corny.
There is also a sketch of Paris society, to which Ormond, the attractive,
impulsive young hero, is introduced by an officer of the Irish Brigade.
Generally thought the most interesting, gayest, and most humorous of Miss
Edgeworth’s books.
⸺ TALES FROM MARIA EDGEWORTH. (Darton). 10s. 6d. Illustr.
by Hugh Thomson. 1912.
Introd. by Austin Dobson.
⸺ MISS EDGEWORTH’S IRISH STORIES (A Selection).
Ed. by Malcolm Cotter Seton, M.A., in Every Irishman’s Library (The
Talbot Press). [In preparation].
“EDWARDES, Martin”; E. L. Murphy. Son of Mr. W. M. Murphy, of Dartry.
⸺ THE LITTLE BLACK DEVIL. Pp. 190. (Everett). 3s. 6d., and
1s. 1910.
A first novel by a new Irish writer. Scene: Bantry and London. The
story of a young Irishman who, badly treated at home by his guardian, goes
to London to make his fortune. His heart is broken by an adventuress, but
in the end he marries a true woman. A little immature, but pleasant, and
suitable for any class of readers.
EDWARDS, R. W. K.
⸺ UNCHRONICLED HEROES. Pp. 119. (Derry: Gailey). 1s.
1888.
A rather feeble story of the Siege of Derry. Walker and Mackenzie are
introduced, the former highly lauded, the latter disparaged. Appendix
(filling nearly half the book) gives extracts from scarce documents relating
to the siege.
⸺ THE MERMAID OF INISH-UIG. Pp. 248. (Arnold). 3s. 6d.
1898.
To Inish-Uig, a western island with a primitive people, comes a new lighthouse
keeper, a scoundrel and a hypocrite, who leads “Black Kate” astray.
He tries to turn to account the illicit stilling propensities of the people, but is
foiled in an amusing way. Father Tim and a Presbyterian minister on the
mainland are two finely drawn characters. The islanders are well described,
and their dialect well rendered.
EGAN, Maurice Francis, M.A., LL.D. Born Philadelphia, 1852. Educated
La Salle Coll., Philadelphia and Georgetown Coll., Washington. Was
Prof. of English Literature in Catholic University of Washington till his
appointment as American Ambassador at Copenhagen. Has edited
several periodicals, and has contributed to most of the noteworthy
periodicals in the States. Has published many books on a great variety
of subjects. His father was from Tipperary.
⸺ THE SUCCESS OF PATRICK DESMOND. Pp. 400. (Notre
Dame, Indiana: Office of Ave Maria). 1893.
A novel with a purpose. “The Author does not waste much space on
descriptions or impersonal reflections, nor does he trust to sensational incidents.
The development of feeling and character, very often as revealed in
natural conversation, seems to be his strong point. He knows his own people
best, but we are sorry that he considers Miles and Nellie to be typical of the
manners and dispositions of that class of the Irish race in the United States.
The book is so cleverly written that one might cull from its pages a very
respectable collection of epigrams.”—(I. M.).
⸺ THE WILES OF SEXTON MAGINNIS. Pp. 380. (N.Y.: Century
Co.). Illustr. by A. J. Keller. 1909.
[EGAN, Pierce]. (1772-1849).
⸺ REAL LIFE IN IRELAND; or, the Day and Night Scenes, Rovings,
Rambles, and Sprees, Bulls, Blunders, Bodderation and Blarney, of
Brian Boru, Esq., and his elegant friend Sir Shawn O’Dogherty, exhibiting
a Real Picture of Characters, Manners, &c., in High and Low Life, in
Dublin and various parts of Ireland, embellished with humorous coloured
engravings from original designs by the most eminent Artists, “by a
real Paddy.” [1821].
Messrs. Methuen in 1904 reprinted the book from the fourth ed. which
was publ. by Evans & Co. The title-p. well describes the book. Brian
and his friend were what were then called bucks and bloods. There is
much absurdity, and extreme exaggeration. The follies and vagaries of the
two heroes are told in a facetious and roistering style. There is not a little
coarseness. But the book is interesting for its side-lights on the period,
1820-1830. Geo. IV.’s visit is described in a vein of burlesque. The
illustrations are even more vulgar than the text, but have a similar interest.
EGAN, P. M.
⸺ SCULLYDOM: an Anglo-Irish Story of To-day. Pp. 360. (Maxwell).
2s. Picture boards. 1886.
Scene: Kilkenny. Time: 1880-84. Lucifer Scully, moneylender, by
degrees becomes possessed of much land, and grinds down the tenants. They
revolt, and this gives opportunity for good descriptions of evictions and
reprisals. Fred O’Brien, a fine character whose sweetheart is spirited away
by the villainy of Scully, goes in pursuit of her, and has many adventures and
disappointments before all ends happily. Mickey Crowe and his love episodes
supplies the comic relief. The tone is strongly National, and the dialect
well done. The Author has also written “A History and Guide to Waterford.”
ELIZABETH, Charlotte. [Mrs. Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna, 1790-1846].
⸺ THE ROCKITE. [1832].
The Tithe War (c. 1820) from Protestant standpoint. Captain Rock
was a famous leader of Whiteboys during the anti-tithe war. The Memoirs
of Captain Rock were published anonymously, 1824, in Paris, by Thomas
Moore.
⸺ DERRY: A Tale of the Revolution. Pp. xxiv. + 317. (Nisbet).
[1839]. Sixth edition. 1886, and since.
Story of the Siege of Derry, written from ultra-Protestant standpoint.
The proceeds of the sale of the book are to be devoted to teaching the Protestant
religion “in their own tongue to the Irish-speaking aborigines of the
land.”—(Pref.). The Author says elsewhere that “Popery is the curse of
God upon a land.” And the expression of similar views is very frequent
in the book.
ELRINGTON, H.
⸺ RALPH WYNWARD. Pp. 310. (Nelson). 2s. Attractive binding.
Good illustr. n.d. (1902).
Youghal in the days of Queen Elizabeth. A tale of adventure in wild
times, ending in the sack of Youghal during the Desmond Wars. Without
bias. Told by Ralph himself, a descendant of the 8th Earl of Desmond, who
runs away from his home in England. The 16th Earl and Sir Richard Boyle
(afterwards the Great Earl of Cork) appear in the story. Juvenile.
⸺ THE SCHOOL-BOY OUTLAWS. Pp. 266. (Simpkin). 2s. 6d.
Six illustr. 1905.
Life at a school in the South of Ireland “for the sons of the gentry.”
Incidents of resistance to masters attempting a reform. Two of the boys
Jerry and Fitzgerald (who tells the story, and is “the son of a well-known
Dublin clergyman),” run away, and live as outlaws. The accession of Queen
Victoria (1837) is the means of obtaining their pardon. A pleasant tale for
boys, free from religious or political bias.
ENNIS, Alicia Margaret.
⸺ IRELAND; or, The Montague Family.
ENSELL, Mrs.
⸺ THE PEARL OF LISNADOON. Pp. 126. (Elliot Stock). 1886.
Scene: Killarney in the time following O’Connell’s imprisonment. Aims
to prove that the landlords were extremely ill-treated, and that the Irish are
uncivilised, and more or less savage. Strong Protestant bias. Usual
pictures of agrarian crime.
ERVINE, St. John G. Born Belfast, 1883. Has published four plays,
three of which have been successfully acted at the Abbey Theatre. Hopes
to publish a new novel, Changing Winds, in the near future.
⸺ EIGHT O’CLOCK, and Other Stories. Pp. 128. (Maunsel). 2s. 6d.
1913.
Reprinted from various periodicals. Six out of the seventeen are Irish
in subject. There is the sketch of Clutie John, a queer old North of Irelander,
whose profession is “fin’in’ things.” “The Well of Youth,” a fantastic and
humorous story about the Well of St. Brigid in the Vale of Avoca—told
in North of Ireland dialect! In “The Fool,” John O’Moyle, a little “astray
in his mind,” gives an English tourist some eye-opening facts about the
condition of peasant farms (Catholic and Protestant) in Donegal. “The
Match” is a satire on match-making. In “Discontent” a young Antrim
boy on Lurigedan tells of the hunger of the country-bred for the excitements
of town life. “The Burial” is concerned with life in Ballyshannon. Clever
and finished. The remainder deal with English life.
⸺ MRS. MARTIN’S MAN. Pp. 312. (Maunsel). 6s. 1915.
Theme: the triumph of an injured wife over a situation that would have
finally wrecked the lives of most women—her desertion by an unfaithful
husband, and, still harder to face, his return after sixteen years, a worthless
drunken lout, to live with her again. Mrs. Martin is the book, which is both
a careful character study and a page of life-philosophy. But the minor
characters are good—the Presbyterian clergyman, verbose and self-sufficient
(a very unfavourable portrait), the canting and narrow-minded Henry
Mahaffy, and Mrs. Martin’s Man himself. There is a somewhat drab background
of lower middle-class life in Ulster (Ballyreagh (= Donaghadee) and
Belfast). A very remarkable book that has had a deservedly great success.
As for its moral aspect, the Author is against cant, hypocrisy, and intolerance;
he is somewhat contemptuous towards religion: he is never salacious, but
there is an occasional sensuousness in his treatment of a painful subject.
ESLER, Mrs. Erminda Rentoul. Daughter of Rev. Alexander Rentoul,
M.D., D.D., of Manor Cunningham, Co. Donegal. Lives in London,
and contributes to Cornhill, Chambers’s, Quiver, Sunday at Home,
and many other periodicals. Author of The Way of Transgressors (1890),
Youth at the Prow, The Awakening of Helena Thorpe.
⸺ THE WAY THEY LOVED AT GRIMPAT: Village Idylls. (Sampson
Low). 1893.
⸺ A MAID OF THE MANSE. Pp. 315. (Sampson, Low). 1895.
A story of Presbyterian clerical life in Co. Donegal forty years ago. A
pleasant, readable story, with a well wrought plot. There is both pathos
and humour in the book, and as a picture of manners it is true to life, if somewhat
idyllic.
⸺ THE WARDLAWS. (Smith). 3s. 6d. 1896.
“A grave domestic story worked out on a basis of character, laid in an
Irish rural district.”—(Baker).
⸺ THE TRACKLESS WAY. Pp. 465. (Brimley Johnson). 6s. 1903.
“The story of a man’s quest for God.” (Sub-t.). Scene: chiefly
“Garvaghy, Co. Innismore,” in Ulster. The book is a searching study of
the inward religious and outward social life of a Presbyterian minister, Gideon
Horville, his difficulties, aspirations, friendships, disappointment in marriage.
He is dismissed by his Church for teaching erroneous doctrines, begins to
write, and subsequently helps his great friend Lord Tomnitoul in his religious
and socialistic schemes. The Author’s religious attitude is equally opposed
to Catholicism, to Calvinism, and, indeed, to Christianity. The background,
Horville’s social circle, with its meannesses, spites, and petty jealousies, is
not a pleasant one. The Author writes with thorough knowledge. There
are no politics.
“ESMOND, Henry.”
⸺ A LIFE’S HAZARD: or, The Outlaw of Wentworth Waste. Three
Vols. (Sampson, Low). 1878.
Scene: N. Co. Dublin. A sensational tale—abducted heir, forged will,
usurped title, jealousy, revenge, attempted murders, perjury, &c. The
outlaw, O’Grady, a T.C.D. man and a barrister, heads a popular rising, twice
escapes execution, and performs wonderful deeds, always appearing in the
nick of time to rescue beauty in distress, or upset the schemes of the false
lord. There is much brogue—of a sort. The supernatural is frequently
introduced.
FABER, Christine. This is said to be a pen-name. An American Catholic
writer. Other novels—An Original Girl (1901), Ambition’s Contest,
A Fatal Resemblance, Reaping the Whirlwind (1905), A Chivalrous Deed,
The Guardian’s Mystery, A Mother’s Sacrifice. All of these are published
by P. J. Kenedy of New York.
⸺ CARROLL O’DONOGHUE; a Tale of the Irish Struggles of 1866
and of recent times. Pp. 501. Pretty cover. (Duffy). 3s. 6d. 1903.
Scene laid chiefly in Kerry, at the time of the Fenian movement, though
it is not a narrative of the latter. A very dramatic story finely wrought out.
Full of local colour, humour, and pathos.
“FALY, Patrick C.”; John Hill.
⸺ NINETY-EIGHT: being the Recollections of Cormac Cahir O’Connor
Faly (late Col. in the French Service) of that awful period. Collected
and edited by his grandson, Patrick C. Faly, Attorney-at-Law, Buffalo,
N.Y. (Downey). Illustr. A. D. M’Cormick. 1897.
Cormac is heart and soul with the rebels. Life in Dublin, 1798, described.
Then we are brought all through the scenes of the rising.
FARADAY, Winifred, M.A.
⸺ THE CATTLE RAID OF CUALNGE. (Táin bó Cuailnge). An ancient
Irish prose epic [Grimm Library, No. 16]. Pp. xxi. + 141. (Nutt). 4s.
(N.Y.: Scribner). 1.25. 1904.
A close student’s translation from the Leabhar na h-Uidhri and the Yellow
Book of Lecan. No notes, but interesting and scholarly introduction.
FENNELL, Charlotte and J. P. O’CALLAGHAN.
⸺ A PRINCE OF TYRONE. Pp. 363. (Blackwood). 1897.
The amours of Seaghan O’Neill. Seems worthless from an historical point
of view. O’Neill appears as little better than a villain of melodrama.
FERGUSON, R. Menzies, D.D. Author of Rambles in the Far North, &c.
⸺ THE OCHIL FAIRY TALES. Pp. 157. (Nutt). 3s. 6d. Illustr.
1913.
Most of the Tales related in this Book are founded on local tradition: they
are the echoes of that Celtic folk-lore which is fast dying out. The western
spurs of the Ochill hills and the country lying between the Allan Water and
the River Forth form the scenes of the curious cantrips of the Wee Folk,
once so firmly believed in by the people of a former generation. The purpose
of the Author is to preserve some of those curious tales which are still floating
in the popular mind. In another generation it will be too late.—(Publ.).
FERGUSON, Sir Samuel. Born Belfast, 1810. Son of John Ferguson,
of Collen House, Co. Antrim. Educated Academical Institution, Belfast,
and T.C.D. Was first deputy keeper of the public records in Ireland.
Was a noted antiquarian, but is best known as one of the best of our
Irish poets. Most of his poetry deals with the heroic period of early
Ireland. Died 1886. See Sir Samuel Ferguson in the Ireland of his
Day, by Lady Ferguson. Besides the Hibernian Nights, Sir Samuel
wrote also a very amusing if not very reverent sketch, “Father Tom
and the Pope,” which had the unique distinction of being reprinted in
Blackwood’s Magazine, 1910.
⸺ HIBERNIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS. Three Vols. Pp. 146
and 184 and 278. (Sealy, Bryers). 1s. each, paper; 2s. cloth. [1887].
Still in print.
Written by the Author in early youth. Supposed to be told in 1592 by
Turlough O’Hagan, O’Neill’s bard, to Hugh Roe O’Donnell and his companions
imprisoned in Dublin Castle. They are almost entirely fictitious, but give
many details of locality and of the contemporary manners, customs, and
modes of fighting. There is an historical introduction. Contents: “Children
of Usnach,” “The Capture of Killeshin,” “Corby MacGillmore,” “An
Adventure of Seaghan O’Neill’s,” and the “Rebellion of Silken Thomas.”
Popular in style and treatment.
⸺ THE “RETURN OF CLANEBOY.” Pp. 43-98.
Relates how Aodh Duidhe O’Néill regained (c. 1333) his territory of Claneboy
in Antrim on the death of William de Burgh, Earl of Ulster. The story is
rather an ordinary one—fighting and intrigues. There is some description
of men and manners and of County Antrim scenery.
⸺ THE “CAPTURE OF KILLESHIN.” Pp. 98-146.
A tale of the struggle of the Leinster Clans—chiefly the O’Nolans—with
the English settlers. Full of stirring incidents, including a battle most
vividly described. Period: end of 14th century.
⸺ “CORBY MACGILLMORE.” Pp. 140.
Scene: North Antrim at the beginning of the fifteenth century. A Franciscan
preaches Christianity to the MacGillmores, who had relapsed into
barbarism and paganism. There is a very warlike and un-Christian abbot
in the story. The chief interest is the enmity between the Clan Gillmore and
the Clan Savage of North Down, and the events, dark and tragic for the
most part, that result from it.
⸺ THE “REBELLION OF SILKEN THOMAS.” Pp. 278.
The main features of the rebellion are told in form of romance. The real
hero is Sir John Talbot, who first joins Lord Thomas but afterwards leaves
him. The story of Sir John’s private fortunes occupies a large part of the
narrative. The author is, of course, perfectly acquainted with the history
of the time.
FIELD, Mrs. E. M. This Author (born 1856) is daughter of J. Story, J.P.,
D.L., of Bingfield, Co. Cavan. Besides Ethne, she has published several
other novels, e.g., At the King’s Right Hand.
⸺ DENIS. Pp. viii. + 414. (Macmillan). 2s. [1896]. Still in print.
A story of the Famine. Interesting portrait of Young Ireland leader.
Standpoint rather anti-national. Dedicated “to my kinsfolk and friends
among the landowners of Ireland.”
⸺ ETHNE. Pp. 312. (Wells, Gardner). 3s. 6d. Three or four good
Illustr. [1902]. Third edition. 1911.
A tale of Cromwell’s transplantation of the Irish to Connaught. Purports
to be taken partly from the diary of Ethne O’Connor, daughter of one of the
transplanted, and partly from the “record” of Roger Standfast-on-the-Rock.
The former is converted to the religion of the latter by a single reading
of the Bible. The interest of the book is mainly religious.
FIGGIS, Darrell. Born Gleann-na-Smol, Co. Dublin, 1882. Was taken
to India in infancy and remained there till he was ten years old. Was
put into a London business house, and did not abandon this walk of life,
in which his fortunes were sometimes low enough, till about 1909, the
date of his first volume of poems, A Vision of Life. Since then he has
been engaged in journalism and literature. He has taken an active part
in the national movement in Ireland. For the past five years he has
spent every winter in Achill, where he now lives permanently. Has,
among other works, two novels, Broken Arcs and Jacob Elthorne, and is
now engaged on an Irish story.
FILDES, H. G.
⸺ “TRIM” AND ANTRIM’S SHORES. Pp. 312. (Greening). 6s.
1904.
Account of holiday trip, supposed to be taken by the writer (an Englishman)
and his friend, “Trim,” to the coast of Antrim, also Lough Neagh, and a few
other places. Consists mainly of humorous incidents treated more or less in
the Three Men in a Boat, or rather the Three Men on the Bümmel style, but
much inferior. Little or no description of Antrim.
FINLAY, T. A., S.J., M.A.; “A. Whitelock.” Born 1848. Educated at
Cavan College, at Amiens, and at the Gregorian University, Rome.
Entered Irish Province S.J., 1866. Commissioner of Intermediate
Education, 1900; Vice-President of Irish Agricultural Organisation
Society; Ex-Fellow of Royal Univ. of I.; Editor, The Lyceum and then
The New Ireland Review (1894-1910); President of Univ. Hall,
Dublin, since 1913.—(Cath. Who’s Who).
⸺ THE CHANCES OF WAR. (Gill). [1877]. New edition, 1908,
and (Fallon), 2s. 6d. 1911.
Aims (cf. Preface) to indicate the causes that led to failure of Confederation
of Kilkenny. Represents in the characters introduced the aims and motives
of the chief actors in the events of the period, such as Owen Roe O’Neill,
Rinuccini, Sir Charles Coote, &c. There is a spirited description of the
first relief of Derry, the Battle of Benburb, Ireton’s siege of Limerick. The
hero is an exile returned from a continental army. Between him and the
heroine the villain Plunkett interposes his schemes. Scene: chiefly an
island in Lough Derg. Though the main aim is historical, this fact in no
way detracts from the interest and excitement of the romance. Written in
a style above that of the majority of Irish historical novels. Standpoint:
Catholic and national, but free from violent partisanship.
FINN, L. A.
⸺ BARNEY THE BOYO.[5] Pp. 180. (Ireland’s Own Library). 6d. n.d.
How B. is, with many sighs of relief, sent forth by his native village to
found his fortune on a subscribed capital of £4 2s. 10d. How he is involved
in the Castle Jewels mystery, wins the “Ardilveagh Cup” at the Horse
Show, swims the Channel, and has many other topical adventures, succeeding
always by his native wit. Plenty of broad popular humour, somewhat in
the vein of Mick McQuaid.
FINN, Mary Agnes.
⸺ NORA’S MISSION. Pp. 268. (Washbourne). 2s. 6d. (N.Y.:
Benziger). 1.75. [1911]. Second edition. 1914.
The mission was to bring back her uncle, who had settled in Australia,
both to his Church and to his country, and she successfully carried it out:
his wife and daughters, too, “adapted themselves speedily to Irish manners
and customs.” And her visit to Australia unravelled some mysteries which
we shall not reveal. Scene laid in I. and most of characters Irish. The
“brogue” is avoided, but the conversation is somewhat stilted and unnatural.
The book is nicely printed and prettily bound.—(C.B.N.).
FINNEY, Violet G.
⸺ THE REVOLT OF THE YOUNG MACCORMACKS. Pp. 227.
(Ward & Downey). Illustr. by Edith Scannell. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.50.
1896.
A story written for children and much appreciated by them. The four
young MacCormacks are very live and real children. Their delightfully novel
pranks are told in a breezy, natural style. Many a “grown-up” will find
interest in the book. Scene: partly in Dublin, partly in West of Ireland.
⸺ A DAUGHTER OF ERIN. Pp. 224. (Blackie). 2s. 6d. Well illustr.
by G. Demain Hammond.
A bright little story, free from “problems,” “morals,” morbidness, and
prejudice. It tells how Norah’s hostility and dislike to her cousin, John
Herrick, gradually changes to love in spite of herself. Her old lover accepts
the inevitable like a brave man, and loses his life in trying to do a service,
for her sake, to the favoured suitor. The Irish characters are capitally
sketched—Mrs. Ryan and Judy, the Rector’s housekeeper. Bertie, the
spoilt little invalid, is drawn to the life. So, too, is the somewhat sententious
old Rector.
FITZGERALD, John Godwin.
⸺ RUTH WERDRESS, FATHER O’HARALAN, AND SOME NEW
CHRISTIANS. Pp. 340. (Blackwood). 6s.
An argument in narrative form against the celibacy of the Catholic priesthood.
Ruth W., flying from a home made unhappy by evangelicalism,
takes refuge with Fr. O’H., P.P. of Blossomvale, who receives her into the
Catholic Church. Fr. O’H. falls madly in love with her, and there are a
series of situations, compromising and equivocal in appearance. Under
extraordinary circumstances the two are forced into a merely formal marriage.
We need not reveal the sequel. There is a great deal about Catholic usages,
priests, nuns, &c., with which the Author shows considerable superficial
acquaintance. The Author is cautiously fair in detail, but the general impression
produced is sometimes distinctly unfavourable to Catholicism. The
New Christians are a sect of latter-day evangelicals whom the Author satirises
severely. One scene we consider particularly offensive to Catholic feeling
and highly improbable into the bargain.
[FITZGERALD, M. J.].
⸺ THE MAKING OF JIM O’NEILL. Pp. 140. 16mo. (C.T.S.I.:
Iona Series). 1910.
The story of the course of a young man’s vocation to the priesthood, of his
life at a typical Irish provincial seminary, and of his vacations at home.
The doings of the seminarians are described frankly, not being at all idealised.
The tale is pleasantly and plainly told, without much analysis of motive
or of emotion. It is a vivid glimpse of the making of a priest.
FITZGERALD, Rev. T. A., O.F.M. Born Callan, Co. Kilkenny, 1862.
Brought up in Thurles; ed. at Christian Bros. Schools and St. Patrick’s
College. Became a Franciscan in 1879. Spent five years in Rome,
and twenty in Australia. Since his return to Ireland has learned the
Irish language, and has taken part in the revival movement. Witness
his Stepping Stones to Gaeldom.
⸺ HOMESPUN YARNS: WHILE THE KETTLE AND THE
CRICKET SING. Pp. 222. (Gill). 3s. 6d. Illustr. 1914.
Eighteen tales and sketches of Irish life—at home and in exile. For the
most part humorous, with genuine and spontaneous humour. But pathos is
often not far off, and edification is to be got, though it is not thrust upon
the reader. The sketches of life in the slums and back streets of Dublin
show the Author at his best, for his errands of mercy have made him know
them thoroughly.
⸺ FITS AND STARTS. (Gill). 1915.
Another series of sketches similar to the previous, but here, besides making
the acquaintance of Cook Street, Great Britain Street, and Chancery Lane,
we have glimpses of Dalkey, Kingstown, Rathmines, and even Lower Leeson
Street. “The Adventures of Black Pudden” is an exceptionally comic
story.
FITZPATRICK, Kathleen.
⸺ THE WEANS AT ROWALLAN, Pp. 234. (Methuen). 6s. Illustr.
Second edition. 1905.
“We think it is one of the best books about children published since the
days of Mrs. Ewing.”—(Speaker). “Amusing and pleasant. Some of the
fun is tinged with the unconscious pathos of child-life, and the mixed mirth
and melancholy of the Irish peasantry.”—(Athenæum).
FITZPATRICK, Mary; Mrs. W. C. Sullivan. Born in Barony of Farney,
Co. Monaghan, but belongs to the Fitzpatricks of Ossory. Educated in
Dublin and Paris. In 1894 married Dr. W. C. Sullivan, son of the late
Dr. W. K. Sullivan, President of the Queen’s College, Cork. Has contributed
a good deal to periodicals in Ireland and in America. Her
writings are marked by love for Ireland, and faith in Her future.
⸺ THE ONE OUTSIDE. Pp. 245. (Maunsel). 3s. 6d. 1914.
Eight stories, six of which are Irish in subject. Seven of the stories are
tragedies. “The Doctor’s Joke” is the only comedy. The title story
tells how the father, after sixteen years of absence, bread-winning in England,
comes home to find that the wife and children of the reality are far other
than what his dreams had pictured, and his wife has a similar disillusionment.
He is an outsider, and he realises it bitterly. Painful tragedy is the outcome.
The 2nd is a tragedy of blighted hopes. The 3rd a lighter story laid in
Fenian times. 4. W. of Ireland. Love’s young dream destroyed by the
plotting of an ambitious and masterful old woman. Atmosphere of loneliness
and terror given to the whole. 5. A London slum tragedy, with Irish
characters. 6. A study in character, and a peasant love-tale. All are told
in beautiful and refined language, often charged with pathos. The situations
are dramatic. The whole manner, the atmosphere, and the sentiment are
Irish.
FITZPATRICK, T., LL.D. Born, 1845, in Co. Down. Became a teacher in
early life. He was attached successively to Blackrock Coll., Dublin; St.
Malachy’s, Belfast; Athenry, Galway, and Birr schools. Of the last
he was headmaster in 1876. Was author of a serious historical work—The
Bloody Bridge and other Studies of 1641. Died 1912 in Dublin.
⸺ JABEZ MURDOCK, by “Banna Borka.” Two Vols. Pp. 300 + 335.
(Duffy). 1s. 6d. (Two vols. in one). [1887]. 1888 still in print.
Scene: South Co. Down. The central figure is a rascally Scotch settler
who dabbles in poetry, and attains to wealth as “ajint” by unscrupulous
means. Between the episodes of his life are interlarded scenes illustrating
nearly every aspect of peasant life at the time, all minutely and vividly
described, and conversations in which the problems of the times are discussed.
A good deal of humorous incident and character. The Author evidently
writes from first-hand knowledge. He is on the Catholic and popular side.
Period: first quarter of nineteenth century.
⸺ THE KING OF CLADDAGH. Pp. 249. (Sands). Frontisp.
ancient map of Galway in 1651. 1899.
Galway City and County during Cromwellian period. Atrocities of the
eight years’ rule of the Roundheads. Forcible and vivid. Point of view:
National and Catholic.
FITZSIMON, Miss E. A.
⸺ THE JOINT VENTURE: A Tale in Two Lands. Pp. 327. (N.Y.:
Sheehy). 1878.
Scene: opens in a valley of the Knockmealdowns, passes to U.S.A. in ch. 7
(p. 109). Was a first novel, and so somewhat immature. High moral and
Catholic tone (perhaps somewhat aggressive at times). Attacks Protestant
divorce laws. One of the best incidents, perhaps, is Mrs. Ned O’Leary’s
conversion to Catholicism.—(Press Notices). This was republ. in 1881 under
title Gerald Barry; or, The Joint Venture.
“FLOREDICE, W. H.”
⸺ MEMORIES OF A MONTH AMONG THE “MERE IRISH.”
Pp. xxix. + 321. (Keegan, Paul). [1881]. Second edition, 1886.
A record of conversations held and things seen, but especially of legends,
stories, and anecdotes heard from the peasantry during a stay made by the
Author when a youth at Doe Castle, near the head of Sheephaven, Co. Donegal.
Owen Gregallah (Gallagher?), an old water-bailiff, with whom the Author
used to go fishing, tells many of these latter, in the local dialect, which is
faithfully reproduced. The stories are interesting in themselves, and very
well told. Dr. Mahaffy referred in the Academy to one of them as the
funniest Irish story in print. There is no condescension in the Author’s
tone. He likes and respects, as well as enjoys, his peasant companions.
He seems to be an American. The Preface to the second ed. gives a humorous
account of the difficulties of travel in Donegal in those days. N.B.—The title
on the cover is “‘Mere Irish’ Stories.”
⸺ DERRYREEL. Pp. vi. + 184. (London: Hamilton, Adams). 1886.
“A collection of stories from N.W. Donegal.” This writer published also a
volume entitled Floredice Stories.
FLYNN, T. M. Was living at Carrick-on-Shannon at the time of writing
these sketches.
⸺ A CELTIC FIRESIDE: Tales of Irish Rural Life. (Sealy Bryers).
1s. 1907.
Nine little tales—tragedies and comedies—of Irish life in country and city.
Many little touches show how well the Author knows Irish life. He has a
power, too, of making the truth of his pictures go home to our hearts.—(N.I.R.).
FOREMAN, Stephen.
⸺ THE OVERFLOWING SCOURGE, Pp. 335. (Alston Rivers). 6s.
1911.
Career of an unprincipled lawyer, who gains judgeship by a series of crimes
and keeps it by crimes even more heinous. A greatly overdrawn picture
of a dark and unpleasant side of life. Such incidents as a packed jury condemning
unjustly the presiding judge’s son (with the judge’s own approbation)
to penal servitude seem wholly improbable. The parson and his wife afford
a gleam of humour. Although some of the worst of the characters are
Protestants, there are several apparent sneers at things Catholic. “It is
not written virginibus puerisque.”—(I.B.L.). The career of Blanco Hamilton
seems to be founded on that of Judge Keogh, and the incidental references
are to the latter’s times. Other novels of this writer, a Corkman, living in
Cork, are The Errors of the Comedy, The Fen Dogs, The Terrible Choice.
FORSTER, C. F. Blake-, see BLAKE-FORSTER.
FRANCILLON, Robert E.
⸺ UNDER SLIEVE BÁN: a Yarn in Seven Knots. Pp. 275. (N.Y.:
Holt). 1881. It originally appeared as a Christmas Annual with Coloured
Illustrations. Pp. 128. (Grant). 1s.
A story of faithful love laid (at least its opening and closing scenes) in
Wexford (“Dunmoyle”). Period about 1798. Michael and Phil both
love Kate Callan. Kate loves P. best, and M. goes away. Returning after
three years, he finds Kate mourning P., said to be lost at sea. M. and Kate
are married, but on the evening of the marriage M. meets P. M. “disappears,”
but in foreign parts meets P.’s French wife. The two couples are united
again. Kate is shot in the rebellion, but survives to discover that M. was
the best man after all. Dialect natural but refined.
“FRANCIS, M. E.”; Mrs. Blundell. Born at Killiney Park, near Dublin.
Is the daughter of Mr. Sweetman, of Lamberton Park, Queen’s County;
and was educated there and in Belgium. In 1879 she married the late
Francis Blundell, of Liverpool. This home of her married life is the
background of many of her stories—(Ir. Lit.). Among her books are:
Whither (1892), In a North Country Village, A Daughter of the Soil, Among
Untrodden Ways, Maimie o’ the Corner, Pastorals of Dorset, The Manor
Farm, The Tender Passion (1910), and several others, besides those
noticed in this book—about thirty in all. All Mrs. Blundell’s writings
are noted for their delicacy of sentiment, deftness of touch, pleasantness
of atmosphere. They are saved from excessive idealism by close observation
of character and manners. Her Irish stories show sympathy and
even admiration for the peasantry.
⸺ THE STORY OF DAN, (London: Osgood, M’Ilvaine). (Boston:
Houghton). 0.50. 1894.
“A brief tale, told with directness and tragic simplicity of a magnanimous
peasant, who adores with infatuation a worthless girl, and sacrifices himself
uselessly and blindly. Friendly portraits of Irish country people are among
the minor characters.”—(Baker).
⸺ FRIEZE AND FUSTIAN. (Osgood). 3s. 6d. 1896.
The book is in two parts—the first a reflection or picture of the mind and
soul of the Irish peasant, the second of that of the English peasant. The
comparison or contrast is not elaborated nor insisted upon. The pictures are
there, the reader judges. A series of short stories or studies form the traits
of the pictures, bringing out such points as the kindness of the poor to one
another, a mother’s love, a mother’s pride in her son become priest, a servant’s
fidelity, and various stories of love. All told with delicate feeling and insight.
The Author has lived among both peoples. There is a good deal of dialect.
⸺ MISS ERIN. Pp. 357. (Methuen). 6s. [1898]. Included in Benziger’s
(N.Y.) series of Standard Catholic Novels at 2s.; also $1.00.
The story of a girl who, brought up as a peasant, afterwards becomes a
landowner. She tries to do her best for her tenants, and her difficulties in
the task are well depicted, the Author fully sympathizing with Irish grievances.
There are some sensational scenes—among them an eviction. The love
interest is well sustained, and the character-drawing very clever.
⸺ NORTH, SOUTH, AND OVER THE SEA. Pp. 347. (Country Life,
and Newnes). Charming Illustr. by H. M. Brock. 1902.
Somewhat on the plan of Frieze and Fustian by the same Author, q.v.
Three parts, each containing five stories or sketches. The first part deals
with North of England life, the second with South of England, the third with
Ireland. Humble life depicted in all. In last part the subject of the first
sketch (an amusing one) is a rustic courtship of a curious kind; 2, an old
woman dying in the workhouse; 4 and 5, a rural love-story. Studies rather
of the minds and hearts of poor Irish folk than of their outward ways. The
author has reproduced almost perfectly that brogue which is not merely
English mispronounced, but practically a different idiom expressing a wholly
different type of mind.
⸺ THE STORY OF MARY DUNNE. Pp. 312. (Murray). 6s. 1913.
The love story of Mat, “the priest’s boy,” for Mary, beginning as a sweet
and tender idyll in the home in Glenmalure, ending in the tragedy of a law-court
scene, where the hero is on trial for murder and Mary faces worse than
death in telling the story of her wrongs—she has been an innocent victim of
the white slave traffic. Full of exquisite scenes, with touches of humour
as well as pathos. But in the main the book is a tragedy. Its purpose
seems clearly to be a warning and an appeal. The poignant consequences
of Mary’s undoing are not suitable for every class of reader, but there is
nothing approaching to prurient description.
⸺ DARK ROSALEEN. Pp. 392. (Cassell). 6s. 1915.
The story of a “mixed marriage” between Norah, a Connemara peasant
girl, and Hector, a young engineer of Belfast origin. They go to live at
Derry. Bitterness and misunderstanding come to blight their love, and
the end is tragedy. The two points of view, Protestant and Catholic, are
put with impartiality.—(T. Lit. Suppl.).
FREDERIC, Harold.
⸺ THE RETURN OF THE O’MAHONEY: a Romantic Fantasy.
Pp. 279. (Heinemann). 3s. 6d. Three Illustr. 1893.
Scene: South-west Cork in Fenian times. The O’M., who comes to Muirisc
is not the real O’M. at all, but a Mr. Tisdale, who has managed to secure the
papers of the real O’M., who is not aware of his own origin and real name.
T. becomes a model landlord, and is beloved of all. Tries his hand at
Fenianism, but soon abandons it and goes abroad to foreign wars. O’Daly,
left as manager, thrusts himself into his master’s place. But a young American
engineer (the real O’M. of course) turns up and spoils his plans, but does
not reveal his own identity till after Tisdale’s death. Besides this there are
numerous exciting incidents and several mysteries. The characters are
well drawn. The Author is distinctly favourable to Ireland, and seems to
have a good knowledge of the country.
FREMDLING, A.
⸺ FATHER CLANCY. Pp. 358. (Duckworth). 1904.
Father Clancy is an unselfish devoted country parish priest, beloved of his
people, unworldly and simple to a fault. His virtue serves to throw into
deeper shadow the character of his curate, Father O’Keeffe, who is an abandoned
and vicious ruffian. The purpose of the book is not at all clear to the
average reader.
FROST, W. H.
⸺ FAIRIES AND FOLK OF IRELAND. Pp. xvi. + 290. (N.Y.:
Scribner’s). Ill. by Sidney Richmond Burleigh. 1900.
FROUDE, James Anthony. 1818-1894. This celebrated writer had already
published his History of England when, in 1869, he came to live (for
the summer) at Derreen, Kenmare, Co. Kerry, where he began his The
English in Ireland in the Eighteenth Century (first vol. appeared 1872).
Like most of F.’s books, it provoked numerous answers, among others
that of Father Thomas Burke, O.P., Froude on Ireland. The novel
mentioned below embodies his chief ideas on Ireland.
⸺ THE TWO CHIEFS OF DUNBOY, Pp. 456. (Longmans). 3s. 6d.
[1889]. Several editions since.
Scene: the O’Sullivan’s country in south-west Cork. Period: 1750-98.
The ideas expressed in the Author’s The English in Ireland put into the form
of fiction. Thesis: if the English had from the first striven to replace the
hopeless Celt by Anglo-Saxon and Protestant colonists she would have avoided
her subsequent troubles in Ireland, and all would have been well. The
English character (Colonel Goring) is throughout contrasted with the Irish
(Morty Sullivan), the whole forming a powerful indictment of Ireland and the
Irish as seen by Froude.
FULLER, J. Franklin; “Ignotus.” Born 1835. Is a native of Derryquin,
near Sneem, Co. Kerry. In his young days he was a close friend of the
priest (Fr. Walsh) who was the original of A. P. Graves’s “Father
O’Flynn.” As architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and to the
Church Representative Body he has travelled extensively through
Ireland and has lived in various parts of it—North, South, East, and
West—always on friendly terms with his Catholic neighbours. He
resides in Dublin.
⸺ CULMSHIRE FOLK. Pp. 384. (Cassell). [1873]. Third edition, n.d.
The plot is concerned with Sidney Bateman, heir of a family that has come
down in the world, his struggles against misfortune, and his eventual attainment
of fortune and happiness. But the chief interest is the kindly, thoughtful
study of character and motive, of human nature in fact, also in the picture of
the ways of the little society (largely clerical, e.g., the egregious Mr. M’Gosh) of
Culmshire. Lady Culmshire, woman of the world, but with a warm and true
heart within, is the central figure and is a very pleasant, happily drawn
portrait. The Irish interest is (1) the excellent description of the homecoming
of Sidney Bateman to the ancestral castle of Rathvarney, in the wilds of
Kerry, which are well described; (2) the doings of Tim Conroy, a sort of
Mickey Free, and the Leveresque stories told of him by Capt. Howley; (3)
the portrait of the old P.P. of Rathvarney, Fr. Walsh (the original of Graves’s
“Father O’Flynn”).
⸺ JOHN ORLEBAR, CLERK. Pp. 293. (Cassell). [1878]. Second
edition, n.d.
The plot of a villainous attorney, Joe Twinch, and his clerk, an absconding
Fenian, to cheat the rightful heiress out of the Arderne estates. Dr. Packenham,
a personal friend of Orlebar, who had married the heiress, suspects foul
play and comes to Kerry, where the first Lady Arderne had for some time
resided, to make enquiries. He puts up at Rathvarney (see Culmshire Folk),
meets Tim and Fr. Walsh (who helps to unravel the mystery), and sees something
of Ireland in the sixties (pp. 240-274). This something, it must be
confessed, is chiefly squalor, described, however, in a humorous and not
unsympathetic way.
FURLONG, Alice.
⸺ TALES OF FAIRY FOLKS, QUEENS, AND HEROES. Pp. 212.
(Browne & Nolan). 2s. Four or five Illustr. by F. Rigney. Pretty cover.
1909.
Stories from ancient Gaelic Literature simply and pleasantly told.
Contents:—“Illan Bwee and the Mouse;” “Country under Wave;”
“The Step Mother;” “The Fortunes of the Shepherd’s Son;” “The
Golden Necklet;” “The Harp of the Dagda Mor;” “The Child that went
into the Earth;” and several others.
GALLAHER, Miss Fannie; “Sydney Starr.” Daughter of Frederick
Gallaher, one time Ed. of Freeman’s Journal.
⸺ KATTY THE FLASH. (Gill). 1880.
Very low life in Dublin, with no attempt to idealise the rags and filth
and squalor; but clever and realistic.—(I.M.).
⸺ THY NAME IS TRUTH. Three Vols. (Maxwell). 1884.
Incidentally describes the Hospice for the Dying, Harold’s Cross, and
the inner working of a daily newspaper office. Cleverly written. The conversations
are natural, and the human interest strong. The politics of the
time (1881) are discussed, but they are not the main interest.
GAMBLE, Dr. John. I take the following account of this writer from a
note on him contributed by Mr. A. A. Campbell, of Belfast, to the Irish
Book Lover (September, 1909): Dr. Gamble was born in Strabane, Co.
Tyrone, in the early ’seventies of the eighteenth century. He was
educated in Edinburgh. He devoted most of his life to a study of the
people and characteristics of Ulster. He used to make frequent journeys
on foot, or by coach, through the country, chatting with everyone
he met, picking up story and legend and jest, and noting incidents.
All his writings were imbued with a deep sympathy for his fellow-countrymen.
As a vivid picture of the Ulster of his day his books
are invaluable. They did much to produce in England a kindly feeling
for his countrymen. He died in 1831.
⸺ SARSFIELD. Three Vols. 12mo. (London). 1814.
The hero is a young Irishman who, under the name of Glisson, is a French
prisoner of war at Strabane. Aided by the daughter of the postmaster he
escapes, and wanders all over Ulster, where the wildest excitement about
the threatened French invasion prevailed. Thence he goes to Scotland,
England, and abroad. He fights with Thurot at the Siege of Carrickfergus,
and eventually returns to Strabane, where he meets with a tragic ending.
The Author embodies in the story many local traditions and much of his own
observation and experience. Well worthy of republication.
⸺ HOWARD. Two Vols. 12mo. (London). 1815.
“The subject of the following tale was born in a remote part of Ireland
... my principal character is not altogether an imaginary one.”
The hero of this autobiography is Irish. The scene is London. The central
incident is his seduction of a young lady who after attempting suicide dies
of remorse and chagrin.
⸺ NORTHERN IRISH TALES. Two Vols. 8vo. (London). 1818.
“Stanley,” the first tale tells the adventures of a young profligate, son of
a Derry Alderman, chiefly in Dublin. After life of debauch he gets
married, but goes bankrupt. His wife dies, he attempts suicide, is rescued,
and plunges once more into vice. The rest of the story tells of his determined
pursuit of a young lady, ending in a murder for which he is tried and
hanged. It is founded on a romantic episode well known in Ulster, the
courtship and murder of Miss Knox, of Prehen, near Derry, by Macnaughton,
and his subsequent execution for the crime. “Nelson” is a story of the
American Revolutionary War. Vol. II. contains only one tale, “Lesley.”
The hero is a North of Ireland man, whose travels and love adventures on
the Continent and at home are described. The Author indulges in a good
deal of moralizing.
⸺ CHARLTON; or, Scenes in the North of Ireland. Three Vols. 12mo.
(London). [1823]. New edition, 1827.
Depicts, with sympathy for the views of the United Irishmen, the state
of Ireland during the years that immediately preceded the rebellion. The
hero is a young surgeon in a N. of Ireland town who is tricked into becoming
a United Irishman, and leads the rebels at Ballynahinch. Under the name
of Dimond the Rev. James Porter is introduced, and many quotations are
made from his satire “Billy Bluff.” Northern dialect very well done.
GAUGHAN, Jessie. Born in Shropshire; one parent Irish, the other Scotch.
Educated in Paisley and in Ursuline Convent, Sligo. Besides the book
here mentioned she has publ. serially in I.M. The Brooch of Lindisfarne,
and has in preparation a story dealing with Ireton’s days in Limerick.
⸺ THE PLUCKING OF THE LILY. Pp. 220. (Washbourne). 1912.
Reprinted from I.M. 1911-2. A charming little story of Elizabethan
times in Ireland (c. 1589-94), telling the love-story of Eileen daughter of
Earl Clancarthy and Florence M’Carthy. Their love is crossed by the policy
of Elizabeth, who, for State purposes, wants an English husband for Eileen,
and not till the end are the two lovers united again. The historical setting
and colouring are accurate, but never interfere with the story. The tone is
Catholic, but not obtrusively so. Good portrait of Elizabeth. Burleigh
(in a favourable light), Sir Warham St. Leger, and other historical personages
appear.
GAY, Mrs. Florence, née Smith. Born in Molong, N.S.W., Australia. Is
an ardent imperialist, but proud of the strain of Celtic blood in her
family, and sympathetic towards Ireland. Resides in Surrey.
⸺ DRUIDESS, THE. Pp. 195. (Ouseley). 2s. 6d. 1908.
Cormac, a youth of Pictish royal blood, has a mission from his dying
father to rescue from the Saxons the mother of his intended bride. His
adventures in carrying out this mission bring him from Damnonia (between
the Yeo and the Axe) to Ireland (Glendalough, Tailltenn, Donegal). He is
present at the half-pagan festival of Beltaine, and at the Convention of
Drumceat. At the latter he meets St. Columba, who is sympathetically
described. The story deals largely with the lingerings of Paganism in Ireland.
Several battles between Saxons and Britons are described. The savage
manners of the time are pictured with realistic vividness. The wild scenes of
adventure follow one another without a pause. Intended for “boys and
others.”
[GETTY, Edmund].
⸺ THE LAST KING OF ULSTER. Three Vols. (London: Madden).
1841.
Ostensibly a tale, in reality a kind of historical miscellany of Elizabethan
times, containing memoirs, anecdotes, family history, &c., of the O’Neills,
O’Donnells, and other Irish chiefs. The Author was one of the best of
our Northern antiquaries.
GIBBON, Charles.
⸺ IN CUPID’S WARS. Three Vols. (F. V. White). 1884.
The scene is laid in Kilkenny in 1798 or thereabouts, but both the topographical
and historical settings are of the vaguest—there is very little local
colour, and practically no depiction of historical events, though there is
much about rebellion and secret societies. The story is thoroughly melodramatic:
it has no serious purpose, but the tone is wholesome. The
characters of the story are all represented as Catholics. This Author wrote
upwards of thirty other novels.
[GIBSON, Rev. Charles Bernard]. (1808-1885). Was chaplain at Spike
Island, and sometime minister of the Independent congregation at
Mallow, Co. Cork, but afterwards joined the Church of England. He was
made M.R.I.A. in 1854. He wrote a History of Cork City and County
(1861), and five or six other works, including Historical Portraits of
Irish Chieftains and Anglo-Norman Knights, 1871.
⸺ THE LAST EARL OF DESMOND. Two Vols. (Hodges & Smith).
1854.
Extensive pref., introd. (summarising history of Earls of Desmond), and
notes. Scene: Mallow, various parts of Munster, and the Tower of
London. All the great personages of the time, English and Irish, figure in
the story, but several fictitious characters are introduced, and many fictitious
episodes are throughout the story mingled with the facts of history. The
main plot turns on the Sugán Earl’s love for, and marriage with, Ellen Spenser
(an imaginary daughter of the poet). The bias is strongly anti-Catholic.
Fr. Archer, S.J., is the villain of the piece, stopping at no crime to gain his
ends. It is also, though not to the same extent, anti-Irish. He relies for
his facts entirely on Pacata Hibernia (point of view wholly English). The
Irish chiefs are made to speak in vulgar modern-Irish dialect (“iligant,”
“crattur,” “yr sowls to blazes,” &c., &c.). The humour is distinctly
vulgar, as in the case of the Author’s other novel. Raleigh is one of the
personages.
⸺ DEARFORGIL, THE PRINCESS OF BREFFNY. Pp. 287.
(London: Hope). [1857]. Second edition (Longmans). 1884. Pp.
xxiv. + 284.
Story of Diarmuid MacMurrough’s abduction of the wife of O’Ruairc of
Breffni, and subsequent events, including an account of the Norman Invasion.
The tone throughout is anti-National and most offensive to Catholic feeling.
The frequent humorous passages are nearly always vulgar, and in some
instances coarse. There are many absurdities in the course of the narrative.
GIBSON, Jennie Browne.
⸺ AILEEN ALANNAH. Pp. 86. (Stockwell). 1s. net. One good illustr.
1911.
Desmond Fitzgerald and Aileen have been sweethearts from childhood,
D. has to go to America. Percy Gerrard intercepts their letters, and tries
to marry Aileen. She is broken-hearted, and goes as nurse to a London
hospital. Percy at the point of death confesses his wickedness, and No. 27
in one of the wards turns out to be⸺. Scene: at first Donegal. A very
pleasant story, full of kindly Irish people, entirely free from bigotry, and with
an excellent though unobtruded moral purpose.
“GILBERT, George;” Miss Arthur. Has written also In the Shadow of
the Purple (1902), and The Bâton Sinister (1903).
⸺ THE ISLAND OF SORROW. Pp. 384. (Long). 6s. 1903.
Deals, in considerable detail, with political and social life in the Ireland of
the time. The circles of Lord Edward and Pamela Fitzgerald (centering in
Leinster House), of the Emmet family (at the Casino, Milltown), and of the
Curran family (at the Priory, Rathfarnham) are fully portrayed and neatly
interlinked in private life. The whole romance of Emmet and Sarah Curran
is related. There are many portraits—Charles James Fox, Curran (depicted
as a domestic monster), many men of the Government party, above all,
Emmet. This portrait is not lacking in sympathy, though the theatrical
and inconsiderate character of his aims is insisted on. The whole work
shows considerable power of dramatizing history, and is made distinctly
interesting. “The author,” says Mr. Baker, “tries to be impartial, but cannot
divest himself of an Englishman’s lack of sympathy with Ireland.” The
book is preceded by a valuable list of authorities and sources.
GILL, E. A. Wharton.
⸺ AN IRISHMAN’S LUCK. (Hodder & Stoughton). 6s. 1914.
“A domestic tale of young folk in a British settlement in Manitoba, and of
the Canadian contingent in the Boer War.”—(T. Lit. Suppl.).
GODFREY, Hal, see CHARLOTTE O’C. ECCLES.
GOODRICH, Samuel Griswold; “Peter Parley.” Born 1793 in Connecticut.
Author of 170 volumes, the list of them, with notes, occupying 7½ columns
of Allibone, of which 116 appeared under pseud. “Peter Parley.” Seven
millions had, according to the Author, been sold at date of Allibone.
⸺ TALES ABOUT IRELAND AND THE IRISH. 16mo. Pp. 300.
(London: Berger). [1834]. 1836, 1852, 1856. n.d. c. 1865.
In Ch. I. there is a short account of the physical features, climate, etc., of I.
Pages 20-140 give a popular account of Irish history from the English point of
view, but on the whole not unfair to Ireland. At p. 150 commences a pleasant
little description of a tour round I., with some little account of antiquities
seen on the way; also occasional legends and stories connected with places.
Illustrated by a number of small nondescript woodcuts of no value. The
above work seems to be a portion of the Author’s Tales about Great Britain.
First publ. Baltimore, 1834.
GRANT, John O’Brien; “Denis Ignatius Moriarty.” The former of these
two names is signed to a dedication in The Wife Hunter, one of the “Tales
by the Moriarty Family.” I am not sure that it is not as fictitious as
the second.
⸺ THE HUSBAND HUNTER. Three Vols. 1839.
A society novel. Scene: Kerry, c. 1830. There is very little plot, and
the matrimonial complications (a Russian prince and a German baron are
involved) of the lady who gives to the story its title form by no means the
central episode. The conversations are rather artificial and the humour a
little insipid. Pleasant portrait of a priest of the old sporting type. Nothing
objectionable.
⸺ INNISFOYLE ABBEY. Three Vols. (London). 1840.
A story dealing with the religious question in Ireland, as seen from a
Catholic standpoint. It is full of able controversy and shows keen observation.
The hero Howard’s Protestant and anti-Irish prejudices are made to
give way as the real situation of things is forced in on him. The restoration
of Innisfoyle Abbey is one of the main incidents. Some of the incidents
are taken from facts, e.g., the Rathcormac tithe massacre. These incidents
are related with energy and pathos. But in general the story is of a lighter
character, full of broad Irish humour, and placing the sayings and doings
of our Orange fellow-countrymen in a point of view as ludicrous as it is
horrible. “A rambling, spirited, and racy tale, eccentric and even absurd
sometimes, but very original and entertaining.” “This writer is known as
the author of several amusing and clever novels.”—(D. R.).
GRAVES, Alfred Perceval. Born in Dublin, 1846, but his family resided
in Kerry. Son of late Dr. Graves, Bp. of Limerick. Educated at Windermere
Coll. and T.C.D. Was Inspector of Schools from 1875-1910. For
eight years Hon. Sec. of Irish Literary Society. Publ. upwards of
seventeen books, nearly all on Irish subjects—poems, songs (including
the famous “Father O’Flynn”), translations from the Irish, essays.
Resides in Wimbledon.
⸺ THE IRISH FAIRY BOOK. (Fisher Unwin). Illustr. by George
Denham. 1909. A new ed. at 3s. 6d., with fresh introd., is forthcoming.
A collection of fairy, folk, and hero-tales, nearly all selected from books
already published, together with poems by Mangan, Tennyson, Nora Hopper,
&c. Also tales from Standish H. O’Grady, Brian O’Looney, Thomas Boyd,
Mrs. M’Clintock, Mrs. Ewing, Douglas Hyde, O’Kearney, &c. All are inspired
by Gaelic originals. “The book is one to delight children for its simple,
direct narratives of wonder and mystery,” while the fairy mythology will
interest the student of the early life of man. The illustrations are as fanciful
and elusive as the beings whose doings are told in the tales. Mr. Graves’s
Preface is a popular review of the origin and character of fairy lore.—(Press
Notice).
GREER, James.
⸺ THREE WEE ULSTER LASSIES; or, News from our Irish Cousins.
(Cassell), 1s. 6d. Illustr. by old blocks. 1883.
The three lassies are Bessie Strong, the Ulster-Saxon, a landlord’s daughter;
Jennie Scott, the Ulster-Scot, a farmer’s daughter; and Nelly Nolan, the
Ulster-Kelt, a peasant girl. The Author insists throughout on the vast
superiority of the English and Scotch elements of the population—“the grave,
grim, hardy, sturdy race.” Interlarded with texts and hymns. In the end
Nelly, after an encounter with the priest and stormy interviews with the
neighbours, is converted and goes to America. The Author died in Derry in
1913 at an advanced age. He edited a Guide to Londonderry and the Highlands
of Donegal, 1885, which went through several editions.
GREER, Tom. Was born at Anahilt, Co. Down, a member of a well known
Ulster family. Ed. at Queen’s College, Belfast. M.A. and M.D., Queen’s
University, and practised in Cambridge. Unsuccessfully contested
North Derry as a Liberal Home Ruler, 1892, and died a few years afterwards.
The central idea of this tale was suggested by the old Co. Derry
folk tale of Hudy McGuiggen. See HARKIN, Hugh.
⸺ A MODERN DÆDALUS. Pp. 261. (London: Griffith, Farran, &c.).
1885.
The introd. is signed John O’Halloran, Dublin, 30th Feb., 1887! A curious
story, told in first person, of a Donegal lad who learned the secret of aerial
flight by watching the sea-birds. He flies over to London. Is in the House
of Commons for a debate. Parnell is well described. The way Parliament
and the Government and the Press dealt with the new invention is cleverly
and amusingly told. Jack, the hero, is imprisoned but escapes, and on his
return there is a successful rising in Ireland, who establishes her independence
by her air fleet. The book is full of politics (Nationalist point of view). An
eviction scene in Donegal—“The Battle of Killynure”—is described. Shrewd
strokes of satire are aimed at the Tories throughout.
GREGORY, Lady. Daughter of Dudley Persse, D.L., of Roxborough, Co.
Galway. She has identified herself with the modern Irish literary
movement. Besides the books here noted she has written a great many
plays for the Abbey Theatre. Her home is Coole Park, Gort, Co. Galway.
⸺ CUCHULAIN OF MUIRTHEMNE. Pp. 360. (Murray). 6s. Pref.
by W. B. Yeats. (N.Y.: Scribner). 2.00. 1902.
The Cuchulain legends woven into an ordered narrative. The translation
for the most part is taken from texts already published. Lady Gregory has
made her own translation from them, comparing it with translations already
published. “I have fused different versions together and condensed many
passages, and I have left out many.” The narrative is not told in dialect,
but in the idiom of the peasant who speaks in English and thinks in Gaelic.
“I have thought it more natural to tell the stories in the manner of thatched
houses, where I have heard so many legends of Finn, &c. ... than in the
manner of the slated houses where I have not heard them.” The matter also
is often such as the peasant Seanchuidhe might choose; the clear epic flow being
clogged with garbage of the Jack-the-Giant-killer type. Fiona MacLeod
says very well of the style that it is “over cold in its strange sameness of
emotion, a little chill with the chill of studious handicraft,” and speaks elsewhere
of its “monotonous passionlessness” and its “lack of virility.” Yet
to the book as a whole he gives high, if qualified, praise. W. B. Yeats, in his
enthusiastic Preface, speaks of it as perhaps the best book that has ever come
out of Ireland. All these remarks apply also to the following work.
⸺ GODS AND FIGHTING MEN. Pp. 476. (Murray). 6s. Pref. by
W. B. Yeats. (N.Y.: Scribner). 2.00. 1906.
Treats of: Part I. “The Gods” (Tuatha De Danaan, Lugh, The Coming
of the Gael, Angus Og, the Dagda, Fate of Children of Lir, &c.); II. “The
Fianna” (Finn, Oisin, Diarmuid, and Grania). The Finn Cycle is treated
as being wholly legendary.
⸺ A BOOK OF SAINTS AND WONDERS. (Murray). 5s. 1907.
A series of very short (half page or so) and disconnected stories of fragmentary
anecdotes. Told in language which is a literal translation from the Irish,
and in the manner of illiterate peasants. First, there are stories of the saints,
all quite fanciful, of course, and usually devoid of definite meaning. Then
there is the Voyage of Maeldune, a strange piece of fantastic imagination often
degenerating into extravagance and silliness. The book is not suitable for
certain readers owing to naturalistic expressions.
⸺ THE KILTARTAN WONDER-BOOK. Pp. 103. 9 in. + 7. (Maunsel).
3s. 6d. net. Illustr. by Margaret Gregory. Linen cover. 1910.
Sixteen typical folk-tales collected in Kiltartan, a barony in Galway, on
the borders of Clare, from the lips of old peasants. “I have not changed a
word in these stories as they were told to me.”—(Note at end). But some
transpositions of parts have been made. It does not appear whether the
stories were told to Lady Gregory in Irish or in English. Nothing unsuited to
children. All the tales are distinctly modern in tone if not in origin. The
illustrations are quaint and original, with their crude figures vividly coloured
in flat tints.
GRIERSON, Elizabeth.
⸺ THE CHILDREN’S BOOK OF CELTIC STORIES. Pp. 324.
(Black). 6s. Twelve very good illustrations in colour from drawings by
Allan Stewart. 1908.
Sixteen fairy, folk, and hero-tales, partly Irish, partly Scotch, dealing,
among other things, with wonderful talking animals that prove to be human
beings transformed, adventures of king’s sons amid all kinds of wonders, &c.
One is “The Fate of the Children of Lir,” and there are five or six about Fin.
There is little or no comicality. The style is simple and refined, free from the
usual defects of folk-lore. The book is beautifully and attractively produced.
⸺ THE SCOTTISH FAIRY BOOK. Pp. 384. (Fisher Unwin). 6s.
100 Ill. by M. M. Williams. 1910.
Same series as Mr. A. P. Graves’s Irish Fairy Book, q.v. Illustr. in a
similar way. Not all of these tales will be new to Irish children.
GRIERSON, Rev. Robert. Resides at 41 Ormond Road, Rathmines. His
two books are long out of print. I have been unable to obtain information
about them. They are not in the British Museum Library.
⸺ THE INVASION OF CROMLEIGH: a Story of the Times.
⸺ BALLYGOWNA. (Aberdeen: Moran). 1898.
GRIFFIN, Gerald. Is one of our foremost novelists of the old school. Born
1803, died 1840. Brought up on the banks of the Shannon, twenty-eight
miles from Limerick, at twenty he went to London, where all his writing
was done. Two years before his death he became a Christian Brother.
“He was the first,” says Dr. Sigerson, “to present several of our folk
customs, tales, and ancient legends in English prose.” P. J. Kenedy, of
New York, publishes an edition of his works in seven volumes, and
Messrs. Duffy have an edition in ten vols. at 2s. each.
⸺ HOLLAND TIDE. Pp. 378. (Simpkin & Marshall). 1827.
First series of Tales of the Munster Festivals, q.v. Often published separately.
⸺ THE COLLEGIANS; or, The Colleen Bawn. (Duffy). 2s. [1828].
Still reprinted. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.75. A new ed. forthcoming (Talbot
Press). 2s. 6d.
Pronounced the best Irish novel by Aubrey de Vere, Gavan Duffy, and
Justin M’Carthy. Its main interest lies in its being a tragedy of human
passion. The character of Hardress Cregan, the chief actor, is powerfully
and pitilessly analysed. Eily O’Connor is one of the most lovable characters
in fiction. Danny Man, with his dog-like fidelity; Myles, the mountainy
man, simple yet shrewd; Fighting Poll of the Reeks; Hardress Cregan’s
mother, are characters that live in the mind, like the memories of real persons.
There are pictures, too, of the life of the day, the drunken, duelling squireen,
the respectable middle-class Dalys, the manners and ways of the peasantry,
whose quaint, humorous, anecdotal talk is perfectly reproduced, but who are
shown merely from without. The scene is laid partly in Limerick and partly
in Killarney. Dion Boucicault’s drama “The Colleen Bawn” is founded
on this story, which itself is founded on a real murder-trial in which O’Connell
defended the prisoner and which Griffin reported for the press.
⸺ CARD-DRAWING, &c. 1829.
Second series of Tales of the Munster Festivals, q.v.
⸺ THE CHRISTIAN PHYSIOLOGIST. Tales illustrative of the Five
Senses. Pp. xxvi. + 376. (Bull). 1830.
The tales are:—1. The Kelp Gatherers; 2. The Day of Trial; 3. The
Voluptuary Cured; 4. The Self Consumed; and, 5. The Selfish Crotarie.
All are clever little stories of ancient and modern Ireland, several of which
have been reprinted separately.
⸺ THE INVASION. Very long. (Duffy). 2s. [1832]. Still reprinted.
(N.Y.: Benziger). 0.75.
Scene: chiefly the territory of the O’Haedha sept on Bantry Bay. The
story deals chiefly with the fortunes of the O’Haedhas, but there are many
digressions. The innumerable ancient Irish names give the book a forbidding
aspect to one unacquainted with the language. The narrative interest is
almost wanting, the chief interest being the laborious and careful picture of
the life and civilization of the time, the eve of the Danish Invasions. The
archæology occasionally lacks accuracy and authority, but these qualities
are partly supplied in the notes, which are by Eugene O’Curry. The invasion
referred to is an early incursion on the coasts of West Munster by a Danish
chief named Gurmund. Some of the characters are finely drawn, e.g., the
hero, Elim, and his mother and Duach, the faithful kerne.
⸺ THE RIVALS. 1832.
Third series of Tales of the Munster Festivals, q.v.
⸺ TALES OF THE MUNSTER FESTIVALS. (N.Y.: Pratt). 0.50.
Scene: the wild cliffs and crags of Kerry and West Clare. Theme: the
play of passions as wild and terrible as the scenes; yet there are glimpses
of peasant home-life and hospitality, and many touches of humour. The tales
appeared in three series, 1827, 1829, and 1832. The first (Holland Tide)
contained the Aylmers of Ballyaylmer, a story about a family of small gentry
on the Kerry coast, with many details of smuggling; The Hand and Word,
The Barber of Bantry, with its picture of the Moynahans, a typical middle-class
family, like the Dalys in The Collegians, and several shorter tales. The
second series contains Card-drawing, The Half-Sir, and Suil Dhuv the Coiner,
which deals with the “Palatines” of Limerick. The third series contains
The Rivals and Tracy’s Ambition. These are sensational stories. The first
has an interesting picture of a hedge-school, the second brings out the people’s
sufferings at the hands of “loyalists” and government officials. They contain
several instances of seduction and of elopement. Perhaps the best of
these is Suil Dhuv the Coiner. The characters of the robbers who compose
the coiner’s gang are admirably discriminated, and the passion of remorse
in Suil Dhuv is pictured with a power almost equal to that of The Collegians.
⸺ TALES OF MY NEIGHBOURHOOD. Three Vols. (Saunders &
Otley). 1835.
Vol. 1 contains The Barber of Bantry. Vol. 2. Three sketches and the
dramatic ballad The Nightwalker. Vol. 3. Eight short sketches and the
poems Shanid Castle and Orange and Green.
⸺ THE DUKE OF MONMOUTH. Pp. 423. (Maxwell). 1842.
A clever historical novel, dealing with this unfortunate nobleman and
the battle of Sedgmoor. Two Irish soldiers, Morty and Shemus Delany,
supply the comic relief. The fine ballad, The Bridal of Malahide, first appears
here, and the song, “A Soldier, A Soldier.”
⸺ TALES OF A JURY ROOM. Pp. 463. (Duffy). 2s. [1842]. Still
reprinted.
The scenes of three of these tales are in foreign lands—Poland, the East,
France in the days of Bayard. The remaining ten are Irish. Among them
are fairy tales, tales of humble life, an episode of Clontarf, a story of the days
of Hugh O’Neill, and several, including the Swans of Lir, that deal with
pre-Christian times. All are well worth reading, especially “Antrim Jack”—Macalister,
who died to save Michael Dwyer.
GRIFFITH, George.
⸺ THE KNIGHTS OF THE WHITE ROSE. Pp. 311. (J. F. Shaw).
3s. 6d. Several good illustr. by Hal Hurst. 1908.
The adventures of three young soldiers, an Englishman (the hero), an Irishman,
and a Scotchman, in a Royalist crack regiment. Lively descriptions
of fighting before Derry and at the Boyne. Good outline of the campaign
but little historical detail or description. Told in pleasant style with plenty
of go. For boys.
GRIMSHAW, Beatrice. An Irish Authoress, born in Cloona, Co. Antrim.
Hitherto her novels do not deal directly with Ireland, but some of her
chief characters are Irish. Thus Hugh Lynch, a Co. Clare man, is the
hero of her When the Red Gods Call (Mills & Boon), 1910, and Geo. Scott,
a typical Belfastman, plays a prominent part in Guinea Gold (Mills &
Boon), 1912. These novels deal with New Guinea life.
GRINDON, Maurice.
⸺ KATHLEEN O’LEOVAN: a Fantasy. Pp. 107. Two illustr.
(Simpkin, Marshall). 1896.
Levan, grandson of an O’Leovan who had settled in England, visits the
home of his ancestors, Castle Columba, Kilronan, and meets the heroine.
GUINAN, Rev. Joseph. Father Guinan is P.P. of Dromod, in Co. Longford.
Before his appointment to an Irish parish he passed five years in Liverpool.
This gave him “the fresh eye,” the power to see things which,
had he remained in Ireland, he might never have observed. His books
deal with two things—the life of the poorest classes in the Midlands
and the life of the priests. Of both he has intimate personal knowledge,
and for both unbounded admiration. He writes simply and earnestly.
To the critic used only to English literature, his work may seem wanting in
artistic restraint, for he gives free vein to emotion. But this is more
than atoned for by its obvious sincerity.
⸺ SCENES AND SKETCHES IN AN IRISH PARISH; or, Priests
and People in Doon. (Gill). 2s. Fourth edition. 1906.
A faithful picture of typical things in Irish life: the Station, the Sunday
Mass, the grinding of landlordism, the agrarian crime, the eviction, the
emigration-wake. See especially the chapter “Sunday in Doon.” This is
the Author’s first novel and is somewhat immature.
⸺ THE SOGGARTH AROON. (Gill & Duffy). 2s. 6d. (N.Y.: Benziger).
1.00. Second edition, 1907. Third, 1908.
Pathetic experiences of a country curate in an out-of-the-way parish,
where the people’s faith is strong and their lives supernaturally beautiful.
The Soggarth shares the few joys and the many sorrows of their lives.
⸺ THE MOORES OF GLYNN. Pp. 354. (Washbourne). 3s. 6d.
(N.Y.: Pratt). 2.00. [1907]. Third edition. 1915.
The fortunes of a family of four children whose mother is a beautiful and
lovable character. The book is full of pictures of many phases of Irish life,
the relations between landlord and tenant, priests and people, evictions,
emigration, a “spoiled priest.” A typical description is the realistic picture
of the pig fair. Full of true pathos, with an occasional touch of kindly humour.
⸺ THE ISLAND PARISH. Pp. 331. (Gill). 1908.
The work of an ideal young priest in Ballyvora, a kind of Sleepy Hollow
where all is stagnation, poverty, and decay. The picture of these squalid
conditions of life is one of photographic and unsparing exactness. Yet with
loving insight the Author shows the peasant’s quiet happiness, beauty of soul,
and downright holiness of life in the midst of all this. There is no plot, the
book is a series of pictures loosely strung together. There is a chapter on
Lisdoonvarna.
⸺ DONAL KENNY. (Washbourne). 1910. (N.Y.: Benziger). 1.10.
Donal tells his own story—his mother’s early death, followed by his father’s
rapid fall into habits of drink; his own early struggles; his love for Norah
Kenny; his search for traces of her real identity; and the happy ending
of it all. Displays all the Author’s knowledge of Irish life in sketches of
priests and people. Especially good is the character study of the faithful
old nurse, Nancy, with her quaint sayings.—(Press Notice).
⸺ THE CURATE OF KILCLOON. Pp. 282. (Gill). 3s. 6d. 1913.
Labours, sorrows, and consolations of a young priest in a very out of the
way country parish. He had been very distinguished at Maynooth and
seemed thrown away on such a place as Kilcloon, but he finds that there is
work there worth his doing—temperance to be promoted, the Gaelic League
to be established, industries to be fostered. The story has the same qualities
as the Author’s former books, and in fact differs little from them.
GWYNN, Stephen. Born in Donegal, 1864. Eldest son of Rev. John
Gwynn of T.C.D. Is a grandson of William Smith O’Brien. Educated
St. Columba’s College, Rathfarnham, and Oxford, where he read a
very distinguished course. Since 1890 he has published a great deal—literary
criticism, translations, Irish topography, journalism, novels,
politics. Has been Nationalist M.P. for Galway City since 1906, and
is one of the most active members of the Irish Parliamentary Party.
⸺ THE OLD KNOWLEDGE. (Macmillan). 6s. 1901.
A book quite unique in conception. Into the romance are woven fishing
episodes and cycling episodes and adventures among flowers. There are
exquisite glimpses, too, of Irish home life, and the very spirit of the mists
and loughs and mountains of Donegal is called up before the reader. But
above all there is the mystic conception of Conroy, the Donegal schoolmaster,
whose soul lives with visions, and communes with the spirits of eld, the nature
gods of pagan Ireland.
⸺ JOHN MAXWELL’S MARRIAGE. (Macmillan). 6s. 1903.
Scene: chiefly Donegal, c. 1761-1779. A strong and intense story. Interesting
not only for its powerful plot, but for the admirably painted background
of scenery and manners, and for its studies of character. It depicts
in strong colours the tyranny of Protestant colonists and the hate which
it produces in the outcast Catholics. One of the main motives of the story is
a forced marriage of a peculiarly odious kind. In connexion with this marriage
there is one scene in the book that is drawn with a realism which, we
think, makes the book unsuitable for certain classes of readers. The hero
fights on the American side in the war of Independence, and takes a share
in Nationalist schemes at home.
⸺ THE GLADE IN THE FOREST. Pp. 224. (Maunsel). 1s. Cloth.
1907.
Seven short stories, chiefly about Donegal, five of them dealing with peasant
life, of which the Author writes with intimate and kindly knowledge. “The
Grip of the Land” describes the struggles of a small farmer and the love of
his bleak fields that found no counterpart in his eldest boy, who has his heart
set on emigration. Compare Bazin’s La Terre qui Meurt. All the stories
had previously appeared in such magazines as the Cornhill and Blackwood’s.
⸺ ROBERT EMMET. (Macmillan). 6s. Map of Dublin in 1803. 1909.
An account of the Emmet rising related with scrupulous fidelity to fact
and in minute detail. The Author introduces no reflections of his own, leaving
the facts to speak. His narrative is graphic and vivid, the style of high
literary value. The minor actors in the drama—Quigley, Russell, Hamilton,
Dwyer—are carefully drawn. Though he gives a prominent place in the story
to Emmet’s romantic love for Sarah Curran, Mr. Gwynn has sought rather to
draw a vivid picture of the event by which the young patriot is known to
history than to reconstruct his personality.
HALL, E.
⸺ THE BARRYS OF BEIGH. Pp. 394. (M’Glashan & Gill). [1875.]
Scene: banks of Shannon twenty miles below Limerick. Story opens
about 1775.
HALL, Mrs. S. C. Born in Dublin, 1800. Brought by her mother (who
was of French Huguenot descent) to Wexford in 1806. Here she lived,
mixing a good deal with the peasantry, until the age of fifteen, when she
was taken away to London, and did not again return to Wexford. Wrote
nine novels, and many short stories and sketches. Besides the works
noticed here, she and her husband produced between them a very large
number of volumes. See his Reminiscences of a Long Life. Two vols.
London. 1883. A reviewer in Blackwood’s describes her work as
“bright with an animated and warm nationality, apologetic and
defensive.” She died in 1881.
⸺ SKETCHES OF IRISH CHARACTER. Pp. 443. (Chatto & Windus).
7s. 6d. With Sixty-one Illustrations by Maclise, Gilbert, Harvey, George
Cruikshank, &c. [1829]. 1854 (5th), 1892, &c., &c.
Mrs. Hall intends in these sketches to do for her village of Bannow, in
Wexford, what Miss Mitford did for her English village. This district, she
says, “possesses to a very remarkable extent all the moral, social, and natural
advantages, which are to be found throughout the country.” The author
proclaims (cf. Introduction) her intention “so to picture the Irish character
as to make it more justly appreciated ... and more respected in England.”
She applies to the peasantry the saying “their virtues are their own; but
their vices have been forced upon them.” Again she says, “the characters
here are all portraits.” Yet it must be confessed that the standpoint is,
after all, alien, and something strangely like the traditional stage Irishman
appears occasionally in these pages. There is, however, not a shadow of
religious bias. The “Rambling Introduction” makes very pleasant reading.
⸺ LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF IRISH LIFE. Three vols. (long).
(Colburn). 1838.
In five parts:—1. “The Groves of Blarney” (whole of Vol. I.). 2.
“Sketches on Irish Highways during the Autumn of 1834” (whole of Vol. II.).
3. “Illustrations of Irish Pride” (two stories). 4. “The Dispensation.”
5. “Old Granny.” No. 1 “derives its title from an occurrence ... in ...
Blarney ... about the year 1812.”—(Pref.). It is a thoroughly good story,
telling how Connor in order to win the fair widow Margaret, his early love,
takes an oath against drinking, flirting, and faction-fighting for a year, and
how a vengeful old tramp woman makes him break it on the very last day.
Amusingly satirical portrait of the little Cockney, Peter Swan. Author’s
sympathies thoroughly Irish. Contents of Vol. II.:—“The Jaunting Car,”
“Beggars,” “Naturals,” “Servants,” “Ruins” [or stories told a propos
of them], &c. The dialect is very well done, full of humour and flavour.
Characters all drawn from peasant class.
⸺ STORIES OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY. Pp. 302, (close print).
(Chambers). [1840]. 1851, &c.
Aims to reconcile landlords and peasantry. To this end tries to show each
to what their enmity is due and how they may remedy the evil. The stories
are to show the peasantry that their present condition is due to defects in
the national character and in the prevailing national habits—chiefly drink,
early marriages, laziness, conservatism, superstition. The Authoress has a
good grasp of the ways of the people, but her reasoning is peculiar. When a
peasant, driven to desperation by a cruel eviction, swears vengeance, this is
put down to innate lawlessness, sinfulness, and a murderous disposition.
Twenty stories in all, some melodramatic, some pastoral.
⸺ THE WHITEBOY. (Ward, Lock, Routledge). 2s., and 6d. [1845].
Several eds. since. (N.Y.: Pratt). 0.50.
In the height of the Whiteboy disturbances, which are luridly described,
a young Englishman comes to Ireland with the intention of uplifting the
peasantry and bettering their lot. After some terrible experiences he at
length succeeds to a wonderful extent in his benevolent purposes. The
book is of a didactic type.—(Krans).
⸺ THE FIGHT OF FAITH: a Story of Ireland. Two Vols. (Chapman
& Hall). [1862]. 1869.
Opens at Havre in 1680 with a Huguenot family about to fly from persecution.
Their ship is wrecked off the Isle of Wight, where the little girl Pauline
is rescued and adopted by an old sea-captain. The scene then changes to
Carrickfergus, then held by Schomberg. Geo. Walker is introduced, and
the story ends with the battle of the Boyne (the fight of faith). View-point
strongly Protestant.
⸺ NELLY NOWLAN, and Other Stories. Popular Tales of Irish Life
and Character. Seventh edition, with numerous Illustr. Demy 8vo.
(London). 1865.
Contains twenty-five delightful tales of Irish life, with numerous illustrations
by Maclise, Franklin, Brooke, Herbert, Harvey, Nichol, and Weigall; “Sweet
Lilly O’Brian,” “Mary Ryan’s Daughter,” “The Bannow Postman,” “Father
Mike,” and twenty-one other tales. As a graphic delineator of Irish life and
character, no other writer has dealt with the subject so delightfully and truly
as Mrs. Hall. She wrote many volumes on the subject, of which this is the
best.
⸺ TALES OF IRISH LIFE AND CHARACTER. (T. N. Foulis). 5s.
With Sixteen Illustr. in colour from the famous Irish paintings of Erskine
Nichol, R.S.A. 1909.
HALPINE, Charles Graham; “Private Myles O’Reilly.” Born in Oldcastle,
Co. Meath, 1829. Son of Rev. N. J. Halpin (sic). Ed. T.C.D. Took
up journalism and went first to London, where he came to know some
of the young Irelanders, and thence to America. Became a well-known
journalist. Fought through the Civil War. His songs became very
well-known throughout the Union. D. 1868. Publ. also a series of
prose sketches, Baked Meats of the Funeral, and a vol. of reminiscences.
⸺ MOUNTCASHEL’S BRIGADE; or, The Rescue of Cremona. Pp. 151
(close print). (Dublin: T. D. Sullivan). Fifth ed., 1882.
Episodes in the story of the Irish Brigade in the service of France. The
narrative is enlivened with love affairs, duels, and exciting adventures very
well told.
⸺ THE PATRIOT BROTHERS; or, The Willows of the Golden Vale.
(Dublin). Sixth ed. 1884. One ed., pp. 173 (small print), n.d., was
publ. by A. M. Sullivan.
Sub-title: A page from Ireland’s Martyrology. A finely written romance
dealing with the fate of the brothers Sheares, executed in 1798. Their story
is followed with practically historical exactitude, a thread of romance being
woven in. A good account of the politics of the time, especially of the
elaborate spy-system then flourishing, is given, but not so as to interfere with
the interest of the tale. There are fine descriptions of the scenery of Wicklow,
in which the action chiefly takes place, and especially of the Golden Vale
between Bray and Delgany.
HAMILTON, Catherine J. Born in Somerset of Irish parents, her father
being from Strabane and her mother from Queen’s Co. Ed. chiefly by
her father, a vicar of the Ch. of England. At his death, in 1859, removed
to Ireland and lived there more than thirty years. Publ. at twenty-five
her first story, Hedged with Thorns. Wrote verse for the Argosy and
Irish stories for the Graphic; contributed regularly to Weekly Irish
Times and Ireland’s Own, including several serials. At present resides
in London. Author of Notable Irishwomen (1904), Women Writers, their
Works and Ways (1892), &c.
⸺ MARRIAGE BONDS; or, Christian Hazell’s Married Life. Pp. 439.
(Ward, Lock). n.d. (1878).
First appeared in The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine. An unhappy
marriage of a sweet, loving, sensitive nature to a man of a hard, selfish
character, who treats his wife with studied neglect and discourtesy. Christian
comes from her native English manor house to live with Alick Hazell in an
ugly, ill-managed Irish country house, among disagreeable neighbours somewhere
on the S.E. coast of Ireland. He hates the people, and is a bad landlord.
She has no friend until the arrival of his brother Eustace, whose mother
was Irish and who loves Ireland. Almost unawares they fall in love, but
E. is a man of honour, and C. is faithful to her husband to the very end.
The author is on Ireland’s side, though somewhat apologetically and vaguely.
Good picture of bitterly anti-Irish narrow-minded type of minor country
gentry.
⸺ THE FLYNNS OF FLYNNVILLE. Pp. 250. (Ward, Lock). 1879.
A story of the sensational kind, founded on the murder of a bank-manager
by a constabulary officer called Montgomery, and the subsequent trial, which
many years ago excited considerable interest. Scene: S. of Ireland.
⸺ TRUE TO THE CORE: a Romance of ’98. Two Vols. (F. V. White).
1884.
The story of the love of a Kerry peasant girl for the ill-fated John Sheares.
The interest is that of plot, history being quite of minor importance, and
centres in the scheming of his various enemies to compass the destruction
of John Sheares in spite of all the efforts of his guardian angel, Norah Nagle.
There is not one really sympathetic character. Sheares is a mere dreamer;
Norah is generous and faithful, but lies and “barges” on occasion; almost
all the rest, except Norah’s peasant lover, are fools or villains of the blackest
sort. Disagreeable picture of the Dublin of the day. The story is told with
considerable verve and carries one along. The Author is not at all hostile,
but seems unstirred to any feeling of enthusiasm for the cause of Ireland.
⸺ DR. BELTON’S DAUGHTERS. Pp. 169. (Ward, Lock). 1890.
Alice the second marries a curate in the W. of Ireland and struggles to
keep up on small means a good appearance. Her husband is an incurable
optimist.
⸺ THE LUCK OF THE KAVANAGHS. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. 1910.
Strange adventures of an emigrant Irish boy.
HAMILTON, Edwin, M.A., B.L., M.R.I.A. Born 1849. Resides at Donaghadee,
Co. Down. Author of Dublin Doggerels (1880), The Moderate Man (1888,
Downey). The two following books are not in the British Museum
Library.
⸺ BALLYMUCKBEG. 1885.
Political satire.
⸺ WAGGISH TALES. (Sealy, Bryers). 1897.
HAMILTON, John, of St. Ernan’s. “An Irishman” [N.M.].
⸺ THE THREE FENIAN BROTHERS. (Macmillan). 18mo. 1866. 1s.
Paul, Mark, and Ned Ryan, sons of a well-to-do farmer, were enticed into
joining the Brotherhood, the two former by Patrick Mahoney, the village
schoolmaster. Ned had served in the Federal Army (U.S.A.), and was sent
back to Ireland as a captain. “The characters and careers of the brothers are
vividly depicted in an interesting tale, the dialogue is pointed, often witty....
In the unfolding of the story much light is incidentally thrown on the state
of feeling in Ireland in 1865-6.” The Author has told his life-story in Sixty
Years’ Experience as an Irish Landlord, and given his views in Thoughts on
Ireland by an Irish Landlord (1886).
“HAMILTON, M.”; Mrs. Churchill-Luck, née Spottiswoode-Ashe. Is
a native of Co. Derry. Publ. also The Freedom of Harry Meredith,
M’Leod of the Camerons, A Self-denying Ordinance, Mrs. Brett, The
Woman who Looked Back, &c.
⸺ ON AN ULSTER FARM. Pp. 143. (Everett).
A realistic sketch of the life of a workhouse child sent out to service to a
particularly unlovable set of hard Scotch Ulster folk. Interesting as a study
of character and as an exposure of the misery attendant on the working of
certain parts of the workhouse system. This subject is also treated in Rosa
Mulholland’s Nanno, q.v.
⸺ ACROSS AN IRISH BOG. (Heinemann). 1896.
An ugly, but very powerful, tale of seduction in Irish peasant life. The
study of the ignominious aspirations of the seducer, a Protestant clergyman,
after social elevation forms the pith of the book. The difficulty of his position,
technically on a level with the gentry, though he is wholly unequal to them in
breeding, is brought out.
⸺ BEYOND THE BOUNDARY. Pp. 306. (Hurst & Blackett). 1902.
Scene: first in London, afterwards among Ulster peasantry (dialect
cleverly reproduced). Theme: a curiously ill-assorted marriage. Brian
Lindsay, son of Presbyterian Ulster peasants, had during a panic deserted
his men in action. Afterwards he had been decorated mistakenly, instead
of the man who had died to save him. In London he meets this man’s
sister, a solitary working girl, but a lady. They are married, and he takes
her home. Disillusionment on the wife’s part follows, and Brian is threatened
with the discovery of his secret. What came of it all is told in a beautiful
and convincing story. Not gloomy nor morbid. Running through the main
plot is the story of poor little French Pipette, deserted by the foolish, selfish,
mother, whom she adores. Old Lindsay, dour and godly, is very well done.
An element of humour is found in the characters of Miss Arnold of the
venomous tongue; fat little Mr. Leslie, who loves his dinners; and Maggie,
the Lindsay’s maid-of-all-work.
HANNAY, Rev. James Owen, see “GEORGE A. BIRMINGHAM.”
HANNIGAN, D. F. Was born at Dungarvan, 1855. Ed. at St. John’s,
Waterford, and Queen’s College, Cork. Called to Irish bar, and formerly
a journalist in Dublin; is now in America. Contributed a long serial,
The Moores of Moore’s Court, to the Monitor, 1879, and other stories
to the Dublin press.
⸺ LUTTRELL’S DOOM. Pp. 76. (Aberdeen: Moran). 1s. 1896.
Purports to be extracts from an Irish gentlewoman’s diary kept between
1690 and 1726.
HANNON, John. Born at Isleworth, 1870. Son of John Hannon, of
Kildorrery, Co. Cork. Ed. at St. Edmunds, England. For long
engaged in educational work, he afterwards took up journalism. He
resides in Isleworth.—(Cath. Who’s Who).
⸺ THE KINGS AND THE CATS: Munster Fairy Tales. Pp. 78.
Size 6¾ × 9¾ (Burns & Oates). 2s. 6d. Thirteen illustr. by Louis
Wain. 1908.
Handsomely produced. Preface by Father M. Russell, S.J. Introductory
verse by Katharine Tynan. Stories gleaned from old Irish peasants in England.
Full of quaint, amusing turns of expression.
HANRAHAN, P. R.
⸺ EVA; or, the Buried City of Bannow.
Mentioned in the notice of this Author in O’Donoghue’s Poets of Ireland.
[HARDY, Miss].
⸺ MICHAEL CASSIDY; or, The Cottage Gardener: a tale for small
beginners. (Seeley). [1840]. 1845.
By the Author of “The Confessor: a Jesuit tale of the times founded on
fact” [viz., Miss Hardy]. Cushing. The 1845 ed. has a Pref. by C. B.
Tayler. It is an attempt to urge people to small allotments, green crops,
rotation, economy, and hard work.
HARDY, Philip Dixon. c. 1794-1875. Was a bookseller and editor of
various Dublin periodicals. Publ. several volumes of verse, some
books on Irish topography, and some religious works of a strongly anti-Catholic
character.
⸺ LEGENDS, TALES, AND STORIES OF IRELAND. Pp. 328.
(Dublin: John Cumming). 1837.
Dedicated to Sir W. Betham. Hardy was the first editor of the Dublin
Penny Journal. His tales of Irish life deal with fairies, faction-fights,
smugglers, and burlesque or tragic adventures in a manner by no means without
vivacity and cleverness, though the trail of the “stage-Irishman” is over
most of his work. This edition was illustrated in a somewhat coarse and
stage-Irish fashion. Other works of this Author were:—Essays and Sketches
of Irish Life and Character; Ireland in 1846-7, considered in reference to the
rapid growth of Popery, and several works on Irish topography.
HARKIN, Hugh (1791-1854). For good account of this writer supplied by
his son, see O’Donoghue’s Poets of Ireland.
⸺ THE QUARTERCLIFT: or, the Adventures of Hudy McGuiggen.
(Belfast), c. 1841. In shilling monthly parts. Illustrated.
An amusing story founded on the old Co. Derry folk tale of a “gommeral”
named Hudy McGuiggin, who didn’t see why he couldn’t fly. So he made
himself wings out of the feathers of a goose. Arrayed in these, he jumped
off a high mountain (still shown by the peasantry), and of course came to
grief. Strange to say, he recovered and lived to be an old man. This and
other incidents are related with great verve and truth, and many well pourtrayed
characters are introduced. See GREER, Tom.
[HARRIS, Miss S. M.]; “Athene.” Fourth daughter of a Co. Down
farmer, the late William Harris, of Ballynafern, Banbridge. The family
has been long resident in Belfast.
⸺ IN THE VALLEYS OF SOUTH DOWN. Pp. viii. + 155. (Belfast:
M’Caw, Stevenson, & Orr). 1898.
Rupert Stanwell is kept apart from Mabel Mervyn, for his parents want
him to marry a rich American heiress; but the two are joined in the end,
and all is well. Conventional and unobjectionable, without any special local
colour.
⸺ GRACE WARDWOOD. Pp. 269. (Duffy). 2s. 6d. Tasteful
binding. 1900.
A domestic tale of middle class folk in Co. Down. Several love stories
intertwined. Gracefully written but “feminine,” and not very mature in
style. Contains little that is characteristically Irish, except some legends
introduced incidentally.
⸺ DUST OF THE WORLD. Pp. vi. + 293. (Allen). 6s. 1913.
Sub-t.: “An historical romance of Belfast in the 17th century.” Introduces
the Earl of Donegall, the lord of the soil; Lady Donegall who, to the
annoyance of Bp. Jeremy Taylor, has hankerings after Presbyterianism;
George Macartney, the Sovereign or Mayor; and other Belfast townsfolk
of the day. Swift is an anachronism in this story, and there are no grounds
in history for the portrait given of Patrick Adair, an early Presbyterian
minister. Lord Donegall is made to talk with a brogue, while a butcher’s
wife talks in the best of English.
HARTLEY, Mrs., née May Laffan. Born in Dublin. Widow of the late
W. N. Hartley, F.R.S. Her brother William Laffan was at the head
of Laffan’s Agency. For some considerable time past she has done no
literary work.
⸺ HOGAN, M.P. Pp. 491. (Macmillan). 3s. 6d. [1876]. New ed.
1882.
Picture of Dublin society, showing how Catholics are handicapped by their
want of education and good breeding, due, in the Author’s view, to wholly
wrong system of Catholic education. Discursive and garrulous. Full of
social manœuvres, petty intrigues, gossip, and scandal. Convent education
from within.
⸺ THE HON. MISS FERRARD. [1877]. (Macmillan). 1882. 3s. 6d.
The Hon. Miss F. is the only daughter of the ancient and broken-down
house of the Darraghmores. The father squanders his income faster than he
gets it, and has to keep moving from place to place, living chiefly on credit.
Miss F. is brought up in this inconsequent, semi-gipsy family, with wild
harum-scarum brothers. The Author does not blink the consequent shortcomings
of the heroine. Amusing things happen when she goes to live with
her maiden aunts at Bath—an unsuccessful experiment. Her choice between
her Irish farmer lover and the admirable English Mr. Satterthwaite—we
shall not reveal. Good minor characters—Cawth, the old servant of the
family; Mr. Perry, the family lawyer. “The Author represents the interiors
of all Irish households of the middle classes as repulsive in the extreme....
There is in them an innate vulgarity of thought, with an atmosphere of
transparent pretension.”—(Saturday Rev., xliv., 403).
⸺ FLITTERS, TATTERS, AND THE COUNSELLOR. (Macmillan).
3s. 6d. [1879]. New ed., 1883.
Four stories: (1) Three little Dublin street arabs, nicknamed as in title.
Lively and realistic portraits. Poignant and sympathetic picture of slum
misery and degradation. (2) Deals with the same subject. (3) Glasgow
slum life. (4) Lurid and revolting story of conspiracy and murder in a
country district. There are those who consider No. 1 quite the most perfect
thing that has been written about Dublin life.
⸺ THE GAME HEN. (Dublin). 1880.
⸺ CHRISTY CAREW. Pp. 429. (Macmillan). 2s. [1880]. New
ed., 1883; still in print.
Written in spirit of revolt against Catholic discouragement of mixed marriages,
showing the social disabilities which it draws upon Catholics. Several
portraits of priests, e.g., a collector of old books and a model priest. Studies
of various aspects of Catholic life.
⸺ ISMAY’S CHILDREN. (Macmillan). 2s. [1887].
Tale of Fenian times, little concerned with political aims, but rather with
personal fortunes of the lads who are drawn into the midnight drillings.
Little political bias, but sympathies with “the quality.” Close studies of
Irish middle-class domestic life. Scene: Co. Cork. The Athenæum pronounced
this novel to be “the most valuable and dispassionate contribution
towards the solution of that problem [the Irish character] which has been
put forth in this generation in the domain of fiction.”
HATTON, Joseph.
⸺ JOHN NEEDHAM’S DOUBLE. Pp. 208. 16mo. (Maxwell).
1s. Paper. n.d. (1885)
“A story founded on fact,” viz., John Sadleir’s career, his fraud on the
Tipperary Bank, &c. An exciting and melodramatic story. Needham
poisons his “double,” Joseph Norbury, and deposits his body on Hampstead
Heath, then escapes to America, is tracked and arrested, but dramatically
takes poison when under arrest. Told with considerable verve. Thirty of
this Author’s books are enumerated by Allibone.
HARVEY, W.
⸺ IRISH LIFE AND HUMOUR. Pp. 221. (Stirling: Eneas
Mackey). 2s. 6d. 1906.
A collection of short, witty anecdotes and jokes, four or five to a page.
Source: not indicated, but they are obviously culled from periodicals, or
from previous collections of the kind. A few seem to be taken from serious
biographies. They are given without comment, exactly as he found them,
says the Author (Pref.). They exhibit no religious nor racial bias (witness
the last chapter on Priest and People), but throughout you have the “Paddy”
of the comic paper, and in many places the traditional Stage-Irishman whirls
his shillelagh and “hurroos for ould Oireland” in a wholly impossible brogue.
The stories are classified under various heads, but for convenience only.
They do not illustrate national traits nor phases of national life. The above
is an abridgment of a larger work [1st ed., 1904, without illustr.] with the same
title, of which a new edition, pp. 488, twelve illustrations in colour, 5s. net,
has been issued (August, 1909) by Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. More recently
a cheap ed. has been issued at 1s., pp. 206, paper covers, with some poor
illustr.
“HASLETTE, John.”
⸺ DESMOND ROURKE: Irishman. (Sampson, Low). 6s. 1911.
Scene: South America. The hero is intended to be typically Irish. The
story is described as racy and dashing, and has received high praise from the
Press. We understand that the Author’s real name is Vahey, and that he
lives at the Knock, near Belfast (1911); see I. B. L., Vol. IV., p. 73. He had
before this novel already published two others. He is of Huguenot descent,
but was b. and ed. in Ireland.
HAYENS, Herbert.
⸺ AN AMAZING CONSPIRACY. Pp. 247. (S.P.C.K.). 2s. 6d. Illustr.
by Adolf Thiede. n.d. (1914).
An exciting boys’ adventure story, opening in an island of the W. coast
of Ireland, where mysterious events take place, but passing chiefly in Guatemala,
where the hero goes through thrilling adventures in various revolutions.
HEALY, Cahir.
⸺ A SOWER OF THE WIND. Pp. 168. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. Paper.
c. 1910.
Scene: the Donegal coast. A sensational and romantic story. Local Land
League doings described. The author writes of the people with knowledge
and sympathy.
⸺ THE ESCAPADES OF CONDY CORRIGAN. (N.Y.: Benziger).
0.50 net.
[HEMPHILL, Barbara].
⸺ THE PRIEST’S NIECE. Three Vols. (Hurst & Blackett). 1855.
In the first two volumes there is nothing about Ireland. In the third
the scene shifts to Cashel, and there are some attempts to picture Irish life.
The Author is not anti-Catholic nor anti-Irish: she is amusingly ignorant
of Catholic matters and is not interested in Ireland. P. 37—a scene of Irish
lawlessness (capture of a private still). P. 40—unpleasant description of a
wake. The plot hinges mainly on the strife in the hero’s mind between his
love for Ellen, the penniless peasant girl, to whom he owes several rescues
from the Shanavests, and the heiress to marry whom would be to save his
father from ruin.
HENDERSON, George.
⸺ THE FEAST OF BRICRIU: an Early Gaelic Saga. (Irish Texts
Society). 6s. 1899.
Belongs to Cuchullin cycle. C. contends in a series of competitive feats
with Conall and Loigare for the championship of Ulster ... the origin of
the contest being the desire of B. to stir up strife among his guests. Introd.
and notes.
⸺ SURVIVALS IN BELIEF AMONG THE CELTS. Pp. 340. Demy 8vo.
(Edinburgh: MacLehose). 10s. net. 1911.
The Author is Lecturer in Celtic language and literature in the University
of Glasgow. The book consists of the substance of a series of lectures on
Folk Psychology. It is a study in Celtic “psychical anthropology”—practically
a study of magic, superstitions, and other survivals of primitive
paganism. Deals chiefly with the Scottish Highlands, but there are frequent
allusions to Irish folklore and legend. Highly technical in conception and
language.
[HENDERSON, Rev. Henry]; “Ulster Scot.” Was for many years a
Presbyterian minister in Holywood, Co. Down, and wrote for Belfast
Weekly News Woodleigh Hall, a Tale of the Fenians, and The Moutrays
of Clonkeen.
⸺ THE TRUE HEIR OF BALLYMORE. Pp. 80. Demy 8vo. (Belfast).
1s. Wrappers. 1859.
Sub-t.:—“Passages from the history of a Belfast Ribbon Lodge.” Frontisp.—the
insignia of Ribbonism. An anti-Ribbon pamphlet in the form of a story.
Relates the machinations of a certain Ribbon lodge for the destruction of
Protestantism, and, in particular, the scheme whereby a Catholic widow is
made to inveigle Col. Obrey into marriage. The latter drives out his sister
and nephew, and Ballymore is invaded by a low-class drinking set of Catholics,
who finally bring the poor Colonel to his grave. Subsequently it transpires
that Mrs. Connor’s husband was alive all the time, and the Colonel’s nephew
comes into his own. The book is full of the awful crimes of Ribbonism,
and closes thus:—“No statesmanship, no good government will ever deliver
our land from Ribbon disloyalty, outrages, and savage assassinations until
Romanism is extirpated from the country. Ribbonism is the offspring of
Romanism.”
⸺ THE DARK MONK OF FEOLA: Adventures of a Ribbon Pedlar.
(Office of Belfast News Letter). c. 1859.
“The first part contains a very affecting episode illustrative of the evils
which are certain to follow the union of Protestant women with men who
belong to the Roman Catholic faith. To all Protestants the story cannot
fail to be interesting; and Orangemen, especially, will peruse it with peculiar
pleasure.”—(Downshire Protestant).
⸺ THE SANDY ROW CONVERT.
HENRY-RUFFIN, Mrs. M. E.
⸺ THE NORTH STAR. Pp. 356. (Boston: Little, Brown). $1.50 net.
Six good Ill. by Wilbur D. Hamilton. [1904]. 1908.
Scene: Norway and Ireland. The story of how Olaf Trygvesson, the
exiled king of Norway, returned as a Christian champion, and overthrew his
pagan rival. The wild brutal paganism of the time is depicted with realism.
There is an interesting account of a great gathering in Dublin, and a sketch
of Olaf’s life in exile amid his Irish hosts. There is also a love interest. Mrs.
Henry-Ruffin is the only daughter of the late Thomas Henry, of Mobile,
Alabama.
HENTY, G. A. Born 1832, in Cambridgeshire. He spent some time in
Belfast in his capacity of Purveyor to the Forces. D. 1902. One of the
greatest, perhaps quite the greatest, of writers for boys. His eighty-six
or more published stories deal with almost all countries and every period
of history. All his stories are sane and healthy and told in the manner
that boys love. Their historical side is carefully worked out.
⸺ FRIENDS THOUGH DIVIDED. (Frowde and Hodder & Stoughton).
3s. 6d. Excellent coloured Illustr. Attractive binding and general
get-up. (N.Y.: Burt). 1.00. [1883]. New eds.
A fine boys’ adventure-story of the Civil War. Scene: mainly Great
Britain, but at end shifts to Ireland for the Siege of Drogheda, which is well
described. Good account of Cromwell, the two Charles, Argyll. Sympathies
of writer clearly royalist. Ireland represented to be in state of semi-barbarism.
Juvenile.
⸺ ORANGE AND GREEN. (Blackie). 5s. Handsome binding; eight
Illustr. by Gordon Browne. (N.Y.: Burt). 1.00. [1887]. 1907.
Adventures of two boys (one a Protestant, the other a Catholic) in the
Williamite Wars. Battles of Boyne, Aughrim, sieges of Athlone, Cork, and
Limerick, described. Impartial. Williamite excesses condemned. Sarsfield’s
action after Limerick severely dealt with.
⸺ IN THE IRISH BRIGADE. Pp. 384. (Blackie). 6s. Twelve excellent
illustr. by Chas. M. Sheldon. (N.Y.: Scribner). 1.50. 1901.
Adventures of Desmond Kennedy, officer of the Irish Brigade, in the
service of France, during the War of the Spanish Succession—chiefly in
Flanders and Spain. The facts are based on O’Callaghan’s History of the
Irish Brigade and Boyer’s Annals of the Reign of Queen Anne. No Irish
Nationalist could quarrel with the views expressed in the Author’s Preface.
HEYGATE, W. E.
⸺ WILD SCENES AMONG THE CELTS. Pp. 114. (Parker). 6d.
1859.
One of a series “Tales for Young Men and Women” (Church of England).
This volume contains the two following tales:—
The Penitent.—How Shossag, a prince of S. Leinster, was accessory to
his brother’s murder. How punishment overtook him, and how he ended
his life as a penitent at the feet of St. Piran of Cornwall. Period c. 410 A.D.
The Fugitive.—A story of crime, and its punishment in the person of
a Pictish chief. St. Columba has a prominent place in the story. Of
him a sympathetic and appreciative picture is drawn. Scene: Scottish
mainland, Iona, and N. Connaught, c. 590-597. This Author has written
a dozen other historical stories. See NIELD. The two above noted are
quite suitable for Catholic children.
HICKEY, Rev. P.
⸺ INNISFAIL. Pp. 284. (Gill). 3s. 6d. [1906]. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.75.
Third ed. 1907.
Life-story of a young priest from early youth to departure for Australia,
largely told in letters from college, with verse interspersed. Sketches of
life in Tipperary (fox-hunt, school scenes, &c.).
HINKSON, H. A. Born in Dublin, 1865. Married Katharine Tynan,
1893 (q.v.). Ed. Dublin High School, T.C.D., and in Germany. Called
to the English Bar, 1902. Until the last few years he has resided in
England. He now lives in Claremorris, Co. Mayo, for which county he
is R.M.
⸺ GOLDEN LADS AND GIRLS. Pp. 312. (Downey). 1895.
A love story of the upper middle classes. Pictures of western (Galway)
county family life, and of student life in Trinity, both strongly reminiscent
of Lever. Good portraits of Irish types, the country doctor, the unpopular
agent, the reforming landlord (English and a convert to Catholicism); the
Protestant country clergyman, &c. This latter portrait is rather satirical.
The tone on the whole is nationalist and Catholic.
⸺ FATHER ALPHONSUS. Pp. 282. (Unwin). 1898.
The life-story of two young seminarians. One of these, finding he has
no vocation, leaves before ordination, and has no reason to repent the step.
The other, ignoring uneasy feelings that trouble may come of it later, becomes
a priest. Afterwards he meets with a certain lady, a recent convert from
Protestantism. A mutual attachment springs up, and eventually they are
married. The circumstances, as arranged by the novelist, are so strange
as almost to seem to palliate this sin, were it not for his omission of one factor,
viz., that particular form of divine help towards the doing of duty which
Catholics call the gratia status. The erring priest ends his life in a Carthusian
monastery. The tone throughout is almost faultless from a Catholic standpoint.
Indeed, though there are several passionate scenes, rendering the
book unfitted for certain readers, the moral tone is high. Some of the characteristics
of Irish social life are admirably portrayed.
⸺ UP FOR THE GREEN. Pp. 327. (Lawrence & Bullen). 6s.
1898.
“For several of the incidents related in this story, the Author is indebted
to the narrative of Samuel Riley, a yeoman [Quaker] of Cork, who was captured
by the rebels, while on his way to Dublin, in September, 1798.” This worthy
man discovers the rebels to be very different from what he had taken them to
be. A healthy, breezy tale with more adventure than history. Standpoint:
thoroughly national. There is quiet humour in the quaintly told narrative
of the Quaker. Castlereagh, Major Sirr, Grattan, Lord Enniskillen figure
in the story.
⸺ WHEN LOVE IS KIND. Pp. 320. (Long). 1898.
A wholesome Irish love-story of the present day. The hero, Rupert
Standish, is a soldier and a soldier’s son. The story brings out the comradeship
which may exist between father and son. The page-boy, Peter, with his
gruesome tales, is a curious study. There are many passages descriptive of
scenes and incidents in Ireland.
⸺ THE KING’S DEPUTY. Pp. 236. (Lawrence & Bullen). 6s.
(Chicago: M’Clurg). 1.25. 1899.
Period: the days of Grattan’s Parliament, of which a vivid picture is
drawn, and of the viceroyalty of the Duke of Rutland. The interest is
divided between a love story and the story of a plot of the Protestant aristocracy
to establish an independent Irish Republic on the Venetian model.
Grattan, Curran, Napper Tandy, Sir John Parnell, Sir Boyle Roche, Father
Arthur O’Leary, &c., are introduced. Descriptions (historically accurate)
of the Hell-Fire Club and the Funny Club.
⸺ SIR PHELIM’S TREASURE. Pp. 255. (S.P.C.K.) 1s. 6d.
Illustr. W. S. Stacey. n.d. (1901).
A boy’s adventure-story of search for treasure. No “moral” or lesson.
Good description of Crusoe-life on a little island off the Irish coast. Pleasant
style; no tediousness nor dullness.
⸺ THE POINT OF HONOUR. (Lawrence & Bullen). 6s. (Chicago:
M’Clurg). 1.50. 1901.
“Stories about the quarrelsome, bottle-loving, duelling gentry of the
eighteenth century.”—(Baker).
⸺ SILK AND STEEL. Pp. 336. (Chatto & Windus). 6s. Picture
cover. 1902.
Adventures of an Irish soldier of fortune at the Court of Charles I., in the
Netherlands, and in Ireland. Brisk and picturesque in style. Sketch of
Owen Roe and description of Benburb. The hero is Daniel O’Neill, a nephew
of Owen Roe. Full of historical incidents and personages, e.g., the Earl of
Essex, Father Boethius Egan, Lord Antrim. Point of view: national.
⸺ FAN FITZGERALD. Pp. 340. (Chatto & Windus). 6s. 1902.
Young Dick Burke, brought up in England, feels the call of the Celt, and
returns to his inherited estates with intent to be a model landlord. We are
told in a lively and amusing style how he succeeds or fails. The Author
is nationalist, but by no means a bitter partisan.
⸺ THE WINE OF LOVE. 1904.
Deals mainly with the upper classes in the West of Ireland. Abuses of
landlordism not spared. Picture of horse-dealing, fox-hunting, and card-playing
lives. Also picture of typically good landlords. Standpoint on
the whole national and even Catholic. Style: breezy and vigorous. Good
knowledge shown of inner lives and feelings of all classes.
⸺ THE SPLENDID KNIGHT. Pp. 262. (Sealy, Bryers). Illustr.
by Lawson Wood. 1905.
Adventures of an Irish boy in Sir Walter Raleigh’s expedition up the
Orinoco. A brisk and entertaining narrative.
⸺ GOLDEN MORN. Pp. 303. (Cassell). Frontisp. 1907.
Tells the strange adventures in Ireland, London, and France of Captain
O’Grady. At Leopardstown Races his mare breaks her neck, just at the
finish; the Captain loses a fortune, and is fain to depart on his travels—but
“all is well that ends well,” and it is so with Captain O’Grady.
⸺ O’GRADY OF TRINITY. (Lawrence & Bullen). 6s. Re-issued by
C. H. White at 6d. 1909.
Fun, frolic, and love in a student’s career. A gay and wholesome novel.
Sympathetic picture of Trinity College life. Highly praised by Lionel
Johnston.
⸺ THE CONSIDINE LUCK. Pp. 300. (Swift). 6s. 1912.
It was popularly believed that the estate could not pass from Considine
hands. Sir Hugh C. dies, and lo! the estate is found to be mortgaged to
Mr. Smith, of London. Mr. Smith arrives, and brings with him his English
notions which he proceeds to carry out to the disgust of the locality. He
refuses all attempts to buy him out, but the Considine luck comes to the
rescue, and the estate falls once more into the hands of a Considine. Pleasant,
light style.
HOARE, Mrs.
⸺ SHAMROCK LEAVES; or, Tales and Sketches of Ireland. Pp. 237.
(M’Glashan). 1851.
If one could abstract from the bits of gossipy anecdote intended as links
to the principal stories, this book consists of several studies, touching and
true to the reality, of the lives of the poor, and in particular of their sufferings
during and after the Famine years. Written with much sympathy for the
lowly, and a vivid sense of actuality. Most of the tales have a moral, but
it does not spoil the story.
HOBHOUSE, Violet. Born 1864. Eldest daughter of Edmund McNeill,
D.L., of Craigdunn, Co. Antrim. Married Rev. Walter Hobhouse, second
son of Bishop Hobhouse. She was devoted to Irish traditions, folklore,
&c., and could speak Irish, but was a keen Unionist, and in 1887
and the following years spoke much against Home Rule on English
platforms. After her death in 1902 a small volume of poems, serious
and deeply religious, Speculum Animae was printed for private circulation.
⸺ AN UNKNOWN QUANTITY. Pp. 382. (Downey). 6s. 1898.
⸺ WARP AND WEFT. (Skeffington). 3s. 6d. 1899.
“A conscientious rendering of homely aspects of life in Co. Antrim.”—(Baker).
HOCKING, Rev. Joseph.
⸺ ROSALEEN O’HARA. Pp. 352. (Hodder & Stoughton). 3s. 6d.
and 1s. Two illustr. 1913.
A product of the Home Rule controversy. The Author is a noted anti-Catholic
writer, but he is also a Liberal, and desirous of defending Liberalism
from the charge of seeking to establish Rome Rule in Ireland. Home Rule,
so reads the story, would mean Rome Rule for some years, but would ultimately
lead to the emancipation of the Irish from the thralldom of priestcraft
and dogma. The story tells of Denis who unexpectedly discovers that
he is heir to an Irish estate, and neighbour of Elenore Tyrone, whom he had
seen and loved. A quarrel and the attractions of the beautiful “Fenian,”
Rosaleen, separate the two for a time. The Author clearly knows little or
nothing of Ireland, but he would like to be benevolent in tone to “dear old
beautiful Erin.” By the same Author: Follow the Gleam, The Wilderness,
The Jesuit, The Scarlet Woman, and some thirty other novels.
HOEY, Mrs. Cashel, née Sarah Johnston. Born at Bushy Park, Co. Dublin,
1830. Wife of the well-known Irish journalist, John Cashel Hoey
(d. 1892). Has published more than twenty-seven volumes, e.g., The
Question of Cain (1882), The Lover’s Creed, No Sign (1876), The Queen’s
Token, A Stern Chase, &c., &c. She became a Catholic in 1858. D. 1908.
HOLLAND, Denis. A well-known Irish journalist. Born in Cork about
1826. He founded The Irishman, 1858. See Pigot’s Recollections of
an Irish Journalist, and D. J. O’Donoghue’s Poets of Ireland.
⸺ DONAL DUN O’BYRNE: A Tale of the Rising in Wexford in 1798.
Pp. 224. (Gill). 1s. n.d.
The story of the rising (including Oulart, Tubberneering, Gorey, and Ross,
and the guerilla warfare after Vinegar Hill) from an insurgent’s point of view.
The book is full of scenes of blood, and breathes a spirit of vengeance. The
narrative is not remarkable. Some of the scenes border on indelicacy.
⸺ ULICK O’DONNELL: an Irish Peasant’s Progress. 1860.
A romantic and pleasant story. Adventures in Liverpool and elsewhere
in England of a clever peasant lad from Newry. He wins his way by his
sterling qualities, and returns prosperous to his native Co. Down. Author
tries to bring out contrasting characteristics of English and Irish.
HOLT, Emily S.
⸺ UNDER ONE SCEPTRE; or, Mortimer’s Mission. (Shaw). 3s. 6d.
1884.
Career of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster (1374-98) in Monmouthshire,
Ireland, and London. He was lieutenant of Ulster, Connaught,
and Meath. Richard II. declared him heir to the throne, but later grew
jealous of his popularity. He was slain at Kells in battle with Art
McMurrough Kavanagh. Juvenile.
HOPKINS, Tighe. Born 1856. Son of Rev. W. R. Hopkins, Vicar of
Moulton, Cheshire. Besides the work mentioned here this Author ed.
Carleton’s Traits and Stories in the “Red Letter Library,” and wrote
Kilmainham Memories, several novels, and various other works. Resides
at Herne Bay. Has written many other novels:—For Freedom, The
Silent Gate, Tozer’s, ’Twixt Love and Duty, &c.
⸺ THE NUGENTS OF CARRICONNA. Three Vols., afterwards one
Vol. (Ward & Downey). 1890.
Main theme: an old impoverished family suddenly enriched by Australian
legacy. Interwoven there is an interesting love-story. Anthony Nugent,
eccentric, of astronomical tastes, has on his housetop a telescope which plays
a prominent part in the story. Brogue well done. The dramatic interest
centred in an Inspector of Police, a type probably very rare in Irish fiction.
HOPPER, Nora; Mrs. W. H. Chesson.
⸺ BALLADS IN PROSE. Pp. 186. (Lane). 5s. Beautifully
bound and printed. 1894.
Strange, wayward tales of far-off pagan days in which one moves as in a
mist of dreams. Soaked with Gaelic fairy and legendary lore. The prose
pieces, all very short, are interspersed with little poems, that are slight and
frail as wreaths of vapour. Some of the stories are symbolical. They are
told in simple and graceful prose.
HUDSON, Frank. This Author, after many years’ work for Dublin
periodicals, went to London early in the ’eighties. He wrote a few
Irish sporting novels of a light and humorous kind.
⸺ THE ORIGIN OF PLUM PUDDING, and other Irish Fairy Tales.
Illustr. by Gordon Browne. 1888.
Only one of these five stories is genuinely Irish—“Shaun Murray’s
Challenge,” the scene of which is Dalkey. The title-story tells how a drunken
man one evening threw his sack of groceries into a pot on the fire, and in the
morning found a plum-pudding.
⸺ THE LAST HURDLE: a Story of Sporting and Courting. Pp. 304.
(Ward & Downey). 1888.
Life in an Irish county family of the old stock, with sympathy for the poor
around them. Good idea of refined Irish country life and its easy-going
ways. A story full of sport, gaiety, and dramatic incidents, turning mainly
on the winning of the heroine by the hero in spite of the plots of the rival.
Good and bad landlords are contrasted. An eviction scene is described,
with full sympathy for the victims. Shamus-the-Trout, a poacher, is a very
picturesque figure.
⸺ RUNNING DOUBLE: a Story of Stage and Stable. Two Vols.
(Ward & Downey). 1890.
Scene: varies between England, Dublin, and “Ennisbeg.” There are
remarks on Irish life, scenery, and customs, but the chief interest is sporting—fishing,
racing, betting. The stage part is in England. There is very little
plot. All ends in a double wedding.
HUGHES, Mrs. Kate Duval.
⸺ THE FAIR MAID OF CONNAUGHT: and other Tales for Catholic
Youth. Pp. 178. (N.Y.: Kenedy and Benziger). 1.25, 0.60, 0.30.
1889.
HULL, Eleanor. Born in Ireland of a Co. Down family. Daughter of
Prof. Edward Hull, the eminent geologist, long Director of the Geological
Survey of Ireland. Ed. at Alexandra Coll., Dublin, and in Brussels.
Has written much—chiefly on Irish literature, folk-lore, and history—for
various periodicals. Is the Author of eight important books on
Irish subjects:—Pagan Ireland, Early Christian Ireland, A Text-Book
of Irish [Gaelic] Literature, The Poem-Book of the Gael. Has for many
years studied Old Irish under the best professors, and it is her chief
pleasure and interest. Founded in 1899 the Irish Texts Society, and
has been its Hon. Secretary ever since. Is President of Irish Literary
Society in London.
⸺ THE CUCHULLIN SAGA IN IRISH LITERATURE. Pp. lxxx. +
316. (Nutt). 1898.
A collection of fourteen stories relating to Cuchulin, translated from the
Irish by various scholars (Meyer, O’Curry, Stokes, Windisch, O’Grady, Duvan,
&c.). A more valuable work, says Fiona MacLeod (in substance), for students
of Gaelic legend and literature than the more recent works by Lady Gregory.
The book is not cast in an artistic mould. It merely contains the rude
materials from which epic and lyric inspiration may be drawn. Important
and valuable Introduction deals with literary qualities of the Saga, its historical
aspects and its mythology. Map of Ireland to illustrate Cuchulin Saga.
Appendix contains chart of Cuchulin Saga. Notes pp. 289-297.
⸺ CUCHULAIN, THE HOUND OF ULSTER. Pp. 279. (Harrap).
5s. net. Illustr. in colour by Stephen Reid. [1909].
Intended for young, but not very young readers. Told in modern
language, free from Gaelicisms, archaisms, and difficult names. The story
is continuous, not told in detached episodes. The style, though without the
strange wild grandeur of Standish O’Grady, is on the whole beautiful. The
story itself is full of the spirit of heroism and chivalry. It is selected and
adapted from many sources (indicated in Appendix), and the epic narrative
is not mixed with puerile or absurd episodes. Some of the illustrations are
excellent, others tend, perhaps, too much to quaintness.
HUME, Martin.
⸺ TRUE STORIES OF THE PAST. Pp. xi. + 226. (Eveleigh Nash).
5s. net. 1911.
Ed. with introd. by R. B. Cunningham Grahame. Eight stories from
History. i. “How Rizzio was Avenged;” ii. “A Rebellious Love-match;”
iii. “Prince and Pastry Cook;” iv. “The Revenge of John
Hawkins;” v. “The Scapegoat;” vi. “Sir Walter [Raleigh]’s Homecoming;”
vii. “Cloth of Gold and Frieze.” Some of these treat of the
amours of great personages. Their standpoint is, of course, English and Protestant.
viii. “The Last Stand of the O’Sullivans” is told with much
spirit, and with sympathy for the Irish cause. It does not include the
famous retreat of the O’Sullivans.
HUNGERFORD, Mrs. Born 1855. Daughter of Canon Hamilton, Rector of
Ross, Co. Cork. Ed. in Ireland. Her early home was St. Brenda’s,
Co. Cork. Wrote upwards of forty-six novels dealing with the more
frivolous aspects of modern society. They had a great vogue in their
day. The most popular of all was, perhaps, Molly Bawn (1878). Most
of her books appeared Anon. Her plots are poor and conventional,
but she possessed the faculty of reproducing faithfully the tone of contemporary
society. She died at Bandon 1897.—(D.N.B.).
⸺ MOLLY BAWN. (Smith, Elder). 6s. and 2s. (Boston: Caldwell).
0.75. [1878].
“A love tale of a tender, but frivolous and petulant Irish girl, who flirts
and arouses her lover’s jealousy, and who offends against the conventions in all
innocence. A gay and witty story spiced with slang, and touched with
pathos.”—(Baker).
⸺ A LITTLE IRISH GIRL; and other Stories. (London: Whitefriars
Libr.). 1891.
⸺ THE O’CONNORS OF BALLYNAHINCH. Pp. 261. (Heinemann).
1s. 6d. 1896.
A domestic story of love and marriage in the Author’s lightest vein. The
characters belong chiefly to the landlord class, a local carman being the only
peasant introduced. There is no expression of political views. The scene
is laid in Cork.
⸺ NORA CREINA. Pp. 328. (Chatto & Windus). 1903.
A love-story from start to finish, without pretence of the study of character.
The story of how Norah is won from dislike to love is pleasantly told. No
politics. Peasants hardly mentioned. Scene not specified.
HUNT, B.
⸺ FOLK TALES OF BREFFNY. Pp. viii. + 197. (Macmillan).
3s. 6d. 1913.
Breffny, i.e., Cavan and Leitrim. Many of these stories—there are twenty-six
of them, all very short—“were told by an old man, who said he had
more and better learning nor the scholars,” and are a curious mixture of literary
language, and a very peculiar and picturesque peasant dialect. They are
somewhat off the ordinary lines of folk-lore stories, and are told in a quaint
drily-humorous vein.
HYDE, Dr. Douglas, LL.D., D.Litt.; “An Craobhin Aoibhinn.” Son of
late Rev. Arthur Hyde, Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon. Ed. T.C.D.
Has been President of the Gaelic League since its foundation in 1893.
Is Professor of Modern Irish in the National University of Ireland.
⸺ BESIDE THE FIRE. Gaelic Folk-stories. Collected, ed. (Irish
text facing English), and trans. by D. H. With Introd., Notes on
Irish text, and Notes on tales, by Ed. and Alfred Nutt. Pp. lviii. + 204.
(Nutt). 7s. 6d. 1891.
Extremely interesting and valuable Preface (50 pages) by the Author, in
which he reviews what had been hitherto done for Irish folk-lore, remarks
on the genesis of the folk-tale, its affinities with the Scotch folk-tale, and tells
us where and from whom and in what circumstances he got his stories, ending
by some explanations of the style of his translations. The preface is followed
by some critical remarks on it by Alfred Nutt. The English of the translations
is that of the peasants. This is the first really scientific treatment
of Irish folk-lore.
⸺ THE ADVENTURES OF THE LAD OF THE FERULE.
⸺ THE ADVENTURES OF THE CHILDREN OF THE KING OF
NORWAY. (Irish Texts Society). 1899.
Two Irish romantic tales of the 16th and 17th centuries, ed. and transl.
for the first time with introd., notes, and glossary. The “Lad” is a mysterious
being who appears to Murough, son of Brian Boru, and carrying
home for him the spoils of a miraculous hunting, demands as reward a certain
ferule that lies at the bottom of a lake. Murough slays a serpent, and delivers
the land of the Ever Young, which lies at the bottom of the lake. The
second is a long story of enchantment and marvellous adventures.—(Baker, 2).
⸺ An Sgéalaidhe Gaedhealach: Connaught Folk Tales. Three Parts.
With French Trans. by Georges Dottin. (Rennes). Parts 1 and 2, 10s.;
Part 3, 2s. 1901.
⸺ LEGENDS OF SAINTS AND SINNERS. Pp. xiv. + 295. (Talbot
Press: Every Irishman’s Library). 2s. 6d. 1915.
Forty-six stories described by the Author as Christian folk-lore, all translated
for the first time from the Irish, and for the most part gathered from
the lips of the people by the Author himself, who has been gathering folklore
for twenty-five years. Each tale is preceded by a preface giving all the
details of its collection, origin, character, &c., that are of interest to the
folk-lorist as well as to the general reader. The tales are compared with
similar tales occurring in foreign countries.
INGELOW, Jean. 1820-1897.
⸺ OFF THE SKELLIGS. Three Vols. (Keegan Paul. Boston:
Roberts). [1872]. Second ed., c. 1881.
Has no other connection with Ireland than the episode of the picking up
near the Skellig Island, off Waterville, Co. Kerry, of a boat’s crew that had
escaped from a burning ship.
IRVINE, Alexander. B. in town of Antrim of very poor parents. Was
a newsboy in Antrim, a coal-miner in Glasgow, a Marine. Began again
at the bottom in N.Y. 1888, and went through extraordinary experiences.
Is a Socialist. Lives in Peekskill, N.Y. See his autobiography From
the Bottom Up. (Heinemann). 1910.
⸺ MY LADY OF THE CHIMNEY CORNER. Pp. 224. (Nash).
3s. 6d. net. Eight eds. in three or four months. 1914.
Sub-t.:—“A story of love and poverty in Irish peasant life.” The central
figure—almost the only figure in the book—is Anna Gilmore, a poor woman
living in Pogue’s Entry, in the town of Antrim. Brought up as a pious
Catholic by Catholic parents, she marries a Protestant against their wish.
Henceforth she has renounced Catholicism, having chosen, as she says,
love instead of religion. To show that her choice was of the better part
seems to be the purpose of the Author. The book is a lovingly-drawn
portrait, with slight incidents, and the many wise sayings of Anna as traits.
There is a strong evangelical religious atmosphere throughout. The story
is largely in dialect. It is laid in Famine times; yet there are several
mention of Fenians, which seems to spell Catholic. The book would be better
understood by a reading of the Author’s autobiography, From the Bottom Up.
IRVINE, G. Marshall, B.A., M.B.
⸺ THE LION’S WHELP. Pp. 406. (Simpkin). 6s. 1910.
Introd. (by J. Campbell, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.S., LL.D. (Hon. Causa)) says,
“In writing The Lion’s Whelp Dr. Irvine has set before himself two main
objects. He desires to inculcate on the medical profession the necessity
which exists for the education of the public in all that pertains to the
maintenance of health ... and he wishes to impress upon the public
all that is summed up in the time-worn adage—‘Prevention is better than
cure.’” Incidentally, the book is also a satire against professional make-believe.
Scene varies between Belfast, the North of England, and Denver
City, U.S.A. The hero, Dan Nevin, starts his career as a doctor, with high
ideals—too high, as he discovers, for real life. The story is concerned with
his love-affair and various other adventures. A fine plot, well worked out,
with several striking characters. Moral tone high. Religion scarcely
touched upon. There are interesting descriptions of Co. Down scenery
and of life in Queen’s College, Belfast. The Author is a doctor, practising in
Co. Armagh.
IRWIN, Madge.
⸺ THE DIAMOND MOUNTAIN; or, Flowers of Fairyland. (Dundalk:
The Dundalgan Press). 1s. Illustr. by A. Donnelly. 1908. Cover in
white and gold.
IRWIN, Thomas Caulfield. 1823-1892. Is better known as a poet than
as a prose-writer. Yet he wrote one hundred and thirty tales of various
length, essays on many subjects, and an historical romance “From
Cæsar to Christ.” He was of unsound mind for a number of years
before his death.
⸺ WINTER AND SUMMER STORIES AND SLIDES OF FANCY’S
LANTERN. Pp. 252. Close print. (Gill). 1879.
Contents: 1. “Old Christmas Hall;” 2. “The First Ring”; 3. “An
Irish Fairy Sketch”; 4. “The Miser’s Cottage”; 5. “By Moonlight”;
6. “By Gaslight”; 7. “A Visit to a Great Artist”; 8. “Falstaff’s
Wake”; 9. “A Scene in Macbeth’s Castle”; 10. “Julio”; 11. “A
Death”; 12. “Visions of an Old Voyage from Rome to Asia”; 13.
“The Shores of Greece”; 14. “Theocritus”; 15. “A Glimpse of
Arcadia”; 16. “A Ballad of Old Dublin” (verse); 17. “Corney
McClusky” (verse); 18. “Ethel Maccara”; 19. “Pausias and Glycera”;
20. “Manon and her Spirit Lover”; 21. “An Ancient Aryan
Legend”; 22. “A Florentine Fortune”; 23. “Insielle’s Dimple and
Fan.”
Miscellaneous sketches and stories. Several are literary jeux-desprit
(e.g., 8, 9, 10). Others slight studies of curious little aspects of life, rather
imaginary than real. For the most part, however, they are peculiar, weird
tales, several touching the preternatural, but not morbid. The prose is
poetic, imaginative, and of high literary qualities—at times comparable with
those of de Quincey, e.g., in No. 4, p. 72, sq. Here and there are exquisite pen-pictures.
Several of the tales have Irish settings. No. 4 has curious pictures
of old Dublin, c. 1770.
JACOBS, Joseph.
⸺ CELTIC FAIRY TALES. Pp. xvi. + 274. (Nutt). 6s. Complete
edition. [1891]. Third, 1902.
Eight full-page plates and numerous illustrations in the text by J. D.
Batten. The pictures are exquisite, and could scarcely be more appropriate.
Interesting and valuable Notes and References at end, about 30 pages, giving
the source of each tale and parallels. The tales are drawn mainly from
previous printed collections. The twenty-six tales include some Scotch
and Welsh. Some are hero-tales, as “Deirdre,” and “The Children of
Lir”; some folk-tales; some drolls, i.e., comic anecdotes of feats of stupidity
or cunning. There are practically no fairy-tales properly so called. The tales
are admirably selected, and are told in simple, straightforward language.
⸺ MORE CELTIC FAIRY TALES. Pp. xvi. + 234. (Nutt). 6s.
Complete edition.
All that has been said of the first series can be applied to the second, which
is in every way worthy of its predecessor. Twenty stories. The two volumes
may fairly be said to constitute the most representative and attractive collection
of Celtic tales ever issued.
⸺ CELTIC FAIRY TALES. By Joseph Jacobs and J. D. Batten.
(Nutt). 3s. 6d.
⸺ MORE CELTIC FAIRY TALES. By the same Authors. (Nutt).
3s. 6d.
The above are children’s editions of these well-known books. The text is
practically the same as in the complete edition, but there are two or three
illustrations omitted, as well as the Introduction and Notes. The tales are
well known to be admirably suited to children.
N.B.—The same writers have edited English Fairy Tales, More English
Fairy Tales, Indian Fairy Tales, and The Book of Wonder Voyages, which
includes the voyage of Maelduin.
“JAMES, Andrew”; James Andrew Strahan, LL.D., a Belfast man, Prof.
of Jurisprudence in the Queen’s Univ. there.
⸺ NINETY-EIGHT AND SIXTY YEARS AFTER. (Blackwood).
3s. 6d. 1911.
In two parts. Part I. (four short stories) is told in dialect (correctly
rendered) by an old schoolmaster, and relates incidents of the rebellion in
Presbyterian Ulster, in which the narrator’s father had played a part on the
loyalist side. Shows thorough understanding of the political and social
conditions of the time, and is written in evident sympathy with the rebels,
though with no blind partisanship. Part II. (four chapters of a longer
story) introduces the supernatural, ghosts of ’98 returning to influence events
sixty years after. A book of much power and truth.
JARROLD, Ernest.
⸺ MICKEY FINN IDYLLS. Pp. 281. (N.Y.: Harper). 1899.
Introd. by Charles A. Dana (N.Y. Sun).
Reprinted from the Sunday Sun, Leslie’s Weekly, &c. Micky is a
youngster of 9 or 10, born of Irish parents, settled at Coney Island, where
the scene of the idylls is laid. A good deal of humour and some pathos. A
goat figures largely in the sketches.
⸺ MICKY FINN’S NEW IRISH YARNS. N.Y. 1902.
JAY, Harriett. A sister-in-law and adopted daughter of the late Robert
Buchanan, Scottish poet and novelist. She lived for some years in
Mayo, and the result of her observations was two good novels. She
wrote also Madge Dunraven, and some other novels.
⸺ THE QUEEN OF CONNAUGHT. (Chatto & Windus). Picture
boards. 2s. n.d. (1875).
How an Englishman, John Bermingham, fell in love with and married the
descendant of an old western family. How he tried, but failed, to reform
with English ideas the Connaught peasantry. Told with considerable
power and insight. Note especially the description of a police hunt over
the mountains in the snow. Has been dramatised.
⸺ THE DARK COLLEEN. Three Vols. (Bentley). 1876.
Scene: an island off the W. coast. Morna Dunroon finds a French sailor,
survivor of a shipwreck. She afterwards marries him, but he abandons her
and goes back to France. She follows him, and passes through strange
adventures, but he is still false to her. Nemesis follows in the end. Father
Moy is a fine portrait of a priest. The dialect and the scenery are both true
to the reality, the description of the storm at the close is particularly well
done.
⸺ THE PRIEST’S BLESSING; or, Poor Patrick’s progress from this
world to a better. Pp. 308. (F. V. White). Two eds. 1881.
A most objectionable book from a Catholic point of view. Very hostile
picture of priesthood of Ireland who keep the people in “bovine ignorance.”
The two specimens that appear in the story are villains of the worst type.
One is 25, and has been seven years a priest! He drinks heavily, and works
miracles. By another a respectable peasant is incited to murder. The
views of politics can only be described as “Orange.”
⸺ MY CONNAUGHT COUSINS. Three Vols. (F. V. White). 1883.
Jack Kenmare goes to his uncle’s place in Connaught, and has a pleasant
time in company with his cousins. He becomes engaged to one of them,
who writes stories. Several of these are given. An excellent moral tale, and
a glimpse of happy Irish life in a country house. The political point of view
is not Nationalist: neither is it hostile to Ireland.
JEBB, Horsley.
⸺ SPORT ON IRISH BOGS. Pp. 192. (Everett). 1s. Paper. 1910.
Farcical Irish stories by a Londoner who occasionally shoots and fishes
in Ireland. Peasants made grotesque, but Author has no hostile intentions.
Nondescript dialect. “A Home in Calery” is quite different, and makes
very pleasant reading. “Sister Eugenia” is an agreeable, melodramatic
story.
JESSOP, George H. B. in Ireland; ed. at Trinity. Went to U.S.A., 1873.
Edited Judge (1884), and contributed to other humorous papers. Wrote
some very successful plays. He died in 1915 at Hampstead. Another
of his novels is The Emergency Men, a novel in which he pictures the land
troubles in Ireland from the anti-popular point of view.
⸺ GERALD FRENCH’S FRIENDS. Pp. 240. (Longmans). Well
illustr. 1889.
Six stories reprinted from the Century Magazine, 1888. Gerald, a spendthrift
son of good family, takes to journalism, and goes to San Francisco.
There he meets various types of his fellow-countrymen, and the stories are
about these. “All the incidents related in this book are based on fact, and
several of them are mere transcripts from actual life.... The purpose is
to depict a few of the most characteristic types of the native Celt of the
original stock, as yet unmixed in blood, but modified by new surroundings and
a different civilization.” An excellent work, and perhaps the Author’s best.
⸺ WHERE THE SHAMROCK GROWS. (Murray & Evenden).
3s. 6d. 1911.
A rather commonplace story. The characters are mostly of the squireen
class, notably the drunken Mat O’Hara. There are two love stories, both
having happy conclusions, to which the racehorse Liscarrick largely contributes.
“The paper is poor and the binding tawdry.”—(I.B.L.) “The
writer has only put on record that part of his experience which can be reconciled
with conceptions derived from Lever.”—(Irish Times).
⸺ DESMOND O’CONNOR. Pp. 320. (Long). 6s. 1914.
The “Wild Geese” in Flanders. Desmond is the “Lion of the Irish
Brigade.” A love story that moves through camps and courts, siege, battle,
adventure, misunderstanding, to a happy ending, under the aegis of the
Grand Monarque. Told with spirit and verve.
JOHNSTON, Miss.
⸺ ELLEN: A Tale of Ireland. Pp. 139. 16mo. (London). 1843.
A curious and rather meaningless little story. Ellen O’Rorick, daughter
of a drunken tavern keeper, of Leixlip, goes to England, and mixes in high
society. Forgotten and looked down upon by her childhood’s friend, whom
she loves, she marries in succession two elderly, rich men, and then settles
in Ireland to a life of philanthropy, having meanwhile become a Protestant.
A good deal of moralising.
JOHNSTON, M. L.
⸺ MAVOURNEEN; or, The Children of the Storm. Pp. 233. (Walter
Scott). 1904.
Kitty O’Neill on her way to her aunt at Lostwin, in England, is saved
from a wreck by Ralph Whitteridge, of that place. Kitty grows up, and has
several suitors, but meets Ralph again, and marries him in spite of the aunt
who wishes her to marry Edward, the Squire. Some of the action takes place
at Malhay, in the S. of Ireland, Kitty’s native place. Kitty dies, and Ralph
takes to drink, but is rescued by a former rival, and on the voyage out to S.
Africa proves his sterling worth, but is drowned in a storm along with his
little boy, Curly. Author’s knowledge of Ireland very slight. Brogue
poor. No anti-Catholic bias.
JOHNSTON, William, of Ballykilbeg, 1829-1902. Was in his day one of
the most strenuous opponents of Home Rule, a leader of Orangemen,
and Unionist M.P. for Belfast during many years. His novels reflect
his political opinions.
⸺ NIGHTSHADE. (Belfast: Aicken). 2s. Portrait. [c. 1870].
Many editions; the last c. 1902.
The hero, Charles Annandale, a young Ulster landlord and an Oxfordman,
returns to Ireland in the thick of the agrarian agitation. His agent is shot
by Ribbonmen, who had been previously absolved by the priest. He is an
unsuccessful candidate for Parliament. The election is well described, the
Author probably drawing on his experiences at Downpatrick in 1857. Among
the characters is Rev. Mr. Werd (Dr. Drew, of Belfast). The sister of
Charles’s betrothed is entrapped by a Jesuit, who poses as her guardian, and
immured in a Paris convent, but is released after a lawsuit. There is much
denunciation of “prowling Jesuits,” “Liberal Protestants,” and “Puseyite
Traitors.”
⸺ UNDER WHICH KING. Pp. 308. (Tinsley). 1873.
A plain historical narrative, with little plot, and no character drawing
of the various events of 1688-91—Derry, the Boyne, &c. Very strong
Williamite bias.
JONES, T. Mason.
⸺ OLD TRINITY: a Tale of real life. Three Vols. 1867.
Period, c. 1850. Scene: T.C.D., Ossory, and Co. Limerick. Career, told
by himself of a brilliant young Trinity man, including a love story. A fine
piece of narrative. But the chief source of interest, perhaps, is the account
of the land troubles of the day, as the very sympathetic picture of the
sufferings of the peasantry during and after the Famine years. It includes
portraits, drawn with feeling and admiration, of an Ossory P.P., and of a
dissenting minister. There are pointed criticisms of educational methods
and a study, none too favourable, of life in T.C.D. The Author ran The
Tribune in Dublin in the fifties, and was afterwards well-known in England
as a lecturer of the Reform League.
JOYCE, James A. B. of Galway parentage about thirty years ago. Was
a student of Clongowes Wood College and of University Coll., Dublin.
Published some years ago a small book of verse that has been much
admired, entitled Chamber Music. Is at present in Trieste.
⸺ DUBLINERS. Pp. 278. (Grant, Richards). 3s. 6d. 1914.
Seventeen genre studies in the form of stories picturing life among the
Dublin lower-middle and lower classes, but from one aspect only, viz., the
dark and squalid aspect. This is depicted with almost brutal realism,
and though there is an occasional gleam of humour, on the whole we move,
as we read, in the midst of painful scenes of vice and poverty. His characters
seem to interest the author in so far as they are wrecks or failures in one way
or another. He writes as one who knows his subject well.
JOYCE, Patrick Weston, M.A., LL.D. 1827-1914. B. at Ballyorgan, Co.
Limerick. Ed. at private schools; graduated at T.C.D. In 1845 he
entered the service of the Commissioners of National Education. He
rose to be principal of the Marlborough Street Training Schools, Dublin.
Elected M.R.I.A., 1863; President of Royal Society of Antiquaries.
Wrote several histories of Ireland, of one of which 86,000 copies were
sold. Publ. works on Irish place-names, Irish music, a grammar of the
Irish language, a social history of Ancient Ireland, &c., &c. D. Jan.,
1914. He was writing practically up to the day of his death.
⸺ OLD CELTIC ROMANCES. Pp. xx. + 474. (Longmans). [1879].
Third ed., revised and enlarged. 1907.
Thirteen tales, selected and translated from the manuscripts of Trinity
College and of the Royal Irish Academy. Some had been already published,
but in a form inaccessible to the public, and in literal translations made chiefly
for linguistic purposes. The author justly claims that this is “the first
collection of the old Gaelic prose romances that has ever been published in
fair English translation.”—(Pref.). The translations are, as the Author
says, in “simple, plain, homely English.” He has made little or no attempt
to invest them with the glamour of poetry. The text is preceded by some
particulars concerning these tales and their origin, and followed by notes
and a list of proper names. The tales are: “The Fates of the Children of
Lir, Tuireann and Usnach”; “The Voyages of Mailduin and of the Sons of
O’Corra”; “The Pursuit of the Gilla Dacker and of Dermat and Grania”;
“Connla of the Golden Hair”; “Oisin in Tir-na-nOge,” &c. “I would
bring out,” said Dr. Richard Garnett, Librarian of the British Museum
“Joyce’s Irish Romances in the cheapest possible form and place them in the
hands of every boy and girl in the country.”
JOYCE, Robert Dwyer. Brother of the preceding. B. Glenosheen, Co.
Limerick, 1830. Graduated in Queen’s Coll., Cork. Went to U.S.A. in
1866, where he was very successful as a doctor. Returned to Ireland,
1883, and died the same year. He is perhaps better known as a poet than
as a prose writer.
⸺ LEGENDS OF THE WARS IN IRELAND. Pp. 352. (Boston:
Campbell). 1868.
Thirteen historical and semi-historical legends, told by a thoroughly good
story-teller, with plenty of colour and exciting incident and without clogging
erudition. “A Batch of Legends” includes the story of the monks of Kilmacluth
and the wonderful bird, a story of love in the ’45 (Culloden, &c.),
a legend about Murrough of the Burnings, c. 1663, how Patrick saved the
life of his servant Duan, Black Hugh Condon’s vengeance on the English,
c. 1601; and another, “The Master of Lisfinry,” the takings and retakings
of Youghal during the Desmond rebellion, story of a lost child found. “The
Fair Maid of Killarney”—the taking of Ross Castle by Ludlow during Cromwellian
wars. “An Eye for an Eye”—knightly combats during the Bruce
invasion, 1315. “The Rose of Drimnagh”—abduction of Eleanora de
Barneval of Drimnagh (near Inchicore) by the O’Byrnes. “The House of
Lisbloom,” a legend of Sarsfield and the Rapparees, an exciting story. “The
Whitethorn Tree,” a strange tale of Rapparees and Puritans, abductions and
rescues and fights. “The First and Last Lords of Fermoy,” 1216 and 1660
(the faithless Charles II.) “The Little Battle of Bottle Hill” is another
Rapparee story. “The Bridal Ring,” a story of Cahir Castle. “Rosaleen;
or, the White Lady of Barna”—end of 18th century.
P.S.—Some of these Legends were publ. without the name of the Author
in cheap paper ed. by Cameron & Ferguson, of Glasgow, under title, Galloping
O’Hogan, and other tales, n.d.
⸺ IRISH FIRESIDE TALES. Pp. 376. (Boston). 1871.
Sixteen stories, some historical (or pseudo-historical), some legendary,
some serious, some comic. The scenes are laid in various parts of Ireland, and
at various periods. Told in very pleasant if somewhat old-fashioned style.
Contents—“The Geraldine and his Bride Fair Ellen”; “The Pearl Necklace”
(a love story of Kilmallock); “The Building of Mourne” (Cork—Legend);
“A Little Bit of Sport” (four comic stories); “Madeline’s Vow”
(modern); “The Golden Butterfly” (Co. Clare); “Creevan, the Brown
Haired”; “Mun Carberry and the Phooka”; “a story of Dublin life in
the days of Queen Ann,” &c. Very little dialect.
JUBAINVILLE, H. d’Arbois de.
⸺ TÁIN BO CUALNGE. ENLÈVEMENT DU TAUREAU DIVIN ET
DES VACHES DE COOLEY. Pp. 190. (Paris: Champion). En
livraisons. 1907-9.
“La plus ancienne épopée de l’Europe occidentale traduite par H. d’A.
de J., Membre de l’Institut, Prof. au College de France, avec la collaboration
de MM. Alexandre Smirnoff et Eugène Bibart.”
KAVANAGH, Rev. M.
⸺ SHEMUS DHU; the Black Pedlar of Galway. (Duffy). 2s. [London:
1867]. Very many editions. Still in print. (N.Y.: Benziger).
0.60.
Life in and about Galway during Penal times. The peasantry are portrayed
as well as the citizens and the upper classes. The plot is somewhat
rambling, yet the book is interesting. In Allibone this is said to be by
Maurice Dennis Kavanagh, LL.D., called to the Bar at the Middle Temple,
1866.
KEARY, Miss Annie. B. at Bilton Rectory, nr. Wetherby, Yorkshire, 1825.
Her father, a Galway man, was rector of the parish. She wrote many
novels, Early Egyptian History, The Nations Around, Heroes of Asgard,
&c. She had very little personal knowledge of Ireland. D. 1879.—(D.N.B.).
See Memoir of Annie Keary, by her sister, 1882.
⸺ CASTLE DALY: The Story of an Irish House thirty years ago. Pp.
576. (Macmillan). 3s. 6d. [1875]; often reprinted. Fourth ed.,
1889. (Philadelphia: Porter). 1.00.
Period: the Famine years and Smith O’Brien rising. The sufferings of the
people sympathetically described. The Young Ireland movement dwelt on
both from an English and an Irish standpoint. All through the book constant
contrast between English and Irish characters, showing their incompatibility,
and on the whole the superiority of the English; yet the book shows sympathies
with Home Rule, to which one of the chief characters is converted.
There are some descriptions of scenery in Connemara.
KEEGAN, John.
⸺ LEGENDS AND POEMS. Pp. 552. (Sealy, Bryers). 3s. 6d. 1907.
Memoir of Author by D. J. O’Donoghue, pp. v.-xxxiii. He was a self-educated
Midlands peasant, who lived in the first half of the last century.
This miscellany consists of (a) Six tales of the Rockites, the brutal doings
of a secret society that flourished about 1830; (b) Legends and tales of the
peasantry of Queen’s County and North Munster; (c) Pp. 289-446,
“Gleanings in the Green Isle,” a series of letters written in 1846 to Dolman’s,
a London Catholic magazine, which deals with Irish country life, and are
interspersed with stories; (d) Pp. 493-552, Poems.
KEIGHTLEY, Sir Samuel R. B. Belfast, 1859. Son of S. Keightley, of
Bangor, Co. Down. Ed. Queen’s Coll., Belfast. Contested Antrim as
Indep. Unionist (1903), and S. Derry as Liberal (1910). Member of
Senate of Queen’s Univ. Resides in Lisburn, Co. Antrim. Other
works:—A King’s Daughter, The Cavaliers, Heronford, &c.
⸺ THE CRIMSON SIGN. Pp. 189. (Hutchinson). 6s., and 6d.
(N.Y.: Harper). 1.50. [1894].
Adventures of a Mr. Gervase Orme, “sometime lieutenant in Mountjoy’s
(Williamite) regiment of foot,” previous to and during the siege of Derry.
The story is told with great verve, and is full of romantic and exciting adventure.
There is little or no discussion of politics, and no bitter partisan
feeling.
⸺ THE LAST RECRUIT OF CLARE’S. (Hutchinson). (N.Y.:
Harper). 1.50. [1897]. 1908.
A stirring and exciting story of the Irish Brigade in Jacobite days, told in
bold, dashing style. Strong pro-Jacobite feeling. Part of the story takes
place at Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, the rest on the Continent—Tournay,
Fontenoy, &c. Madame de Pompadour is one of the historical personages.
⸺ THE PIKEMEN. Pp. viii + 311. Well illustrated. (Hutchinson).
6s. 1903.
The supposed “narrative of Rev. Patrick Stirling, M.A., of Drenton, Sangamon
Co., Ill., U.S.A., formerly of Ardkeen, Co. Down,” telling his experiences
in the Ards of Down (district between Strangford Lough and the sea) during the
rising. Presbyterian-Nationalist bias. Strong character study. Faithful
descriptions of scenery. The study of the Government spy is especially
noteworthy.
⸺ A BEGGAR ON HORSEBACK. Pp. 319. (Long). 1906.
A swaggering young bravo—a faint imitation of Barry Lyndon—tells his
adventures in Dublin and on the Continent in the days of the drinking,
gambling, out-at-elbows squireens (end of eighteenth century). The hero
is thus described:—“I should like to have seen the man who at cards,
drinking punch, riding or selling a horse, deludhering a woman, or winging
his man had any advantage of Rody Blake” (p. 12). A facetious, swashbuckler
tone is adopted throughout.
⸺ RODY BLAKE.
The preceding book seems to have been publ. also under this title, or
possibly this is a sequel, but I failed to come across it, in spite of much research.
KELLY, Eleanor F. Resides in Dublin. She is a constant contributor
to Catholic periodicals here and in the States.
⸺ BLIND MAUREEN; and other Stories. Pp. 160. (Washbourne).
2s. n.d. (1913).
Ten short stories reprinted from The Catholic Fireside, and other
Catholic magazines. High moral tone, characterisation good, dialogue
(often in dialect) natural. St. Antony plays a prominent part. “The
Fate of the Priest Hunter” is a tale of 18th century persecution in Ireland.
⸺ OUR LADY INTERCEDES. Pp. 210. (Washbourne). 2s. 6d.
1913.
Twelve stories, several of which are Irish, devoted to showing the care of
the Blessed Virgin for those who invoke her. One relates to Cromwellian
times, but for the most part the stories relate to the present time.
⸺ THE THREE REQUESTS; and other Stories. Pp. 192. (Duffy).
3s. 6d. 1914.
Twelve little stories, Irish in subject. The interest of the story is always
quite subordinate to the religious and moral interest. The tales deal with
answers to prayer (two of them are about prayers to St. Antony), the evils
of emigration, and of proselytism, the reward of charity, &c., one is a ghost-story.
They are told with great simplicity.
KELLY, Peter Burrowes. 1811-1883. B. Stradbally, Queen’s Co. Took
an active part in politics, and was a noted speaker. Died in Dublin.
⸺ THE MANOR OF GLENMORE; or, The Irish Peasant. Three Vols.
(London: Ed. Bull). 1839.
Scene: Stradbally, in the Queen’s County. Most of the personages of the
tale and many of its incidents are real. The country is very well described;
the book has many interesting incidents; peasant life is pictured with
knowledge and sympathy. The last year of the agitation for Catholic
Emancipation is the period dealt with. The famous Clare election is described,
and there is a character sketch of Dr. Doyle (“J.K.L.”). It criticised
strongly the Protestant ascendancy and landlord party, dwells upon the doings
of Orangemen and of Whiteboys, and the attempts to reconcile the two
factions.
KELLY, William Patrick. B. 1848. Son of John Kelly, of Mount Brandon,
Graigue, Co. Kilkenny. Ed. Clongowes Wood College and R.M.A.
Woolwich. Late R. Artillery. Lives in Harrogate. Has written
seven or eight other stories, chiefly semi-historical adventure stories.
⸺ SCHOOLBOYS THREE. Pp. 320. (Routledge). 3s. 6d. Eight
illustr. (good). [1895]. Several new eds.
A story of school-boy life at Clongowes Wood College in the early ’sixties,
told in a pleasant and picturesque style, and, almost all through, with frank
fidelity to reality. It is full of lively incident. Was highly praised by the
leading literary reviews.
[KEMBLE, Ann]; “Ann of Swansea.”
⸺ GERALD FITZGERALD; an Irish Tale. Five Vols (!). (London:
Newman). 1831.
Gerald, whose Catholic wife has deserted him, lives in an old half-ruined
family castle, near Armagh. The book is an interminable (1698 pp.) series
of petty scandals and flirtations, gossip, and matchmaking among the titled
persons living in “Doneraile Castle,” and “Lisburn Abbey.” The insipid
affairs of an out-of-date beau monde. This Author also wrote Uncle Peregrine’s
Heiress, Conviction, Guilty or not Guilty, and many other stories.
KENNEDY, Patrick; “Harry Whitney.” Born in Co. Wexford, 1801. In
1823 he removed to Dublin, and for the greater part of his life he kept
a bookshop in Anglesea Street. His sketches of Irish rural life as he
had known it are told with spirit, and with a kind of photographic literalness
and exactness. They are very free from anything objectionable.
Dr. Douglas Hyde, speaking of his folk-lore, says that “many of his
stories appear to be the detritus of genuine Gaelic folk-stories filtered
through an English idiom and much impaired and stunted in the process.
He appears, however, not to have adulterated them very much.” In
the Pref. to Evenings in the Duffrey he says (and the remarks apply to his
other books), “On all other points [viz., than the matrimonial fortunes
of his hero and heroine] there is not a fictitious character, nor incident
in the mere narrative, nor legend related, nor ballad sung, which was
not current in the country half a century since. The fireside discussions
were really held, and the extraordinary fishing and hunting adventures
detailed, as here set down.” He died in 1873.
⸺ LEGENDS OF MOUNT LEINSTER. Pp. 283. 16mo. (Dublin).
1855.
Title of a miscellany published under pseudonym of “Harry Whitney.”
Contains: “Three Months in Kildare Place,” “Bantry and Duffrey
Traditions,” “The Library in Patrick Street”; in all nine sketches, four of
which are stories supposed to be told at fireside of Wexford farm-house.
Careful picture of manners and customs. No. 1 is a story of the time of
Brian, c. 1001 A.D. 3. A love-tale of the days of Sarsfield. 6. Penal days,
a hunted priest.
⸺ FICTIONS OF OUR FOREFATHERS. 1859.
⸺ LEGENDARY FICTIONS OF THE IRISH CELTS. (Macmillan).
[1866]. Several eds. since.
Over 100 stories, given, for the most part, “as they were received from
the story-tellers with whom our youth was familiar.” They are derived from
the English-speaking peasantry of County Wexford. They include
“Household Stories” (wild and wonderful adventures), “Legends of the
Good People” or fairies, witchcraft, sorcery, ghosts and fetches, Ossianic,
&c., legends, and “Legends of the Celtic Saints.” All these are in this book
published for the first time. All through there is an interesting running
comment, introductory and connective. The book is hardly suitable for
children.
⸺ THE BANKS OF THE BORO. Pp. 362. (M’Glashan & Gill). 2s.
[1867]. New ed., 1875, &c.
Into the tissue of a pleasant and touching story of quiet country life in
North-west Wexford the Author has woven a collection of tales, ballads, and
legends, some of which are of high merit. They contain a wealth of information
on local customs and traditions. Incidentally, Irish peasant character
is truthfully painted in all its phases—grave, gay, humorous, and grotesque.
The moral standard is very high throughout. There are many vivid descriptions
of scenery. The whole is told in a simple, pleasant, genial style. The
Author tells us that the chief incidents, circumstances, and fireside conferences
mentioned in the book really occurred.
⸺ EVENINGS IN THE DUFFREY. Pp. 396. (M’Glashan & Gill). 2s.
1869.
A kind of sequel to the Banks of the Boro. The adventures of the hero,
Edward O’Brien, are continued, the story being, as before, interspersed with
legends and ballads. It has the same good qualities as the earlier book,
the tone being again thoroughly healthy.
⸺ THE FIRESIDE STORIES OF IRELAND. Pp. 162. 32mo.
(M’Glashan & Gill). 1s. 6d. 1870.
“A good book” (Douglas Hyde in Beside the Fire). Fifty tales, chiefly
fairy and folk-lore, but of very varied types, full of local colour and interest.
Many of them are of the kind found in the folk-tales of all nations, but have
an unmistakably Irish (not stage-Irish) savour. Moreover, they are told
with vivacity, quaintness, and sly humour. A good selection, suitable for
readers of any age or class.
⸺ THE BARDIC STORIES OF IRELAND. Pp. 227. (M’Glashan &
Gill). 2s. [1871].
Fifty-eight stories, founded, some on pagan myth, others on historical
traditions of great families. All were originally found in poetic form, and
many of them retain much of their poetic qualities. Many are told with a
singular humorous naïveté. In all the language is simple but very adequate
and dignified. They are free from anything that would make them unsuitable
for the young.
⸺ THE BOOK OF MODERN IRISH ANECDOTES. Pp. 192. 12mo.
New ed. (Gill). 6d. Has passed through several editions and is still
in print. 1913.
“Has no higher ambition than that of agreeably occupying a leisure hour.”—(Pref.).
“It has entered into the present writer’s purpose to draw the
attention of his readers to the principal events in the history of his country
since the Revolution of 1691.”—(Pref.). Anecdotes of Swift, Sheridan,
Curran, Moore, O’Connell, &c. Stories of duelling, gaming, hunting, shooting,
acting, electioneering, drinking. Taken from such Authors as R. R. Madden,
W. J. Fitzpatrick, Sir John Gilbert, Sir Jonah Barrington, Hon. Edward
Walsh, &c., &c. Free from coarseness, and practically free from the Stage-Irishman.
In the new ed. there are about 200 proverbs transl. from the
Irish and an Index.
KENNEDY, Rev. John J.
⸺ CARRIGMORE; or, Light and Shade in West Kerry. Pp. 128. (Office
of Chronicle: Wangaratta). 1909.
KENNY, Mrs. Stacpoole. D. of J. R. Dunne, of Ennistymon, Co. Clare,
and wife of T. H. Kenny, of Limerick, near which city she resides.
⸺ JACQUETTA. Pp. 227. (Washbourne). 2s. 6d. (N.Y.: Benziger).
0.75. 1910.
Scene: Kilrush, Co. Clare, and London. The story of an Irish-Australian
girl who comes to live in Ireland with her uncle, Dr. Desmond. She had
contracted an unhappy marriage, but believed her husband dead. The
story tells how she finds him, and the fate that overtakes him. There is also
the love-story of Dr. Desmond. In the end all is well with uncle and niece.
⸺ LOVE IS LIFE. Pp. 317. (Greening). 6s. 1910.
The heroine, Iseult Dymphna Macnamara, whose mother was French,
lives at the Court of Louis XIV. at the time when James II. held his exiled
Court at St. Germain. She loves the son of Sarsfield, but is forced by circumstances
into a loveless marriage with a noble and chivalrous Frenchman, St.
Amand, whom the king had chosen for her. St. Amand goes off to the wars
(Steenkirk and Landen), and meantime the king pursues Iseult with amorous
attentions. To avoid them she flies to Ireland. Here we get a glimpse of
the Penal days in Co. Clare. All comes right when Iseult comes to love her
husband. Brightly and entertainingly told.
⸺ CARROW OF CARROWDUFF. Pp. 331. (Greening). 6s. 1911.
Scene: West County (obviously Clare). The hero, son of an unpopular
landlord, whose cattle have been houghed and otherwise maimed, goes, in
spite of warnings, to a wake among the tenantry. This wake is described as
a scene of savagery. On his return he is “shot at” and wounded, and
there comes to nurse him a young nun with whom, before her entrance into
religious life, he had fallen in love. It turns out that she had entered the
convent in a moment of pique. The hero accordingly proposes, and they
are married by the death-bed of his father, who has fallen a victim to the
League.
⸺ THE KING’S KISS. Pp. 288. (Digby, Long). 6s. 1912.
A kind of sequel to Love is Life. How Iseult, who tells the story, buys the
life of her cousin Harry Macnamara by a kiss given to Louis XIV. This,
though innocent on her part, was the beginning of her troubles. Her enraged
husband rides post-haste to Versailles to tell Louis what he thinks of him.
St. Armand disappears, and Iseult almost dies of fever; but through a whole
series of plots and court intrigues and exciting adventures things right themselves
at last. James II., the Duchess of Tyrconnell, and many other
historical persons play a part in the romance.
⸺ OUR OWN COUNTRY. Pp. 142. (Duffy). 2s. 1913.
Sequel to Carrow of Carrowduff, with same personages. Several interwoven
love stories—in particular that of an English Protestant gentleman (converted
in the course of the tale) with Mrs. Monsel, a widow, mother-in-law to Corona
Carrow, who tells part of the story. The dénouement has a deep religious
interest, which indeed is the chief interest of the whole book.
⸺ DAFFODIL’S LOVE AFFAIRS. Pp. 320. (Holden & Hardingham).
6s. 1913.
A story of life among gentlefolk. Scene: near Carlingford and in London.
D.’s mother, of a good but impoverished family, has five daughters on her
hands, and the way in which these are married off, partly owing to her matchmaking
exertions, forms the burden of the story. For the most part it is
a light and vivacious story of social life and flirtations, but an element of
tragedy is introduced in one of the subsidiary love-stories, that of D.’s sister
Kit, who was thus punished for a flirtation carried on with Sir Dermot de
Courcy while his wife was still alive.
⸺ MARY: A Romance of West County. Pp. 273. (Washbourne). 2s. 6d.
1915.
On leaving her convent school in Dublin, Mary goes home to realise for
the first time that her father not only cares little for her but dislikes her
(her birth had cost her mother’s life). But in the long run she wins his love.
There is a double love story—her own and that of her madcap, slangy, tomboy
cousin Benigna. The Author is persistently vivacious and sprightly (calling
in slang to her assistance) in a way that might irritate. There is no repose
or quiet beauty about the style.
KENNY, Louise.
⸺ THE RED-HAIRED WOMAN: Her Autobiography. Pp. 400.
(Murray). 6s. 1905.
The interest centres in an old county family of Thomond, the O’Currys.
Characters typical of various conditions of life in Ireland: an unpopular,
police-protected landlord, a landowner with an encumbered estate, an upstart
usurer, faithful retainers, evicted tenants, etc. (N.I.R., Dec., 1905).
KENNY, M. L.
⸺ THE FORTUNES OF MAURICE CRONIN. Three Vols. (Tinsley).
1875.
A very long novel with a very complicated plot and without a trace of
brightness or of humour. The plot turns chiefly on a case of mistaken identity.
Maurice returns from soldiering in India to find that he is really heir to the
estates of the Grace family, and can marry Mary Grace, his cousin, whom
his putative mother had thought to be his sister. No national interest.
Date 184-. Places such as Deverell’s Chase, Desmond’s Tower, Rathcroghan,
are mentioned.
KERR, Eliza.
⸺ SLIEVE BLOOM. Pp. 153. (Wesleyan Conference Office). Three illustr.
1881.
A little non-controversial Methodist story for young people. Tells (in the
present tense throughout) how May and Willie lived a very poor life with
their maternal grandmother, but by the coming of their father’s mother
were raised to better circumstances. Nice descriptions of Mountmellick,
the Bog of Allen, and Slieve Bloom.
⸺ KILKEE. Pp. 193. (Wesleyan Methodist School Union). Third ed.
1885.
A moral and religious (but not controversial) tale. Adventures of two
boys near the Pollock Hole Rocks, Kilkee, the scenery around which is well
described. On all occasions the boys quote Scripture texts, and the piety of
the personages concerned is constantly insisted on.
⸺ KEENA KARMODY, &c.: A Tale. Pp. 192. (Wesleyan Methodist
Sunday School Union). 1887.
Also The Golden City, Hazel Haldene, and four or five others.
KETTLE, Rosa Mackenzie.
⸺ ROSE, SHAMROCK, AND THISTLE. Pp. 286. (Fisher, Unwin).
6s. 1893.
“A Story of two Border Towers.” Rhoda Carysfort, an Irish girl, comes
to live with her English cousins, and eventually marries a Scotch laird. Except
for the heroine’s nationality there is nothing Irish about the story, though
the Author’s sympathies are with Ireland. The tone is very “respectable”
and somewhat prim. It seems intended as a book of instruction for girls.
KICKHAM, Charles J. B. Mullinahone, Co. Tipperary, 1828. Began early
to write for nationalist papers—The Nation, The Celt, The Irishman,
The Irish People. Most of his contributions were verse, but to The
Shamrock he contributed his chief novels. He threw himself into
the Fenian movement, was arrested along with John O’Leary, and
sentenced to fourteen years’ penal servitude. His health never recovered
from this period of prison. He died in 1882 at Blackrock, near Dublin.
See the short Life by J. J. Healy, publ. 1915 by Messrs. Duffy. Besides
the novels mentioned below, Kickham wrote the following short stories:—“Poor
Mary Maher” (a sad tale of ’98); “Never Give Up,” “Annie
O’Brien,” “Joe Lonergan’s Trip to the Lower Regions” (Irish life in
the fifties, dealing largely with land troubles); “White Humphrey of
the Grange: A Glimpse of Tipperary fifty years ago”; “Elsie Dhuv”
(a story of ’98, full of incident, much of it humorous). These tales have
been collected for publication in the near future by Mr. William Murphy,
of Blackrock. K. knew thoroughly and loved intensely his own place
and people. He had wonderful powers of observation and a great fund
of quiet humour.
⸺ SALLY CAVANAGH. (Duffy). 2s. [1869]. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.75.
New ed. 1902.
Kickham’s first story. Contains in germ all the great qualities of Knocknagow.
We feel all through that it is the work of a man of warm, tender,
homely heart—a man born and bred one of the people about whom he writes.
It is a simple and natural tale of love among the small farmer class. Sally
Cavanagh’s tragedy is due to the combined evils of landlordism and emigration.
Some of the saddest aspects of the latter are dwelt upon. The book is quite
free from declamation and moralizing, the events being left to tell their own
sad tale. Perhaps the noblest characters in the book are the Protestant
Mr. and Mrs. Hazlitt. There is no trace of religious bigotry. There are
touches of humour, too—for example, the love affairs of Mr. Mooney and the
inimitable scene between Shawn Gow and his wife.
⸺ KNOCKNAGOW. Pp. 628. (Duffy). 3s. 6d. [1879]. Upwards of 14 eds.
since. (N.Y.: Benziger). 1.25.
One of the greatest, if not the greatest, of all Irish novels. Yet it is not
so much a novel as a series of pictures of life in a Tipperary village. We are
introduced to every one of its inhabitants, and learn to love them nearly all
before the end. Everything in the book had been not only seen from without
but lived by the Author. It is full of exquisite little humorous and pathetic
traits. The description of the details of peasant life is quite photographic
in fidelity, yet not wearisome. There is the closest observation of human
nature and of individual peculiarities. It is realism of the best kind. The
incidents related and some of the discussions throw much light on the Land
Question. The Author does not, however, lecture or rant on the subject.
Occasionally there are tracts of middle-class conversation that would, I
believe, be dull for most readers.
⸺ FOR THE OLD LAND. Pp. 384. (Gill). 2s. [1886]. New ed.
1914. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.75.
Main theme: the fortunes and the sufferings of an Irish family of small
farmers under the old land system. The peasant’s love of home and the
bitter sadness of emigration are brought out in the unfolding of the tale. All
through there runs a love-tale told with the Author’s usual restraint, simplicity,
and delicate analysis of motive. There is a humorous element, too,
amusing bailiffs and policemen furnishing much of it. Constable Sproule
driving home the pigs is capitally done. Rody Flynn is a grand old character,
evidently sketched from life.
⸺ THE PIG-DRIVING PEELERS.
Appears in one of the “Knickerbocker Nuggets,” entitled “Representative
Irish Tales.” Compiled, with Introd. and notes by W. B. Yeats. (N.Y.:
Putnam). Two Vols. n.d.
KING, Richard Ashe; “Basil,” “Desmond O’Brien.” The Author is (1914)
Staff Extension Lecturer of Oxford and London Universities.
Has contributed a good deal to the Cornhill and to the Pall Mall
Gazette, and is reviewer for Truth. Has written, besides the books
noticed here, Love the Debt, A Drawn Game, A Coquette’s Conquest, and
many others. Also a life of Swift. B. Co. Clare. Ed. at Ennis Coll.
and T.C.D. He gave up in the eighties his living in the Church of
England and began contributing to Freeman’s Journal, Truth, &c.
“He is,” says W. P. Ryan in his The Irish Literary Revival, “intensely
Celtic, but too candid to overlook the Celt’s failings.” For some time
in the eighties he lived in Blackrock, Co. Dublin. See Mrs. Hinkson’s
Reminiscences of Twenty-five Years, pp. 282-3.
⸺ THE WEARING OF THE GREEN. Pp. 299. (Chatto & Windus).
2s. 6d. 1886.
A story of the course of true love, in which the lovers are long kept apart
by many untoward happenings. The writer’s sympathies and the characters
of his story are Protestant, yet there is no hostility to Catholics, and one of
the pleasantest characters in the book is Father Mac. One of the minor
incidents of the story is connected with the Fenian conspiracy. The chief
interest of the book lies, perhaps, in the drawing of the lesser characters. In
his delineation of all the English personages the Author is unsparingly caustic.
The book is brightly written; the conversation particularly good; there is
a vein of sarcasm throughout, and plenty of incident. The author evidently
sympathises with Irish grievances, and is proud of his country.
⸺ BELL BARRY. (Chatto). 2s. 1891.
“An exciting story, laid in I., then in Liverpool, and in part aboard a liner.
The Irish servants and other minor characters ... provide a good deal
of humorous talk.”—(Baker).
⸺ A GERALDINE. Two Vols. 1893. (Ward & Downey).
A story of almost contemporary life, largely concerned with land troubles
in Ireland. The heroine, a very attractive character and a woman of great
resourcefulness, is the daughter of a rack-renting squireen, and is a contrast
to the remainder of the family, which is weak, idle, and selfish. Other unpleasant
characters are a villainous attorney and a bigoted and pedantic
clergyman. Some of the duties which the R.I.C. have to perform are severely
commented upon. The Author takes the popular side. The incidents are
related with spirit and humour.
KING, Toler.
⸺ ROSE O’CONNOR: A Story of the Day. Pp. 173. (Chicago:
Sumner). Second ed. 1881.
Rose O’C. and Tim Brady love each other. Tim has to go to America.
Meanwhile the famine years come in Ireland. Rose’s family is reduced to
extremities, and she is compelled to promise marriage to Tim’s rival in order
to save it. But Tim returns in the nick of time. Locality not indicated.
Purpose, to contrast the tyranny of landlordism with the refinement and
gentleness of the Irish peasantry. The tone is Catholic, but not aggressively
so.
KINGSTON, W. H. G.
⸺ PETER THE WHALER. Pp. 252. (Blackie: Library of Famous
Books). 1s. Full size. Cloth. One Illustr. At present in print.
Peter associates with low company in his Irish home and gets into such
scrapes that he has to be sent to sea. The rest is a fine series of adventures
such as boys love. Here and there a good moral lesson is slipped in, not too
obtrusively. K. was a great writer for boys. Allibone enumerates 161 of
his works.
KNOWLES, Richard Brinsley. 1820-1882. B. Glasgow. Son of the dramatist,
James Sheridan Knowles, a Cork man who ended as a Baptist preacher.
Was at first a barrister, but took up journalism as a profession. In 1849
he became a Catholic. In 1853 sq. ed. of Illustrated London Magazine.
Glencoonoge originally appeared as a serial in the Month.
⸺ GLENCOONOGE. Three Vols. (Blackwood). 1891.
Three threads of romance skilfully intertwined, the chief of which is the
love story of an English girl of gentle birth and a splendid young Irish peasant.
The scene is an inn in a valley somewhere on the South-west coast. The
valley as described bears a strong resemblance to Glengarriff. The story
is eminently sane and natural, reading like a record of real events. It is
full of human interest, and is written in a style unaffected yet charmingly
literary. There are some good portraits—the Protestant Rector, the lovable
Father John, Conn Houlahan, the hero, Old Mr. Jardine, the O’Doherty.
The description of an Irish Sunday is one of the most beautiful in fiction.
The book shows understanding sympathy for Irish characteristics and ideals.
[KNOX, Rev. J. Spencer]; “An Irish Clergyman.”
⸺ PASTORAL ANNALS. Pp. 397. (London: Seeley). [1840]. Second
ed., 1841.
Contents:—“The Sick Parish,” “The First Death,” “The Sermon,”
“The Warning,” “The Private Still,” “The Pluralist,” “The Inn,” “The
School,” “Ribbonism” (a very unfavourable picture of bailiffs, process-servers.
Very fair towards Catholics); “The Night,” “The Starving Family,”
“The Birth,” “The Soup Shop” (Famine of 1817), “Death by Starvation,”
“The Confessional” (a plea for private confession), “Family
Worship,” “Tithe Setting,” “Lough Derg” (facetious in tone. Lough
D. pilgrimage = “a scene of mockery and dissoluteness”). A series of
studies—for the most part careful and sympathetic—of peasant life as
seen by a liberal-minded and kindly Protestant Rector. The part of
Ireland dealt with would appear to be Donegal.
“LAFFAN, May,” see HARTLEY.
LALOR, Desmond.
⸺ LOUGHBAR. Pp. 252. (Stockwell). 6s. 1914.
Adventures, not of a very remarkable kind, of a young doctor in the W.
of Ireland, locality indefinite. He is presented with a practice, and a furnished
house. There is a ghost, but he is not a real one, and rather commonplace.
The whole thing is very couleur de rose, everybody being nicely married off,
and the descriptions do not give the impression of things seen.
LANE, Elinor Macartney.
⸺ KATRINE. (Harper). 6s. 1909.
“An Irish-American love-story with scenes of planters’ life in South
Carolina. The Authoress has a keen appreciation of the psychology of the
Irish character, and in her portrayal of Dermott MacDermott and Katrine
Dulany, she successfully indicates the lights and shades of that puzzling
combination of mysticism and practicality.”—(Irish Times).
LANGBRIDGE, Rev. Frederick. Rector of St. John’s, Limerick. Chaplain
district asylum. B. Birmingham, 1849. Ed. there, and at Oxford.
D.Litt., T.C.D., 1907. Has publ. many volumes of poetry, and some
plays.—(Who’s Who).
⸺ MISS HONORIA. Pp. 216. (Warne: Tavistock Library). 1894.
Sub-t.: “A tale of a remote corner of Ireland,” viz., “Carrowkeel,” a
seaside village. Miss Honoria, a woman of 32, full of piety and zeal, the
prop of the parish, has never known love till she meets Sebert, to whom she
becomes engaged, Sebert writes beautiful letters from London. Miss H.
goes there to find Sebert making love to her niece “Daisy.” H. stands
aside, and S. marries Daisy. They return to Ireland, where S. makes love
to a poor girl. She is drowned. H. dies, and S. becomes an East End
missionary. There is much sentiment. Some pretty descriptions of
scenery, and some good minor characters—“Kevin Kennedy” and “Corney
the Post.”
⸺ THE CALLING OF THE WEIR. Pp. 304. (Large print). (Digby,
Long). 1902.
A love story of Protestant middle classes. Scene: near the Shannon
Weir and Falls of Donass, Co. Limerick. Two girls become engaged to two
men rather through force of circumstances than for love. Problem: are the
circumstances such as to justify Mary in marrying the man she does not love.
In a strange way it comes about that each girl marries the other’s fiancé,
and finds happiness. Not without improbabilities, but lively and piquant
in style. Irish flavour and humour provided by Mrs. Mack, the housekeeper,
and Constable Keogh. By same Author: The Dreams of Dania,
Love has no Pity, &c.
⸺ MACK THE MISER. Pp. 125. (Elliott Stock). 1907.
A tale of middle class Protestant life in Limerick, turning on the vindication
of the supposed miser’s character by a young girl. The tendency of the book
is moral and religious.
LANGBRIDGE, Rosamond. Dau. of preceding. B. Glenalla, Donegal.
Brought up and ed. privately in Limerick. Has contributed short
stories and articles to the Manchester Guardian and to other periodicals.
Her attitude towards Ireland has been expressed in a fine passage worthy
to be quoted. “Nationalist by sympathy and inclination, but not by
contact or association, and belonging to no particular party or clique she
[the Author] believes in Ireland as the Land of Spiritual Happiness;
as the Land which has kept itself innocent, religious, and vividly individualistic,
in face of the wave of undistinguishable sameness which is
engulfing all national idiosyncrasy, and tends towards becoming the
Esperanto of the soul. Ireland she believes in as the Child-Soul amongst
nations, not to be deceived or bought, but perceiving and desiring with
incorruptible ingenuousness those things which alone make individual,
as well as national life worth while: Faith and Freedom before Subordination
and Sophistication, and the Traffic of the Heart to the Traffic
of the Mart.” Their necessary brevity must give to the following notes
an impression of want of sympathy. They scarcely do full justice to all
the qualities of the books.
⸺ THE FLAME AND FLOOD. Pp. xii. + 339. (Fisher, Unwin;
First Novel Library). 1903.
A love-story. The lovers marry other people not for love. It is only
the presence of a child that prevents the heroine from leaving her husband for
her lover. There are accordingly curious situations, but nothing positively
immoral in the tone. The story is well constructed. Scene: partly in
Ireland, partly in England.
⸺ THE THIRD EXPERIMENT. Pp. 300. (Fisher, Unwin). 1904.
The scene is laid amid very low class society in an Irish town. The
interest centres in a young girl who is reared on charity, but finally marries a
fairly respectable tradesman. The personages of the story seem to be
Protestants, but religion is scarcely touched on. The brogue is very thick,
but the stage Irishman humour is absent. There is a persistent attempt to
study types and characters.
⸺ AMBUSH OF YOUNG DAYS. Pp. vii. + 344. (Duckworth). 1906.
The scene is laid in a temperance hotel. The central character is a young
girl, daughter of proprietor, who is given to telling out the truth in a most
unnecessary and inconvenient manner. The lodgers come prominently
into the story, and the heroine ends by marrying one of them.
⸺ THE STARS BEYOND. Pp. vii. + 375. (Nash). 1907.
A problem novel dealing with an ill-assorted marriage—the wife’s name
(symbolic) is “Vérité,” the husband’s “Virtue”; hence the clash. Religion
enters largely into the book. Types of Irish Protestant clergy. The writer’s
sympathy seems to waver between Catholicism and Protestantism, but
the heroine rejects both. The servants’ talk in conventional brogue.
⸺ IMPERIAL RICHENDA. Pp. 313. (Alston Rivers). 6s. 1908.
Scene: a small watering-place near Dublin. A fantastic comedy, somewhat
vulgar in places, but on the whole amusing, abounding as it does in
bright dialogue, and in absurdly comical situations. Some shrewd strokes
of satire are aimed at Dublin Society, and there are piquant sayings on other
subjects. The central figure is a young lady who takes a situation as waitress
in a small hotel. Her character is so equivocal that the book cannot be
recommended for general reading.
LARMINIE, William. B. 1849, in Co. Mayo. D. at Bray, 1900. Was many
years in the Civil Service. He is better known as a poet, Author of
Glanlua and Fand, than as a folk-lorist.
⸺ WEST IRISH FOLK-TALES AND ROMANCES. Pp. xxvi. + 258.
(Elliot Stock). 3s. 6d. 1898.
Taken down, by the editor, between 1884 and 1898, word for word in Irish
from peasants in Galway (Renvyle), Mayo (Achill), and Donegal (Glencolumbkille
and Malinmore), and translated literally. Interesting introduction
on the origin and sources of folk-lore. At the end are some remarks
on phonetics, which do not show a deep knowledge of the Irish system of
orthography, and specimens of the tales in Irish written phonetically. The
book is primarily for folk-lorists and some naturalistic expressions render it
unsuitable reading for the young. There are eighteen stories in all.
N.B.—The Author tells us (introduction) that besides the tales in this
book, he has in his possession many others not yet published. This collection,
a large one, is preserved in safety, but still awaits publication.
“LAUDERDALE, E. M.”; Mrs. Moore.
⸺ TIVOLI. Pp. 278. (Cork: Guy). 1886.
A family story (landlord class) laid first at Deer Park, near Cork, afterwards
in England, whither the family retires to be out of the Land League
agitation. This last is referred to with evident aversion. The interest
turns largely on a mystery of identity. The Author knows the Cork district
well, and describes localities accurately. Her sympathies are clearly
not nationalist. The religious attitude is one of tolerance.
LAWLESS, Hon. Emily. B. in Ireland, 1845. Eldest d. of Lord Cloncurry.
Came to know the W. of Ireland through her associations with the
home of her mother’s family. Her mother was a Miss Kirwan, of Castle
Hackett, Co. Galway. See Miss Lawless’s Traits and Confidences for
some memories of her childhood. She went a good deal among the
people in her natural history excursions. She had wide knowledge of
Irish history, as her volume on Ireland in the History of the Nations Series
bears witness. She wrote several books besides those here noted.
D. 1913. For a good article on her see Nineteenth Century, July,
1914.
⸺ HURRISH. Pp. 342. (Methuen). [1886]. 1902.
Scene: a wild and poverty-stricken district in Clare. A view of the bad
days of the ’eighties by one to whom the Land League stands for “lawlessness
and crime.” The people are depicted as half-savage. The story is a gloomy
one, full of assassinations and the other dark doings of the Land League.
The picture it gives of an Irish mother will jar harshly on the feelings of most
Irishmen. The Irish dialect is all but a caricature. Yet the story met
with an immediate and extraordinary success. In a vol. publ. by Mr.
Gladstone in 1892, Special Aspects of the Irish Question, he says of Hurrish,
“She has made present to her readers, not as an abstract proposition, but as
a living reality, the estrangement of the people of Ireland from the law....
As to the why of this alienation, also, she has her answer (p. 309 of first ed.),
‘The old long-repented sin of the stronger country was the culprit.’ She
thinks there was a sin, a deep sin, and (so I construe her) an inveterate sin,
but a sin now purged by repentance.”
⸺ WITH ESSEX IN IRELAND. Pp. 298. (Methuen). 6s. [1890].
New ed., 1902.
A narrative of Essex’s Irish expedition, 1599, purporting to be related by
his private secretary. Pictures Elizabethan barbarity in warfare. It has a
strange element of the uncanny and supernatural. Hints at the spell that
Ireland casts over her conquerors. Written in quaint Elizabethan English
which never lapses into modernness.
⸺ GRANIA: the Story of an Island. (Smith, Elder). 3s. 6d., and 2s. 6d.
[1892].
A sympathetic picture of life in the Aran Islands, where existence is a struggle
against the elements. There are typical characters, such as Honor, the
saintly and patient, with her eyes on the life beyond, and Grania, young and
impetuous, and longing for joy as she battles with the endless privations of
her stern lot, and the lover, Irish alike in his goodness and in his vices. The
success of this book exceeded even that of Hurrish. Swinburne thought
it “just one of the most exquisite and perfect works of genius in the language”
(in a letter).
⸺ MAELCHO. Pp. 418. (Methuen). 1s. (N.Y.: Appleton). 1.50.
[1895]. 1905.
Gloomy picture of misery and devastation during the Desmond rebellion.
An English boy escaping from a night attack finds refuge in a Connemara glen
among the native Irish (O’Flaherties), hideous wretches of savage appearance
and uncouth tongue. Then comes a confused account of the melodramatic
struggles of Fitzmaurice and his wild followers against the English, noble,
steady, and civilized. There is a vague impression throughout of an Irish
race without ideals or religion, inevitably losing ground, moved by no impulse
but love of strife and cringing superstition. But the cruelties of the English
at the time are not in any way slurred over.
⸺ TRAITS AND CONFIDENCES. Pp. 272. (Methuen) 6s. 1897.
A volume of stories and sketches, founded for the most part on fact. Some
are autobiographical episodes of childhood. There is an incident of ’98,
an incident of the Land War, and two episodes of Irish history, the story of
Geroit Mor, Earl of Kildare, and that of Art Macmurrough, told in vivid,
romantic style without political bias. Again, there are extremely interesting
“memories” of the Famine of 1846-7. On pages 142-150 is a remarkable
description of Connemara. The story-telling is full of vivacity and
picturesqueness, reminding one of French storytellers, such as Daudet. The
book is filled from first to last with Ireland.
⸺ THE BOOK OF GILLY. Pp. 285. (Smith, Elder). Four illustr.
by Leslie Brooke. 1906.
Scene: a small island in Kenmare Bay. Gilly is an eight-year-old boy
sent to Inishbeg for a few months by his father, Lord Magillicuddy, who is in
India. The book makes a marvellous pen-picture of life and scenery in this
remote corner of Ireland.
LAWLESS, Emily, and Shan F. BULLOCK.
⸺ THE RACE OF CASTLEBAR. Pp. 364. (Murray). 6s. 1914.
The story of Humbert’s invasion of Ireland in 1798, as seen by the narrator,
an Englishman named Bunbury, fresh come to Ireland. B. is represented
as an honest, unprejudiced, if somewhat phlegmatic personage. The historic
events are presented with great vividness and vigour. The Authors aim at
painstaking objectivity. On the one side the sufferings of the Catholics
and the harsh treatment of the rebels are painted in strong colours. The
portraits both of the rebel leaders and of the Orangemen are far from
flattering. The narrative is largely based on that written at the time by
Dr. Stock, the excellent Protestant Bishop of Killala. Bunbury is made to
spend some weeks at his palace.
LEAHY, A. H. B. in Kerry in 1857. Is a Fellow of Pembroke Coll.,
Cambridge.
⸺ THE COURTSHIP OF FERB. Square 16mo. Pp. xxix. + 100.
(Nutt). 2s. Two illustr. by Caroline Watts. 1902.
Vol. I. of Irish Saga Library. Elegantly produced in every way. An
English version of Professor Windisch’s German translation of an old Irish
romance from the Book of Leinster (twelfth century). The verse of the
original is translated here into English verse, the prose into prose. “In the
verse-translations endeavour has been made to add nothing to a literal
rendering except scansion and rhyme.”—(Pref.). The tale itself is a kind of
preface to the great Tàin. It is not of very striking merit, but is told in
simple, dignified language. The translation reads very well. A literal
translation of all the poetry is given at the end.
⸺ ANCIENT HEROIC ROMANCES OF IRELAND. Two Vols.
Small 4to. Vol. I., pp. xxv. + 197. Vol. II. pp. ix. + 161. (Nutt). 8s. net.
1905.
Contents: Vol. I. “The Courtship of Etain”; “MacDatho’s Boar”;
“The Death of the Sons of Usnach” (Leinster Version); “The Sick Bed of
Cuchulainn”; “The Combat at the Ford” (Leinster Version). Vol. II.
“The Courtship of Fraech”; “The Cattle Spoil of Flidias”; “The Cattle
Spoil of Dartaid”; “The Cattle Spoil of Regamon.” The Preface deals with
Irish Saga literature in general and in particular with the sagas here translated.
Each piece is preceded by a special Introduction dealing with its
sources and character. At the end of Vol. I. (pp. 163-197) are copious notes
explaining difficulties and giving literal translations. At the end of Vol. II.
is a portion of the Text of “The Courtship of Etain,” with interlinear translation.
Elsewhere the Text is not inserted. The book is “an attempt to
give to English readers some of the oldest romances, in English literary forms,
that seem to correspond to the literary forms which were used in Irish to
produce the same effect.”—(Pref.). The translation is partly in prose, partly
in verse. The former is dignified and fully worthy of the subject, literal
and yet in literary English. The verse does not seem to us to reach as high a
level. It is very varied as to metre, yet the poetic spirit seems to be wanting.
N.B.—The theme of “The Courtship of Etain,” though not coarse or
prurient, is such as to render it unfit for the young.
LEAHY, Walter T.
⸺ COLUMBANUS THE CELT. Pp. 455. (Philadelphia: Kilner).
$1.50. 1913.
The eventful career of the great St. Columbanus (d. 615) in the form of
fiction. Father Leahy bases his story on the narrative of Jonas, a monk of
Bobbio, who wrote the founder’s life about the middle of the seventh century.
But some of the incidents (notably the incipient love story) are unhistorical.
The Author does little to reproduce the colour and “atmosphere” of these
distant times. He even falls into somewhat glaring anachronisms. Yet
much is done to make the story interesting.
LEAMY, Edmund. B. Waterford, 1848, and educated there. Was for
many years in Parliament as M.P. for Waterford and afterwards for
Kildare. Was a kindly man and a delightful story-teller, beloved of
children. He died in 1904.
⸺ IRISH FAIRY TALES. Pp. xix. + 155. [1889]. New ed. (Gill).
2s. 6d. With Introd. by Mr. John E. Redmond, M.P., and Note by
T. P. G. Delightful Illustr. by George Fagan. Cr. 8vo. Handsome art
linen binding. 1906. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.90.
Sources of inspiration: O’Curry and Joyce. Child audience aimed at
throughout. Hence naïveté in style. At times there is a simple, sweet beauty
of language, and some passages, especially in the last tale, of true prose
poetry. Some useful notes at end.
⸺ THE FAIRY MINSTREL OF GLENMALURE. Pp. 48. 4to.
(Duffy). 1s. Cover design and many very pretty illustrations by C. A.
Mills.
Adventures of Irish children in an Irish fairyland of giants and little old
men and little old women. Told in refined and graceful style, quite free from
brogue, for very little children, with here and there an unobtrusive moral.
⸺ BY THE BARROW RIVER, and Other Stories. Pp. 281. (Sealy,
Bryers). 3s. 6d. Portrait. 1907.
Twenty dramatic, exciting stories, including several good ghost stories,
tales of the exploits of the Irish Brigade, of early Ireland, of tragedy, and of
comedy. By a capital story-teller. The book would make an excellent
present or prize.
⸺ GOLDEN SPEARS, and other Fairy Tales. (N.Y.: Fitzgerald). Cover
design in colours by Corinne Turner. 1911.
This is simply a new American ed. of Irish Fairy Tales.
LEE, Aubrey.
⸺ A GENTLEMAN’S WIFE. Pp. 328. (Edinburgh: Morton). 6s.
1904.
Part I. tells how a peasant girl is, after a week’s acquaintance, enticed
from her home by a man who, it transpires, is already married. In Part II.
their daughter, adopted by a saintly English clergyman, learns her parentage
on the morrow of her engagement. She releases her betrothed; but a year
afterwards marries a charming elderly baronet (the “gentleman” of the
story). The first part is rather coarse. The book is witty, the plot well worked
out, some of the characters most amusing; the end unexpected. By the
same Author: John Darker.
LEFANU, J. Sheridan. B. in Dublin, 1814. Ed. T.C.D. Contributed
largely to Dubl. Univ. Magazine, of which he became ed. and owner,
as well as of the Dublin Evening Packet and Evening Mail. D. 1873.
His chief power was in describing scenes of a mysterious or grotesque
character, and in the manipulation of the weird and the supernatural.
This Author also wrote Uncle Silas, In a Glass Darkly, The Tenants of
Malory, Willing to Die, The Rose and Key, The Evil Guest, The Room in
the Dragon Volant, A Chronicle of Golden Friars, Checkmate, The Watcher,
Wylder’s Hand, All in the Dark, Guy Deverel, Wyvern Mystery, &c. Nearly
all published by Downey & Co. Messrs. Duffy publ. a set of eight of
his novels at 3s. 6d. each.
⸺ THE COCK AND ANCHOR: A Tale of Old Dublin. Pp. 358. (Duffy).
3s. 6d. [1845]. 1909.
A dreadful story of the conspiracy of a number of preternaturally wicked
and inhuman villains to ruin a young spendthrift baronet, and to compel his
sister to marry one of themselves. The threads of the story are woven with
considerable skill. The tale, a gloomy one throughout, reaches its climax in
a scene of intense and concentrated excitement. The time is the Viceroyalty
of the Earl of Wharton, the story ending in 1710, but, except for the incidental
introduction in one scene of Addison, Swift, and the Viceroy himself, the
events or personages of the time are not touched upon. There are some slight
pictures of the life of the people of the period, but of Ireland there is nothing
unless it be the talk of some comic Irish servants.
⸺ THE FORTUNES OF COL. TORLOGH O’BRIEN. Pp. 342. (Routledge).
3s. 6d. Twenty-two Plates by Phiz. [Anon.: 1847]. Several
other eds. 1904.
Reckoned among the three or four best Irish historical novels. Main theme:
the efforts of the hero, an officer in the Jacobite army, to regain possession of
his estates in Tipperary, which are held by the Williamite, Sir Hugh Willoughby,
whose daughter O’Brien loves. There are many minor plots and
subordinate issues, among them the unscrupulous and nearly successful
conspiracy against Sir Hugh. The history is not the main interest, but there
is an account of the causes of Jacobite downfall, descriptions of James’s
Court at Dublin, and a fine description of Aughrim. There are excellent
pictures of scenery, and some skilful though roughly drawn character sketches.
The action closes shortly after the Treaty of Limerick.
⸺ THE HOUSE BY THE CHURCHYARD. (Duffy). 3s. 6d. [1863].
“A sensational story with a mystery plot based on a murder. Black
Dillon, a sinister and ingenious ruffian, is a grim figure of melodramatic stamp.
The setting gives scenes of social life in a colony of officers and their families
near Dublin.”—(Baker, 2).—Chapelizod.
⸺ THE PURCELL PAPERS. Three Vols. (Bentley). 1880.
Short stories collected and ed. by Mr. A. P. Graves, with short memoir of
the Author prefixed. For the most part they are either rollicking comic
stories, told in broad brogue, or tales of mystery and terror in the vein of
this Author’s longer novels. Examples of the former are:—“Billy Malowney’s
taste of love and glory” and “The Quare Gander.” These are not meant
as “stage-Irish” ridicule, but as pure fun. Examples of the latter type:—“Passages
in the Secret History of an Irish Countess” and “A Chapter in
the history of a Tyrone family.” There are also pure adventure stories,
such as:—“An Adventure of Hardress Fitzgerald, a Royalist Captain.”
All are admirably told. All but one are of Irish interest. They were originally
contributed to the Dublin Univ. Magazine.
LENIHAN, D. M.
⸺ THE RED SPY: A Story of Land League Days. Pp. 236. (Duffy).
3s. 6d. n.d. (in print).
Appears to be largely autobiographical. A story of Land League days,
full of incident. The interest chiefly turns on the interplay of plot and
counterplot, in which the various parties—the moonlighters, the Castle, and
Parnell’s followers—figure. The centre of all the plots is McGowan, the
“Red Spy,” a secret service agent of the Castle. The scene shifts from
America to Ireland—Dublin, Kildare, the Kerry border (good description),
Lisdoonvarna. Types well studied—the genial landlord Col. O’Hara; the
sporting squire Sir Thady Monroe; the weak-minded oppressor Sir Richard
A⸺; the American journalist, &c. The “Red Spy” in real life was
“Red Jim” McDermott.
LEPPER, J. H.
⸺ CAPTAIN HARRY. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. 1908.
“Tale of Parliamentary Wars, introducing the principal characters who
took part on the Royalist and the Parliamentary sides.”
⸺ FRANK MAXWELL. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. Paper.
Adventures of an Irish Puritan planter’s son, who by an unlucky series
of accidents finds himself on the royalist and Irish side just before
the rebellion of 1641. The central incident of the story is the journey
of one Hugh O’Donnell to Glasgow, where he meets Charles secretly,
and is returning as Viceroy when he is wrecked, and Frank Maxwell along
with him, on the coast of Antrim. The Irish are, on the whole, represented
as rather bloodthirsty and barbaric, especially “Hugh O’Donnell.” A
good “adventure” book.
LESTER, Edward.
⸺ THE SIEGE OF BODIKE: A Prophecy of Ireland’s Future. Pp.
140. (London: Heywood). 1886.
A political skit written from a strongly Tory standpoint, in which the
Author tells us how he would deal with the Irish question. The time is 188-,
yet an imaginary Fenian rebellion is described. Kilkenny falls into the
hands of the enemy, and a bomb is dropped from a balloon on Bodike, a
village in Kilkenny. The whole is wildly improbable, but it is probably
meant to be so.
LETTS, W. M. A granddaughter of Alexander Ferrier, Esq., of Knockmaroon
Park, Co. Dublin, where she spent many summers. She resides
in Blackrock, Co. Dublin. Ed. at St. Anne’s, Abbots Bromley, and
Alexandra College, Dublin. Has written Diana Dethroned, Christina’s
Son, The Rough Way (Wells, Gardner), short Irish stories for children
in the Month and other periodicals. She is coming to be very well
known as a poet, and has written some plays for the Abbey Theatre.
⸺ THE MIGHTY ARMY. Pp. 128. (Wells, Gardner). 5s. net. Ill.
by Stephen Reid. 1912.
Stories from the lives of saints, including St. Columba.
LEVER, Charles. Born (1806) in Dublin, of English parentage; graduated
at T.C.D. Wrote much for the National Magazine, the D.U. Magazine,
Blackwood’s, the Cornhill, &c. Consul in Spezzia, 1858, and
at Trieste, 1867. Here he died in 1872. Is by far the greatest of that
group of writers who, by education and sympathies, are identified with
the English element in Ireland. He was untouched by the Gaelic spirit,
was a Tory in politics, and a Protestant. “His imagination,” says Mr.
Krans, “did not enable him to see with the eyes of the Catholic gentry
or the peasantry. He knew only one class of peasants well—servants
and retainers, and he only knew them on the side they turned out to
their masters. Most of his peasants are more than half stage-Irishmen.”
He had no sympathy with the religious aspirations of Catholics, and his
pictures of their religious life are sometimes offensive. These are his
limitations. On the other hand, his books are invariably clean and
fresh, free from vulgarity, morbidness, and mere sensationalism. His
first four books overflow with animal spirits, reckless gaiety, and fun.
It has been well remarked by his biographer, W. J. Fitzpatrick, that his
genius was much more French than English. After Hinton he is more
serious, more attentive to plot-weaving, and to careful character-drawing.
His books give a wonderful series of pictures of Irish life from the days of
Grattan’s Parliament to the Famine of 1846. Many of these pictures,
though true to certain aspects of Irish life, create a false impression by
directing the eye almost exclusively to what is grotesque and whimsical.
Lever’s portrait gallery is one of the finest in fiction. It includes the
dashing young soldiers of the earlier books; the comic characters, an
endless series; diplomatists, doctors, lawyers, politicians, usurers,
valetudinarians, aristocrats, typical Irish squires, adventurers, braggarts,
spendthrifts, nearly all definite and convincing. See Art, in Blackwood,
Apr., 1862, and in Dubl. Rev., 1872, Vol. 70, p. 379. Also Edmund
Downey’s book, Charles Lever: his Life and Letters. Many of Lever’s
novels were originally published in shilling monthly parts, with two
illustrations by “Phiz” (Hablot K. Browne), and had as great a vogue
as those of Dickens. There have been many editions since by Routledge
(3s. 6d.) and Chapman & Hall (2s.), with and without illustrations, but
the finest ever issued is:—
⸺ COMPLETE NOVELS. Edited by the Novelist’s Daughter. Thirty-seven
Vols. (Downey). Publ. £19 18s. Cloth. 1897-9.
The only complete and uniform ed. of Lever. Contains all the original steel
engravings and etchings by “Phiz” and Cruikshank, and many ill. by
Luke Fildes and other artists. Ed. and annotated by means of unpublished
memoranda found among Author’s papers. Lever’s prefaces are printed,
and bibliographical notes appended to each story.
⸺ HARRY LORREQUER. Pp. 380. (N.Y.: Dutton). 1.00. [1839].
The first of Lever’s rollicking military novels. The hero is a dashing
young English officer, who comes to Cork with his regiment, and there passes
through what the Author calls “a mass of incongruous adventures. Such
was our life in Cork, dining, drinking, riding steeplechases, pigeon-shooting,
and tandem-driving.” The book abounds in humorous incidents, and is
packed with good stories and anecdotes. All sorts of Irish characters are
introduced. There are sketches of Catholic clerical life in a vein of burlesque.
The latter part of the story takes the reader to the Continent (various parts
of France and Germany), where we meet Arthur O’Leary, afterwards made
the hero of another story. Mr. Baker describes the book well as “very
Irish in the stagey sense, very unreal.”
⸺ CHARLES O’MALLEY. Pp. 632, close print. (N.Y.: Putnam).
1.00. [1841].
From electioneering, hunting, and duelling with the Galway country gentry,
the scene changes to Trinity, where the hero goes in for roistering, larking, and
general fast living with the wildest scamps in town. Then he gets a commission
in the dragoons, and goes to the Peninsula (p. 147). There he goes
through the whole campaign, and ends by viewing Waterloo from the French
camp. Throughout, the narrative is enlivened by the raciest and spiciest
stories. The native Irish, where they appear, are drawn in broad caricature.
“Major Monsoon” was the portrait of a real personage, and so was the tomboy
Miss “Baby Blake.” “Mickey Free” is the best known of Lever’s farcical
Irish characters.
⸺ JACK HINTON. Pp. 402. (Boston: Little, Brown). 5.00. [1843].
Adventures of a young English officer who arrives in Ireland during the
Viceroyalty of the Duke of Grafton. The hero’s Irish experiences include
steeplechasing, fox-hunting, “high life” in Dublin, a glimpse of society life
in the Castle, love, duelling, and murder. But Lever wrote the book
to show how Irish character and Irish ways differed wholly from English,
and he represents Hinton as constantly having his prejudiced English eyes
opened with a vengeance. This novel contains some of Lever’s most famous
characters: Corny Delaney, Hinton’s body servant; Mr. and Mrs. Paul
Rooney, parvenu leaders of Dublin society; Father Tom Loftus, Lever’s
idea of the jolly Irish priest; Bob Mahon, the devil-may-care impecunious Irish
gentleman; most of all Tipperary Joe. “For these,” says the Author (Pref.,)
“I had not to call upon imagination.” Tipperary Joe was a real personage.
For the last 100 pages the scene shifts to Spain, France, and Italy.
Throughout, event succeeds event at reckless speed. There are some scenes
of Connaught life, and a fine description of a meeting of “The Monks of the
Screw.”
⸺ TOM BURKE OF “OURS.” Pp. 660. (N.Y.: Dutton). [1844].
The early scenes (150 pp.) of Tom’s life (told throughout in the first person)
take place in Ireland. Lever tells us (Pref.) that he tried to make Tom
intensely Irish before launching him into French life. Tom enlists, but in
consequence of a quarrel with a fatal ending has to fly the country. He goes
to France, then under the First Consul, and joins the army. Military,
civil, and political life at Paris is described with wonderful vividness and
knowledge. These form a background to the exciting and dramatic adventures
and love affairs of the hero. Then there is the Austerlitz campaign
fully described; then life at Paris in 1806. Then the campaign of Jena.
Finally, we have a description of the last campaign that ended with the
abdication at Fontainebleau. The portrait of Napoleon is lifelike and
convincing. Lever throws himself thoroughly into his French scenes.
A pathetic episode is the love of Minette, the Vivandière, for Tom, and her
heroic death at the Bridge of Montereau. Darby the Blast is a character
of the class of Mickey Free and Tipperary Joe, yet quite distinct and original.
The scene near the close where Darby is in the witness-box is a companion
picture to Sam Weller in court, and is one of the best things of its kind in
fiction.
⸺ ARTHUR O’LEARY. Pp. 435. (N.Y.: Dutton). 1.00. [1844].
Rather a collection of stories of adventure than a novel. Lever has
worked into it many of his own experiences in Canada, and also at Göttingen.
There is a good deal about Student life in Germany. Many stories (of the
Napoleonic wars chiefly) are told by the various characters all through the
book. Some contemporary critics thought this the best of Lever’s books.
⸺ ST. PATRICK’S EVE. Pp. 203. (Chapman & Hall). illustr. by
“Phiz.” (N.Y.: Harper). [1845].
A short and somewhat gloomy tale of a period that Lever knew well—the
pestilence of 1832. Scene: borders of Lough Corrib. The life described
is that of the small farmer and the peasant struggling to make ends meet.
Faction-fighting is dealt with in the opening of the tale, and the relations
between landlord and agent and tenantry, at the period, are described with
insight. “When I wrote it, I desired to inculcate the truth that prosperity
has as many duties as adversity has sorrows.” It is far the most national
of Lever’s stories, and there is a depth of feeling and of sympathy in it that
would surprise those acquainted only with Charles O’Malley and Harry
Lorrequer.
⸺ THE O’DONOGHUE. Pp. 369. (Routledge). [1845].
Scene: Glenflesk (between Macroom and Bantry) and Killarney. Period:
from just before to just after the French expedition to Bantry. The
O’Donoghue, poor and proud, is intended as a type of the decaying Catholic
gentry of ancient lineage, living in a feudal, half-barbaric splendour, beset by
creditors and bailiffs whom fear of the retainer’s blunderbuss alone kept at a
distance. Mark O’Donoghue, proud, gloomy, passionate, filled with hatred
of the English invader, wears a frieze coat like the peasants, sells horses,
hunts and fishes for a livelihood. He joins the United Irishmen, who are
represented as making an ignoble traffic of conspiracy, and takes part in
Hoche’s attempted invasion. Other characters are: Kate O’Donoghue,
educated abroad; Lanty Lawler, horse-dealer, who supplies plenty of humour;
in particular Sir Marmaduke Travers, a well-meaning but self-sufficient
Englishman, who, knowing nothing of Ireland, makes ludicrous attempts
to better his tenants’ condition. “I was not sorry to show,” says Lever
(Pref.), “that any real and effective good to Ireland must have its base in the
confidence of the people.” For this book Lever was bitterly accused of
Repeal tendencies.
⸺ THE MARTINS OF CRO’ MARTIN. Pp. 625. (N.Y.: Harper).
1856. [1847].
Scene: chiefly Connemara; the novel opening with a fine picture of the
old-time splendours of Ballynahinch Castle, the seat of the “Martins.” For
awhile the scene shifts to Paris during the Revolution of 1830. The story
illustrates the practical working of the Emancipation Act. Martin is a type
of the ease-loving Irish landlord, “shirking the cares of his estates, with an
immense self-esteem, narrow, obstinate, weak, without ideas, and with
a boundless faith in his own dignity, elegance, and divine right to rule
his tenants” (Krans). Rejected by his tenantry at an election he quits
the country in disgust, leaving them to the mercies of a Scotch agent. Lever
pictures vividly the sufferings of the people both from this evil and from the
cholera, drawing for the latter upon his own experiences when ministering to
cholera patients in Clare. He says of the people that “no words of his
could do justice to the splendid heroism they showed each other in misfortune.”
Mary Martin is one of Lever’s most admirable heroines. There is a fine
study, also, of a young man of the people, son of a small shopkeeper in
Oughterard, who, by his sterling worth, raises himself to the highest positions.
⸺ THE KNIGHT OF GWYNNE. (Philadelphia: Peterson). 1847.
A close study, based on considerable knowledge, of the ways and means
adopted by the English Government to destroy the Irish Parliament. Castlereagh
figures in no flattering fashion. Con Heffernan is a type of his unscrupulous
tools. The Knight himself is an engaging portrait of a lovable old
Irish gentleman, frank, high-spirited, courteous, chivalrous. At first placed
in ideal circumstances for the display of all his best qualities, he shows himself
no less noble in meeting adversity. Other notable characters are Bagenal
Daly (a portrait of Beauchamp Bagenal), the villainous attorney Hickman,
and Mr. Dempsey, the story-telling innkeeper. In describing the coasts
of Antrim and Derry and the country about Castlebar and Westport, Lever
draws upon his own experiences.
⸺ ROLAND CASHEL. Pp. 612. [1850]. (N.Y.: Harper). 1849.
Opens with wonderfully vivid and picturesque description of life in the
Republic of Columbia. A harum-scarum young Irish soldier of fortune
almost promises marriage to the daughter of a Columbian adventurer. Then
he learns he is heir to a large property in Ireland, and he immediately returns
there. In Dublin the daughters of his lawyer, Mr. Kennyfeck, and others try
to capture the young heir, but instead he falls in love with a penniless girl.
Then there are exciting and romantic adventures. The villain, Tom Linton,
with the intention of ruining Roland, introduces him to fast society, nearly
implicates him with the young wife of Lord Kilgoff; the Columbian adventurer
turns up to claim him; he is charged with murder; but eventually all is well.
Lady Kilgoff is an admirably drawn character, as also is the Dean of Drumcondra,
a portrait of Archbishop Whately. In the last chapter there is a
passage which seems to show how Lever realized that the anglicized society
of the Pale is far from being the true Ireland. Incidentally, too, the evils
of landlordism are touched upon.
⸺ THE DALTONS; or, Three Roads in Life. Pp. 700. (N.Y.: Pratt).
1.50. [1852].
The longest and most elaborate of Lever’s novels. Subject: the careers
of Peter Dalton, an absentee Irish landlord—needy, feckless, selfish,
Micawberish—and his children, on the Continent in Germany, Austria, and
Italy. Some of the leading characters are involved in the Austro-Italian
campaign of 1848, and in the Tuscan Revolution. There is a study—a
flattering one—to Austrian military life, and lively, amusing pictures of
Anglo-Italian life in Florence. A noteworthy character is the Irish Abbé
d’Esmonde, who towards the close of the book takes part in some dramatic
incidents during a visit to Ireland, undertaken in the cause of the Church.
There is in the book a good deal about “priest-craft.”
⸺ MAURICE TIERNAY. (N.Y.: Harper). 1.00. [1852].
Adventures of a young Jacobite exile in many lands, 1793-1809. Opens
with vivid description of “The Terror.” Later Maurice joins the Army
of the Rhine, and then Humbert’s expedition to Ireland. The latter is fully
related, and also the capture and death of Wolfe Tone. After some adventures
in America, the hero returns to Europe, and is in Genoa during its siege by
the Austrians. Taken prisoner by the latter, he escapes and joins Napoleon,
of whose Austrian campaign a brilliant description is given. Napoleon and
some of his great marshals loom large in the story, and the military life of
the period on the Continent is described. But perhaps the best part of the
book is the account of Humbert’s invasion of Ireland.
⸺ CON CREGAN. Pp. 496. (Philadelphia: Peterson). [1854].
Lever describes his hero as the “Irish Gil Blas.” Born on the borders
of Meath, Cregan goes to Dublin, where he has some exciting experiences,
ending in his being carried off in the yacht of an eccentric baronet. He is
wrecked on an island off the coast of North America. Here he meets a runaway
negro slave, Menelaus Crick, one of the most striking characters in the
book. There follow experiences (tragic and comic) in Quebec, and afterwards
in Texas and Mexico, life in which is described with remarkable vividness
and wealth of colour. At last Cregan returns to Ireland, and marries a
Spanish lady whom he had met in Mexico.
⸺ SIR JASPER CAREW. Pp. 490. (N.Y.: Harper). [1855].
The early part (152 pages) deals with the career of the hero’s father, a
wealthy Irish gentleman of Cromwellian stock, who has estates and copper
and lead mines in Wicklow. He goes to Paris, allies himself by a secret
marriage with the party of the Duke of Orleans, then returns to Ireland,
where he kills a Castle official in a duel, receiving himself a mortal wound.
His widow is deprived of the property, and left in poverty. She retires
to Mayo, with her son, Jaspar. In this part there are elaborate pictures of
politics in the early days of the Irish Parliament, and of the wild, extravagant
social life of the period. Jasper goes to France, is involved in revolutionary
plots, is sent to London as secret agent, and there has interviews with Pitt
and Fox. Finally he returns to Ireland to claim his birthright. The story
is told in the first person, and Lever intended the narrative to reveal the
intimate character of the teller. The book is crammed with adventure.
It was a favourite with the Author.
⸺ THE FORTUNES OF GLENCORE. Pp. 395. (N.Y.: Pratt).
1.50. [1857].
Intended (see Pref.) as an experiment to bear out (or the contrary) his
conviction that “any skill I possess lies in the delineation of character and
the unravelment of that tangled skein that makes up human motives.”
The scene at first is in a castle on the shores of the Killaries, between Mayo
and Galway; afterwards it is on the Continent. Lord Glencore is a passionate,
proud, soured man, misanthropical and suffering from disease. A
scandal connected with his wife has filled him with hatred and bitterness.
He determines to disown his son, who, after a terrible scene, runs away
from home. The book is largely taken up with the adventures in Italy
and elsewhere of Sir Horace Upton, a distinguished diplomatist and a valetudinarian,
together with the doings and sayings of his follower, Billy Traynor,
formerly poor scholar, hedge-schoolmaster, fiddler, journalist, now unqualified
medical practitioner—a strange character drawn from a real personage.
Many of the characters are cosmopolitan political intriguers. In
the end Lady Glencore’s innocence is established.
⸺ DAVENPORT DUNN. (Philadelphia: Peterson). 1859.
The astonishing histories of two adventurers. Dunn is an ambitious,
clever man who by shady means lifts himself into a high position as a financier
and launches into immense financial schemes. This character was drawn
from John Sadlier, Junior Lord of the Treasury, who was the associate of Judge
Keogh in “The Pope’s Brass Band,” (so-called) and closed an extraordinary
career by committing suicide on Hampstead Heath. Grog David, a blackleg,
rivals Dunn in another sphere, his sporting cheats being as vast as the other’s
financial swindles. Davis’ high-hearted daughter, Lizzie, is a finely-drawn
character.
⸺ ONE OF THEM. Pp. 420. (N.Y.: Harper). 0.50. (1861).
Scene varies between Florence and the North of Ireland, many of the
incidents described being real experiences of his own gone through in each
of these places. Lever having been asked which of his novels he deemed
best suited for the stage, replied that if a sensation drama were required,
he thought One of Them a good subject. Deals largely with the adventures
on the Continent of a queer type of Irish M.P.; but its outstanding character
is Quackinboss, a droll specimen of Yankee.
⸺ BARRINGTON. (N.Y.: Pratt). 0.50. [1862].
A novel of social and domestic life in the middle classes. Scene: a queer
little inn, “the Fisherman’s Home,” on the banks of the Nore, Co. Kilkenny.
Here the Barringtons live. Among the striking characters are the fire-eating
Major M’Cormack; Dr. Dill, an excellent study of a country medical
man, and his lively daughter, Polly. The interest largely turns on the
disgrace and subsequent vindication of Barrington’s son, George. In this
Lever portrays his own son and his career.
⸺ A DAY’S RIDE. Pp. 396. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.50. [1863].
The whimsical adventures of Algernon Sydney Potts, only son of a Dublin
apothecary. An extravaganza in the vein of Don Quixote, and quite unlike
Lever’s other works. Potts’s experiences begin in Ireland, but most of them
take place on the Continent.
⸺ THE DODD FAMILY ABROAD. Pp. 565. (N.Y.: Pratt). 0.50.
[1863-65.]
Humorous adventures on the Continent of an Anglo-Irish family filled
with preposterously false ideas about the manners and customs of the countries
they visit. Told in a series of letters in which the chief personages are made
the unconscious exponents of their own characters, follies, and foibles, each
character being so contrived as to evoke in the most humorous form the
peculiarities of all the others. There are many acute reflections on Irish life,
especially in the letters of Kenny Dodd to his friend in Bruff (Co. Limerick).
Kenny Dodd is a careful and thoughtful character-study. The Author
considered Kate Dodd to be the true type of Irishwoman. Biddy Cobb,
servant of the Dodds, is one of Lever’s most humorous women characters.
Lever held that he had never written anything equal to “The Dodds.”
⸺ LUTTRELL OF ARRAN. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.50. [1865].
Opens in Innishmore, Aran Islands, off the coast of Galway. Luttrell, a
proud, morbid man of broken fortunes arrives there with his wife, the daughter
of an Aran peasant. The latter dies, leaving an only son, Harry. Shortly
afterwards Sir Gervais Vyner, a wealthy Englishman, calls at the island in
his yacht, and renews acquaintance with Luttrell. Vyner then goes to
Donegal, where he meets with and adopts a beautiful peasant girl. The
interest turns largely on the success of Vyner’s experiment in making a fine
lady out of the girl. She is one of Lever’s most charming heroines. After
many vicissitudes she comes to Innishmore. Here she meets Harry, who
had returned from an adventurous career at sea, and they are married. Tom
O’Rorke, who keeps an inn in a wild part of Donegal, provides a good deal of
the humour. His inveterate hatred of everything English, his wit and his
audacity (not always commendable), mark him out for special mention.
There is also an amusing American skipper.
⸺ TONY BUTLER. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.50. [1865].
Scene: partly in North of Ireland, partly on the Continent. Tony gets a
post in the diplomatic service, and has many adventures, strange, humorous,
or stirring. Diplomatic life (Lever was a British Consul abroad for most
of his days) is described with a cunning hand. Some of Tony’s experiences
take place during the Garibaldian war. The most striking figure in the book
is Major M’Caskey, the noisy, swaggering, impudent soldier of fortune. Skeff
Damer, the young diplomat, is also interesting, and Dolly Stewart is a most
pleasing study.
⸺ SIR BROOKE FOSBROOKE. [1866]. (Routledge, &c.). 3s. 6d.
(N.Y.: Harper). 0.50.
“Reproduces much of the humour and frolic of his earlier tales, the mess-room
scene in the officers’ quarters at Dublin, with which the drama opens, recalling
the sprightly comedy of Harry Lorrequer. The vigorous story that follows
contains much more serious characterization and portraiture of real life than
the earlier books.”—(Baker).
⸺ THE BRAMLEIGHS OF BISHOP’S FOLLY. (N.Y.: Harper).
0.50. [1868].
Scene of first portion: North of Ireland, near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry;
afterwards Italy. Deals with the experiences of a rich English banker and
his family, who come to Ireland, but the central figure is the selfish old peer,
Viscount Culduff, a neighbouring landowner, on whose estate coal is found.
Much of the novel deals with the exploiting of the Culduff mine. Tom
Cutbill, a bluff, vulgar, humorous engineer, who comes to work this mine,
provides most of the fun, which is scattered through the story. All the
characters are vividly drawn, among others that of a young Irish Protestant
clergyman, the only one that appears prominently in Lever’s pages. The
mystery that runs through the book is kept veiled with great cleverness to
the very end. Finally, the book is packed with witty epigrammatic talk.
⸺ LORD KILGOBBIN. (N.Y.: Harper). 1.00. [1872].
Lever’s last novel. It pictures social and political conditions in Ireland
about 1865, the days of the Fenians. The book is marked by almost nationalist
sympathies, one of the finest characters being Daniel Donogan,
Fenian Head-Centre and Trinity College student, who while “on his keeping”
is elected M.P. for King’s County. Matthew Kearney, styled locally Lord
Kilgobbin, is a shrewd, good-natured, old-fashioned type of broken-down
Catholic gentility, living in an old castle in King’s County. His daughter
Kate, is a high-spirited, clever, and amiable girl, but the real heroine is the
brilliant Nina Kostalergi, of mixed parentage (the mother Irish, the father a
Greek prince and adventurer), who bewitches in turn Fenians, soldiers,
politicians, and Viceregal officials. A remarkable creation is Joe Atlee, a
kind of Bohemian student of Trinity, cynical, indolent, but miraculously
clever and versatile. It teems with witty talk and dramatic situations.
Throughout there is food for thought about the affairs of Ireland. Has been
illustr. by Luke Fildes (Macmillan). 3s. 6d.
⸺ GERALD FITZGERALD. (N.Y.: Harper). 0.40. [First ed. in
book form, 1899].
The hero is a legitimate son of the Young Pretender, offspring of a secret
marriage with an Irish lady. Recounts his surprising adventures and his
relations with Mirabeau (whose death is powerfully described), the poet
Alfieri, Madame Roland, the Pretender himself, whose court at Rome is
described, &c., &c. There is little humour, the book being a sober historical
or quasi-historical romance. There are some passages offensive to Catholic
feeling.
Lever also wrote:—A Rent in a Cloud; That Boy of Norcott’s; Paul
Goslett’s Confessions; Nuts and Nutcrackers, 1845; Tales of the Trains, 1845;
Horace Templeton, 1848; Cornelius O’Dowd, 1873.
LIPSETT, Caldwell.
⸺ WHERE THE ATLANTIC MEETS THE LAND. Pp. 268. (Lane).
3s. 6d. net. 1896.
Sixteen stories, many of them artistically constructed, and told with
literary grace and finish. The Irish character is viewed from an unsympathetic
and, at times, hostile standpoint. Only a few of the stories deal with the
peasants or have any special bearing on Irish life. Two or three deal with
seduction in rather a light manner.
LIPSETT, E. R.
⸺ DIDY. Pp. 301. (Duckworth). 6s. $1.30. Eight full-page Illustr. by
Joseph Damon. 1912.
Published in U.S.A. by the John Lane Co., N.Y., under the title of The
House of a Thousand Welcomes (price 1.50), this being the name of a boarding
house in New York opened by Mr. and Mrs. Dunleary and their daughter
Didy, who have emigrated from Cork. The story is chiefly concerned with
the lodgers in this house—the eccentric Dr. O’Dowd, a journalist, and the
son of a big landlord in Ireland—all of whom fall in love with Didy. The
last named is successful, and he makes the journalist, a Protestant named
Healy (the remainder of the personages are Catholics), editor of the principal
Irish Unionist paper, which he owns, in order “to make it a message of
peace to all Ireland.” The author avoids religious or political bias, and tells
a merry, good-humoured story.
“LISTADO, J. T.”
⸺ MAURICE RHYNHART. Two Vols. (Chapman & Hall). 1871.
“Or, A few passages in the life of an Irish rebel.” The hero, descended from
a Williamite soldier, “in every respect the very model of a respectable young
Protestant,” is a clerk in Selskar (Wexford) and in love with Miss Rowan,
socially much above him. An ardent young Irelander, he joins the local
branch and works might and main for the movement. Soon he is “on his
keeping,” but escapes to London. There he marries Miss Rowan. After
many hardships they go to Australia, where he rises to be Premier and is
knighted. Returns, and is made M.P. for Selskar. Reminds one of the
career of Sir C. Gavan Duffy. Splendidly told, the interest never flagging.
Protestant dissenting tea-parties hit off cleverly. The whole atmosphere
of the critical summer of ’48 is reproduced with vividness and fidelity. Dialogue
good and characterisation life-like.
LOCHHEAD, A.
⸺ SPRIGS OF SHILLELAH. Pp. 158. (Dundee: Leng). 1907. 6d.
Sixteen humorous sketches, “founded on fact—more or less,” reprinted
from the People’s Friend.
LOGAN, J.
⸺ THE McCLUSKY TWINS. Pp. 112. (Drane). 1912. 1s.
A tale of twin tomboys, who provide gossip for an Ulster countryside.
Dialect well handled.—(I.B.L.).
LOUGH, Desmond.
⸺ THE BLACK WING. (“Ireland’s Own” Library). 6d. n.d. (1914).
A story of secret societies and of revenge. Scene: Kerry and Corsica.
Unconvincing, but unobjectionable.
⸺ RED RAPPAREE. Pp. 179. (“Ireland’s Own” Library). 6d. n.d.
Thrilling adventures and hairbreadth escapes of Cahir Ronayne, who has
taken to the road in revenge for his father’s execution. A fair lady is involved,
also a dissolute lord, and there are plenty of plots and counter plots, duels and
combats.
LOUGHNAN, Edmond Brenan.
⸺ THE FOSTER SISTERS. Three Vols. (Tinsley). 1871.
Opens in Sligo, near Lough Arrow. Largely concerned with an intricate
family history and mysteries of identity. Scene soon shifts to Paris, where
many of the personages have gone and where most of the action takes place.
The chief interest is a very melodramatic murder in the secret room of the
Chat Noir, and the subsequent tracing of the crime to the murderer, a typical
stage villain. The story is pretty well told, but the conversations are most
artificial.
LOVER, Samuel. B. in Dublin, 1797. Was not only a novelist but a
musician, a painter, and a song-writer (he wrote some 300 songs, and
composed the music for most of them). He ed. the Dublin National
Magazine and the Saturday Magazine. D. 1868. See “Lives” by
J. A. Symington and Bayle Bernard. “Lover,” says Mr. D. J.
O’Donoghue, “is first and last an Irish humourist.” Readers should
bear this fact in mind. His humour is of the gay, careless, rollicking
type. He is sometimes coarse, but never merely dull. He does not
caricature the Irish character, for his sympathies were strongly Irish;
but wrote to amuse his readers, not to depict Irish life. He was often
accused by his friends of exaggerating the virtues of his countrymen,
and it may be admitted that he sometimes did so. “The chief defect of
his novels,” says Maurice Francis Egan, q.v., “is that they were written
with an eye on what the English reader would expect the Irish characters
to do.”
⸺ RORY O’MORE. Pp. 452. (Constable). 3s. 6d. [1837]. (N.Y.: Dutton).
1.00. 1897.
Introduction and notes by D. J. O’Donoghue, who considers this to be
Lover’s best long story. A tale of adventure in 1798, with a slight historical
background. National in sentiment, without being unfairly biased. Contains
some of Lover’s best humour, especially the endless drollery and whimsicalities
of the hero, Rory. Some of the types are very true to life. There are
passages of genuine pathos. Tries to prove that the more heinous atrocities
in ’98 were due to a few desperadoes.
⸺ HANDY ANDY. Pp. 460. (Constable). 3s. 6d. Portrait of Lover.
[1842]. 1898. Critical Introd. and Notes by D. J. O’Donoghue. (N.Y.:
Dutton). 1.00.
A series of side-splitting misadventures of a comic, blundering Irishman.
Does not pretend to be a picture of real Irish life, yet, though exaggerated, it
is not without truth. Besides Andy’s adventures there are scenes from the
life of the harum-scarum gentry, uproarious dinners, a contested election,
practical jokes. The characters include peasants, duellists, hedge-priests,
hedge-schoolmasters, beggars, and poteen distillers. There is a good deal
of vulgarity.
⸺ TREASURE TROVE; or, He Would be a Gentleman. Pp. 469.
(Constable). 3s. 6d. [1844]. Many since. (Boston: Little, Brown).
1.00. 1899.
Critical introduction by D. J. O’Donoghue. Adventures of a somewhat
stagey hero, Ned Corkery, with the Irish Brigade in the service of France
and of the Young Pretender. Fontenoy, and the ’45 in Scotland, are introduced.
The novel, says the editor, can only be called pseudo-historical.
The writer had but imperfectly mastered the history, and treats it unconvincingly.
The humour is below the author’s usual standard, but the
interest is well sustained. It is coarse and vulgar in parts.
⸺ LEGENDS AND STORIES OF IRELAND. Two Vols. Pp. xix. + 240,
and xvi + 274. (Constable). 3s. 6d. each. [1832 and 1834; many
editions since]. 1899. (N.Y.: Sadlier). 1.50.
Introductions by the Author and by the editor, D. J. O’Donoghue. A
miscellany consisting chiefly of humorous stories with regular plots. It
contains also some old legends told in comic vein, yarns told by guides and
boatmen, and several serious stories. There is nothing to offend Catholic
feeling. There is a most sympathetic sketch of a priest and a story about
the secret of the confessional that any Catholic might have written. The
peasantry are seen only from outside, though the author mixed much among
them. They are not caricatured, though chiefly comic types are selected.
There is plenty of brogue, faithfully rendered on the whole. The first volume
contains a humorous essay on Street Ballads, with specimens. Lover is at
his best in uproariously laughable stories such us “The Gridiron” and “Paddy
the Sport.”
⸺ FURTHER STORIES OF IRELAND. Pp. 220. (Constable). 3s. 6d.
1899. Critical and biographical introduction (pp. xxviii.) by D. J.
O’Donoghue.
Chiefly very short, humorous sketches. Some are stories written around
various national proverbs.
⸺ IRISH HEIRS: A Novel. Pp. 173. (N.Y.: Dick & Fitzgerald).
Illustr. 187-.
Mentioned in catal. of N. Y. Library. Treasure Trove bore on original
title-page the announcement that it was “the first of a series of accounts
of Irish Heirs.”
LOVER and CROKER.
⸺ LEGENDS AND TALES OF IRELAND. Pp. 436. (Simpkin,
Marshall, &c.). n.d. Now in print.
Contains:—Lover’s Legends and Tales of Ireland (twenty-four in all), and
Croker’s Fairy Legends of the South of Ireland. “Croker and Lover,” says
W. B. Yeats, “full of the ideas of harum-scarum Irish gentility, saw everything
humourized. The impulse of the Irish literature of their time came
from a class that did not—mainly for political reasons—take the people
seriously, and imagined the country as a humorist’s Arcadia; its passion,
its gloom, its tragedy they knew nothing of. What they did was not wholly
false; they merely magnified an irresponsible type, found oftenest among
boatmen, carmen, and gentlemen’s servants, into the type of a whole nation,
and created the Stage-Irishman.”—(Introd. to Fairy and Folk-tales of the Irish
Peasantry).
LOWRY, Frank M.
⸺ THE DUBLIN STATUES “AT HOME”: A New Year’s Tale.
4to. (Sealy, Bryers). Illustr. with Seven Cartoons. 1912.
LOWRY, Mary.
⸺ THE ENCHANTED PORTAL. Pp. 142. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. Paper.
c. 1910.
Scene: Antrim coast, whose scenery is vividly pictured. A novel of
romance, intrigue, and adventure, pleasant and healthy in tone, but fanciful
and somewhat unreal.
Author has also written The Clans of Ireland, Old Irish Laws and Customs,
and The Story of Belfast.
“LYALL, Edna”; Ada Ellen Bayley. Was born and educated at Brighton,
and resided there and at Eastbourne. Her first story, Won by Waiting,
appeared in 1879. Titles of eighteen of her books are to be found in
Mudie’s List.
⸺ DOREEN. Pp. 490. (Longmans). Various prices from 6d. to 6s. [1894].
1902.
Doreen, daughter of an old ’48 man and Fenian, and herself an ardent
Nationalist, is a professional singer, but helps the Home Rule cause by her
singing. The chief interest is a love story, but in the background there
is the national struggle and a vivid picture is drawn of the feelings of those
engaged on both sides. The author is on the nationalist side, and the most
striking figure in the book is Donal Moore, a Nationalist member. The first
ed. was dedicated to Gladstone.
LYNAM, Col. William F. Belonged to the 5th Royal Lancashire Militia.
Lived at Churchtown Ho., Dundrum, 1863-87, and then at Clontarf
till his death in 1894. He was a Catholic and a man of much piety. He
lived a very retired life.
⸺ MICK McQUAID.
Magazine stories that have never been published in a volume do not come
within the scope of this work. But I think an exception must be made
in this case. The serial or series of serials centering in the character of
Mick McQuaid has made a record in literature. It began in the pages of
the Shamrock on Jan. 19th, 1867. With short interruptions it has been
running ever since in the pages of that periodical, and is running still, though
the Author died in 1894. The following are some of the series that appeared:—1.
“M. McQ.’s Conversion,” 1867; 2. “M. McQ., the Evangeliser,”
1868-9; 3. “M. McQ. Under Agent,” 52 chapters, 1869-70; 4. “M. McQ.,
M.D.,” 28 ch., 1872; 5. “M. McQ., M.P.,” 51 ch., 1872-3; 6. “M. McQ.,
Solicitor,” 43 ch., 1873-4; 7. “M. McQ.’s Spa,” 91 ch., 1876-8; 8. “M. McQ.,
Alderman,” 61 ch., 1879-80; 9. “M. McQ., Moneylender,” 47 ch., 1880-1;
10. “M. McQ., Gombeen Man,” 48 ch., 1881-2; 11. “M. McQ.’s Story,”
1884; 12. “M. McQ., Workhouse Master,” 1885; 13. “M. McQ., Sub-Sheriff,”
pt. 1, 47 ch., 1888-9; 14. “M. McQ., Sub-Sheriff,” pt. 2, 1889; 15.
“M. McQ., Stockbroker,” 61 ch., 1889-90; 16. “M. McQ., Removable,” 1890.
The Author himself tired of Mick McQuaid, and tried to put other creations
in the field:—“Dan Donovan,” “Corney Cluskey,” “Japhet Screw,”
“Sir Timothy Mulligan,” and so on. But after a few chapters the readers
invariably demanded “Mick” again, and, if the Author had not new adventures
ready, he had to reproduce the already published adventures.
More than once editors tried to drop the series, but the circulation which was
60,000 fell at once, and “Mick” had to appear again. Apart from their
issue in the Shamrock many of “Mick’s” adventures were reproduced in
penny numbers, and sold far and wide. After the Author’s death the
editors simply reproduced the series over again. Harry Furniss began his
artistic career by illustrating Mick McQuaid. Besides Mick McQ. another
humorous series, Darby Darken, P.L.G., ran in the Irish Emerald.
LYNCH, E. M.
⸺ KILBOYLAN BANK; or, Every Man his own Banker. Pp. 240.
(Kegan Paul). 3s. 6d. 1896.
Father O’Callaghan returning from Italy greatly impressed by what he has
seen of the Raffeisen Banking System at work, tries to start a similar system
in Kilboylan. The book is the story of his efforts, difficulties, and final
success. The local types—landlord, strong farmer, miller, publican, schoolmaster,
“pote,” and “chaney merchant” are cleverly hit off, and their
conversation rings true. The book is primarily a lesson in economics, but
the characters are well brought out, and a little love-story runs through the
whole. Miss Lynch also wrote for Sir Charles Gavan Duffy’s “New Irish
Library” a story adapted from the French—A Parish Providence. It was
intended to teach certain economic lessons to Irishmen.
LYNCH, Hannah. B. in Dublin. Lived much in Spain, in Greece, and in
France, publishing various articles and books about them, notably a
book on Toledo and French Life in Town and Country. Among her
novels are Prince of the Glades, Dr. Vermont’s Fantasy, Daughters of Men,
Jimmy Blake, Clare Monroe. She was associated with Miss Anna
Parnell in the Ladies’ Land League in the eighties. When United
Ireland was suppressed she carried the type to Paris, and the paper
was issued there. Mrs. Hinkson says of her,[6] “She was one of the few
people I have known who eat, drink, and dream books, and not many
can have given to literature a more passionate delight and devotion.”
⸺ THROUGH TROUBLED WATERS. Pp. 460. (Ward, Lock). 1885.
Scene: chiefly Carantrila House, Dunmore (“Cardene”) near Tuam, Co.
Galway. Opens with an impending lawsuit about the inheritance of “Cardene.”
It is settled by Mrs. St. Leger giving it up to her brother-in-law
for a large sum. Henceforth she plots to get it back for her son. In later
years he comes on a visit to the place. He falls in love with Nora Dillon,
but carries on an innocent flirtation with a peasant girl. He is accused of
seduction, the real culprit being Nora’s brother, and denounced from the
altar. This latter scene is well done. But the truth comes out, and all is
well with Hartley and Nora. The portrait drawn of one of the two priests
introduced is rather satirical, but the tone is Catholic throughout.
⸺ AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A CHILD. Publ. Anon. Pp. 306.
(Blackwood). 6s. 1899.
Clearly genuine autobiography. Begins in little village in Kildare, but
at five or six the child is taken to Dublin. Story of an unhappy childhood,
for she was treated with great harshness by sisters and mother. Had some
friends, however, among them an old gentleman, who believed himself to be
Hamlet and O’Donovan Rossa, then a young lad. (See p. 609 in Blackwood’s
Magazine, vol. 164, where the story appeared serially). Her unhappiness
was continued at the convent school, near Birmingham, where
she was educated. Everything is set down, including a flogging she received
and an account of her first confession. A very curious book, very well
written.
LYON, Capt. E. D. Late 68th Durham Light Infantry.
⸺ IRELAND’S DREAM: a Romance of the Future. Two Vols.
(Sonnenschein). 1888.
A forecast of Ireland under Home Rule. Contains much about relations
of Orangemen and Catholics, the National League, secret societies, emigration,
and so on. Represents an Ireland hopelessly “gone to the dogs”—no
security for life or property, murder rife, prosperity gone, &c. Written
in flippant style, betraying bitter contempt for Irish nationalism.
LYSAGHT, Mrs.
⸺ REX SINGLETON; or, The Pathway of Life. (Wells, Gardner). 2s.
Illustr. Third ed., c. 1911.
Thoroughly a boy’s book, full of the adventures and pranks of an Irish
boy.—(Publ.).
LYSAGHT, Sidney Royse. Eldest son of T. R. Lysaght, of Mintinna, Co.
Cork. Has published three volumes of verse between 1886 and 1911.
Lives in Somerset.
⸺ HER MAJESTY’S REBELS. Pp. 488. (Macmillan). 6s. 1907.
In a prefatory note the Author tells us that though the career of his hero
resembles that of Charles Stewart Parnell, Connor Desmond is not intended
as a portrait of Parnell. “There is an historical basis for the structure of
the story—not for the persons.” A political novel, written mainly about
the course of national life in Ireland, 1875-1891. The central figure most
obviously reproduces the career and even the personal characteristics of
Parnell, who is well and even sympathetically portrayed. The writer’s
view-point is free, on the whole, from party bias. He is convinced that a
Royal residence in Ireland would be a sure antidote to seditious tendencies.
There is a strong love interest. The Author depicts many scenes of Irish
life among various classes. The hero is “involved in flagitious relations
with several women.”—(Baker, 2).
LYTTLE, Wesley Guard; “Robin.” Born, 1844, at Newtownards, Co.
Down. Was successively a junior reporter, a school teacher, a lecturer
on Dr. Corry’s Irish Diorama, a teacher of shorthand, an accountant,
an editor. Started, in 1880, The North Down and Bangor Gazette,
a strong Liberal and Home Rule paper. Afterwards owned and edited
The North Down Herald. Died 1896.
⸺ ROBIN’S READINGS. Eight Vols.
Series of humorous stories, poems, and sketches in the dialect of a Co.
Down farmer, of which he had a thorough mastery. Some verse as well as
prose. The Author gave several thousand recitals in various parts of the
three kingdoms. The success of the above books was immediate and remarkable.
They have enjoyed great popularity ever since. The character
of these readings may be seen from the following titles:—V. I. “Adventures
of Paddy McQuillan”—“a simple country fellow”—“his trip tae Glesco”—“his
courtships”—“his wee Paddy”—“his twins”—“his tay perty.”
V. II. “The adventures of Robin Gordon”—“Peggy and how I courted her”—“Wee
Wully”—“the fechtin’ dugs”—“Robin on the ice”—“dipplemassy.”
V. III. “Life in Ballycuddy, Co. Down”—“my brither Wully”—“kirk
music”—“the General Assembly of 1879” (exciting scenes, Robin’s
oration)—“the royal visit to Ireland”—“the Ballycuddy Meinister”—“wee
Paddy’s bumps,” &c., &c.
⸺ SONS OF THE SOD: a Tale of County Down. (Bangor). 1s.
Paper. 1886.
A racy story dealing with the peasantry of North Down which the Author
knew well, and could depict admirably. The tale gives a picture of their
merry-makings, courtships, humours, joys, and sorrows—wakes, weddings,
evictions, &c., &c.
⸺ BETSY GRAY. Pp. 116. (Bangor). 1s. 3d. [1888]. New ed.
(Belfast: Carswell). Revised by F. J. Bigger. 1913.
Betsy Gray, the heroine (founded on a real personage) takes part in the
rebellion, and fights at Ballynahinch. A story of thrilling interest. Relates
events that preceded rebellion, dwelling much on the atrocities of the
yeomanry, then describes in full the chief incidents of the rebellion. Introduces
Wm. Steele Dickson, William Orr, H. Joy McCracken, Henry Munro,
and Mick Maginn—the informer. “The Author has gone over every inch of
the ground, and has hunted up old documents and old traditions indefatigably.”
In entire sympathy with rebels. There is a good deal of local
dialect, and much local colour.
⸺ THE SMUGGLERS OF STRANGFORD LOUGH.
“A melodramatic romance of an old-fashioned type, founded on facts.
What with murder, robbery, abduction, smuggling, secret societies, and
underground caverns, the reader is carried breathlessly along from start to
finish. The local dialect is well conveyed.”—(I.B.L.). The headquarters
of the smugglers was Killinchy, and the period of the story the end of the
eighteenth century.
⸺ DAFT EDDIE. Pp. 162. (Belfast: Carswell). 6d. 1914.
A re-issue of The Smugglers of Strangford Lough.
MACALISTER, R. A. Stewart, M.A., F.S.A. B. Dublin, 1870. At present
Professor of Irish Archæology in the National University. Author of a
series of learned works on Palestine exploration, the Philistines,
Ecclesiastical Vestments, Irish Epigraphy and Archæology, &c.
⸺ TWO IRISH ARTHURIAN ROMANCES. Pp. ix. + 207. (Nutt,
for Irish Texts Society). 10s. 6d. net. 1908.
Text and transl. on opposite pages. Contains two stories:—The Story
of the Crop-eared Dog and The Story of Eagle-Boy. They are of the Wonder-voyage
type. Arthur plays a secondary part. “The dreamland of gruagachs
and monstrous nightmare shapes is here as typically a creation of Irish fancy
as in any of the stories of the Finn cycle.”... “Eagle-Boy is a striking
story, displaying ... no small constructive ingenuity and literary feeling.”—(Introd.).
M’ANALLY, D. R., Jr.
⸺ IRISH WONDERS. Pp. 218. (Ward, Lock). Illustr. (pen and ink),
H. R. Heaton. 1888.
“The ghosts, giants, pookas, demons, leprechawns, banshees, fairies,
witches, widows, old maids, and other marvels of the Emerald Isle. Popular
tales as told by the people. Collected during a recent lengthy visit, in the
course of which every county in the Island was traversed from end to end.”—(Title-page
and Pref.). Very broad brogue. Somewhat “Stage-Irish” in tone.
“MACARTHUR, Alexander”; Mrs. Nicchia, née Lily MacArthur. At
present residing in New York.
⸺ IRISH REBELS. Pp. 219. (Digby, Long). 3s. 6d. n.d. (1893).
“O’Donoghue,” the hero, a young Catholic T.C.D. student, is deputed
by the secret societies to shoot a landlord. He escapes at the time, and
has a successful career at the bar, in parliament, and also in love, for he
marries the girl of his choice, a daughter of “Judge Kavanagh,” a bitter
Orangeman. But years afterwards his crime becomes known to some of his
friends, and the discovery kills his wife. The Author is entirely favourable
to the national cause. Parnell is mentioned several times. The central
figure is not O’D., but “Lowry,” a remarkable portrait, probably drawn
from life.
M’AULIFFE, E. F.
⸺ GRACE O’DONNELL: A Tale of the 18th Cent. Pp. 220. (Cork:
Guy & Co.). 1891.
Ireland in Penal times, middle of 18th century (Fontenoy, 1745, is introduced).
Period fairly well illustrated—sufferings of Catholics, tithe-proctors,
hedge-schools, etc. Scene varies between Galway, Madrid, London, Dublin,
and Paris. The characters all belong to the better class, and the tone of the
story may be described as “genteel”: there is nothing specially national
about it. Author wishes to show “how many claims each [Catholic and
Protestant] has on the other for love and admiration.” Some poems are included.
MACCABE, William Bernard. B. in Dublin, 1801. Was a journalist for
the greater part of his life, first in Dublin, then for fifteen years in London,
and again in Dublin from 1852-57. Wrote many Catholic works. Died
at Donnybrook, 1891.
⸺ AGNES ARNOLD. Three Vols. (Lond.: Newby). 1861.
A well constructed plot, with many fine dramatic scenes and much truthful
character drawing. Shows the courses by which the people were driven into
rebellion in 1798. The Author tells us that much of the materials were gleaned
from his conversations in his boyhood with Wm. Putnam MacCabe, one
of the insurgent leaders. Scene: Wexford.
M’CALL, Patrick J. B. in Dublin, 1861, and ed. at Catholic University
School, Leeson Street. Much better known as a poet by his Irish Noinins,
Songs of Erin, Irish Fireside Songs, and Pulse of the Bards than as a
prose writer. Resides in Patrick Street, Dublin.
⸺ FENIAN NIGHTS’ ENTERTAINMENTS. Pp. 132. (Dublin:
T. G. O’Donoghue). [1895].
Twelve evenings of story-telling at a Wexford fireside. The stories are
mostly Ossianic legends, but there are a few fairy tales. They purport to
be told by a farmer with all the arts of the shanachie—the quaintness, the
directness, the pithy sayings, the delightful digressions, and the gay humour.
They are, of course, in dialect.
M’CALLUM, Hugh and John. Ed. an original collection of the poems of
Ossian, Orrann, Ullin, and other bards who flourished in the same age.
(Montrose). 1816.
M’CARTHY, Justin. B. in Cork, 1830, and ed. there. Began there his
literary career of over sixty years. In 1853 he went to Liverpool, and
thence to London in 1860. From that time till his death in 1912 he
lived almost exclusively in England. But he never lost touch with
Ireland. For many years he was a Nationalist M.P., and from 1890-96
was Chairman of the Party. His works number over forty, many of
them dealing with Ireland—novels, history, biography, reminiscences,
&c.
⸺ A FAIR SAXON. Pp. 386. (Chatto & Windus). 3s. 6d. [1873];
several since. New ed. about 1907.
Main theme: the love of an English girl for Maurice FitzHugh Tyrone,
an Irish M.P., famous in the House as a clever and insuppressible opponent
of the Government. Much of the story (a complicated one) is concerned
with the efforts of another lover of the Fair Saxon to supplant Tyrone, and
also to get him to violate the conditions of a legacy. The latter are (1) that
Tyrone shall not marry before forty; (2) that he shall not join the Fenians;
(3) that he shall not fight a duel. His efforts meet with a wonderful succession
of alternate success and failure. Incidentally we have glimpses of Fenian
plotting, the Fenian movement being portrayed with little sympathy. The
characters are nearly all insipid or vicious worldlings, drawn in a satirical
and sometimes cynical vein. Such is Mrs. Lorn, the rich American widow,
of fast life. The heroine, and to a certain extent the hero, are exceptions.
The precocious young American, Theodore, is one of the best things in the
book.
⸺ MAURICE TYRONE. (Benziger). 0.75. The American ed. of A Fair
Saxon.
⸺ MONONIA. Pp. 383. (Chatto & Windus). 6s. [1901]. New edition,
1902.
Scene: a large Munster town, presumably Cork. Time: the attempted
rising in 1848. The chief interest is the unfolding in action of the various
characters. Some of these are strikingly and distinctively portrayed. The
treatment of the love element is original, the course of true love being smooth
from the start. Here and there are pleasant bits of description. The standpoint
is Catholic and nationalist, but without anti-English feeling, several
of the principal and most admirable characters being English. A happy love
story runs through the book.
M’CARTHY, Justin Huntley. S. of preceding. B. 1860. Ed. University
College School, London. Began writing 1881. Nationalist M.P. 1884-1892,
during which period he was an ardent politician. Publ. England
under Gladstone (1884), and in the same year a successful play, “The
Candidate.” Then followed Hours with Great Irishmen, Ireland since
the Union, The Case for Home Rule, &c., and a number of books, poems,
tales, &c., on Oriental subjects. His knowledge of our myth and legend
has been described as comprehensive and exhaustive. He has publ.
many other novels and plays and volumes of verse. But of late
years the theatrical world has claimed him wholly.
⸺ LILY LASS. Pp. 150. (Chatto & Windus). 1s. 6d. 1889.
Picture from nationalist point of view of Young Ireland movement, especially
in Cork. Full of sensational incidents, told with much verve.
⸺ THE ILLUSTRIOUS O’HAGAN. (Hurst & Blackett). 1905. (N.Y.:
Harper). 1.50, &c.
Melodramatic adventures of two cosmopolitan adventurers of Irish origin,
in various parts of Europe and, in particular, among the courts of the petty
German princes, where very fast living prevails. The picture we are given
of these latter is frank enough. The colouring is brilliant, the style bright
and swift. Copyrighted for the stage.
⸺ THE O’FLYNN. Pp. 352. (Hurst & Blackett). 1s. (N.Y.: Harper).
1.50. 1910.
O’Flynn is a swashbucklering, swaggering soldier of fortune, who has seen
service in the Austrian army. The story tells of the varying fortunes of O’F.
and of Lord Sedgemouth in their rivalry for the hand of the Lady Benedetta
Mountmichael. Both suitors are in the service of King James, and the
scene varies between Dublin Castle and Knockmore, a castle “in the heart
of the Wicklow hills.” Full of more or less burlesque plots and stratagems
and surprises. Written in a pleasant but reckless and rattling style. Smacks
strongly of the stage throughout, indeed it was originally a successful play
before appearing in book form. Incidents not historical. Not for young
people.
⸺ THE FAIR IRISH MAID. Pp. 344. (Mills & Boon). 6s. (N.Y.:
Harper). 1.30. 1911.
Ireland a few years after the Union; but not political. Mr. McC., in his
usual vein of gay romanticism, takes his beautiful maiden from Kerry to
London, where in the modish days of the Dandies she is for a time the reigning
toast. But she is true to her Kerry lover, whom she finds in London lost
and ruined, and whom she rescues and enables to produce his Irish play.
Other characters are Lord Cloyne, the Irish ascendancy landlord, Mr. Rubie,
the English M.P. who has come to visit and improve Ireland, and an antiquary
who wants to buy a round tower and provides many amusing situations.—(Press
notices).
M’CARTHY, Michael J. F. B. Midleton, Co. Cork. Ed. Vincentian Coll.,
Cork; Midleton College, Cork; T.C.D. After the appearance of Five
Years in Ireland in 1901, “has written and spoken against the power
exercised by the Roman Catholic Church in politics and in education.
Started and conducted Christian Defence Effort in opposition to Home
Rule, 1911-14.” Author of Priests and People in Ireland, Rome in
Ireland, &c.—(Who’s Who).
⸺ GALLOWGLASS. Pp. 540. (Simpkin, Marshall). 6s. 1904.
Purports to portray the social and political life of various classes in a typical
South of Ireland town (“Gallowglass”). Written in a vein of bitter satire.
Peasant, shopkeeper, politician, and especially priest, are held up to unmeasured
scorn. Aspersions are cast upon Catholic teachings and practices.
Eviction scenes, the workings of a secret society, political meetings, a scene
in Parliament, serve the writer for his purpose in various ways.
M’CHESNEY, Dora.
⸺ KATHLEEN CLARE. Pp. 286. (Blackwood). Six Illustr. by J. A.
Shearman. 1895.
Story of Wentworth, Earl of Strafford’s Viceroyalty in Ireland, told in
form of diary purporting to be written by a kinswoman of Strafford’s, who
sees him in his home life and acquires extraordinary love and reverence for
him. The tale of his execution is pathetically told. Quaint Elizabethan
English. Pretty Elizabethan love-songs interspersed.
M’CLINTOCK, Letitia.
⸺ A BOYCOTTED HOUSEHOLD. Pp. 319. (Smith, Elder). 1881.
Period, c. 1880. Mr. Hamilton is a model as a man and landlord. His
family is in very reduced circumstances owing to “No-Rent Campaign.”
Then we have various incidents of the land war—threatening letters, burning
of hay, and finally the eldest son is brutally murdered by tenants on whom
favours had been heaped. The beautiful home life, sympathetic love affairs,
&c., of the Hamiltons are dwelt upon as pointing the contrast with the wickedness
of the League and the meaningless ingratitude of the peasantry.
Sympathies of Author wholly with landlords. The Hamilton boys were all
educated at Rugby, and the general outlook of the family is English. Scene:
King’s Co. and Donegal alternately.
M’CLINTOCK, Major H. S.
⸺ RANDOM STORIES; chiefly Irish. Pp. 147. (Belfast: Marcus
Ward). Illustr. n.d. c. 1885.
A collection of unobjectionable smoke-room yarns, more or less original,
and more or less humorous. Illustr. somewhat crude.
M’CRAITH, L. M. Mrs. L. M. M’Craith Blakeney, of Loughloher, Cahir,
Co. Tipperary. B. 1870. Ed. in Ireland and at Cheltenham. Has
written also The Suir from its Source to the Sea, The Romance of Irish
Heroines, The Romance of Irish Heroes, &c. In these and other writings
her aim has been to popularise Irish local history and antiquities in
the hopes of fostering a love of country, especially in the young.
⸺ A GREEN TREE. Pp. 221. (Sealy, Bryers). 3s. 6d. 1908.
A pleasant family story with a sympathetically, though somewhat dimly-sketched,
Irish background. All through there is the contrast between
English and Irish ideals. One or two peculiar Irish types are well drawn.
MACDERMOTT, S.
⸺ LEIGH OF LARA: a Novel of Co. Wicklow. (Gill?). 1s. 6d.
A slight but pleasant tale, told in straightforward manner, without
character-study, scene-painting, problems, or politics. Deals with the false
and misunderstood position of a man who has been entrusted with the charge
of his sister-in-law, while his brother is abroad “on his keeping,” and the
complications that arise from this position.
MACDERMOTT, W. R.
⸺ FOUGHILOTRA: A Forbye Story. Pp. 326. (Sealy, Bryers). c. 1906.
Sub-t.:—A memorial of the Ulster handloom weavers. A sociological study,
in form of novel, of the history and development of a family. Scene: shore
of Lough Neagh. Time: present day, though the family history goes back
two hundred years. The forceful and pungent dialect in which it is written
is quite natural and true to life. An unusual and noteworthy book—interesting
alike for its plot, its clever character-study and the thoughtfulness that
pervades it. Has considerable humour, and nothing in the least objectionable.
This author also has published, under the pen name of “A. P. O’Gara,”
The Green Republic.
MACDONAGH, Michael. B. Limerick, 1862. Ed. Christian Bros.’ Schools.
At twenty-two joined the staff of Freeman’s Journal. From 1894 to
the present has been on staff of Times, and he lives in London. His
father, Michael O’Doherty MacDonagh, was a Donegal man, a printer
and poet. Has been writing about Ireland all his life in an immense
variety of periodicals, and has published about a dozen books, many of
them relating to Parliament, of great historic value.
⸺ IRISH LIFE AND CHARACTER. Pp. 382. (Hodder & Stoughton).
6s. Many editions, the 5th being in 1905.
Object: “To give a clear, full, and faithful picture of Irish life and character,
illustrated by anecdotes and by my own experience during a twelve years’
connexion with Irish journalism.” “I have admitted into my collection
only anecdotes that are truly genuine, really humorous, and certainly characteristic
of the Irish people.” “The face of Ireland as seen in these pages is
always puckered with a smile.”—(Pref.). May be described as anecdotes,
chiefly comic, classified and accompanied by a running commentary. Chapters:
The Old Irish Squire; Duelling; Faction Fighting; Some Delusions about
Ireland (e.g., “Stage-Irishman”); Bulls; In the Law Courts; “Agin the
Government”; Irish Repartee and Sarcasm; Love-making in Ireland (its
matter-of-factness, &c.); Humours of Politics In and Out of Parliament;
The Ulster Irishman; The Jarvey; The Beggar; Sunniness of Irish Life,
&c. It is to be observed that the laugh is often against the Irish throughout,
and perhaps our national failings are rather more prominent here than our
national virtues, the serious side of Irish life being scarcely touched on at all.
M’DONNELL, Randal William. B. in Dublin, 1870. Son of Randal
M’Donnell, Q.C. Ed. Armagh Royal School. B.A., T.C.D. Was
for a time assistant librarian in Marsh’s Library, and now a L.G.B.
inspector. Has published also three volumes of verse.
⸺ KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN. Pp. 270. (Sealy, Bryers). 2s.
Frontisp. 1898.
Pictures first the causes and events that led to the rebellion, Tone’s visit
to America, his schemes, the French invasion. Then vivid description of the
outbreak in Wicklow, the fight at Tubberneering, the battle of New Ross,
the capture and death of Lord Edward Fitzgerald.
⸺ WHEN CROMWELL CAME TO DROGHEDA. Pp. 147. (Gill).
2s. 6d. Map of Drogheda and map of Ireland in time of Cromwell. (N.Y.:
Benziger). 0.90. 1906.
“Edited from the record of Clarence Stranger,” an officer in the army of
Owen Roe O’Neill. Covers principal events from Cromwell’s landing to the
Plantation, including defence of Clonmel.
⸺ MY SWORD FOR PATRICK SARSFIELD. Pp. 201. (Gill). 3s. 6d.
1907.
Adventures of Phelim O’Hara (character well drawn), a colonel in Sarsfield’s
horse, who witnesses siege of Derry, battle of the Boyne, two sieges of Limerick.
Much history, varied by startling adventures.
⸺ ARDNAREE. Pp. 227. (Gill). 1911.
“The story of an English girl in Connaught, told by herself.” Mainly a
record of social life (tea-parties, military balls, &c.), with a good deal of fairly
mild love-making. The ’98 insurrection (landing of French at Killala, &c.)
forms a kind of background but is little spoken of. The Author hits off
cleverly enough the outlook and language of a narrator such as the heroine.
MACDOUGALL, Rev. J.
⸺ CRAIGNISH TALES, collected by. Notes on the War Dress of the
Celts by Lord A. Campbell. Pp. xvi. + 98. (Nutt). 5s. 20 plates. 1889.
⸺ FOLK AND HERO TALES. Pp. xxx. + 311. Demy 8vo. (Nutt).
7s. 6d. net. Three Illustr. by E. Griset. 1891.
Introduction by A. Nutt deals with aims of study of folk-lore, and various
theories of the origin of this latter, and the value of Celtic folk-lore.
Ten tales collected in district of Duror (Argyllshire) between Summer of
1889 and Spring of 1890, obtained from a labouring man named Cameron,
who had them in his boyhood from Donald MacPhie and others. As folk-lore
they are thoroughly reliable and genuine, the Gaelic text given after each
story being written at the narrator’s dictation with painstaking accuracy.
The stories are typical folk-tales—a string of marvellous adventures of some
hero with giants and enchanted castles and witches, &c., &c.—often grotesque
and extravagant and devoid of moral or other significance beyond the mere
narrative.... Free from coarseness. Finn is the hero in several of these
tales. Good Index. 50 pp. of Notes, devoted chiefly to variant versions of
the tales, explanations of terms and comparisons with other tales.
M’DOWELL, Lalla.
⸺ THE EARL OF EFFINGHAM. Pp. 280. (Tinsley). 1877.
Time: the forties, in Ballyquin, Co. Galway. It is a kind of appeal in
story form to the Irish landlords to stay at home and “right Ireland’s wrongs.”
The good points in the Irish character are well brought out, the brogue is well
reproduced, and there is much humour. There are some glimpses of Dublin
society. The bias is somewhat Protestant.
“MACEIRE, Fergus.”
⸺ THE SONS OF EIRE. Three vols. (Lond.: Newby). 1872.
Author styles himself “The last of the Sons of Eire,” an old broken-down
Irish family living in Hampshire (Vol. II. brings them back to Ireland).
A long autobiography, with a multitude of rather trifling incidents, much
conversation, and a good deal of moralising. The portrait of the writer’s
mother is interesting and curious. The Author seems Catholic and Irish in
sympathies. In the end the teller marries the betrothed of his brother Brian,
the real hero, who has been killed in a skating accident.
MACGILL, Patrick. “The Navvy Poet.” B. Glenties, Co. Donegal, 1891.
Ed. at National school until he was twelve. At fourteen began to
write verse for the Derry Journal. Soon after set out for Greenock
with 10s. in his pocket. “Since then I have done all sorts of things,
digging, draining, farming, and navvying.” In 1912 was a plate-layer
on the Caledonian Railway.—(I.B.L., III., p. 71). His poems are Songs
of a Navvy, Gleanings from a Navvy’s Scrap Book, and Songs of the Dead
End. Is now a soldier in the London Irish Rifles, and has written a
good account of military life in The Amateur Army. A series of sketches
from the firing line, entitled The Red Horizon, is in preparation.
⸺ CHILDREN OF THE DEAD END. Pp. 305. (Herbert Jenkins).
6s. 1914.
“Most of my story is autobiographical.”—(Foreword). It opens in the
Glenties with a faithful picture of the people and their hard life. The scene
then shifts to Scotland and depicts the toils and temptations that beset the
men, and especially the girls, in their sordid and insanitary surroundings.
The hero goes on tramp with “Moleskin Joe,” a philosophic vagabond, finely
described; and the shifts they are put to and the scenes they come through
all bear the mark of truth, as does the wild life led by the navvies at Kinlochleven.
The description of these scenes in a London newspaper led to his
employment on the press. The hero’s love for Norah Ryan is purely and
touchingly delineated, and, save for one unhappy gibe at the P.P., the book is
unobjectionable.
⸺ THE RAT PIT. Pp. 308. (Jenkins). 1915.
The story of Norah Ryan, the heroine of The Children of the Dead End,
from her childhood in Western Donegal to her death, a woman of the streets,
in a Glasgow slum. A heartrending story from start to finish, with scarcely a
gleam of cheer. The Author has exceptional powers of observation and
gifts of description, and the book is extraordinarily realistic. But the realism
and the sombreness being exclusive, the effect is exaggerated even to falseness.
Farley McKeown is impossibly villainous, the picture of the wake revolting
because undiscerning, Norah’s innocence overdrawn. Yet on the whole
the Author’s claim that it is a transcript from life, life seen and lived by
him, is doubtless well sustained. There are several needless sneers at the
priests, e.g., p. 286, which is wantonly unpleasant. The Author is not prurient,
but he describes plainly and vividly scenes in Glasgow brothels. Good
picture of the conditions of life of the Irish migratory labourers.
[M’GOVERN, Rev. J. B.]; “J. B. S.” Of St. Stephen’s Rectory, Chorlton-on-Medlock,
Manchester. An enthusiast for Irish archæology and a
frequent contributor on his favourite subject to N. & Q., Cork Archaeol.
Journal, the Antiquary, &c.
⸺ IMELDA, or Retribution: a Romance of Kilkee. (Tinsley). 7s. 6d.
1883.
Scene: varies between Kilkee and Meenahela on the one hand and Italy on
the other. The story is concerned with the faithlessness of Imelda Lestrange,
an Irish girl, to her affianced Florentine lover, Gasper Bicchieri, whom she
had met at Kilkee, and the Nemesis that befalls her in the faithlessness of her
new lover—and husband—Monckton, who deserts her for his cousin, Teresa
Dempsey. Most of this happens at Kilkee. The end is tragedy. Forty
years later Gasper returns to Kilkee to brood in the scene of the catastrophe
of his life. There is little or no characterisation or study of motive. The
story opens in 1829.
M’HENRY, James, M.D. B. Larne, Co. Antrim, 1785. Ed. Dublin and
Glasgow. Lived 1817-1842 in U.S.A. From 1842 till his death in 1845
he was U.S. consul at Derry. Publ. several volumes of verse (Mr.
O’Donoghue enumerates nine) and several novels besides those mentioned
below.
⸺ THE INSURGENT CHIEF. Pp. 128, very close print. (Gill). Bound
up with HEARTS OF STEEL. n.d.
Adventures of a young loyalist during the rebellion in the North, pleasantly
told, but with improbabilities and a good deal of the deus ex machina. Gives
the very best description of the scenes in Belfast and Larne leading up to
the Battle of Antrim and the consequent defeat of the “United men,” many
of whom were personally known to the Author. The leaders are referred to
by name, and the heroic death of Willy Neilson pathetically described. The
famous rebel ballad of “Blaris Moor” is put into the mouth of a ballad
singer in Belfast, and the northern dialect is excellently rendered.
The original title of this was O’Halloran; or, The Insurgent Chief, [1824],
Philadelphia, three vols., and in same year London, one vol. Republ. frequently
in Glasgow (Cameron & Ferguson) and Belfast (Henderson).
⸺ THE HEARTS OF STEEL. (Gill). 6d. [1825]. Still in print.
A story full of sensational adventure. There is a good deal about the
Oak Boys and Steel Boys, Ulster Protestant secret societies which indulged
in agrarian outrages as a protest against various abuses. The writer praises
the Presbyterian religion somewhat at the expense of the Catholic. Some
of the incidents related are rather coarse. Includes legends of Carrickfergus,
also a good deal of verse.
MACHRAY, Robert. B. 1857. Formerly Prof. of Ecclesiastical History
in St. John’s University College, Manitoba. War editor, Daily Mail,
1904-05. Between 1898 and 1914 has publ. a dozen novels, besides
other works.
⸺ GRACE O’MALLEY, Princess and Pirate. Pp. viii. + 338. (Cassell).
6s. 1898.
Purporting to be “Told by Ruari Macdonald, Redshank and Rebel, The
same set forth in the Tongue of the English.” Scene: various points on
the west coast from Achill to Limerick. To a dual love story—of Grace
(= Grania Waile) and Richard Burke, Ruari (the hero) and Eva, Grace’s
foster-sister—are added many stirring descriptions of sea-fights and escapes,
sieges and hostings. Historical personages, such as Sir Nicholas Malbie, the
Earl of Desmond, and Stephen Lynch of Galway, are introduced. The
moral tone is entirely good. The point of view is Grace O’Malley’s.
M’ILROY, Archibald. B. Ballyclare, Co. Antrim, 1860. Entered first the
banking and then the insurance business. Took part in public life in
his native county and in Co. Down. For the last three years of his
life, which was ended in the Lusitania disaster, 1915, he lived in Canada.
⸺ THE AULD MEETIN’ HOOSE GREEN. Pp. 260. (Belfast:
M’Caw, Stevenson & Orr). 1898.
Stories of the Co. Antrim peasantry. Time: thirty or forty years ago.
Imitative of the “Kailyard” school in England. An intimate picture
of Ulster Presbyterianism and its ways of thought. Has both humour and
pathos. Is offensive to no creed or class. Ulster-Scot dialect true to life.
Titles of some of the stories:—“Two Little Green Graves,” “At Jesus’ Feet,”
“The Old Precentor Crosses the Bar.”
⸺ WHEN LINT WAS IN THE BELL. (Unwin). 1898.
⸺ BY LONE CRAIG LINNIE BURN. Pp. 153. (Unwin). 1900.
“Two series of local stories of the Scoto-Irish folk of Ulster, the chat of
village gossips, character-sketches of doctor, minister, agent, and inn-keeper:
quaint blends of Scottish and Irish traits. Most of the tales of idyllic kind.”—(Baker).
The reviewer in the Irish Monthly says of the second of the
above: “It is a wonderfully realistic picture of various grades of social
life in a little country town in the North ... giving amusing glimpses of the
working of practical Presbyterian theology in the rustic middle class....
Leaves on the reader a very remarkable impression of truthfulness and reality.”
In this second novel there is some humour and a good deal of pathos. The
same remarks apply here as to The Auld Meetin’ Hoose Green.
⸺ A BANKER’S LOVE STORY. Pp. 247. (Fisher Unwin). 1901.
The story opens in “the Union Bank, Spindleton” (the Ulster Bank,
Belfast), the various types of bank directors and clerks being cleverly described—the
mischief-making Blake, the jolly Harry Burke, &c. The scene shifts
to “Craig Linnie” (Ballyclare), where George Dixon’s love story begins.
He is transferred to Ballinasloe (good description of the big fair). Through
no fault of his own he comes under a cloud, but eventually matters clear up
and all ends happily. The Author knows his Ulster types thoroughly.
⸺ THE HUMOUR OF DRUID’S ISLAND. Pp. 127. (Hodges, Figgis;
and Mullan, Belfast). 2s. 6d. 1902.
Scene: “Druid’s Island” is Islandmagee, Co. Antrim. A series of very
short anecdotes told to one another by the Presbyterian country people,
in their peculiar Scoto-Irish dialect, and full of the dry, “pawky” humour
of the North. Gives glimpses of the manners and life of the place.
MACINNES, Rev. D.
⸺ FOLK AND HERO TALES. Collected, ed. (in Gaelic), and trans.
by; with a Study on the Development of the Ossianic or Finn Saga,
and copious Notes by Alfred Nutt. Pp. xxiv. + 497. (Nutt). 15s. net.
Portrait of Campbell of Islay and two Illustr. by E. Griset. 1890.
Gaelic and English throughout on opposite pages. The tales were taken
down at intervals during 1881-2, chiefly from the dictation of A. MacTavish,
a shoemaker of seventy-four, a native of Mull. The tales are typical folk-tales,
full of giants, monsters, and other mythic and magic beings. They
are often quaint, imaginative and picturesque, but abound in extravagance
and absurdity. In Mr. Nutt’s notes (pp. 443 to end) he studies chiefly—(1)
What relation, if any, obtains between the folk-tales current in Scotland
and the older Gaelic literature; (2) what traces of early Celtic belief and
customs do these tales reveal. They are very elaborate and scholarly. Good
Index.
M’INTOSH, Sophie. Born at Kinsale, where she resided for many years,
until her marriage with Rev. H. M’Intosh, of Methodist College, Belfast.
In her sketches she describes faithfully and vividly the people of her
native town.—(Irish Lit.).
⸺ THE LAST FORWARD, and Other Stories. Pp. 152. (Brimley
Johnson). Five Illustr. by Jack B. Yeats. 1902.
Ten Irish school and football stories, with plenty of schoolboy language
and slang, told in lively, stirring style, never dull.
McKAY, J. G.
⸺ THE WIZARD’S GILLIE; or, Gille A’Bhuidseir and Other Tales.
Ed. and transl. by J. G. McKay. (St. Catherine’s Press). 3s. 6d. 1915.
A selection from the MS. collection of the tales gathered by the late J. F.
Campbell, of Islay (q.v.), and preserved in the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh.
The Gaelic and the translation are given on opposite pages. Some of the
titles are “Donald Caol Cameron,” “The Carpenter MacPheigh,” “The Sept
of the Three Score Fools.”
MACKAY, William.
⸺ PRO PATRIA: the Autobiography of a Conspirator. Two Vols.
(Remington). 1883.
The narrator, Ptolemy Daly, is a weak, conceited youth, given to hysterics
and poetry. Full of visions of Robert Emmet, he joins the staff of “The
Sunburst,” the organ of an insurrectionary movement led by Phil Gallagher,
a fine character, evidently modelled on T. C. Luby. At the critical moment
Daly plays the traitor and decamps to England. Isaac Butt and John
Rea are introduced, under thinly disguised names. Scene: Dublin and
Wicklow. Written in ironical vein: Daly’s only “Speech from the Dock”
was on a charge of drunk and disorderly. The Author was one of three
brothers, all well-known London journalists. He was born in Belfast in
1846. Wrote also A Popular Idol and Beside Still Waters.
MACKENZIE, Donald A.
⸺ FINN AND HIS WARRIOR BAND; or, Tales of Old Alban. Pp.
248. (Blackie). 2s. 6d. 1910.
Stories, arranged in a connected series, of the Fenian cycle, adapted for
children from twelve to fourteen or thereabouts. Told in picturesque language,
but perfectly simple and direct. For the most part folklore, full of
magic and wonder, nine-headed giants and fire-breathing dogs. But here
and there the antique hero-tale appears, as in the Battle of Gavra and the
death of Dermaid. Localities mostly Scotch. The illustrations (6 coloured,
34 in black and white) are charming in every way. Picture cover.
MACKENZIE, R. Shelton.
⸺ BITS OF BLARNEY. (N.Y.: Redfield). [1854]. (N.Y.: Alden). 1884.
“A series of Irish stories and legends collected from the peasantry,” familiar
to the Author in youth (see pref.). It is a volume of miscellanies. Includes
three stories of Blarney Castle told in serio-comic manner by a schoolmaster;
some local legends of Finn McCool, &c.; eccentric characters (the bard
O’Kelly, Father Prout, Irish dancing masters, Charley Crofts, Buck English);
Irish publicists; sketches of Grattan and O’Connell (the former enthusiastic,
the latter not wholly favourable—O’C. “the greatest professor of Blarney
these latter days have seen or heard”). He speaks of O’C. from personal
knowledge. On the whole thoroughly nationalist in tone. The Author,
b. in Co. Limerick, 1809, educated Cork and Fermoy, was a journalist in
London, afterwards in New York, and wrote or edited many valuable works,
historical and biographical. D. 1880.
M’KEON, J. F.
⸺ ORMOND IDYLLS. Pp. 144. (Nutt). 1s. Paper. 1901.
Scene: Co. Kilkenny. Eight little sketches of peasant life, pathetic and
sad. In one a glimpse is given with knowledge and sympathy of the work
of a country priest.
M’LENNAN, William.
⸺ SPANISH JOHN. Pp. 270. (Harper). 6s. Eighteen v. g. Illustr. by
F. de Myrbach. 1898.
Adventures of Col. John McDonnell from the Highlands, when a lieutenant
in the regiment Irlandia, in the service of the K. of Spain, operating in Italy
(1744-6). At the Scots College in Rome, whither he had been sent to be made
a priest, he had met a young student, a Mr. O’Rourke. This latter, now
a chaplain in the Irish Brigade, saves McD.’s life on the field of Villetri.
Subsequently the two are sent by the Duke of York to Scotland on a mission
to Prince Charlie. They find that all is lost. Characters admirably drawn,
notably the humorous, warm-hearted, heroic Father O’Rourke.
“MACLEOD, Fiona”; William Sharp. B. Paisley, 1856. Ed. Glasgow
Univ. Spent his boyhood in the West Highlands and Islands and
became imbued with love for things Celtic. Even as late as 1899 it
was positively stated that, in spite of conjectures to the contrary, William
Sharp and Fiona MacLeod were not the same person, and Mrs. Hinkson
says in her Twenty-five Years’ Reminiscences that she is not yet convinced
that they were.
⸺ THE LAUGHTER OF PETERKIN. Pp. 288. (Constable). Four
Drawings by S. Rollenson. 1897.
“A re-telling of old tales of the Celtic Wonder-World. Contains: ‘The
Laughter of Peterkin’; ‘the Four White Swans (Sons of Lir)’; ‘the Fate
of the Sons of Tuireann’; ‘Darthool and the Sons of Usnach.’” Told in
language of great beauty and simplicity.
⸺ SPIRITUAL TALES. (Edinb.: Geddes). 1897.
⸺ TRAGIC ROMANCES. (Edinb.: Geddes). 1897.
⸺ BARBARIC TALES. (Edinb.: Geddes). 1897.
⸺ THE DOMINION OF DREAMS. (Constable). 1899.
⸺ THE SIN-EATER, and Other Tales. (Constable). 1899.
⸺ THE WASHER OF THE FORD, and Other Tales. (Constable). 1899.
⸺ The collected works written under the above pen-name (between 1894
and 1905). Ed. by his widow, and publ. by Heinemann in seven Vols.,
5s. net each. Three Vols. have appeared, viz.:—I. Pharais; The
Mountain Lovers. II. The Sin Eater; The Washer of the Ford (April).
Pp. 450. III. The Dominion of Dreams; Under the Dark Star (April).
Pp. 438. The following are announced:—IV. The Divine Adventure;
Iona, &c. V. The Winged Destiny. VI. The Silence of Amor; Where
the Forest Murmurs. VII. Poems and Dramas.
Some titles of the stories in these three vols.:—“Morag of the Glen,”
“The Dan-nan-Ron,” “The Sin-Eater,” “The Flight of the Culdees,”
“The Harping of Cravetheen,” “Silk o’ the Kine,” “Cathal of the Woods,”
“St. Bride of the Isles,” “The Awakening of Angus Ogue,” “Three Marvels
of Iona,” &c.
These books of Fiona Macleod’s are, for the most part, shadowy, elusive
dream-poems in prose, wrought into a form of beauty from fragments of
old Gaelic tales heard in the Western isles (where the Author lived for years)
from fishermen and crofters. They are full of the magic of words subtly
woven, of vague mystery, and of nature—wind and sea and sky. He strives
to infuse into his stories the sadder and more mystic aspects of the Gaelic
spirit, as he conceives it. “I have not striven to depict the blither Irish
Celt.” But many of his stories are simply Irish legends, e.g., The Harping
of Cravetheen. The Author thus describes his work: “In certain sections
are tales of the old Gaelic and Celtic Scandinavian life and mythology;
in others there is a blending of paganism and Christianity; in others again
are tales of the dreaming imagination having their base in old mythology,
or in a kindred mythopæic source.... Many of these tales are of the grey
wandering wave of the West, and through each goes the wind of the Gaelic
spirit which turns to the dim enchantment of dreams.” On the other hand,
some of these stories deal with life in modern Gaelic Scotland, e.g., The Mountain
Lovers, which, however poetically told, is after all a tale of seduction.
The Winged Destiny, amid much matter of a different nature, contains several
tales of Gaelic inspiration.
MACLEOD and THOMSON.
⸺ SONGS AND TALES OF ST. COLUMBA AND HIS AGE. By
Fiona Macleod and J. Arthur Thomson. Third edition. Large paper 4to.
(Edinb.: Patrick Geddes). 6d. nett.
M’MAHON, Ella. Dau. of late Rev. J. H. MacMahon, Chaplain to the
Lord-Lieutenant. Ed.: home. Has written much for various magazines
and periodicals, and particularly on historical and archæological
subjects. Has publ. about seventeen novels. Now resides in Chelsea.—(Who’s
Who).
⸺ FANCY O’BRIEN. (Chapman & Hall). 6s. 1909.
A tragedy of city life centering in the betrayal and desertion of Bridgie
Doyle by Fancy O’Brien. Full of human interest, careful and skilful study
of character and motive. Catholic in sympathy. “In its minor details
the book is true to life, photographic in its realism.” The story is of high
dramatic and literary excellence. In the account of the Easter Monday
excursion to Bray “the story of Bridgie’s undoing is told with a rare combination
of poetry, force, and restraint.”—(N.I.R., Aug., 1909).
⸺ THE JOB. Pp. 383. (Nisbet). 6s. 1914.
Sir Thady, a Cromwellian-Irish baronet, grows interested in his Irish
surroundings on his estate of Ballymaclashin. He ceases to haunt the Bath
Club, Piccadilly, and takes to starting carpet factories (The Job). Many
of the incidents are furnished by the difficulties that beset the task owing
to the amateurish innocence of the baronet and the stupidity of his local
helpers. And besides there are the love affairs of Sir Thady and the English
Miss Devereux. The point of view is Anglo-Irish, the “mere” Irish being
regarded de haut en bas as rather impossible, thriftless, poor people, in short,
as a problem to be dealt with philanthropically. The style is easy and
pleasant.
MACMANUS, Miss L. Holds a distinct place among Irish authors of to-day
as being one of the very few writers of Irish historical fiction who write
from a thoroughly national standpoint. Her books are straightforward,
stirring tales, enthusiastically Irish, free from tedious disquisitions,
but based on considerable historical research. She is a worker in the
ranks of the Gaelic League, and in her Co. Mayo (Kiltimagh) home does
much for the cause of Irish Ireland. She is interested in folklore, and
some of the tales she has collected have recently been publ. in the Folklore
Journal. Some of her stories in the Dublin weeklies deal in the
weird and the mysterious. The following have been publ. by The
Educational Co. of Ireland as penny pamphlets:—In the High King’s
Camp, A Battle Champion, Felim the Harper, The Prince of Breffny’s Son,
How Enda went to the Iceland, The Leathern Cloaks. She has publ. two
serials in Sinn Fein: The Professor in Erin and One Generation Passeth.
⸺ THE SILK OF THE KINE. Pp. 282. (Fisher Unwin). 3s. 6d.
(N.Y.: Harper). 1.00. 1896.
Scene: chiefly Connaught and south-west Ulster during the Parliamentary
Wars. The heroine is a daughter of the Maguire of Fermanagh. Her capture
by the Roundheads, her rescue from the man-hunters by a Parliamentarian
officer, her condemnation to slavery in St. Kitt’s, and her escape, are told
in vivid and thrilling style. It is a story for young readers especially.
⸺ LALLY OF THE BRIGADE. (Duffy). 2s. 1s. (Boston: Page).
25c. 1899.
Adventures, during the War of the Spanish Succession, of a Colonel of the
Brigade, who, after many thrilling experiences, distinguishes himself at
Cremona, and marries a girl whom he had met during the war under romantic
circumstances. The tale is lively and interesting, and makes one realize
somewhat of the intrigues and dangers of war.... Young readers may
derive a great deal of amusement and instruction from the book.—(N.I.R.).
Lally is a young captain in the regiment of Dillon. “James III.,” Louis XIV.,
Prince Eugène, Marshall Villeroy, and General O’Mahony all appear in the
story.
⸺ NESSA. Pp. 147. (Sealy, Bryers). 2s. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.60. n.d.
(1904).
A tale of the Cromwellian Plantation, characterized by a simple unpretentious
style and considerable power of description, both of character and
scenery.—(Press notices). The little book was highly praised by the Academy
and by the Irish Times. It is, of course, strongly national in sentiment.
Scene: an old castle near Lough Conn, Co. Mayo.
⸺ IN SARSFIELD’S DAYS. Pp. 306. (Gill). Illustr. 1907.
“A Passage from the Memoirs of Brigadier Niall MacGuinness of Iveagh,
sometime captain in Sarsfield’s Horse.” Scene: Limerick during Siege.
Includes account of Sarsfield’s Ride and of the repulse of William’s assault.
The plot hinges on the disappearance of Balldearg O’Donnell’s cross, which
Iveagh is suspected of having stolen. The central figure is perhaps the
wayward and imperious Ethna Ni Briain. The story moves rapidly, unencumbered
by descriptions or digressions. The scenes are vivid and dramatic.
The Author’s play, “O’Donnell’s Cross,” is founded on this novel. Publ.
in U.S.A. (N.Y.: Buckles), 1.50, under title The Wager.
⸺ NUALA. Pp. 322. (Browne & Nolan). 3s. 6d. Four Illustr. by Oswald
Cunningham. 1908.
Tells how the only child, aged fifteen, of the head of the O’Donnells, then
in the service of the Austrian Government, is entrusted by her father just
before his death with the mission of obtaining the Cathach, or battle-book
of the O’Donnells, from the monks at Louvain. On the way she passes through
exciting adventures, being captured by some of Napoleon’s soldiers. Gen.
Hoche figures in the story. Juvenile.
MACMANUS, Seumas. B. Mountcharles, Co. Donegal, 1870. Son of a
peasant farmer. Was for some years a National School teacher, but
subsequently turned entirely to journalism. Has written for most
of the Irish papers and magazines and for many English and American
periodicals. Is well known in the States, where he frequently goes on
lecturing tours.
⸺ SHUILERS FROM HEATHY HILLS. Pp. 102. (Mountcharles:
G. Kirke). 1893.
The Author’s earliest poems and three prose sketches:—“Micky Maguire”
(the last of the hedge schoolmasters), “How you bathe at Bundoran,” and
“A Trip with Phil M’Goldrick.”
⸺ THE LEADIN’ ROAD TO DONEGAL. Pp. 246. (Digby, Long).
3s. 6d. (N.Y.: Pratt). 2.00. [1896]. Second ed., 1908; others since.
Twelve short stories of the Donegal peasantry, full of very genuine, if
somewhat broad, humour and drollery. They are not meant as pictures of
peasant life. The dialect is exaggerated for humorous purposes, and at
times the fun goes perilously near “Stage-Irishism.” But they are never
coarse or vulgar.
⸺ ’TWAS IN DHROLL DONEGAL. (Gill). 1s. Third ed., 1897.
Eight tales dealing with the humorous side of the home-life of Donegal
peasants. A few, however, are folk-tales of the Jack the Giant-killer type.
Told with verve and piquancy and with unflagging humour, but the skill in
story-telling is naturally not as developed in this as in the Author’s later
work, drawing a good deal upon humorous padding to aid the intrinsic humour
of the incidents.
⸺ THE BEND OF THE ROAD. (Gill, Duffy). 2s., 3s. (N.Y.: Pratt).
1.75. [1897].
This is a sequel to A Lad of the O’Friels,[7] but consists of detached sketches,
and is not told in the first person. Most of the sketches are humorous, notably
“Father Dan and Fiddlers Four”; but there is pathos, too, as in “The
Widow’s Mary,” a scene at a wake before an eviction. The Introduction is
an admirable summing up of the peculiarities, emotions, and vicissitudes
of life in an out-of-the-way Donegal countryside.
⸺ THE HUMOURS OF DONEGAL. (Unwin). (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.50.
[1898].
Seven stories admirably told, and full of the richest and most rollicking
humour. In the first only, viz., “When Barney’s Thrunk Comes Home,”
is there a touch of the pathetic. It would be hard to beat “Shan Martin’s
Ghost,” and “Why Tómas Dubh Walked,” and “How Paddy M’Garrity
did not get to be Gauger.” “One St. Patrick’s Day” gives the humorous
side of Orange and Green rivalry.
⸺ THROUGH THE TURF SMOKE. (Fisher Unwin). 2s. (N.Y.:
Doubleday. Toronto: Morang). 2.00. [1899]. 1901.
Simple tales of the Donegal peasantry. There is both pathos and humour—the
former deep, and at times poignant; the latter always rich and often
farcical. The Author writes with all the vividness of one who has lived
all he writes about. He has full command of every device of the story-teller,
yet never allows his personality to show except, as it should, through the
medium of the actors.
⸺ IN CHIMNEY CORNERS. Pp. 281. (N.Y.: Harper). Illustr. by
Pamela Colman Smith. 1899.
“Subtle, merry tales of Irish Folk-lore.”—(Pref.). The stories are very
similar in kind to the same Author’s Donegal Fairy Tales. There is the same
quaint, humorous, peasant language, the same extravagances and impossibilities.
The illustrations are very numerous. They are very brightly coloured,
but for the most part extremely bizarre.
⸺ THE BEWITCHED FIDDLE, and Other Irish Tales. Pp. ix. + 240.
(N.Y.: Doubleday and McClure). 1900.
Ten short stories, humorous for the most part, but one, “The Cadger Boy’s
Last Journey,” moving and pathetic. They are an exact reproduction in
dialect and phraseology of stories actually heard by the Author at Donegal
firesides, and the fidelity of the reproduction is perfect.
⸺ DONEGAL FAIRY STORIES. Pp. 255. (Isbister). 1902. (N.Y.:
McClure).
Dedication in Irish and English. Thirty-four full-page pen and ink
drawings, signed “Verbeek.” These latter are quaint and amusingly grotesque.
The stories are folk-tales, told just as the peasantry tell them,
without brogue, but with all the repetitions, humorous extravagances and
naïveté of the folk-tale. They are just the thing for children, and are quite
free from coarseness and vulgarity.
⸺ THE RED POACHER. (N.Y.: Funk & Wagnalls). 0.75. 1903.
⸺ A LAD OF THE O’FRIELS. Pp. 318. (Gill; Duffy). 2s., 2s. 6d., 3s.
(N.Y.: Pratt). 2.00. [1903]. Third ed., 1906.
In this book one actually seems to have been living among the childlike
and quaint yet deep-natured, true, and altogether lovable little circle of
Knocknagar, and to have shared its joys and sorrows. Every character
described stands out altogether distinct, old Toal a’Gallagher the sententious;
his wife, Susie of the sharp tongue; their son, Toal the “Vagabone,” with
his wild pranks; the grandiloquent “Masther,” and all the rest. Through
it all runs the simple love story of Dinny O’Friel and Nuala Gildea, companions
from childhood. The book is full of deep, but quiet and restrained,
feeling. The description of the pilgrimage to Lough Derg has much beauty.
⸺ DOCTOR KILGANNON. (Gill). 1s. (Wrapper). Well illustr. 1907.
A string of loosely-connected after-dinner stories chiefly about comic
duelling and electioneering. Told with pleasant drollery.
⸺ YOURSELF AND THE NEIGHBOURS. Pp. 304. (N.Y.: Devin
Adair Co.). Five Illustr. by T. Fogarty. 1914.
A picture by one who has lived it of the life of the Donegal peasant—not
their outward life merely, but their most intimate thoughts and beliefs,
hopes and joys, their whole outlook on things. The Author is discerning and
sympathetic in a high degree. “Yourself and Herself” gives a Donegal
man’s life story from “the barefoot time” through love and marriage to
“evening’s quiet end.” Some of the remaining stories show the Author’s
humour at its best—the Homeric struggles of the “priest’s boy” with the
New Curate and the Tartar of a postmistress, the “come home Yankee,” and
so on.
M’NALLY, Mrs.[8]
⸺ ECCENTRICITY. Three Vols. (over 1,000 pp.). (Dubl.: Cumming).
1820.
An endless series of love affairs between charming ladies and wealthy
gentlemen, all of the upper classes, very proper, very stilted, and dull. The
eccentricity is on the part of an old soldier who is a misanthrope and a hermit,
but resolves to return to normal life and renew acquaintance with his daughter.
He descends upon the friend’s family in which he has left her, carries off
another by mistake, &c. The plot never really moves on.
M’NALLY, Louisa.
⸺ THE PIRATE’S FORT. Pp. 210. (Hodges & Smith). 1854.
The fort is Dunalong, on Inisherkin, in Baltimore Bay, a stronghold of the
O’Driscoll’s towards close of 16th cent. English ship captured. O’D.’s
natural son, a ferocious pirate, falls in love with captain’s daughter. She is
true to her English officer. The beautiful daughter of O’D. saves her from
his fury. Vengeance of the English—destruction of the fort—double wedding
of the two fair maids to two English officers. A prominent rôle is assigned
to money-grabbing, idle, besotted Franciscan friar.
MACNAMARA, Lewis.
⸺ BLIND LARRY: Irish Idylls. (Jarrold). 3s. 6d. 1897.
“Artless records of life among the very poor in West of Ireland, the fruit
of kindly observation, and, obviously, essays in the Thrums style. Larry is a
poor blind fiddler, whose one joy in life is his son, and he turns out a reproach
to his father. “Katty’s Wedding” is a very Irish bit of farce, and “Mulligan’s
Revenge” expresses the vindictive passions of the Celt, an episode of jealousy
and crime, alleviated at the close by repentance and reconciliation.”—(Baker).
MACNAMARA, Rachel Swete.
⸺ SPINNERS IN SILENCE. Pp. 317. (Blackwood). 6s. 1911.
Fingal and Lutie are lovers somewhere in the wilds of Ireland. Enter
an Interloper (a danseuse of doubtful reputation), who falls genuinely in
love with F., and tries to win him. She fails, and exit. The atmosphere
is very ideal and the language, especially the conversations, somewhat high-flown.
Author writes well, and is clearly sympathetic to Ireland. The
housekeeper cousin of “county family” status, with her genteel notions,
is well sketched.
M’NULTY, Edward. B. 1856, Randalstown, Co. Antrim. Ed. in the
Incorporated Society’s School, Aungier St., Dublin, where he was a schoolmate
and intimate of G. B. Shaw. Contributes to various periodicals—Irish
Society, The Occult Review, &c., and has written a play, “The
Lord Mayor,” for the Abbey Theatre. Satirizes Irish failings, but is
proud of being an Irishman himself. Resides in Ranelagh, Dublin.
⸺ MISTHER O’RYAN. Pp. 271. (Arnold). 3s. 6d. 1894.
A priest, squat, red-faced, whiskey-loving, unspeakably vulgar, and a
ruffian to whom he is disgracefully related, organize a branch of the “Lague,”
and boycott a farmer who will not join. The latter’s daughter dies tragically
in consequence. The typical “pesint” is introduced as cringeing, priest-ridden,
and wholly degraded. Impossible brogue throughout.
⸺ SON OF A PEASANT. Pp. 342. (Arnold). 1897.
A great advance on Misther O’Ryan, q.v. A tragic-comedy of life among
lower middle class people in a small provincial town. The “son of a peasant”
is Clarence Maguire, an obscure young schoolmaster, who in the end comes
in for great wealth and all but wins the daughter of Sir Herbert O’Hara,
an impoverished gentleman. A sub-plot is furnished by the love affairs of
Constable Kerrigan and his determined efforts after promotion. The plot
affords the Author scope for many genuinely humorous scenes, especially
those in the Flanagan family, which are admirably done, and for the clever
portrayal of some of the meaner aspects of human nature—class pride, servility,
the worship of the moneyed man, time serving, &c. The plot largely turns
on an absurd superstition about changelings. This leads to the hideous
tragedy of the close. The book is marred by a travesty of the brogue. Otherwise
it is not anti-national.
⸺ MAUREEN. Pp. 343. (Arnold). 6s. 1904.
Of the same type as Misther O’Ryan. One of the priests introduced trades
with a miraculous statue on the superstition of the people; the other is a
sleek, smooth fop, thoroughly and heartlessly vicious. There is little else
besides this in the book.
⸺ MRS. MULLIGAN’S MILLIONS. (Hurst & Blackett). 6s. 1908.
A broad farce, with Irish people (of the worst stage-Irish type) as actors, and
a small, vulgar Irish town for scene. Mrs. Mulligan is a very low species of
tramp. She is supposed suddenly to come in for a fortune, and her relations
tumble over one another in efforts to gain her favour—until the bubble
bursts. There is much caricature of Irish traits and manners. Local journalism
is specially ridiculed.—(News cuttings).
M’SPARRAN, Archibald.
⸺ THE LEGEND OF M’DONNELL AND THE NORMAN DE
BORGOS. Pp. 213, close print. 16mo. (Gill). 1s. [Belfast, 1829].
Still in print.
Writer (1795-1850?) was a school-master in Derry, who emigrated to
America in 1830, where he published Tales and Stories of the Alleghenys and
The Hermit of the Rocky Mountains. A tale of the struggles between O’Neills,
O’Donnells, O’Cahans, M’Quillans, M’Donnells, and other Ulster septs.
Scene: northern portions of Antrim, Derry, and Donegal. The work of a
half-educated man. A rambling story marked by frequent lapses from
literary good taste and numerous grammatical mistakes. The peasantry
talk in broad modern brogue, full of “arrah,” “musha,” “tare-an-ouns,” &c.
Shows a considerable though undigested knowledge of Irish history and
topography. The book had considerable vogue both here and in U.S.A.
MACSWEENEY, Rev. Patrick M., M.A. One of the most erudite of Irish
priests. Was Chancellor’s Gold Medallist in the Royal University.
Was afterwards Professor of Mod. Lit. in Holy Cross College, Clonliffe.
Is at present editor of the Irish Ecclesiastical Record.
⸺ THE MARTIAL CAREER OF CONGHAL CLÁIRINGHNEACH.
Pp. lxvii. + 225. (Nutt, for Irish Texts Society). 1904.
Ed. for the first time with all the apparatus of scholarship—critical study
of the Tale or Saga, literary study of the text, grammatical study, notes,
glossary, and index. The story belongs to the pre-Cuchulainn stage of the
Red Branch Cycle. Conghal is supposed to have reigned from 177 to 162
B.C.
MACWALTER, J. G., F.R.S.L., &c.
⸺ TALES OF IRELAND AND THE IRISH. Pp. 224. (Farquhar
Shaw). 1854.
Wrote also The Irish Reformation Movement, 1852; Modern Mystery, 1854,
&c. The object of these three stories is to point out the wickedness and
the evil influence, especially in Ireland, of the Catholic Church. In “Betty
Bryan’s Fortune,” Thady becomes a Protestant, and all goes well with him:
the sign of the Cross is called a charm; and there is a description of Beltaine
superstitions. In “The Terry Alt,” a girl is seized just after marriage and
immured in a convent for life: the conspirators are a monk, a priest, and
“Blackboys.”
MADDEN, M. S.
⸺ THE FITZGERALD FAMILY. (R.T.S.). 2s. Three cold. ill. by
Victor Prout. 1910.
The family is left very poor on death of father, a C. of I. clergyman. Rich
and vulgar relations adopt Barry and Moya, the former of whom becomes
an unbearable bounder, the latter a heartless flirt. The rest of the family
remains very poor, very good, and rather dull. There is an occasional mention
of Irish peasants and the Irish language. Apart from this, the persons,
their doings, and the atmosphere are wholly un-Irish. The story has a
moral purpose that is good and not too obtrusive.
MAGENNIS, Peter. A retired National School teacher. B. near Derrygonnelly,
Co. Fermanagh, in 1817, the son of a farmer. D. 1910, aged
93, at his birth-place.
⸺ THE RIBBON INFORMER: a Tale of Lough Erne. Pp. 158.
(London). 1874.
An unskilfully constructed, rambling narrative, interspersed with indifferent
verse. The Author says in his Preface: “This novel is founded on fact,
almost every incident in it actually occurred, and many of them within the
recollection of the writer. It contains local traditions and legendary lore.
It treats of highway robbery, illicit distilling, rural manners, party feeling,
and a rather disorganized state of society.”
⸺ TULLY CASTLE: a Tale of 1641. Pp. 266. (Enniskillen: Trimble).
1877.
A very crude, rambling tale, bringing in a few incidents of the Confederate
War and several historic characters, but mainly taken up with private love
affairs, abductions, &c. No character study and no real portrayal of the
times. Occasional vulgarity. Scene: chiefly the shores of Lough Erne.
MAGINN, J. D.
⸺ FITZGERALD, THE FENIAN. Two Vols. Pp. 576. (Chapman &
Hall). 1889.
Deals with Fenian and Land League movements. The Author is unacquainted
with the history and organization of Fenianism. The land agitation
he represents as forced upon an unwilling peasantry by a kind of murder-club
in America. Scene: mainly Co. Sligo. Parnell and Biggar are brought
in under assumed names, and are broadly caricatured. The portrayal of
Butt is truer to reality and less marred by bias. The Author is uninformed
and, on the whole, uncomprehending: hence some absurd statements
about things Irish, some objectionable (but evidently unintentionally so)
references to the Catholic Church, and a quite impossible Irish brogue. But
he is on the whole not unfriendly to Ireland.
MAGINN, William. B. Cork, 1793. Ed. T.C.D. Began early to write for
the magazines (Blackwood’s, &c.), chiefly parodies and other jeux
d’esprit. Went to London, 1823, where, in 1830, he established Fraser’s
Magazine, which with Carlyle, Thackeray, Maclise, Prout as contributors,
for some years was at the head of English periodical literature. He
fell more and more into habits of drunkenness, and engaged in disreputable
journalism. Writing to the end, he died in 1842. Thackeray drew
a portrait of him as Captain Shandon in Pendennis. Many memoirs
of him have been written. His “Bob Burke’s Duel with Ensign Brady”
is said to be the raciest Irish story ever written.
⸺ MISCELLANIES: Prose and Verse. (London). [First collection, 1840].
Selections ed. by “R. W. Montagu.” 1885. (N.Y.: Scribner). 9.60.
Contains “Bob Burke’s Duel,” “The Story without a Tail,” and other
Irish stories, published in magazines between 1823 and 1842. These stories
are told mostly in a vein of broad comedy. Their characters are roysterers
and swaggerers. Maginn was a man of brilliant gifts. The fantastic humour
and wild gaiety of his stories give them an original flavour. Maginn was a
high Tory and an Orangeman.—(Krans). Dr. Mackenzie edited, in 1857,
The Miscellanies of William Maginn (5 vols.), published in America. Contents:—Vols.
I. and II. “The O’Doherty Papers.” III. “The Shakespeare
Papers.” IV. “Homeric Ballads.” V. “The Fraserian Papers,” with a life
of the Author.
MAHONY, Martin Francis; “Matthew Stradling.” B., Co. Cork, 1831.
D. 1885. Was a nephew of “Father Prout.” Also wrote Cheap John’s
Auction.
⸺ THE IRISH BAR SINISTER. Pp. 136. London. 1872.
“New ed. in four chapters.” The original was publ. by Gill, Dublin, 1871.
Really a pamphlet showing up the place-hunting whiggery that prevailed
in the Irish Bar at that time, and giving a picture of Irish politics after the
Fenian insurrection, and at the outset of the Home Rule movement.
⸺ THE MISADVENTURES OF MR. CATLYNE, Q.C. An Autobiography.
Two Vols. (Tinsley). 1873.
Elaborates the idea of the above-mentioned work. Depicts, under
assumed names, well-known Irish lawyers of the day. Intrigues of the
candidate for a small Irish borough, and his difficulty in placating all parties
well described. This originally appeared in Fraser’s Magazine. There is
little plot, and no romantic interest.
⸺ JERPOINT. An ungarnished Story of the Time. Three Vols.
(Chapman & Hall). 1875.
A satirical study of parvenus, snobs, and various curious types, very
cleverly characterised. The story is chiefly concerned with the Courtneys,
risen from the publichouse to county-family importance. P. 49 sq. gives
an excellent picture of a meet, with a study of the personages present. Full
of close observation and excellent descriptions. Among the best portraits
are those of the Hanlon family, always shabby and out-at-elbows, yet ever
struggling with fortune. We are not told the situation of “the Cathedral
City of Jerpoint on the Sea.”
MALONE, Molly. A Dublin lady, married to a Mr. Riordan, living in Carlow.
⸺ THE GOLDEN LAD. 16mo. (C.T.S. of Ireland: Iona Series). 1s.
1910.
A study of Dublin slum-children, told with humour, insight, and sympathy,
by one who thoroughly knows their ways. The dialect is faithfully rendered.
MANNERS, T. Hartley.
⸺ PEG O’ MY HEART. Pp. 320. (Hodder & Stoughton). 1913.
“Novelized” from a popular play. Peg is daughter of an Irish agitator
of the eighties who goes to America in the troubled times. On the death
of Peg’s mother her father returns to Ireland, and lives there for many years,
till bright prospects call him back to America. But the main part of the
action is taken up with Peg’s visit of a month to her English relations in
Scarborough. The Author rather overdraws the contrast between English
and Irish types. There is much clever dialogue. Ends with passing of second
reading of Home Rule Bill, and the glorification of the one-time agitator.
MANNIX, Mary E.
⸺ MICHAEL O’DONNELL; or, The Fortunes of a Little Emigrant.
(Boston: Flynn). 0.60. [1900]. In print, 1910.
“Michael, an honest, industrious youngster, not too good to use his fists
when attacked by other boys, comes to the U.S., and steps into an excellent
situation after three months of walking across the Continent. By a series
of innocent misunderstandings, combined with hostile malice, he is made
to appear guilty of theft; but the truth is soon manifest.... Told
with much animation and liveliness.”—(American Eccles. Rev.) Juvenile.
⸺ PILGRIM FROM IRELAND. (Boston: Flynn). 0.36. In print,
1910.
MAPOTHER, Mary J.
⸺ THE DONALDS: an Irish Story (Gill). 6s. c. 1879.
Not in British Museum Library.
MARSH, Mrs.
⸺ THE NEVILLES OF GARRETSTOWN. Three Vols. (Saunders &
Otley). 1860.
The main plot is a somewhat slight story of a lost heir returning to claim
his inheritance, which had been usurped by an intruder. But the chief
interest lies in the numerous side incidents and digressions which are designed
to portray various phases of the life of the times. Opens and closes at
Clonmel, but the scene shifts to Dublin, Bantry, Paris, and other places. Introduces
Jacobite conspiracies, street-rioting, hedge schools, city entertainments,
political discussions, the working of the Penal laws, and historical
personages, such as Primate Stone, Thurot, Prince Charles Edward, Archbishop
Dillon, and many others. Is more or less on the side of the English
colony, but is not unfair to any party. Has little or no character study,
and not much human interest, but abounds in incident.
MARTIN, Miss H. L.
⸺ CANVASSING. (Duffy). Still in print. (N.Y.: Kenedy). [1832].
Published as one of the O’Hara’s tales. An elaborate tale of matchmaking
and marriage among the upper classes, written with a moral purpose. Incidentally
there is a good picture of an election contest in the first quarter of
the nineteenth century.
MARTINEAU, Harriet.
⸺ IRELAND: a Tale. Pp. 136. (London: Fox). 1832.
Appeared in a series of illustrations of political economy. Written in the
cause of the Irish poor, aiming to show “how long a series of evils may befal
individuals in a society conducted like that of Ireland, and by what a repetition
of grievances its members are driven into disaffection and violence.”
Shows three sources of evils—thriftlessness in tenants, rapacity in landlords,
misplaced benevolence.
MASON, Miss.
⸺ KATE GEARY; or, Irish Life in London. (London: Dolman).
1853.
“A Tale of 1849.” “The specific object of this work is to exemplify the
various ways in which the poor are placed at a disadvantage, and the misery
and, almost of necessity, the crime that ensue from their present crowded
condition.” “Miss M. describes the life of one who might be called a Sister
of Charity living in the world.... She tells us she has witnessed the
incidents of her tale, which are described with vivacity.... The
Author has entangled her heroine in a love affair, which, in itself, is very
frigid and tedious.”—(D.R.).
MASON, A. E. W.
⸺ CLEMENTINA. (Methuen). 2s. Eight illustr. by Bernard Partridge.
[1901]. Second ed., 1903. (Nelson). New ed., 7d. 1911.
The story of the romantic escape in 1720 of the Princess Clementina
Sobieski from Austria, and how she was conducted to Rome to be married to
the Pretender by the Chevalier Charles Wogan, member of an Anglo-Irish
family of Clongowes Wood, in the County Kildare. Some glimpses of the
Irish Brigade. A lively narrative. Mr. Baker calls it “a particularly close
imitation of Dumas.”
⸺ THE FOUR FEATHERS. Pp. 338. (Smith, Elder). 6s. (Nelson).
7d. [1903]. 1912.
Scene varies between London, Devonshire, the Soudan, and Donegal
(Ramelton and Glenalla), the scenery of which latter is finely described.
The theme is original and striking. The hero, an English soldier, is all his
life haunted by the fear of showing “the white feather” at a critical moment.
He resigns his commission rather than risk in a campaign his reputation for
courage. This action brings on him the dreaded imputation of cowardice.
How he redeems his honour is finely told. A delicate soul-study. The
heroic self-sacrifice of Jack Durance still further raises the moral worth of the
book.
MASON JONES, see JONES.
MATHEW, Frank. A grand-nephew of Father Mathew, the Apostle of
Temperance. B. 1865; ed. Beaumont, King’s College School, and
London University. The writer of the Preface to the New Ed. of the
Cabinet of Irish Literature says: “A good many people of excellent
judgment look upon Mr. Mathew as the Irish novelist we have been so
long awaiting.... He does not write merely from the point of view of a
sympathetic outsider. He has the true Celtic temperament, with the
advantage of education, inherited and otherwise, over the peasants of
genius who have so long represented the Irish spirit.” Wrote also
Father Mathew, his Life and Times, One Queen Triumphant, The Royal
Sisters, &c. Resides in London.
⸺ AT THE RISING OF THE MOON. Pp. 240. (M’Clure). 3s. 6d.
Twenty-seven good Illustr. (N.Y.: M’Clure). 1.50. 1893.
Twenty tales (memories of the old days, says the Author), picturing many
phases of peasant life on the West coast: incidents of the moonlighting days,
faction fights, the joke of the potheen-makers, the attachment of priests and
people, the hardships of the poor, the days of sorrow, the love of home and
country. Told with sympathy in simple but literary style. Dialogue clever
and full of bright snatches of Celtic humour.
⸺ THE WOOD OF THE BRAMBLES. (Lane). 6s. 1896.
Gives a grotesque picture, intended for vivid realism, of the rebellion.
The rebels are comic savages, their leaders (the priests included) little better
than buffoons. It is a burlesque ’98. It is well, however, to add the following
estimate from the prefatory essay to the new edition of The Cabinet of Irish
Literature: “A born critic here and there will find out that Mr. Frank
Mathew’s Wood of the Brambles is as full of wit, wisdom, observation, and
knowledge as genius can make it; but to the ordinary reader it is deliberately
and offensively topsy-turvy, and there’s an end of it.”
⸺ THE SPANISH WINE. Pp. 180. (Lane). 3s. 6d. 1898.
A tale of Dunluce Castle, Co. Antrim, in the days when the MacDonnells
from Scotland were Lords of Antrim, and Perrott was Elizabeth’s deputy.
The story is told in form of reminiscence, the actual movement of the plot
occupying only a few hours. Little attempt at description of scenes or times.
The Author’s sympathies are with the MacDonnells, who were on the English
side at the time. The book has been greatly admired, especially for the
vividness of its historical atmosphere and its poetic and romantic glamour.
⸺ LOVE OF COMRADES. (Lane). 3s. 6d. 1900.
“Ultra romantic. The sprightly daughter of a Wicklow squire, bosom
friend of Lord Strafford (then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland), goes on a perilous
journey disguised as a gallant, with a message of life or death to Strafford
at Dublin.”—(Baker, 2).
MATURIN, Charles Robert. 1782-1824. Born in Dublin, and educated
at Trinity College. Was a clergyman of the Church of Ireland, and
all his life the sworn enemy of Catholicism and of Presbyterianism, both
of which, especially the latter, he treats unsparingly in some of his books.
Besides his novels he wrote tragedies, such as “Bertram,” and bloodcurdling
melodramas, such as “Fredolpho.” In his way of life he
was somewhat of an oddity—the madness of genius, his admirers said—and
this is reflected in his works. “His romances attracted Scott
and Byron, and many critics have given them great though qualified
praise. Bombastic extravagance of language, tangled plots, and impossible
incidents characterize them all. A remarkable eloquence in
descriptions of turbulent passion is his strong point.” Besides the
novels mentioned below, he wrote Melmoth, the Wanderer, generally
considered his masterpiece, and “The Albigenses, his last and best (1824),
which was pronounced by Blackwood to be ‘four volumes of vigour,
extravagance, absurdity, and splendour’” (compiled from Krans and
Read). It should be noted that this writer sometimes violates good
morals by indecency. Mr. N. Idman, of Lotsgotan, Helsingfors, Finland,
is at present engaged on a study of M. which he intends to publish. The
1892 ed. of Melmoth contains an introductory memoir of M., a bibliography,
and a criticism of each of his works.
⸺ THE WILD IRISH BOY. Three Vols. 12mo. (London). [1808].
1814, 1839.
Republ. in “The Romancists’ and Novelists’ Library,” two vols. (Clements),
1839. The original ed. was anon.—by the Author of “Montorio” [i.e.,
“Dennis Jasper Murphy”]. Intended as an exposition of the unhappy
condition of Ireland and as a picture of the life and manners of the time.
The former is soon lost sight of, but the latter is well carried out. The hero
is a strong Nationalist who works wholly for Ireland’s cause. Apart from
this graver purpose, interest is sustained by a succession of exciting incidents
and by good character drawing. There is little plot, a great deal of sentiment,
and a great many disreputable intrigues, without, however, objectionable
details. The scene varies between Dublin and the W. of Ireland—life in the
family of a Protestant landowner and in that of a Catholic feudal chief.
Period, c. 1806-8. The society depicted is that of the aristocratic classes.
Author’s standpoint full of sympathy and even admiration for Ireland,
strongly Protestant (Ch. of I.) and anti-“Roman.”
⸺ LE JEUNE IRLANDAIS. Four Vols. (Paris). 1828.
Traduction per Madame la Comtesse de Molé.
⸺ THE MILESIAN CHIEF. Four Vols. 12mo. (London). 1812.
“Was generally well received by the critics. Even Talfourd, who had
been rather hard on his first novel (The Fatal Revenge), said of this: ‘There is
a bleak and misty grandeur about it which, in spite of all its glaring defects,
sustains for it an abiding place in the soul.’”—(C. A. Read). Deals with the
“prehistoric” Milesian invasion. Gustave Planche in his critique on M.
says of this book, “C’est un livre où étincellent ça et là des pages magnifiques.”
⸺ CONNAL OU LES MILESIENS. Traduit de l’anglais par Madame
la Comtesse [de Molé]. Four tom. (Paris). 1828.
⸺ WOMEN; or, Pour et Contre. Three Vols. [1818].
Young de Courcy rescues Eva, who had been carried off to be made a
Catholic of by a fanatical grandmother, and he falls in love. This brings
him into Calvinistic Methodist circles in Dublin. These the Author describes
minutely and with satire. The Methodist gloom and coldness drive the hero
to the company of a brilliant actress (really Zaira, Eva’s mother). He is
long torn between the two, but finally goes to Paris with Zaira. There he
deserts her for another. There is a fine description of Z.’s despair. Eva
dies of decline, and de Courcy, repentant, soon follows. “A moral and
interesting tale.” “The full praise both of invention and of execution must
be allowed to Mr. M.’s sketch of Eva.” As regards Methodism, Mr. M.
“has used the scalpel, not, we think, unfairly but with professional rigour
and dexterity.”—(From a review by Sir Walter Scott in the Edinb. Rev.,
xxx., 234).
⸺ EVA; ou, Amour et Religion. Traduit de l’anglais sur la 2e éd. par M.
4 tom. (Paris). 1818.
MATURIN, Edward. Son of the preceding.
⸺ THE IRISH CHIEFTAIN; or, The Isles of Life and Death. Pp. 316,
v. close print. 16mo. (Glasgow: Griffin). 1848.
A wild story, in which historical names (O’Ruarc of Breffny, Dermod
MacMurrough, Strongbow, Eva, Devorgilla) are given to the personages,
but which has no foundation in history. The incidents are supposed to take
place some short time after the Norman invasion, but the book bristles with
anachronisms. It is a series of thrilling adventures, fighting, revenge, murders,
hairbreadth escapes, and so forth. Highly melodramatic, sentimental,
and extravagant.
⸺ BIANCA: a Tale of Erin and Italy. Two Vols. 660 pp. (N.Y.:
Harper). 1852.
An outlandish sort of story, full of murders, perhaps a dozen, if not more.
Nearly all the characters have some terrible secret connected with their past;
hardly any of them are legitimate children. A duel between two brothers,
and banshees, and mysterious ladies with dark prophesyings, etc., and all
the fee-faw-fum of the times when all this was popular.
MAXWELL, W. Hamilton. 1792-1850. He was a clergyman of the Church
of Ireland, with a parish at Ballagh, in the wilds of Connaught, but was
largely relieved of pastoral duties by the absence of a flock. He divided
his leisure between field sports of all kinds and the writing of books.
Wild Sports of the West, Stories of Waterloo, and The Bivouac were the
most successful of these; they are still much read. He tells a story
capitally, with verve and spirit, and his situations are as exciting as
those of any modern novelist. Maxwell was the first writer of military
novels: he is the forerunner and even the inspirer of Lever. Mr. Baker
describes his Stories of Waterloo as “A farrago of Irish stories, sensational,
with a dash of Hibernian character and local colouring.” This book
is still to be had (Routledge, 2s.), and a new ed. publ. by The Talbot
Press, Dublin (Every Irishman’s Library), and ed. by Lord Dunraven,
has recently (Sept., 1915) appeared of his Wild Sports.
⸺ O’HARA. Two Vols. (Andrews). [1825].
A Protestant landowner casts in his lot with the United Irishmen. The
Government attaints him of treason; he is tried by a jury of drunken bigots,
and hanged as a traitor. His son, the hero of the tale, then throws himself
heart and soul into the rebellion. The interest centres in the accounts of
the fighting in the North. The hero is a leader at the battle of Antrim. Some
light is thrown on the nature of the friction between the Catholic and the
Protestant commanders, which constantly threatens the disruption of the
rebel forces.—(Krans). Publ. anon.
⸺ THE DARK LADY OF DOONA. [1836]. Also (Smith, Elder) 1837.
Pp. 306. (Belfast) 1846. (Lond.) 1854. (Warne). 6d. 1891.
“A weak historical novel, in Scott’s manner, which attempts a picture of
sixteenth-century life.”—(Krans). The heroine is Grace O’Malley. The
story opens in 1601, but there is a retrospective portion going back to tell
the early life of the heroine. A tale of love and wild vengeance. In the
story figure the heir of the Geraldines (who marries Grace’s granddaughter),
Hugh O’Neill, and Sir Richard Bingham. Grace joins the latter against
O’Neill. Well written on the whole.
⸺ LA DAME NOIRE DE DOONA. Roman historique traduit par
Pâquis. Two tom. (Paris). 1834(!).
⸺ ADVENTURES OF CAPT. BLAKE; or, My Life. (Routledge). 6d.
[Bentley, 1835]. 1838. Third ed., 1882.
Really two practically independent stories, that of Major Blake and that
of his son, the Captain. The former is far the more interesting, giving a good
account of Gen. Humbert’s invasion and of the manners of the peasantry
at the time (especially their open-hearted hospitality and kindliness), and
some nice descriptions of Connaught scenery. But for an absurd scene of
confession in a courthouse no religious bias is displayed. The remaining two
volumes are a rambling series of miscellaneous adventures in Portugal, Paris,
and London, consisting largely of amorous episodes not edifying, to say the
least, and told in a facetious and somewhat vulgar strain.
⸺ THE ADVENTURES OF HECTOR O’HALLORAN AND HIS MAN,
MARK ANTONY O’TOOLE. (Warne). 6d. Paper. (N.Y.: Pratt).
0.30. [1842]. n.d. (recently reprinted).
The hero is the son of a landlord and ex-soldier living in the South of Ireland.
Beginning with an attack on the castle by local malcontents, Hector and
his man pass through a series of adventures (some of which are described
with considerable “go”), first in Dublin, then in London, and finally in the
Peninsular War under Wellington. Most of the incidents take place amid the
lowest society, and some of them are distinctly coarse. There is no character-drawing
and little or no attempt to picture the life of the period. The military
experiences in Spain form, perhaps, the best part of the book. There is no
sympathy for Ireland, and there are some gibes at Catholicism.
⸺ THE ADVENTURES OF CAPT. O’SULLIVAN. Three Vols.
(Colburn). [1848]. 1855.
“Or adventures civil, military, and matrimonial of a gentleman on half-pay.”
Some of these take place near “Ballysallagh,” in Connaught, where
the hero is stationed, his duties being mainly to keep down the Ribbonmen
and to hunt for illicit stills. Attitude towards the former somewhat bloodthirsty.
The two chief houses belong to the priest and the tithe-proctor,
the task of the latter being described as the grinding of money “out of the
wretched serfs.” Little plot, long and tedious conversations.
⸺ ERIN GO BRAGH; or, Irish Life Pictures. Two Vols. (Bentley).
Portrait. 1859.
A posthumous collection of short stories originally contributed to Bentley’s
Miscellany and other magazines. Written in the light, rollicking, high-spirited
vein characteristic of Maxwell. Many of them are recollections of
actual experience. Prefaced by biographical sketch by Dr. Maginn.
⸺ LUCK IS EVERYTHING; or, The Adventures of Brian O’Linn.
Pp. 440. (Routledge). (N.Y.: Pratt). 3.00. 1860.
An infant, child of a dying mother who had been abducted, is landed on
Innisturk. He is adopted by the head man there, grows up, goes to England,
and after many exciting adventures, love episodes, and hair-breadth escapes,
finds out his own origin and succeeds to ancestral estates. Originally appeared
as serial (with illustrations on steel by John Leech) under the title of Brian
O’Linn in Bentley’s Miscellany.
MAYNE, Thomas Ekenhead. Son of a well-known bookseller of Belfast,
was fast earning for himself a considerable literary reputation, but died at
32, 1899.
⸺ THE HEART O’ THE PEAT: Irish Fireside and Wayside Sketches.
Pp. 214. (Belfast: W. Erskine Mayne). 1s. Paper. 1899.
“These are all Irish stories, written on the spot, with a faithfulness that
can be felt in every line. There is no attempt at meretricious workmanship,
no maudlin sentimentality, no mock heroics. They are simple tales, simply
told; but occasionally the restraint, which is everywhere discernible, is
relaxed for a moment, and the fire of the poet glows in half a dozen lines, as
a landscape or a sea-piece is enthusiastically drawn, or some incident touches
the gentle human heart of the writer.”—(James H. Cousins, in Sinn Fein).
“MEADE, L. T.”; Elizabeth Thomasina Toulmin Smith. She was a
daughter of Rev. R. T. Meade, of Nohoval, Co. Cork. She was b. at
Bandon. She lived in England from 1874 till her death in 1915. Mudie’s
catalogue enumerates 185 of her novels, many of which were stories for
school girls. Of these novels several, no doubt, besides those here
mentioned, relate to Ireland.
⸺ THE O’DONNELLS OF INCHFAWN. (Hatchards). 6s. 1887.
⸺ THE WILD IRISH GIRL. Pp. 444. (Chambers). 6s. Eight
coloured Illustr. by the well-known Punch artist, Lewis Baumer. 1910.
Warm-hearted, impulsive Patricia has been allowed to run wild at her own
sweet will in Ireland. She is brought to London, finds the conventional
restraints of society too narrow for her, and as a consequence gets into many
amusing and harmless scrapes, and out of them again.—(Press Notices).
⸺ DESBOROUGH’S WIFE. Pp. 319. (Digby, Long). 6s. One Illustr.
1911.
Scene: near Tralee, in Kerry. Patrick D. contracts a runaway marriage
with a beautiful peasant girl. He falls heavily in debt, finds that his mother,
on whom he had relied, is even more heavily involved, and that the only way
out is a marriage with a rich heiress. Patrick basely yields, and the poor
wife consents to “disappear,” but in a strange way, connected with a certain
“silent room” in the D. mansion, whose secret we shall not divulge, things
right themselves at last. Peter Maloney, Patrick’s faithful foster-brother,
is curiously similar to Griffin’s Danny Mann. The moral tone is high.
⸺ PEGGY FROM KERRY. Pp. 330. (Chambers). 6s. Pretty cover
and eight coloured Illustr. by Miss A. Anderson. 1912.
Peggy is the daughter of a poor Irish peasant and of an officer. She is now
an orphan, but has been adopted by an English friend of her father’s and sent
to an English boarding school. The story is made up of plots and petty
jealousies amongst the schoolgirls. Peggy, though much ridiculed for her
dreadful brogue, triumphs over her special enemy and the latter’s followers
and ends by being popular and happy.
⸺ KITTY O’DONOVAN. Pp. 330. (Chambers). 5s. Six good coloured
Illustr. by J. Finnemore. 1912.
Doings in a select English boarding school, where the pretty heroine from
Kerry comes scatheless through the spiteful plots of her jealous rivals, and is
crowned Queen of the May. There is a pretty description of Kerry scenery,
but most of the action takes place outside of Ireland.
⸺ THE PASSION OF KATHLEEN DUVEEN. Pp. 284. (Stanley
Paul). 6s. 1913.
“A tale of the novelette class about a young Irishman forced into crime
and faithlessness to his young wife by his family’s need of money.”—[Times
Lit. Suppl.]. Another “Colleen Bawn” story. Brilliant young officer
marries penniless girl. Financial straits. Murder; and nemesis.
⸺ AT THE BACK OF THE WORLD. (Hurst & Blackett). 6s. n.d.
Scene: “Arranmore,” on the sea coast of Cork. Sheila O’Connor is long
sundered from her lover by the suspicion, shared by herself, that he is the
murderer of her father, the Squire. Whether they are ever united again
we leave the reader to discover. There are many scenes that show us the
life of the peasantry, in particular their religious customs. The book seems
free from bias, and the brogue is not exaggerated.
[MEANY, Mary L.].
⸺ CONFESSORS OF CONNAUGHT; or, The Tenants of a Lord Bishop.
Pp. viii. + 319. (Philadelphia: Cunningham). [1864]. n.d. (still
in print).
Hardly a story: rather a relation of real incidents in which the names are
thinly disguised. Turns chiefly on the proselytising efforts of Lord Plunkett,
Protestant Archb. of Tuam, resulting in the Partry evictions. Archb.
MacHale, Father Patrick Lavelle, Mgr. Dupanloup, and J. F. Maguire play
parts in the tale. Written with strong Catholic bias, but among the chief
characters are a Protestant minister and his wife, who are represented as
estimable in every way. Style lively, and at times humorous. Dialogue
good and natural. The Author is a great admirer of William Smith O’Brien.
She has also publ. Grace Morton; or, The Inheritance. A Catholic Tale.
MEANY, Stephen Joseph. B. nr. Ennis, Co. Clare, 1825. A noted journalist,
first in his native Clare, then in Dublin. In 1848 he was imprisoned for
some months. Then he went to Liverpool, where he founded the first
English Catholic paper outside London—The Lancashire Free Press.
Went to U.S.A., 1860. Returned to England, and was arrested on a
charge of Fenianism, 1867, and sentenced to 15 years. D. N.Y., 1888.
His “Life” has been written by John Augustus O’Shea.
⸺ THE TERRY ALT: a Tale of 1831. Three Vols. 1841.
The “Terry Alts” was a name adopted by the secret agrarian agitators
in Munster, previously known as “Whiteboys.” Not in British Museum
Library.
[MEIKLE, James.]
⸺ KILLINCHY; or, The Days of Livingston. Pp. 156. 12mo.
(Belfast: McComb). 1839.
Description of Presbyterian life in Ulster immediately after the Scottish
Plantation, with biographical details concerning Rev. John Livingston, a
Scot from Kilsyth, who was minister of Killinchy, Co. Down, from 1630-5.
Story element slight. The Author was a schoolmaster in the district.
MELVILLE, Theodore.
⸺ THE IRISH CHIEFTAIN AND HIS FAMILY. Four Vols. Pp.
910. (London: Lane, Newman). 1809.
The chieftain is The O’Donoghue of Killarney, dispossessed for loyalty to
the Stuarts. His family, that of Lord Roskerrin, a Williamite, rewarded
with an estate, and an exiled Venetian are the dramatis personæ. Scene:
chiefly Killarney. Period, only vaguely indicated, 18th century. Conrad
O’D. the hero, falls in love with the daughter of the hated Lord R. There
are kidnappings and highly sensational adventures of all kinds, told in a
romantic manner, among others how Conrad helps to reinstate the exiled
Venetian grandee. Author’s sympathies thoroughly on the Irish side,
but does not seem unfair to the English. He wrote also The White Knight,
The Benevolent Monk, &c. Good descriptions of Killarney.
MEREDITH, George. B. Portsmouth, 1828. He had, as he used to boast,
both Welsh (from his father) and Irish blood (from his mother) in his
veins. Ed. chiefly in Germany. The writer of his life in the Encyclopedia
Brittanica says of him, “In Meredith went the writer who
had raised the creative art of the novel, as a vehicle of character and
constructive philosophy, to its highest point.... The estimate
of his genius formed by “an honourable minority,” who would place
him in the highest rank of all, by Shakespeare, has yet to be confirmed
by the wider suffrage of posterity.” He died in 1909.
⸺ CELT AND SAXON. Pp. 300. (Constable). 6s. 1910.
Left unfinished, like Dickens’s Edwin Drood. The plot has hardly begun
to work out. The chief interest lies in the purpose which was—the author tells
us—to contrast English, as typified in John Bull, to the description of whose
characteristics a whole chapter is devoted, with Celtic character and ideals.
This purpose is manifest throughout the book. There is a set of Irish and a
set of English characters, and within these two sets are types differing widely
from one another. One of the most pronounced types of Irishman is married
to a lady of peculiarly English characteristics, and the resulting ménage
affords the author scope for much dry humour. A romantic episode is just
beginning to develop. The highly-wrought Meredithian style is as distinctive
as in his former books, and there are stray glimpses of the Meredithian
philosophy.
“MERRY, Andrew”; Mrs. Mildred H. G. Darby, née Gordon-Dill. B. 1869,
in Sussex, d. of a North of Irelander, a cousin of Sir Samuel Dill, and of
an English mother. Ed. at home. Married in 1889 J. C. Darby,
Esq., D.L. Her writings are noted for their impartial standpoint as
regards Irish questions, and for their virile style. Never in the criticisms
of her literary work has it been suggested that the pen-name hid a woman.
⸺ THE GREEN COUNTRY. Pp. viii. + 378. (Grant, Richards). 1902.
Little studies, humorous or pathetic, of the Irish people of to-day. Both the
landlord class and the peasantry, Catholics as well as Protestants, figure
in the tale. The Author makes (c.f. Pref.) her characters responsible for
the views they express. She applies herself with insight and sympathy
and without bias to a careful presentation of various aspects of the national
character, its shadows no less than its lights. But there is no preaching.
The story entitled “The love of God or Men” is full of true religious feeling.
⸺ PADDY RISKY; or, Irish Realities of To-day. Pp. 367. (Grant,
Richards). 1903.
Seven stories dealing with aspects of Irish life from the landlord and
Unionist point of view, yet tone not anti-Irish, nor unjust to any class. The
spirit is that of Davis’ “Celt and Saxon,” quoted at outset:—
“What matter that at different times
Your fathers won this sod?
In fortune and in name we’re bound
By stronger links than steel,” &c.
One story shows the hardship of compulsory sale of grass lands. Another
deals (delicately) with seduction in peasant life. Most of the characters in
the stories are peasants of the Midlands. Charming descriptions of Irish
scenery.
⸺ THE HUNGER: Being Realities of the Famine Years in Ireland,
1845-1848. Pp. 436. (Melrose). 6s. 1910.
This is, in the form of fiction, a narrative of happenings in one district,
with a plot and personal drama and talk proper to the novel, and all of these
show the gifts of a practised and able novelist; but “every incident,” the
writer assures us, “is fact, not fiction.” His matter is mainly derived from
oral statements, helped and verified from books, records, and trustworthy
private sources; and in an introduction Mr. Merry deals with the causes
and characteristics of the famine, the horrors of which were such that even
many of the incidents here selected had to be modified in their details to
become publishable.—(Times Lit. Suppl.).
MEYER, Kuno. B. Hamburg, 1858. Ed. Hamburg and Leipzig. Lecturer
in Teutonic Languages at Univ. Coll., Liverpool, 1884; Professor, 1895.
Founded the Zeitschrift fur Celtische Philologie, 1895, and, along
with Whitley Stokes, the Archiv. fur Celtische Lexicographie,
1898; founded the School of Irish Learning in Dublin, 1903; Prof. of
Celtic in Univ. of Berlin since 1911. Has publ. a long series of most
valuable works on Celtic-Irish subjects.
⸺ THE VISION OF MACCONGLINNE: a Twelfth Century Irish
Wonder-Tale. (Nutt). 7s. 6d. net. 1892.
“Transl. by K. Meyer, literary introd. by W. Woolner. A primitive tale
combining two elements—satire of the Abbot and Monks of Cork, and the
vision of the Lake of Milk, which reveals to the gleeman MacConglinne how
King Cathal may be delivered from the demon of gluttony that has been
the bane of his land. Full of extravagance and comic fancy.”—(Baker, 2).
⸺ THE VOYAGE OF BRAN, SON OF FERBAL, TO THE LAND
OF THE LIVING. An old Irish saga, now first edited, with translation.
Notes and Glossary by Kuno Meyer. With an Essay upon the Irish
Vision of the Happy Otherworld, and the Celtic Doctrine of Rebirth by
Alfred Nutt. [Grimm Library, Vols. 4 and 6].
Vol. I. “The Happy Otherworld.” Pp. xviii. + 331. 1895.
Vol. II. “The Celtic Doctrine of Rebirth.” Pp. xii. + 352. 1897.
(Nutt). 10s. 6d. each.
⸺ LIADAIN AND CUIRITHIR. (Nutt). 1s. 6d. 1902.
An Irish love-story of the ninth century, partly in prose, partly in verse.
Old Irish text and English translation. Introduction by Editor. Interesting
chiefly to the student of Old Irish and the folk-lorist.
MILLIGAN, Alice and W. H.
⸺ SONS OF THE SEA KINGS. Pp. 404. (Gill). 6s. Ten illustr.
by J. Carey. 1914.
Based on the Scandinavian sagas—the Burnt Njal, Snorri Sturleson’s
Saga of Olaf, Tryggvesons, the Heimskringla, &c. Iceland is the centre of
these sagas, but Ireland looms in the background, for the hero, Kiartain,
comes of famous Irish-Danish stock. The Authors have vividly realised and
vividly pictured these far times (end of 10th century). The tone and
“atmosphere” of the sagas has been preserved with great fidelity, and the
tale, told in language of much dignity and beauty, is of high dramatic force
and interest. Miss Milligan is well known as poetess, journalist, and
lecturer on Irish subjects. Resides in Bangor, Co. Down.
[MILLINGEN, John Gideon]. B. Westminster, 1782. Son of a Dutch
merchant. Served as Surgeon in Peninsular War under Wellington,
1809-1814. Wrote many plays, a history of duelling, and other works.
D. 1862. (Boase).
⸺ ADVENTURES OF AN IRISH GENTLEMAN. Three Vols.
(Colburn & Bentley). 1830.
A very unpleasant book. Only the opening and closing scenes are in Ireland
(neighbourhood of Bantry Bay, Skibbereen, and Tralee), the interval being
filled by adventures in Portugal (where the Inquisition is held up to obloquy),
and in Paris (where Freemasonry is praised and convents vilified). These
adventures are, for the most part, more or less scandalous “love” affairs.
At the outset there is a good deal about Irish disaffection and lawlessness. The
Author seizes every occasion to drag in the confessional, the Pope, &c., and to
inveigh against them.
MONTGOMERY, J. W.
⸺ MERVYN GRAY; or, Life in the R.I.C. (Edinburgh: Cameron &
Ferguson). 1s. c. 1875.
The Author was a native of Virginia, Co. Cavan. He was a zealous antiquary,
and wrote on antiquarian subjects. Published, besides the above,
two volumes of verse and one of prose sketches. D. Bangor, Co. Down, 1911.
MOORE, F. Frankfort. B. in Limerick, 1855, but brought up and ed. in
Belfast. Began to write at 16. For sixteen years worked on staff of
Belfast News-Letter. See his Journalist’s Note Book, 1894. All
this time he was turning out at least one book a year. In 1893 he scored
a great success with his I Forbid the Banns. Since then his output has
been very large. He resides at Lewes.
⸺ THE JESSAMY BRIDE. (Hutchinson). 6s. (N.Y.: Fenno). 50c.
1897.
The story of the last years and death of Goldsmith, told with all the Author’s
well-known verve. Full of dialogue, witty and lively, yet not merely flashy,
in which Johnson, Burke, Garrick, and other wits and worthies of the day
take part. The central theme is Goldsmith’s attachment to the beautiful
Mary Horneck, called the Jessamy Bride. There is much true pathos in the
story, and not a word that could offend susceptibilities.
⸺ CASTLE OMERAGH. (Constable). 2s. 6d. (N.Y.: Appleton). 1.50.
1903.
Scene: the West of Ireland (Co. Clare) during Cromwell’s invasion. The
central figures are the Fawcetts, a Protestant planter family, whose sympathies
have become Irish. The eldest son is an officer in the army of O’Neill. The
second, the hero, is literary and unwarlike, and inclined to Quakerism. A
Jesuit friend of the family figures prominently in the story, and is presented
in a very favourable light. The Drogheda massacre and Cromwell’s repulse
at Clonmel are included.
⸺ THE ORIGINAL WOMAN. Pp. 343. (Hutchinson). 1904.
Thesis: whatever culture may have done for the modern woman, she
reverts to the instincts of the original woman in the crisis of a life-decision.
Scene: first, country house in Galway. The heroine is a typical modern girl
of the best kind. The hero, who is also the villain, is a singularly attractive
personality, the complicated workings of whose mind the Author delights to
analyse. Later the scene changes to Martinique. Here an element of the
supernatural and uncanny enters the story. The style is witty, the character-drawing
very clever.
⸺ CAPTAIN LATYMER. (Cassell). 6s. Also 6d. ed. 1908.
A sequel to Castle Omeragh. The eldest Fawcett is condemned by Cromwell
to the West Indies, but escapes along with the daughter of Hugh O’Neill,
nephew of Owen Roe. There are exciting adventures. The book, as does
Castle Omeragh, gives a faithful picture of the times.
⸺ THE ULSTERMAN: a Story of To-day. Pp. 323. (Hutchinson).
6s. 1914.
A very candid, plainspoken, and judicious picture of life in North-East
Ulster. Pictures what the Times Lit. Suppl. calls “the unsympathetic
materialism, the drab ugliness of a life which finds its chief recreation
in religious strife, and much of its consolation in strong drink.” But dwells
upon the sterling good qualities that go to counterbalance these others.
Opens in a mid-Antrim town on the eve of “the 12th.” Story of a bigoted
Ulster mill-owner whose sons eventually marry into Catholic families of a
lower class. Not political.
⸺ THE LADY OF THE REEF. Pp. 348. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1915.
A young English artist in Paris suddenly inherits a property in North Co.
Down, and arrives to find himself in a puzzling environment. Cleverly
sketched characters are introduced—MacGowan, the pushful attorney, the
excellent parson Gilliland, and the dipsomaniac captain. Then there is a
wreck, a rescue, and enter the “Lady of the Reef.” The sequel tells whether
she accepts the artist or not.—(I.B.L. and T. Lit. Suppl.).
MOORE, George. A distinguished poet, novelist, dramatist, and art critic.
Was born in Ireland, 1857, of a Catholic family of Co. Mayo, many of
whose members were distinguished nationalists. He has produced
some twenty books. Much of Mr. Moore’s education has been acquired
in France, with the result that, as Dr. William Barry says, “he is excessively,
provokingly un-English.” At the same time he has little but
scorn for things Irish. He has, as he tells us in Confessions of a Young
Man, abandoned the Catholic Church. He may be said to be at war
with all prevailing types of religion and current codes of morality. His
books bear abundant evidence of the fact. Many of them treat of
most unsavoury topics, and that with naturalistic freedom and absence
of reserve. They were consequently excluded from lending libraries
such as Mudie’s and Smith’s. Many critics rank Mr. Moore very high
as a psychologist and as a critic. An interesting article on him will be
found in G. K. Chesterton’s Heretics. His non-Irish stories include
Evelyn Innes, Sister Theresa, Esther Waters, A Mummer’s Wife, Celibates,
Vain Fortune, A Mere Accident, &c. Within the last two or three years
he has published at intervals three vols. of reminiscences entitled Ave,
Salve, Vale, in which no privacies are respected and which in other respects
resemble his novels.
⸺ A DRAMA IN MUSLIN. Pp. 329. (Vizetelly). 1886.
Period: just before and just after the Phœnix Park murders. Some
attention is given to Land League tyranny before, and coercion after. The
interest centres in a party of girls educated at a convent school at St. Leonard’s,
and their subsequent adventures in Irish society looking for husbands, and
all eventually going to the bad, with two exceptions. Of these latter, one
is a mad missionary and a Protestant, who becomes a Catholic and a nun,
the other is a free-thinker and an authoress, a combination which the Author
considers natural. For the Irish peasant the Author has only disgust. The
picture of a Mass in an Irish chapel (pp. 70-72) would be offensive and painful
to a Catholic. Re-issued as Muslin, 1915.
⸺ THE UNTILLED FIELD. (Unwin). 6s. (Philadelphia: Lippincott).
1.50. [1903]. New ed. (Heinemann). 1914.
A series of unconnected sketches of Irish country life, most of which deal
with relations between priests and people—evil effects of religion on the
latter, banishing joy, producing superstition, killing art. In some of the stories
priests are depicted favourably. In the first the subject of the nude in
artist’s models is treated with complete frankness. Another contains
warnings against emigration. Some of the sketches are exquisite; most of
them, religious bias apart, true to life. Has been transl. into Irish under
title An t-Ur Gort by P. O’Sullivan.
⸺ THE LAKE. Pp. 340. (Heinemann). 6s. 1905. (N.Y.:
Appleton). 1.50.
“A vague and inchoate novel with some passionate and delightful descriptions
of Nature. The theme, very indecisively worked out, is that of a
young priest’s rebellion against celibacy, stimulated by the attractions of a
girl whom he drove from the parish because she had gone wrong.”—(Baker).
Scene: Connaught and Kilronan Abbey. The story seems meant to uphold
the purely Hedonistic view of life.
MOORE, Sidney O.
⸺ THE FAMILY OF GLENCARRA: a Tale of the Irish Rebellion.
Pp. 154. (Bath). Six illustr. of little value. n.d. (1858).
Ninety-eight (Humbert’s Invasion) seen from the standpoint of the “Irish
Society” (a proselytising organisation). The book is intended to set forth
“the ignorance and degradation peculiar to the Romish districts of Ireland,”
and tells how Aileen who was engaged to one of the rebels (a murderer) is
converted, and endeavours to convert others, with varying success. The
book is full of calumnies against, and grotesque misrepresentations of, the
Catholic Church. It closes with an appeal to the “Daughters of England”
for funds for the Irish Society.
MORAN, D. P. Editor since its inception of the Leader (Dublin). A
Waterford man.
⸺ TOM O’KELLY. Pp. 232. (Duffy). 3s. 6d. 1905.
An ugly picture of lower middle class life in a small Irish provincial town.
It depicts the vulgarity and shoneenism of this class, its drunkenness, its
efforts to imitate the well-to-do Protestant better classes, &c., &c. Unsparing
ridicule is showered upon Nationalist politics and politicians. The
unpleasantness of the picture is somewhat relieved by the doings of Tom
O’Kelly and the juvenile Ballytowners. Very slight plot.
MORAN, J. J.
⸺ THE DUNFERRY RISIN’. (Digby, Long). 1894.
A study of the Fenian movement. The Evening Sun of London devoted
a two-column review to the book, written by an old participator in the Fenian
movement (we understand that the writer was the late J. F. X. O’Brien, M.P.),
in which the story was described as one of the most vivid pictures of the
Irish Republican Brotherhood and their movement that had yet been written.
⸺ IRISH STEW. (Digby, Long). 1895.
A collection of humorous stories. “Jack Arnold’s Tour,” the longest
story, may be taken as typical. It relates the comical adventures of an
English visitor at Bundoran. The stories are remarkable for their spirited
and racy dialogue.
⸺ STORIES OF THE IRISH REBELLION. (Aberdeen: Moran).
1s. 6d.
Short stories, noteworthy for vividness and dramatic power (for example,
the story of Leonie Guiscard and Teeling). Humour and pathos alternate.
Neither is overdone.—(Publ.).
⸺ TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN GREEN. (Aberdeen: Moran). 6s.
1898.
Land League story—extreme popular point of view; gives vivid idea of
feelings of people during hottest years of the agitation. Introduces amiable
Englishman who sees justice done for his tenants. Clear and pleasant style.—(Irish
Monthly).
⸺ IRISH DROLLERIES. (Drane). 3s. 6d. 1909.
Ten comic stories such as “Pat Mulligan’s Love-making,” a bashful young
man “proposing” by proxy; “Miss Mullan’s Mistake,” story of an elderly
spinster who answers a matrimonial advertisement with amusing results.
Others are: “Torsney’s Ghost,” “O’Hagan’s Golden Weddin’,” “Tim
Mannion the Hero,” “The Wake at Mrs. Doyle’s,” and so on.—(Press Notice).
“Mr. Moran has done much good work as a publisher of Irish books in Aberdeen.
In his humorous sketches of Irish life he has ever striven to eschew
the ‘Stage-Irishman’ type of vulgar comicality. He writes much for various
papers. Besides the books noted here, he has published A Deformed Idol,
&c.”
MORGAN, Lady. She was the daughter of a poor Dublin actor, named
Owenson, and was born in 1777. Her self-reliance, gaiety, and accomplishments
won her a prominent place in the literary and social life of
Dublin. She married Sir T. C. Morgan, physician to the Lord Lieutenant.
She protests energetically in her books against the religious
and political grievances of Ireland. “Her books are a sign of the
growth of a broader spirit of Irish nationality and reflect the growing
interest in Irish history and antiquities.”—(Krans). She is said to have
published more than seventy volumes. Her satires of the higher social
life of Dublin are spirited and readable even to-day, but their tone is
often sharp and bad-tempered. She caught well the outward drolleries
of the lower classes: postillions, innkeepers, Dublin porters, &c.; but
she seldom looks beneath the surface. It has been well said that her
novels are “thoroughly Irish in matter, in character, in their dry humour,
and cutting sarcasm; no less than in their vehemence and impetuosity of
feeling.” Twenty-two of her works are mentioned by Allibone. She
died in 1859.
⸺ ST. CLAIR; or, the Heiress of Desmond. [1803]. 1807, 1812.
“St. Clair, in sentiment and situation a weak imitation of Werter, introduces
an Irish antiquary, who discourses upon local legends and traditions,
ancient Irish MSS., and Celtic history, poetry, and music.”—(Krans). Aims
at upsetting the notion of the possibility of platonic love between the sexes
without any approach to real attachment. Into the description of places
and scenes the Authoress worked much of her Connaught experience.
⸺ ST. CLAIR EN OLIVIA ... MET PLATEN. Dutch trans.
by F. van Teutem. (Amsterdam). 1816.
⸺ THE WILD IRISH GIRL. [1806]. (N.Y.: Haverty). 1.50.
(Routledge). n.d. 6d.
A love story of almost gushing sentiment. The scene is the barony of
Tirerragh, in Sligo (where the book was actually written). Here the “Prince”
of Inismore, though fallen on evil days, still keeps up all the old customs of
the chieftains, his ancestors. He wears the old dress, uses the old salutations,
has his harper and his shanachie, &c. His daughter, Glorvina, is the almost
ethereal heroine. The personages of the book frequently converse about
ancient Irish history, legend, music, ornaments, weapons, and costumes.
There is much acute political discussion and argument in the book. It is
fervently on the side of Irish nationality. “Father John” is a fine character
modelled on the then Dean of Sligo. It contains many other portraits drawn
from real life. Its success at the time was enormous. In two years it passed
through seven editions.—(Fitzpatrick, Krans, &c.).
⸺ O’DONNEL. Pp. 288. (Downey). 2s. 6d. [1814]. 1895.
The central figure of this tale is a scion of the O’Donnells of Tyrconnell,
proud, courteous, travelled, who has fought in the armies of Austria and of
France, and finally that of England. He is a type of the old Catholic nobility,
and his story is made to illustrate the working of the Penal laws.
Nearly all the personages of the story are people of fashion, mostly titled.
There is much elaborate character-study, and not a little social satire. The
native Irish of the lower orders appear in the person of M’Rory alone, a
humorous faithful old retainer, whose conversation is full of bulls. Lady
Singleton, the meddling, showy, flippantly talkative woman of fashion, and
Mr. Dexter, the obsequious, a West Briton of those days, are well drawn.
The main purpose of the book, says the Author, was to exhibit Catholic
disabilities. There are interesting descriptions of scenery along the Antrim
coast and in Donegal. As fiction it is slow reading, yet Sir Walter Scott
speaks highly of it.
⸺ FLORENCE MACARTHY. (N.Y.: Sadlier). 1.50. 1816.
Combines, as so many of Lady Morgan’s books do, political satire with a
romantic love tale. A kidnapped heir asserts his claim to a peerage and
estates and unwittingly woos the romantic Florence, to whom he had been
betrothed in his youth. Mr. Fitzpatrick calls the book “an exceedingly
interesting and erudite novel,” and tells us how, before attempting it, she
had “saturated her memory with a large amount of reading which bore upon
the subject of it.” The character of Counsellor Con Crawley constitutes a
bitter attack on Lady Morgan’s unscrupulous enemy, John Wilson Croker.
The half-mad schoolmaster, Terence Oge O’Leary, is a curious type.
⸺ THE O’BRIENS AND O’FLAHERTYS. Three eds. in one year.
[1827]. (N.Y.: Haverty).
May be said to have for its object Catholic Emancipation, yet the author
was no admirer of O’Connell, and in this book keen strokes of satire are aimed
at the Jesuits, and even at the Pope. Mr. Fitzpatrick says that “though
professedly a fiction it is really a work of some historical importance, and
may be safely consulted in many of the details by statistic or historic writers.”
He tells us also that it “contains a few coarse expressions; and, in common
with its predecessors, exhibits a somewhat inconsistent love for republicanism
and aristocracy.” The novel is the story of a young patriot who, expelled
from Trinity College along with Robert Emmet and others, becomes a volunteer
and a United Irishman, and is admitted to the councils of Tone, Napper
Tandy, Rowan, and the rest. After ’98 (which is not described in detail) he
goes to France, where he rises to be a General, and marries the heroine. The
book depicts with vividness and fidelity the manners of the time (hence the
occasional coarseness). There are lively descriptions of Castle society in
the days of the Duke of Rutland. Lord Walter Fitzgerald was the original
of “Lord Walter Fitzwalter.”
⸺ LES O’BRIEN ET LES O’FLAHERTY OU L’IRLANDE EN 1793 is
the title of a French translation of the preceding by J. Cohen. Three
Vols. (Paris: C. Gosselin). 1828.
⸺ DRAMATIC SCENES FROM REAL LIFE. Two Vols. (Saunder’s
& Otley). [1833].
Contains a piece entitled “Mount Sackville.” “It possesses a great deal
of her peculiar power, has much truth, and much good feeling, alloyed with
some angry prejudice. There are some scenes inimitable for their racy
humour, and the characters of Gallagher, the orange-agent, his ally the housekeeper,
and Father Phil, are worthy the hand that sketched M’Rory and the
Crawley family.... The Whiteboy scenes, though forcibly drawn, are
perhaps too melodramatic. Shows much bitterness against the Repealers.”—(Dubl.
Rev.).
MORIARTY, Denis Ignatius. Ed. by.
⸺ THE WIFE HUNTER AND FLORA DOUGLAS. Three Vols.[9]
(Bentley). 1838.
Prefatory notice signed by “John O’Brien Grant,” of Kilnaflesk, the teller
of the story. K. is “situated in a remote corner of the kingdom,” near
Bandon (vol. II., p. 186); it is an old rambling family mansion, dating from
1713. We are introduced to a set of hard-drinking, Orange squireens.
The hero, refused by his nurse’s daughter Mary, has a “go” at a rich heiress,
merely to better himself. He also, in company with Morrough O’Driscoll,
a “restless, blustering, dexterous, successful, ambitious, amusing and farcical
genius,” throws himself into politics. Then there are a number of burlesque
electioneering scenes. Duly elected, the hero goes to Dublin, meets Charlemont,
&c., in high society. Hero marries Mary after all; then, on her death,
rescues an heiress and marries her.... A third matrimonial venture is unsuccessful.
There is no seriousness in the book.
MORRIS, E. O’Connor.
⸺ KILLEEN: a Study of Girlhood. Pp. 348. (Elliot Stock). 1895.
Scene: “Killeen Castle,” Queen’s County. The plot turns on misunderstandings
that keep lovers apart. The characters are of the Anglo-Irish
and English upper classes. The book is religious and moral in tone, the
standpoint Protestant. Peasant character sympathetically treated.
⸺ CLARE NUGENT. Pp. 324. (Digby, Long). 1902.
A rather sentimental tale of an Irish girl who goes to work in England, in
order to retrieve the fallen fortunes of the family. This a particularly
successful marriage enables her to do, and all ends most ideally. An ordinary
plot, somewhat long drawn out. One or two charming descriptions of Irish
scenery.
⸺ FINOLA. Pp. 304. (Digby, Long). 6s. 1910.
Scene: chiefly Dublin at the present day. Murrough O’Brien is to get a
great inheritance on condition of marrying Finola de Burgh. He gives his
consent. Then he is ordered off to S. Africa. On his return he falls in
love with a certain Kathleen Burke, and is resolved to lose his inheritance for
her sake. The situation has been planned by the romantic Lady Mary
Eustace. Her plans nearly turn out in an unforeseen way. The interest
then settles on the identity of Kathleen Burke. Several of the characters
are well sketched. Notably, Eleanor Butler, a sharp and amusing spinster.
MORRIS, W. O’Connor. B. 1824 at Kilkenny. Son of B. Morris, Rector
of Rincurran, near Kinsale. Ed. in England. Became a County
Court Judge. He devoted himself largely to politics; was a Liberal
Unionist, strongly opposed to Home Rule, and especially to the land
agitation. Was himself a good landlord, and an estimable man. D.
1904. See his reminiscences, Memories and Thoughts of a Life.
⸺ MEMOIRS OF GERALD O’CONNOR. Pp. 311. (Digby, Long).
1903.
Reminiscences (told in the first person) of one Gerald O’Connor, an ancestor
of the Author. “Compiled partly from old documents and papers in my
possession, partly from reminiscences handed down from father to son during
five generations, and partly from my own researches.”—(Pref.). But the
Author has freely filled in gaps in the authentic records and supplied colouring,
though there is practically no dialogue. O’Connor served in the Williamite
Wars, 1689-91, emigrated to France with Sarsfield, and joined the staff of
Marshal Villars. Was in all the great battles of the War of the Spanish
Succession. The Author describes effects on Ireland of conquest and confiscation
from point of view of O’Connor, but admits in Preface that he
himself looks at modern Ireland from the landlord’s standpoint.
MULHOLLAND, Clara. Is a sister of Lady Gilbert. Was born in Belfast,
but left it at an early age, and was educated at convents in England and
Belgium. The style of her stories is simple and bright, their tone
thoroughly wholesome. Even when there is nothing directly about
religion, they breathe an atmosphere of Catholicism. All of them can
safely and with profit be given to the young. Many of them are specially
meant for young readers. Some of her non-Irish stories are The Miser
of Kingscourt, A Striking Contrast.
⸺ PERCY’S REVENGE. (Gill). 1887.
Irish and Catholic.
⸺ LITTLE MERRY FACE AND HIS CROWN OF CONTENT. (Burns
& Oates). 1889.
Stories for children. Irish and Catholic.
⸺ LITTLE SNOWDROP AND OTHER STORIES. Pp. 192. (Washbourne).
2s. 6d. Illustr. 1889.
The scene of the principal story, a great favourite with children, is laid in
Killiney, near Dublin. It tells of a child kidnapped by gypsies.
⸺ THE LITTLE BOGTROTTERS. Pp. 188. (Belfast: Ward;
Baltimore, U.S.A.: John Murphy). Illustr. n.d.
The child heroine actually loves her prospective step-mother, and is delighted
at the approaching marriage. During the honeymoon Elise visits her
cousins the Sullivans in Ireland—a pleasant houseful of harum-scarum
boys and girls, with whom Elsie has many adventures. “Father John” is a
fine type of Irish priest.
⸺ DIMPLING’S SUCCESS. Pp. 150. (N.Y.: Benziger). n.d.
Reminds one of Little Lord Fauntleroy, but Dimpling O’Connor not only
wins her stern old grandfather’s heart, but wins him to the Catholic Church.
There are plenty of adventures and a good deal of piety, not of the goody-goody
description.
⸺ KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN. Pp. 143. (Baltimore: Murphy).
1890.
A cruel Donegal landlord fearing that his son is becoming attached to
Kathleen Burke, daughter of a poor tenant of one of his farms, evicts Mrs.
Burke. This blow kills her. Kathleen goes as a governess to London,
and there the lovers meet again. But the hero has seen the error of his
father’s ways, and goes into Parliament. In the end he and his father too
become Catholics, and all ends well. For young people.
⸺ LINDA’S MISFORTUNES, AND LITTLE BRIAN’S TRIP TO DUBLIN.
(Gill). (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.70 net. [c. 1892]. Still in print.
Two stories, the first and longer not being concerned with Ireland. The
second is a delightful little children’s story.
⸺ IN A ROUNDABOUT WAY. Pp. 224. (Washbourne). 2s. 6d. 1908.
Main theme: a plot to defraud an orphan girl of inherited property, which
in a strange manner fails, and all is well again. Scene: first, London, then
Donegal, of the scenery of which the Author gives vivid descriptions. The
life of the peasants and their relations with their priests are depicted with
sympathy and feeling.
⸺ TERENCE O’NEILL’S HEIRESS. Pp. 358. (Browne & Nolan).
3s. 6d. Illustr. by C. A. Mills. (N.Y.: Benziger). 1.35. 1909.
A pleasant story of a young girl left an unprovided orphan, who is cared for
by generous relatives, whom in their hour of need she strives to repay. Suspected
of a theft, she is vindicated only after much sorrow and heart-burning.
The heroine is a noble and beautiful character. Refined and sensitive, loving
music and art, she is obliged to take service as a governess in an English family.
There she meets the great trial of her life, but also the final crown of her
happiness.
⸺ SWEET DOREEN. (Washbourne). 3s. 6d. 1915.
Poverty and misery in Ballygorst have reached a climax. At the suggestion
of the Agent, Father Ryan goes to Dublin to get the Landlord to do something.
The latter is respectful, but will do nothing. Just as Father Ryan is going
the Landlord’s daughter and her American friend Laura come in. They
will go to Ballygorst, and Papa is persuaded to be of the party. The story
tells how they came, met “Sweet Doreen” and her brothers and sister,
and met with many adventures, pleasant and unpleasant, in the effort to do
good.
MULHOLLAND, Rosa; Lady Gilbert. Born in Belfast, about 1855. She
spent some years in a remote mountainous part of the West of Ireland.
Of the rest of her life most has been passed in Ireland, where she still
lives. In her early literary life she received much help and encouragement
from Dickens, who highly valued her work. She has written
much poetry of high literary quality and “marked by a thought and
diction peculiar to herself.”—(Irish Lit.). Her novels are intensely
Catholic, though without anti-Protestant feeling, and intensely national.
But their most striking quality is a literary style of singular purity and
grace, and a quiet beauty very different from the flash and rattle of
much recent writing. She has publ. several vols. of verse. Among her
non-Irish novels may be mentioned The Late Miss Hollingford, The
Squire’s Granddaughter, The Haunted Organist. Lady Gilbert has also
written many children’s stories full of originality and playful fancy.
⸺ DUNMARA. By “Ruth Murray.” Three Vols. (Smith, Elder). 1864.
Wrecked on the coast Ellen, of mysterious antecedents, is taken into the
family of Mr. Aungier, or Dunmara Castle, in the West. Strange household—the
half-witted Miss Rowena, the dark, vindictive Miss Elswitha, with
unpleasant family history in the background. A will is discovered making
Ellen heiress of Dunmara, but revealing to her that she is the daughter of a
man formerly slain by Mr. Aungier, who had asked her in marriage. This
long keeps the two apart, but they are married in the end. Little Irish
colour. Written in somewhat strained style and at times over-emotional.
⸺ HESTER’S HISTORY. Pp. 237. (Chapman & Hall). 1869.
Pastoral life in the Glens of Antrim at the time of the Union, the main
theme being a love story. Humour and tragedy alternate. Incidents of
the rebellion of ’98, including an attack on a castle in the Glens by the English
soldiery. Some historical characters are introduced. During part of the
action the scene shifts to London. The story was written at the request of
Charles Dickens, and he thought highly of it.
⸺ ELDERGOWAN; and Other Tales (three). (Marcus Ward). Illustr.
1874.
“Eldergowan” is a very careful and clever study of a girl’s varying moods.
“It is an excellent example of artistic work and perfect in its way.” “Mrs.
Archie” is a comedy in which the chief actors are the antiquated family of the
MacArthurs, dwelling in the glens of Antrim. The third story, “Little Peg
O’Shaughnessy” is written in a lively style, with plenty of interest of a
healthy “real” kind.—(I.M.).
⸺ THE WILD BIRDS OF KILLEEVY. Pp. 311. (Burns & Oates).
(N.Y.: Benziger). 1.10. [1883].
An exquisite little tale, not of the realistic sort, but sweet and ideal. Kevin
and Fanchea are little peasant playmates together in Killeevy. Kevin is
dull at his books, but full of the love of nature. Fanchea is a fairy with a
bird-like voice. One day she is stolen by gipsies, then by strange fortune
gets into the upper stratum of society. Kevin goes out into the world to
look for her. He gets education and becomes a poet. After long years they
meet again and all is well. Killeevy is an Irish-speaking district where the
people treasure religiously their Irish MSS. Here and there there are pen-pictures
of much beauty. It is not of course a mere children’s book. It has
been well said of the book: “It is our own world after all, seen through the
crystal of pure language, artistic sense, and joyous perception of natural
beauty.”
⸺ THE WALKING TREES; and Other Tales. Pp. 256. (Gill). 1885.
Contains “The Girl from under the Lake,” an Irish fairy tale, occupying
about one-third of the book. It is charmingly told.
⸺ MARCELLA GRACE: an Irish Novel. (Kegan, Paul). 6s. 1886.
A story with an elaborate plot, full of dramatic incident. Incidentally
the evils of landlordism and Fenianism are dwelt upon, the former in the
picture drawn of the hovels, the starved land, and the meek misery of the
people—and here the author is at her best. The minor characters are clearly
and sympathetically drawn, evidently from life. There is much sadness and
even tragedy in the story. The Phœnix Park Murders are touched upon.
⸺ A FAIR EMIGRANT. Pp. 370. (Kegan, Paul). 2s., &c. [1889].
New ed., 1896, &c.
Period: about the ’seventies. Scene: at first in America (farming life),
then in Ireland, north coast of Antrim. A love story. The heroine, one of
those whom all must love, is an only daughter, whose mission in life is to clear
her dead father’s reputation. Full of romantic incident. There is a picture
of the landlord class of the time, and there are many good things about the
vexed economic and social questions of the day. The book has the Author’s
usual grace of diction, sincerity of thought, and fine descriptions of scenery.
It was very highly praised in Irish, English, and Scotch literary journals.
⸺ NANNO. Pp. 287. (Grant Richards). 3s. 6d. 1899.
A rural love-story. Scene: Dublin and Youghal and Ardmore. The
heroine is a girl born in the workhouse, who is saved from its dangerous and
degrading atmosphere, and raised, by true affection and by living among
good country people, to high moral feeling and purpose and to the heights of
self-sacrifice. The most realistic and the strongest of Lady Gilbert’s works.
Esteemed by the literary critics and by herself to be the best of her novels.
It is based on facts, and it occasioned the reform of certain abuses in workhouses.
⸺ ONORA. Pp. 354. (Grant Richards). 1900.
A story of country life in Waterford in the days of the Land League. Eviction
scenes. Life in Land League huts on the Ponsonby Estate. Has a strong
emotional interest, with much study of the family affections and of the interplay
of character. Many touches of humour. Highly praised in English
literary reviews. Incidentally there are glimpses of Mount Melleray and
of the scenery on the Blackwater. The sterling goodness of obscure people
is rendered with womanly sympathy. Interwoven with the main story is
that of Norah’s little lame poet brother Deelan, a pathetic episode. Also
folk-tales and ballads.
⸺ TERRY. Pp. 112. (Blackie). Thirteen good illustr. by E. A. Cabitt.
1902.
Scene: West of Ireland. A story for children, about a girl and boy of an
adventurous turn, relating their doings while living with their grandmother
and their nurse, their parents being away in Africa.
⸺ THE TRAGEDY OF CHRIS: The Story of a Dublin Flower-Girl.
(Sands). [1903]. Second ed., 2s. 6d. 1914.
Sheelia, the little workhouse girl, is boarded out with Mary Ellen Brady,
and lives a happy life with her in her cottage in the fold of the hills. But
Mary Ellen dies, and Sheelia, to escape dependence on the worthless cousins
of her dead “Mammy,” runs away to Dublin. Here she is friendless and
penniless till she becomes a flower-girl under the tutorship of Chris. Tragedy
comes when Chris disappears (she had been decoyed away to London and
made a “white slave”), and Sheelia makes it her life work to find her again.
She does so, but in the saddest circumstances. The pitiful story is told with
perfect delicacy. Scene: Dublin, various other parts of Ireland, and London.
⸺ THE STORY OF ELLEN. Pp. 434. (Burns & Oates). 5s. 1907.
This is a reprint of an earlier story entitled Dunmara (Smith, Elder), q.v.
⸺ OUR SISTER MAISIE. Pp. 383. (Blackie). 6s. Illustr. by G.
Demain Hammond, R.I. 1907.
Maisie, aged eighteen, comes from Rome to take charge of a whole family
of step-brothers and sisters. She owns an island off the West coast. The
family goes there. The children, after many vicissitudes, turn out clever,
develope special aptitudes, and put these to use in helping the poor islanders
in various ways. There is a pretty love-story towards the close.
⸺ COUSIN SARA. Pp. 399. (Blackie). 6s. Eight fine illustr. by Frances
Ewan. 1908.
An ideal love-story woven into a strong plot. There is tragedy and humour
with touches of heroism. High ideals are set forth. The scene varies between
the North of Ireland, Italy, and London. The central idea of the story is
this: Sara’s father, a retired soldier, has a talent for the invention of
machinery. One of his inventions is stolen, and then patented by one whom
he had trusted. Then Sara shows her true worth.
⸺ A GIRL’S IDEAL. Pp. 399. (Blackie). Bound in solid gift-book
style; cover attractive though not in perfect taste; many illustr.
1908.
Tells how an Irish-American girl comes to Ireland to spend a huge fortune
to the greatest advantage of her country. There is also a love interest. Incidentally
there is a description of the Dublin Horse Show; a number of folklore
tales are told by Duncie, and there are good descriptions of Connaught
scenery. The book is rather crowded with somewhat characterless personages,
and there are improbabilities not a few.
⸺ THE GIRLS OF BANSHEE CASTLE. Pp. 384. (Blackie). 3s. 6d.
Illustr. by John Bacon. n.d.
Three girls, brought up in poverty by a governess in London, migrate to
Galway to occupy the castle, pending the discovery of the missing heir. The
latter turns up, but is not what he was thought to be, and there are complications.
The girls hear a great deal of folk-lore and legend from the servants
and from the peasantry.
⸺ CYNTHIA’S BONNET SHOP. (Blackie). 5s. Eight illustr. by G.
Demain Hammond, R.I.
“Cynthia, daughter of an impoverished Connaught family, wants to
support a delicate mother. She and her star-struck sister go to London,
where Cynthia opens a bonnet shop. How they find new interests in life
is told with mingled humour and pathos.”—(Publ.).
⸺ GIANNETTA: A Girl’s Story of Herself. (Blackie). 3s. Six full-page
illustr. by Lockhart Bogle.
“The story of a changeling who is suddenly transferred to the position
of a rich English heiress. She develops into a good and accomplished woman,
and has gained too much love and devotion to be a sufferer by the surrender
of her estates.”—(Publ.).
⸺ THE RETURN OF MARY O’MURROUGH. Pp. 282. (Sands). 2s.
(N.Y.: Benziger). 0.75. [1908]. Cheap ed., 1915.
Illustrated by twelve exceptionally good photos of Irish scenery and types.
Scene: near Killarney. The girl comes back from the States to find her lover
in jail, into which he had been thrown owing to the perjury and treachery
of some of the police. We shall not reveal the sequel. The story is told with
a simplicity and restraint which render the pathos all the more telling. It is
faithful to reality, deeply Catholic, and wholly on the side of the peasantry,
of whose situation under iniquitous laws a picture is drawn which can only
be described as exasperating.
⸺ THE WICKED WOODS. Pp. 373. (Burns & Oates). New ed. 1909.
The hero is a scion of a family in which a curse, uttered against one of
its founders by poor peasants whom he had dispossessed, had worked ruin for
many generations. He is wholly unlike his ancestors, yet he, too, in a strange
and tragic manner, falls under the influence of the curse—for a time. The
story tells how he escapes from the terrible trial. Incidentally the best
qualities of the peasantry are beautifully shown forth, especially the charity
of the poor to one another.
⸺ THE O’SHAUGHNESSY GIRLS. Pp. 383. (Blackie). 6s. Eight
pleasant half-tone ill. by G. Demain Hammond. (N.Y.: Benziger). 1.50.
1910.
Scene: partly in London, partly by the Blackwater, in Munster, where
live Lady Sibyl O’Shaughnessy and her two unmarried daughters. Of these
latter, Lavender lives at home, takes an interest in things Gaelic, and has
fireside ceilidhes. The other, Bell, runs away and goes on the stage. The
search for Bell and the discovery of the identity of a mysterious boy on the
O’S. farm constitute the main incidents of a delightful story. There is a
love interest. The moral of the whole (not too obtrusive) is “Do the work
that’s nearest, though it’s dull at times.”
⸺ FATHER TIM. Pp. 314 (large print). (Sands). 2s. 6d. net. One
coloured illustr. (Benziger). 0.90. 1910. Still in print.
Father T. is a zealous curate, first in a Dublin mountain parish, afterwards
in a parish among the Dublin slums. The interest centres in his influence and
work among upper and lower classes alike. The story tells, too, of the varying
fortunes of other people that come into his life. Harrowing pictures are
drawn of the Dublin slums. Written with the Author’s habitual literary
charm. The plot is slight, but the incidents follow one another rapidly
and the interest does not flag.
⸺ FAIR NOREEN: the Story of a Girl of Character. (Blackie). 6s.
Illustr. by G. Demain Hammond. (N.Y.: Benziger). 1.50. 1911.
⸺ TWIN SISTERS: An Irish Tale. Pp. 392. (Blackie). 6s. 1912.
⸺ NORAH OF WATERFORD. Pp. 251. (Sands). 3s. 6d. 1915.
A republication of Onora.
MURPHY, Con. T.
⸺ THE MILLER OF GLANMIRE: an Irish Story. Pp. 227. (Chicago:
Baker). Illustr. 1895.
MURPHY, James. B. Glynn, Co. Carlow, 1839. Ed. locally. He entered
the teaching profession, and was for some years Principal of the Public
Schools at Bray, Co. Wicklow, being appointed in 1860. He was successively
Town Clerk of Bray and Prof. of Mathematics in Cath. Univ.
and in Blackrock Coll. He resides in Kingstown. He has written more
than twenty-five novels, eleven of which have been published. Others
he hopes to publish in the near future.
⸺ THE HAUNTED CHURCH. (Lond.: Spencer Blackett). 4 eds.
The story of a treasure buried by buccaneers in an old graveyard near
Dublin, telling how the chief characters of the tale, after many exciting
adventures in Peru at the time of the revolution there, eventually find the
treasure and also the heir to the earldom of Glenholme.
⸺ THE SHAN VAN VOCHT: a Tale of ’98. Pp. 347. (Gill). 2s. 6d.
n.d. [1883]. Several since.
A melodramatic story, full of hairbreadth escapes, related with a good deal
of dash, and at times of power. Tells of Tone’s negotiations in Paris leading
to the various attempted French invasions of Ireland, with a detailed and
vivid account of that in which Admiral Bompart was defeated in Lough
Swilly and Tone himself captured, also details of the latter’s trial and execution.
⸺ THE FORGE OF CLOHOGUE. Pp. 332. (Sealy, Bryers, and Gill).
[1885]. 5th ed., 1912.
The story opens on Christmas Eve, 1797, and ends with the battle of Ross,
including very stirring descriptions of the battle there and at Oulart. As is
usual with this Author, the plot is somewhat loose, there are improbabilities,
and the love interest is of a stereotyped kind; yet the reader is carried along
by the quick succession of exciting incident. Of course the standpoint is
national. A good idea is given of the state of the country at the time.
⸺ THE HOUSE IN THE RATH. Pp. 291. (Sealy, Bryers). 2s. [1886].
Fifth ed., 1909.
Has the usual qualities of this Author’s stories: plenty of exciting and
dramatic incident, and stirring descriptions—among the latter the battle
of Camperdown. Deals with Wolfe Tone’s efforts to obtain aid from France
for the United Irishmen and with the plans of the latter at home. Lord
Edward Fitzgerald and Oliver Bond appear. There are pictures, too, of the
atrocities of the yeomanry. Interwoven with these events there is a romance
of private life centering in the cleverly drawn characters of Teague, the
Fiddler, and Kate Hatchman. As usual, the Author makes much use of
“the long arm of coincidence.”
⸺ CONVICT No. 25; or, The Clearances of Westmeath. Pp. 324.
(Duffy). 3s. 6d. [1886]. Fifth ed., 1913.
Depicts landlordism in its worst days and at its worst—about forty or
fifty years ago. A complicated and somewhat melodramatic plot in which
probability is a good deal strained. A slight love story runs through the
book.
⸺ THE FORTUNES OF MAURICE O’DONNELL. 1887, and two
others since.
⸺ HUGH ROACH, THE RIBBONMAN. (Duffy). 1s. [c. 1887]. Fourth
ed., 1909.
One of the most popular of the author’s stories. The leading incidents
are founded on occurrences of the time. Full of thrilling and dramatic situations
and historical pictures.—(Freeman).
⸺ LUKE TALBOT. Pp. 278. (Sealy, Bryers). 1s. 1890. Sixth ed. in
preparation.
A sensational story, filled, without any interval of dullness, with exciting
adventures—sea battles, wrecks, hairbreadth escapes, fighting under Wellington
in Spain, &c., &c. The main theme is a murder committed by a wicked
land agent in Ireland—Malcolm M’Nab—and of which Luke is suspected on
strong circumstantial evidence. All through the book, until just the end,
M’Nab is on top, but right finally triumphs. There is no attempt at character
drawing and very little probability.
⸺ THE FLIGHT FROM THE CLIFFS. Pp. 266. (Duffy). 1911.
Author’s avowed intention—to present Irish and Catholic view of the
Confederation War. With the political and military events of the time in
mingled the romance of Walter Butler (the hero), who is on the Confederate
side, and the daughter of Inchiquin. Owen Roe and Father Luke Wadding
are prominent in the tale. Careful description of Benburb. Scene laid in
many parts of Ireland (Dublin, Wicklow, Cork, Donegal, &c.), and in Spain
and Rome. Full of exciting adventures, battles, sieges, &c. Illustr. very
numerous. They are crude, but serve to enliven the narrative.
⸺ LAYS AND LEGENDS OF IRELAND. (Duffy). 1912.
Twelve in prose and five in verse. Includes two of Author’s best short
stories—“Maureen’s Sorrow” and “At Noon by the Ravine,” as well as
several of his best known ballads.
⸺ THE INSIDE PASSENGER. (Duffy). 1913.
The mail coach from Limerick is overtaken by a snow-storm near the
old castle of Bullock, near Dalkey, and held up by a snowdrift. Passengers
have to get out and shelter in the castle. To while away the time they tell
stories each more weird and wonderful than the preceding, and all referring
indirectly to the Inside Passenger. Towards morning the I. P., the coachman,
and the six brass-bound boxes are found to have disappeared. The story
tells what befell on the head of this and how the mystery was finally solved.
MURPHY, Nicholas P. D. 1914. Ed. Clongowes Wood College. Was a
member of the English Bar.
⸺ A CORNER IN BALLYBEG. Pp. 256. (Long). 6s. 1902.
A collection of short, humorous sketches of life in a midland village in
Ireland at the present day. The dialect is well done. The book is not written
in a spirit of caricature.
MURRAY, John Fisher. B. Belfast, 1811. Ed. there and T.C.D. Wrote
much for Irish and English periodicals, including the Nation and the
United Irishman. D. Dublin, 1865.
⸺ THE VICEROY. Three Vols. (Lond.). 1841.
Deals with Dublin official life, satirizing it unmercifully. First appeared
in Blackwood’s Magazine. The Author was born in Belfast in 1811;
died 1865. Wrote for the Nation, the United Irishman (1848), the Dublin
University Magazine, &c. Graduated M.A. in T.C.D., 1832.
NAUGHTON, William.
⸺ THE PRIEST’S BOY: a Story of Irish Rural Life. (Dublin: Hunter).
1s. 1914.
NEVILLE, Elizabeth O’Reilly.
⸺ FATHER TOM OF CONNEMARA. (N.Y.: Rand, McNally Co.).
$1.50. Illustr. [1902]. 1903.
Rural life in W. of Ireland.
NEVILLE, Ralph.
⸺ LLOYD PENNANT: a Tale of the West. Two Vols. (Chapman &
Hall). 1864.
First ran as a serial in “Duffy’s Hibernian Magazine,” 1863. Well-written
and exciting melodrama, with a good plot, but very quiet and plain in style.
The hero, who bears an assumed name, and is really heir of an old Anglo-Irish
family, joins the British navy. He is unjustly accused of disloyalty and
intimacy with Lord Edward Fitzgerald. But all ends well, including his
love affair with Kate Blake, daughter of a family that plays a principal part
in the story. The Humbert invasion is touched upon, especially the Castlebar
“Races.” There is a good deal about the ways of gombeen men and middlemen
in the West. Sympathies national. Wrote also The Squire’s Heir, 1881.
NEWCOMEN, George.
⸺ A LEFT-HANDED SWORDSMAN: a Romance of the Eighteenth
Century. Pp. 239. (Smithers). 6s. 1900.
The life and doings of Cicely Grattan and of her adopted son Victor La
Roche, a noble and generous youth, brave and skilled in sword-play—examples
respectively of womanly virtue and manly character. The interest centres
chiefly in Cicely’s wrecked love affairs and in Victor’s successful ones. Abundance
of incident sustains the interest throughout, and the book gives a
fairly good picture of society in the Dublin of the day, with not a little reference
to its loose morals.
NEWTON, W. Douglas.
⸺ THE NORTH AFIRE. Pp. 204. (Methuen). 2s. 1914.
Sub-t.: “A non-political story of Ulster’s war.” By a Catholic Conservative.
NOBLE, Mrs. Nicholas; [Madge Irwin].
⸺ DRUIDEAN THE MYSTIC, and Other Irish Stories. Pp. 93. Sq.
12mo. (Dundalk: W. Tempest). 1s. 6d. 1913.
Three little stories, only the last of which has a definite plot, and a poem.
They deal with peasant life. They are told in a dialect which is not very
sure of itself nor very true to reality. The nine little illustrations by J. E.
Corr and the excellent printing and general get-up make the book very dainty.
NOBLE, E.
⸺ AN IRISH DECADE. Pp. 110. (Digby, Long). n.d. (1891).
Three stories:—1. “The O’Donol (sic) Rent,” 1879-80; 2. “Rosie,”
1885; 3. “By Kerry Moonlight,” 1889. 1. How a thriftless young farmer
went in for anti-rent agitation and brought ruin on himself and his young
wife. 2. Story of a resisted eviction ending in tragedy. 3. The “moonlighter”
phase of the land war. All three stories are written to show the
wickedness and the uncalled for nature of the land agitation. They are nicely
written and constitute a clever piece of special pleading. In 2, the priest is
represented as “heartily sympathetic with the Cause but utterly unsympathetic
with gratuitous demonstrations of mass violence.”
O’BRIEN, Charlotte Grace. B. 1845. A dau. of William Smith O’Brien,
the Young Ireland leader who in 1848 was condemned to death for
high treason, a sentence afterwards commuted to transportation. Lived
nearly all her life in Co. Limerick. Worked strenuously on behalf of
Irish emigrants. Took active part in Nationalist politics and in the
Gaelic League. Became a Catholic towards the end of her life. D. 1905.
See Charlotte Grace O’Brien, Selections from her Writings and Correspondence,
with a memoir by Stephen Gwynn [her nephew]. (Maunsel). 1909.
⸺ DOMINICK’S TRIALS: an Irish Story. Pp. 120. (Gall & Inglis).
n.d. (1870).
A little tract in story form, telling how Dominick was converted by his
Bible, lost his job as farmer’s scarecrow, converts his sister Judy, and is sent
with her to a Protestant orphanage in England, after which “they never
lost an opportunity of turning any poor benighted Roman Catholic to the
light of God’s truth.”
⸺ LIGHT AND SHADE. Two Vols. Pp. 287, 256. (Kegan, Paul). 1878.
A tale of the Fenian rising by the daughter of William Smith O’Brien.
A double love story runs through the book. The descriptions of the scenery
of the Shannon and neighbouring districts are derived from livelong observations.
Tone pure and healthy, dialect perfect. Of this story Stephen Gwynn
says: “Violent, even melodramatic, in incident, it lacks the power of characterisation,
but it has many passages of beauty.... She worked largely
upon material gathered from the lips of men who had been actors in the
Fenian rising.”
O’BRIEN, Dillon. B. 1817, at Kilmore, Co. Roscommon. Ed. at St. Stanislaus
Coll., Tullabeg. Went to U.S.A. and settled in St. Paul, Minn.
Wrote a good deal of verse and several novels of Irish-American life.
D. 1882. His serial Dead Broke, in the Irish Monthly of 1882, is a good
example of his pleasant, gay manner of telling a story.
⸺ THE DALYS OF DALYSTOWN. (U.S.A., St. Paul). 1866.
⸺ FRANK BLAKE. (U.S.A., St. Paul). 1876.
O’BRIEN, FitzJames.
⸺ THE POEMS AND STORIES OF FITZJAMES O’BRIEN. Pp.
lxii. + 485. (Boston: Osgood). 1881.
Coll. and ed., with sketch of Author, by W. Winter. FitzJames O’Brien
was one of the most distinguished of Irish-American writers. B. Limerick,
1838. Ed. T.C.D. D. 1862. He is a master of the weird and eerie,
after the manner of Lefanu (q.v.) and Poe. His prose works are little
if at all concerned with Ireland.
⸺ THE DIAMOND LENS, and Other Stories. (Lond.). 1887.
Sketch of Author prefixed. Contains no Irish stories.
O’BRIEN, Hon. Georgina. Eldest dau. of the late Lord O’Brien of Kilfenora,
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.
⸺ THE HEART OF THE PEASANT, and Other Stories. Pp. 277.
(Sisley). 6s. 1908.
Twelve stories of various types. Some have a slight meaning behind the
mere tale. Four or five do not concern Ireland, and several others do not
touch peasant life. The tone is on the whole sympathetic towards the external
aspects of Catholicism. The stories do not deal in politics or in problems.
They are chiefly little aspects of life and feeling. The last and longest is a
very modern story of the love affair of Rev. Mark Dibbs and a certain Lady
Glynn.
⸺ A TWENTIETH CENTURY HERO. Pp. 308. (Maunsel). 6s. 1913.
The scene and most of the characters of this story are English. Some Irish
interest, however, is afforded by Mr. and Mrs. Flanagan, the latter bright,
thrifty, busy; the former of the happy-go-lucky type, content to let his
wife do the bread-winning.
O’BRIEN, Morrough.
⸺ THE LEAGUE OF THE RING and TORN APART. (Ireland’s
Own Library). 6d. n.d. (1914).
Exciting stories of mysteries unravelled by the great Irish detective, Dermod
O’Donovan. Villainy is defeated and couples are happily married. Quite
healthy in tone, but very sensational. The scene is Belfast and neighbourhood.
O’BRIEN, Mgr. Richard Baptist; “Father Baptist.” B. at Carrick-on-Suir,
1809. D. 1885. A distinguished priest, who was Dean of Limerick.
Was well-known in religious and philanthropic works. He wrote poems
for the Nation under the pen-name of “Baptist.”
⸺ AILEY MOORE. Pp. 311. (Duffy). 3s. 6d. [1856]. Fifth ed. n.d.
(N.Y.: Benziger). 0.60.
Period: the years before and after ’48. Plot pleasant, but main interest
abundance of side incidents, character studies and details of Irish life, introduced
chiefly to picture the evils of misgovernment prevailing at the time.
The style is agreeable, though there are rather lengthy moralizings. It was advertised
by Dolman as “showing how Eviction, Murder, and such like pastimes
are managed and Justice administered in Ireland.”
⸺ JACK HAZLITT, A.M. Pp. 380. (Duffy). Third ed. n.d. Still in print.
(N.Y.: Benziger). 0.60. [1875].
The Preface tells us that Jack Hazlitt, whose fortunes are followed in
this book, was a real person known to the Author, and that many of the
adventures recorded are true. Scene: first, banks of Shannon (King’s
County or Westmeath), then America. Story of sensational kind, but with
many moral lessons, often verging on homilies, directed chiefly against free-thought
and undenominational education.
⸺ THE D’ALTONS OF CRAG. Pp. 283. (Duffy). 2s. 1882. (N.Y.:
Benziger). 0.60. [1882].
A tale laid in a time of helplessness and hopelessness, in which the Author
gives “many illustrations of the beautiful and devoted love that has ever
bound together the people and the priests of Ireland.”—(Pref.). The Author
tells us that every one of the main incidents is based on fact, and that many
of the characters are portraits of real persons. The story is told with great
vigour, and is full of diversified incident of no humdrum or commonplace
character.—(Irish Monthly).
O’BRIEN, William. B. Mallow, Co. Cork, 1852. Ed. Cloyne diocesan
seminary and Queen’s Coll., Cork. Early engaged in journalism. He
long edited United Ireland, to which he contributed much prose
and verse. He is one of the best known and most remarkable of modern
Irish politicians. He has been prosecuted nine times for political offences,
and spent more than two years in prison, where When We Were Boys
was written. Has been Member of Parliament, except for short intervals,
since 1883.
⸺ WHEN WE WERE BOYS. Pp. 550. (Longmans). 6s. 1890. Frequently
republished.
One of the most remarkable of Irish novels. A tale of Ireland in Fenian
times. Scene: Glengarriff, Co. Cork. A very brilliant book, sparkling
with epigram and metaphor. Full of criticism, argument, thought and dream
about Ireland. The story itself is strong in romantic and human interest.
The characterization is full of life and reality, yet many of the characters
are types. In the course of the tale many aspects of Irish life, among all
classes, pass in review. There are many touches of satire. Over all the
characters and scenes the author’s exuberant imagination has cast a glare
as of the footlights, making them stand out in vivid colours and clear outlines.
Yet there is little or no distortion or misrepresentation. The Author’s sympathies
are strongly nationalist and Catholic, yet national failings are not
blinked, and some of the portraits of priests are distinctly satirical. The
central interest, perhaps, is the romantic excitement, enthusiasm, and exaltation
of an impending rising.
⸺ A QUEEN OF MEN. Pp. 321. (Unwin). [1898]. Third ed., 1899.
There is a cheap ed. in paper covers.
Scene: Galway City, Clare Island, and the opposite coast, just before the
great War of the Earls. A very highly-coloured romance, full of flashy
and dramatic sensation, told with an exuberance of language that sometimes
exceeds, but at times is very effective. Some of the descriptive pieces are
quite above the common and attain remarkable vividness. The book was
written in the midst of the scenes described. An effective device to secure
colour is the frequent interjection of Gaelic phrases phonetically spelt. The
heroine of the tale is the famous Gránia Ni Mháille, who appears not only
as dauntless sea-queen of the O’Malleys, but above all in her womanly character.
Fitzwilliam, Bingham, and Perrott also appear, the last as a hero.
Though many of the incidents are quite fictitious and few happened exactly
as narrated, yet some of those which might seem most incredible to anyone
unacquainted with the State Papers could be paralleled by real happenings.
Some of the incidents narrated are: the Composition of Connaught, the
disgrace of Perrott, the wrecking of the Armada on the Connaught coast,
Gránia’s visit to Elizabeth. With Gránia’s love story is entwined another,
that of Cahal O’Malley and Nuala O’Donnell.
O’BRIEN, Mrs. W. Wife of preceding; née Sophie, dau. of Herman
Raffalovich, of Paris. She is a convert to Catholicism, and a thoroughly
naturalised Irishwoman for many years past. She has written also a
book of reminiscences, Under Croagh Patrick. I have also seen mentioned
as by her a book entitled Amidst Mayo Bogs.
⸺ ROSETTE: a Tale of Dublin and Paris. Pp. 266. (Burns & Oates).
1907.
Diary of Rosette, only child of a Parisian bourgeois family. Deals chiefly
with the life of this family in Paris, and afterwards in Dublin. There is no
sensationalism. Rosette’s religious development is thoughtfully worked out,
and there is good character-drawing (e.g., Rosette’s artistically inclined
mother and the old servant, Mélanie). The point of view is, of course, distinctly
feminine. The style is pretty and graceful.
O’BYRNE, Dermot.
⸺ CHILDREN OF THE HILLS. Pp. 148. (Maunsel). 2s. 6d. n.d.
[1913].
Seven stories reprinted from The Irish Review and Orpheus (an art
periodical). They belong to the literary movement associated with the
Abbey Theatre. They have the weird imaginativeness and the flavour
of the occult and uncanny of Yeats’s prose stories, together with the vivid
word-painting of “Fiona McLeod.” The Author delights in the portrayal
of primitive and savage passions on the one hand, and on the other in the
suggestion of the wild landscapes, rock-strewn and mist-shrouded, of Western
Donegal (e.g., Glencolumbcille, in “Ancient Dominions”). These stories
of pure fancy are strangely interwoven with settings of extreme realism—drunken
tinkers, peasants, &c. Only here and there have we remarks like
the following (p. 123):—“But those who are intimate with the soul of the
Gaelic peasant know that the God of the Christian is only one amongst a
Pantheon of hidden dominations lovely and terrible, though the priest at
the altar may thunder anathemas from a fettered intelligence,” &c. The
reviewer in the Times Lit. Suppl. pointed out the real defect of these stories—they
are wanting in heart.
O’BYRNE, D.
⸺ THE SISTERS AND GREEN MAGIC. Pp. 76. (Daniel). 2s. 6d.
net. 1912.
O’BYRNE, M. L.
⸺ THE PALE AND THE SEPTS. Two Vols. (Gill). [1876].
The design is to illustrate, in all its cruelty, treachery, greed, and unscrupulousness,
the steady advance of the English settlement. Yet by no
means all the English are painted as villains. We are shown the forces of
government at work at home in the Castle. Careful portraits of Archbishop
Loftus and the old Earl of Kildare. Descriptions of battle of Glenmalure,
Hungerford’s massacre at Baltinglass, the capture and recapture of Glenchree,
&c., &c. Fine description of scenery, e.g., Gougane Barra. The religious
persecutions are vividly portrayed. Highly praised by the Athenæum.
The original sub-title was “Or, The Baron of Belgard and the Chiefs of
Glenmalure. A Romance of the 16th Century, by Emelobie de Celtis.”
⸺ LEIXLIP CASTLE. Pp. 649. (Gill). [1883]. Others since.
Period: years 1690 sqq. Deals with battle of Boyne, flight of James II.,
sieges of Limerick and Athlone, the battle of Aughrim—all fully and vividly
described. Standpoint: strongly national and Catholic. Gives pleasant
insight into the private lives of some Catholic families at the time and their
difficulties with Protestant neighbours. Narrative somewhat tedious and
slow-moving.
⸺ ILL-WON PEERAGES; or, An Unhallowed Union. Pp. 716. (Gill).
1884.
At the outset of this book we are introduced in a series of pictures to the
homes of representative people of various parties, and long, imaginary political
conversations between the prominent men of the time are given. Then
there is a full account of the rebellion from the battle of Kilcullen to Vinegar
Hill. Practically every noteworthy personage of the time is described in
private and in public life. The romantic interest is entirely subservient to
the historical, yet there is plenty of adventure. The bias is ultra-nationalist.
The style, and especially the descriptions, were highly praised by a reviewer
in the Tablet.
⸺ ART MACMURROUGH O’KAVANAGH. Pp. 706. (Gill). [1885].
A full account of the life and exploits of Art MacMurrough, with many
adventures of fictitious characters, and much description of the manners
and life of the times within and without the Pale. In the conversations
the Author attempts to reproduce the spoken English of the time, with a
lamentable result. They are full of yclept, eftsoons, by my halidom, marry, &c.,
&c., so as to be unintelligible at times. The speech of the Irish characters is
nearly as full of Gaelic expressions. “Many of the events narrated in this
story are supplied from tradition,” says the Author. But she has been at
much pains to utilize undoubtedly authentic sources. The style, on the
whole, is pleasant.
⸺ THE COURT OF RATH CROGHAN. Pp. 465. (Gill). 2s. 6d.
1887.
The story of the Norman Invasion of Ireland, together with the series of
events that led to it, and the consequences that followed, the central idea
being that it was the treachery and disunion of her own princes that wrought
the ruin of Ireland. All the chief men connected with the events narrated
play prominent parts in the story. St. Laurence O’Toole is finely drawn.
The last Ard Righ, Roderick, is shown weak and unfit to rule in perilous
times. Strongbow is a leading character; his death is vividly described.
Art MacMurrough is, of course, the villain. The style is somewhat highflown
and often loaded with antiquated phrases and latinized expressions.
Yet the story, apart from its historical value, which is considerable, has a
strong interest of its own.
⸺ LORD ROCHE’S DAUGHTERS OF FERMOY. Pp. 344. (Sealy,
Bryers). (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.50. 1892.
In the course of this romance the whole history of the Wars of the Confederation
of Kilkenny and of the Cromwellian Invasion is related. The
story is described by the Author as “a very encyclopædia of tragedies.” The
Author is strongly on the side of Owen Roe O’Neill as against the Confederate
Catholics of the Pale, and, of course, the Puritans. A fine series of adventures
and of historical pictures, but spoiled by frequent lapses from literary good
taste.
O’BYRNE, W. Lorcan. B. in Dublin, 1845. Son of Christopher O’Byrne,
of Ballinacor, Co. Wicklow. Delighted from earliest youth in Irish lore
of all kinds. Held a position in the Education Office during the greater
part of his life. D. 1913. His books, though popular in style, were the
result of much patient research.
⸺ A LAND OF HEROES. Pp. 224. (Blackie). 2s. 6d. Well illustr.
by J. H. Bacon. (N.Y.: Scribners). 1.25. 1899.
“Intended to reach the level of children.” Very interesting Introduction.
The book is a series of Irish hero tales from various cycles, including the best-known
(Sons of Tuirean, Lir, Usnach, &c.), and the Romance of the early
kings very much as in Miss Hull’s Pagan Ireland. The book contains a
larger number of tales than any other except the most expensive. The bare
story is told without any attempt to work up the materials into poetic or
dramatic form.
⸺ KINGS AND VIKINGS. Pp. 240. (Blackie). 2s. 6d. Six illustr.
by Paul Hardy. n.d. (1900). (N.Y.: Scribners). 1.25.
Drawn from published translations of Gaelic MSS., e.g., Standish H.
O’Grady’s Silva Gadelica; Dr. Todd’s edition of the Wars of the Gael and
Gall; Dr. O’Donovan’s Battle of Magh Rath, &c. Contents: stories of
early Christian times, chiefly from the lives of St. Patrick, St. Brigid, St.
Columbkille, and St. Brendan; the trial of the Bards; the battles of Dunbolg,
Moira, &c.; stories of the Danish invasions and in particular of Brian
Borumha. Full of good information, but not strong in narrative interest.
⸺ CHILDREN OF KINGS. Pp. 240. (Blackie). 2s. 6d. Illustr.
by Paul Hardy. 1904.
“The aim of this book is to present tales from Three Cycles of Romance, viz.,
the Cuchulain, the Ossianic, and the Arthurian, interwoven after the manner
of a Celtic design” (Introduction). The chief characters of the three cycles
appear in various stories (there are thirty-one in all). A truly wonderful
knowledge of the period embraced by these tales is displayed in the book, but
the glamour of romance and the magic of words are wanting.
⸺ THE KNIGHT OF THE CAVE; or, The Quest of the Pallium. Pp.
248. (Blackie). 2s. 6d. Six illustr. by Paul Hardy. 1906.
A thin thread of narrative connecting much interesting and valuable information
about historical events and about the life of the people at the period.
The hero passes from England, then laid waste by the wars of Stephen’s
reign, to Ireland, where we are shown in great detail the civil and ecclesiastical
life of the day. Thence he accompanies St. Malachi to Clairvaux on a visit
to St. Bernard. Then he visits Italy—Tivoli, Horace’s Sabine Farm, and
Rome, whose antiquities are described at length. Finally, he returns to
Ireland, whose state is again dwelt upon. The narrative is relieved by
exciting adventures and by stories told incidentally. The Author’s erudition
is extensive and accurate. The title refers to St. Patrick’s Purgatory, Lough
Derg.
⸺ THE FALCON KING. Pp. 240. (Blackie). 2s. 6d. Six illustr.
by Paul Hardy. Picture Cover. 1907.
“A series of historical episodes (beginning in Wales, 1146), vignettes of
contemporary life, and stories from Celtic and Icelandic sagas and Norman
French chansons de geste, illustrating events, manners, and religion....
Shows Henry II. and his barons engaged in the conquest of Ireland, and
gives a good account of Dermot MacMurrough, and also of life in Dublin.”—(Baker,
2).
[O’CONNELL, Mrs. K. E.], of Leenane, Co. Galway; “Aroon.”
⸺ NOREEN DHAS. Pp. 62. (Sealy, Bryers). 1s. 1902.
A pretty love-story of Connemara (the Killaries). The Author is for the
language movement, and strongly opposed to the bargain marriages of the
West.
⸺ WHITE HEATHER. Pp. 62. (Sealy, Bryers). 1s. 1903.
Three tales of Connemara. The first is a graceful little fairy story, the
third a story of faithful love.
O’CONNOR, Barry.
⸺ TURF-FIRE STORIES, and Fairy Tales of Ireland. Pp. 405. (N.Y.:
Kenedy). 0.63. Illustr. with woodcuts. 1890.
“The greater number of the following sketches are original; the others
have been transcribed, and in most cases materially altered, from the musty
pages of some ‘Quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore.’” (Pref.)
Most of the stories are comic. The persons and incidents are mostly drawn
from peasant life. Most of them are capitally told. A few are somewhat
journalistic and hurriedly written. There is no caricaturing nor “Stage
Irishism.” Some are legends of places, others typical fairy or folk
tales. There are a large number of woodcuts, which, however, have no connection
with the letter-press.
[O’CONNOR, Joseph K.]; “Heblon.”
⸺ STUDIES IN BLUE. (Sealy, Bryers). 2s. Illustr. by C. A. Mills.
n.d. (c. 1903).
Sketches, true to life, and cleverly told, of the most disreputable side of
Dublin slum-life, as seen, chiefly, in the Police Courts. Amusing, but at
times verging on vulgarity.
O’DONNELL, Lucy.
⸺ ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL. Pp. 86. (Dublin: Curry). 1855.
The fortunes of the house of Desmond in the 16th century, and chiefly those
of Lord James Fitzgerald (son of the great Earl) who became a Protestant,
and was therefore rejected by his people and retired to England. The story
opens with a Protestant service in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1581. It contains
interesting allusions to Glendalough, Dublin, and Adare. Author’s
viewpoint Protestant.
O’DONOGHUE, ⸺.
⸺ THE PRINCE OF KILLARNEY. (London).
O’DONOVAN, Gerald.
⸺ FATHER RALPH. Pp. 494. (Macmillan). 6s. Six impressions
within a few months. 1914.
An anti-clerical and modernist novel by an Author with inside knowledge
of the Catholic Church in Ireland. It is the story of a young priest from
his birth until we take leave of him (défroqué) on board a ship leaving Ireland.
In the course of the narrative there is presented a general view of Irish life
as seen from the standpoint of such writers as M. J. F. M’Carthy, W. P.
O’Ryan, and “Pat,” but clerical life is depicted with far more minute knowledge
than by any of these. Sensational features such as the amours of
priests, nuns, &c., are avoided, though much innuendo is indulged in. All
the estimable characters in the book are represented as either Modernists, or
else voteens and people who avoid thinking on serious problems. The Bishop,
Father Molloy, and Ralph’s mother, as depicted by the Author, are revolting
in the extreme. Except in rare instances all the outward details of Irish life
are true to reality, but seen with jaundiced eyes. It may fairly be said that
there is scarcely a page of this book that does not appeal in one form or another
to non-Catholic prejudice.
⸺ WAITING. Pp. 387. (Macmillan). 6s. 1914.
Maurice Blake is a young National Schoolmaster, an ideal teacher, an
enthusiast for Irish Ireland and for industrial revival. He falls foul of
Father Mahon, the P.P., who is made as odious as possible. Maurice cannot
get a dispensation to marry Alice Barton, a Protestant, and is compelled
to marry her in a registry office. Maurice is selected as candidate by his
constituency but, through the agency of Fr. Mahon, is set aside in favour of a
worthless drunkard, and a mission is preached by “Seraphists.” Ch. XXIII.,
describing this mission, is most offensive and vulgar. Minor characters are
Driscoll, the former Master; Breslin, editor and free-thinker; Fr. Malone, a
lovable character; Dr. Hannigan with his “diffident, humble manner covering
the pride of Lucifer”; Fr. Cafferley, fond of tea parties in publicans’ back
parlours, &c. The Church Times says of the book, “It is much more angry
and malevolent than its predecessor,” and the Times Lit. Suppl., in an
article obviously written by a non-Catholic, “It is a bitter and, if true, a
deadly attack on the priesthood, and an almost rancorous indictment of the
practice and influence of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland.”
O’DONOVAN, Michael.
⸺ MR. MULDOON. Pp. 328. (Greening). 6s.
Scene: Dublin and suburbs. A book for an idle hour, recounting the
whimsical adventures of the hero and his experiments with professions of all
kinds. Humour broad, but not vulgar.
O’DONOVAN ROSSA, see ROSSA.
O’FLANAGAN, James Roderick, B.L., M.R.I.A.
⸺ BRYAN O’REGAN. 1866.
The Author was b. at Fermoy in 1814, and wrote some important works on
Irish biography and topography, such as The Blackwater in Munster; The
History of Dundalk (with John Dalton); Lives of the Lord Chancellors of
Ireland; The Munster Circuit; The Irish Bar. Founded the Fermoy
Journal, and published his autobiography, An Octogenarian Literary Life,
Cork, 1896.
⸺ CAPTAIN O’SHAUGHNESSY’S SPORTING CAREER. Two Vols.
1872.
⸺ GENTLE BLOOD.
A novel founded on the remarkable Yelverton Marriage Case at Killowen,
Co. Down, mentioned in the Author’s Autobiography.
[O’FLANAGAN, T.]; “Samoth.”
⸺ NED M’COOL AND HIS FOSTER BROTHER. Pp. 281. (Derry:
printed at Offices of Derry Journal). 1871.
Sub-t., “An Irish tale founded on facts.” The Author was a native of
Castlefin, Co. Donegal. He wrote also Strabane and Lifford, The Consequences
of a Refusal, &c.
OGLE, Thomas Acres.
⸺ THE IRISH MILITIA OFFICER. Pp. 314. 12mo. (Dublin:
no name of publ.). 1873.
“The tale embraces the services of the old Wexford Regiment from 1810
to its disbandment in 1816, and is a true picture of the rollicking and free
life of that half-disciplined soldiery.” (Pref.). Full of stories, good, bad,
and indifferent, told with considerable spirit. One chapter goes back to ’98,
and gives some interesting personal reminiscences. There are a good many
love affairs. The Author is a firm loyalist, and something of an Orangeman,
but displays little bias. The scene is laid in various parts of Ireland.
O’GRADY, Standish. B. 1846, at Castletown Berehaven, on Bantry Bay,
Co. Cork, of which his father was rector. Ed. at home and in Tipperary,
and at T.C.D. Was called to the Bar, but his main occupations have
been literary. Besides the works here mentioned he has written much
on literary, political, and economic subjects, and is one of the most
distinguished of living Irish writers.
⸺ HISTORY OF IRELAND. The Heroic Period.[10] Two Vols. Pp.
xxii. + 267 + 348. (Sampson, Low). 1878.
Described by the Author (Pref.) as “the reduction to its artistic elements of
the whole of that heroic history taken together, viewing it always in the light
shed by modern archæologians, frequently using the actual language of the
bards, and as much as possible their style and general character of expression.”...
“Through the loose chaotic mass ... I have endeavoured
to trace the mental and physical personality of the heroes and
heroines, and to discover the true order of events.” The chapter headings
read like those of a novel—“Only a Name,” “Perfidy,” “In Vain,” “Swift
Succour.” Vol. I. deals with the Fianna, Cuchulain, the Cattle-raid of
Cuailgne. Vol. II. is entirely taken up (all but the first 88 pp.) with the
Cuchulain cycle. The above work is carefully to be distinguished from the
Author’s History of Ireland, Critical and Philosophical. Vol. I. (all publ.)
pp. 468 (Sampson, Low), 1881. In the Pref. to this latter he says, “The
books already published by me on this subject are portions of a work in which
I propose to tell the History of Ireland through the medium of tales, epic
or romantic.”
⸺ RED HUGH’S CAPTIVITY. 1889.
An early ed. of The Flight of the Eagle, q.v.
⸺ FINN AND HIS COMPANIONS. Pp. 182. Size, 4 × 6½. (Unwin,
Children’s Library). Illustr. by J. B. Yeats. 1892.
Delightful tales of the heroic age of the Fianna told in poetic but very
simple language. Will appeal not to children only but to all. Part IV.,
“The Coming of Finn,” is particularly fine. “Most of these tales are, I think,
quite new.”—(Preface).
⸺ THE BOG OF STARS. Pp. 179. (Fisher Unwin, New Irish Library).
2s. 1893.
Stories and pictures, nine in number, of Ireland in the days of Elizabeth
“not so much founded on fact as in fact true.”—(Pref.). (1) How a drummer-boy
saved Clan Ranal from destruction by the Deputy; (2) A sketch of
Philip O’Sullivan, historian, soldier, and poet; (3) The destruction of the
O’Falveys by Mac an Earla of the Clan M’Carthy; (4) The vengeance of
the O’Hagans on Phelim O’Neill; (5) A sketch of Sir Richard Bingham,
the infamous but mighty Captain of Connaught; (6) How the English
surprised by treachery Rory Og O’More and his people; (7) The story of
Brian of the Ramparts O’Rourke; (8) Don Juan del Aquila, the heroic
defender of Kinsale; (9) Detailed and vivid description of the battle of
the Curlew Mountains from the Irish point of view. These have all the great
qualities of the Flight of the Eagle, and indicate the same views of history—the
selfishness and frequent savagery of some of the Irish chieftains, their
hatred of one another, their constant readiness to submit to the Queen’s
grace when it suited—all this is brought out. Yet the Author is on the
side of Ireland: he dwells on what is heroic in our history, he paints the
Elizabethan deputies and their subordinates in dark colours.
⸺ COMING OF CUCHULAINN. Pp. 160. (Methuen). Six good illustrations
by D. Murray Smith. 1894.
The story of the hero’s boyhood told in epic language, full of antique colour
and simile, and rising at times to wild grandeur. The great shadows of
ancient De Danaan gods are never far from the mortal heroes who figure in
the saga.
⸺ THE GATES OF THE NORTH. New ed. Pp. 151. (Sealy, Bryers).
3s. 6d. 1908.
A sequel to the preceding, telling the heroic tale of how Cuchulainn held
the fords of Ulster alone against the hosts of Maeve. It is even fuller than
is the first book of the myth and lore of the primitive Gael. There is a very
interesting introduction by the Author.
⸺ LOST ON DHU CORRIG. Pp. 284. (Cassell). Nine good illustr.
1894.
Strange adventures among the caves and cliffs of the west coast, with
a touch of the uncanny, and some interesting and curious things about seals.
⸺ THE CHAIN OF GOLD. Pp. 304. (Fisher Unwin). Sixteen good
illustr. Nice cover. 1895.
A story of adventure on the wild west coast of Ireland. Curious and
original plot, with an element of the supernatural.
⸺ ULRICK THE READY. New ed. (Sealy, Bryers). 3s. 6d. [1896].
1908.
Period: last years of Elizabeth’s reign. Scene: the country of O’Sullivan
Beare, the south-west corner of Cork. Weaves the battle of Kinsale and
the siege of Dunboy into the story of the young O’Sullivan, Ulrick. Full of
vividly presented details of the public and private life of the time, and of
novel and suggestive presentments of its political and social ideals. These
it brings home to the reader as no history could do. Yet the story is not
neglected. Standpoint: impartial, on the whole.
⸺ IN THE WAKE OF KING JAMES. Pp. 242. (Dent). 4s. 6d. 1896.
A wild and nightmare-like tale. Scene: a lonely castle on the west coast
inhabited by a gang of Jacobite desperadoes. Contains no historical incidents.
⸺ FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE. Pp. 298. (Sealy, Bryers). 3s. 6d. [Lawrence
& Bullen, 1897]. New ed., 1908. (N.Y.: Benziger). 1.10.
The historical episode of the kidnapping of Hugh Roe O’Donnell and his
escape from Dublin Castle evoked in a narrative of extraordinary dramatic
power and vividness. The Author has breathed a spirit into the dry bones of
innumerable contemporary documents and State Papers, so that the men of
Elizabethan Ireland seem to live and move before us. The effect is greatly
strengthened by the vigour and rush of the style, which reminds one of
that of Carlyle in his French Revolution. The Author has peculiar and
decided views about Elizabethan Irish politics. “The authorities for the
story,” he tells us in his Preface, “are the Annals of the Four Masters, the
Historia Hiberniæ of Don Philip O’Sullivan Beare, O’Clery’s Life of Hugh
Roe, and the Calendar of State Papers, Ireland, from 1587 forward.”
O’GRADY, Standish Hayes. B. 1832, Co. Limerick. Was a fluent Irish
speaker, and his knowledge of the language and of Irish traditions was,
according to those who knew him, unrivalled. Evidence of this will
be found in his Catalogue of the Irish MSS. in the British Museum, never
finished, but, as far as it goes, a mine of Gaelic lore. Was one of the
founders of the Ossianic Society. D. 16th October, 1915.
⸺ SILVA GADELICA. Two Vols. Demy 8vo. (Williams & Norgate).
1892.
Vol. I., pp. 416, contains Irish text (Roman letters); Vol. II., pp. xxxii. +
604, contains Preface, Translation, and Notes. Thirty-one tales and other
pieces, all taken from ancient MSS., such as the Book of Leinster, the Leabhar
Breac, &c. Fifteen are from MSS. in the British Museum. Out of the thirty-one,
only six or seven had been published before. Ranged under four heads—(I.)
Hagiology, or Stories of early Irish saints; (II.) Legend, historical or
romantic; (III.) Ossianic lore; (IV.) Fiction, some of which is humorous.
The Irish text is presented in a difficult and archaic dialect, much as if, says
a critic, Robinson Crusoe and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle were to be printed
in the dialect of Chaucer. The Author in his Preface discusses and describes
his sources most minutely. Forty years of study intervened between the
Author’s previous publication, Diarmaid and Grainne, for the Ossianic Society
(1853), and this. The English of his translation, though sometimes affected,
is vigorous, rich, varied, often picturesque and on the whole thoroughly
worthy of the subject. Twenty-eight pages of notes and corrections.
Indexes: A, of personal and tribal names; B, of place-names.
O’HANLON, Canon John; “Lageniensis.” B. Stradbally, 1821. From
1842-1857 he was in U.S.A., where he was ordained. He published
eighteen important works dealing with Irish history, archæology, and
especially hagiography, his great Lives of the Irish Saints, nine vols. of
which appeared, being a lasting monument to his research. He died in
1905.
⸺ IRISH FOLK-LORE: Traditions and Superstitions of the Country:
with Humorous Tales. (Cameron & Ferguson). Pp. viii. + 312. 2s.
1870.
A miscellany containing folk-lore proper, studies in popular superstition
viewed as remnants of paganism, historical episodes, tales, &c., gathered
from ancient MSS., with a great store of antiquarian and historical information
about all periods of our annals and very many parts of Ireland. Much
of all this is drawn from rare and not easily accessible sources. Contains
chapters on Druidism, Legendary Voyages, Dungal the Recluse. A type of
the humorous stories is the capital “Mr. Patrick O’Byrne in the Devil’s
Glen.” The book is intended for the general public rather than for folklorists.
It is pleasant and chatty in style. The source of the stories is
not, as a rule, indicated by the Author.
⸺ THE BURIED LADY: a Legend of Kilronan. (Dublin). 1877.
⸺ IRISH LOCAL LEGENDS. Pp. 133. (Duffy). 1s. First publ. 1896;
still in print.
A collection of thirty stories picked up by the Author during holidays in
various parts of Ireland, and “received, mostly, from accidental and familiar
intercourse with the peasantry.”—(Pref.). The place with which the legend
is connected is indicated in each case. The legends are of a very miscellaneous
nature, local incidents, fairy stories, ghost stories, old hero stories, &c. A
considerable number of counties are represented by one or more stories.
O h-ANNRACHAIN, Michea. B. New Ross, Co. Wexford. Ed. Christian
Bros.’ Schools and Collegiate Academy, Carlow. Has written a good
deal for the press. Is an ardent worker in the Language Movement.
⸺ A SWORDSMAN OF THE BRIGADE. Pp. 231. (Sands). 3s. 6d.
1914.
A fine stirring adventure story of the doings of one of the “Wild Geese” in
Sheldon’s division of the Irish Brigade in the service of France. Scene:
Flanders, Bavaria, Italy, and Dublin. c. 1703. Told in a breezy way and
thoroughly Irish in spirit.
O’HARE, Hardress.
⸺ CONQUERED AT LAST: from Records of Dhu Hall and its Inmates.
A Novel. Three Vols. 1874.
O’HIGGINS, Brian; “Brian na Banban.” B. Kilskyre (Cill Scire), Co. Meath,
1882; ed. there. Came to Dublin about twelve years ago and threw
himself into the work of the Gaelic League, for which he became a
travelling teacher (múinteoir taistil) in Cavan and Meath. Has publ.
two books in Irish. Has for years past been a frequent contributor to
the Catholic and Irish press at home and in America and Australia.
His songs are popular at Irish-Ireland concerts all over the country.
⸺ BY A HEARTH IN EIRINN. (Gill), 1s. 1908.
The gay and humorous side of the language movement seen from a League
point of view—the Seonín, the Feis, the Gaelic Christmas hearth. One sketch
gives a glimpse of the early years of John Boyle O’Reilly.
⸺ GLIMPSES OF GLEN-NA-MONA. Pp. 115. (Duffy). 6d. Paper.
1908.
Sketches of peasant life in a remote glen (place not indicated). Almost
wholly taken up with the sadness and the miseries of emigration. Simple,
pathetic, and religious.
⸺ FUN O’ THE FORGE. (Dublin: Whelan). 1915.
A collection of humorous stories.
O’Kane, Rev. W. M. B. 1872, at Millisle, Co. Down. Son of Capt. Francis
O’Kane, of Weymouth and Millisle. Ed. Royal Academical Institution,
Belfast, and at Queen’s Coll., Belfast; B.A. and LL.B., R.U.I. Was
Curate in Banbridge and Belfast and is at Present Incumbent of Ashbourne,
Derbyshire. Author of The King’s Luck and Guppy Guyson.
⸺ WITH POISON AND SWORD. Pp. 402. (Mills & Boon). 6s. 1910.
Love story and adventures in 1561 or thereabouts of Cormac O’Hagan,
follower and friend of Shane O’Neill, his escape from the Tower, his rescue
of Marjorie Drayton, his share in the battle of Armagh where Shane defeats
the Deputy, his going with Shane to visit Elizabeth, and many sensational
adventures in consequence. He finally gives up Ireland altogether, settles
in England, and he and his descendants ever after are good Englishmen.
One of the chief characters is the ever resourceful Dickie Toogood.
O’KEARNEY, Nicholas. Trans.
⸺ THE STORY OF CONN-EDA; or, The Golden Apples of Loch
Erne, from the Irish. Pp. 17. (London: J. R. Smith). 1855.
Reprinted from the Proceedings of the “Cambrian Archæological Association.”
O’KEEFFE, Christopher M.
⸺ THE KNIGHTS OF THE PALE. Pp. viii. + 263. (Glasgow:
Cameron & Ferguson). 1857 and 1870.
Sub-title, “Ireland 400 Years Ago.” First appeared in The Celt. The
Author was sentenced about 1866 to penal servitude for Fenianism, was
released about 1877, went to U.S.A., and died in Brooklyn about 1889. Wrote
also a Life of O’Connell in two vols. “The object of the story is to give the
impression which a prolonged study of Irish antiquities has produced on the
Author’s mind.”—(Pref.). Interspersed with the narrative are several
pieces of verse, some original, some translated by the Author from the
Gaelic. The period is the middle of the 15th century.
O’KELLY, Seumas.
⸺ BY THE STREAM OF KILMEEN. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. Paper.
c. 1910.
Ten short sketches of the little tragedies and comedies of the lives of the
humbler classes. They are simple, true, and sincere. The scene is Clare or
Galway.
O’KENNEDY, Father Richard. P.P. of Fedamore, Co. Limerick.
⸺ COTTAGE LIFE IN IRELAND.
“Father O’Kennedy was born in 1850, was educated in Limerick and in
Maynooth. Has been for a long time contributor to various Irish and
American magazines, notably the Irish Monthly. He knows his people
intimately, and knows how to interest us in the simple pains and pleasures
of the poor.... His style is charming. He has an eye for the simplicities of
life.”—(Irish Lit.). His stories and sketches are known and appreciated
in the U.S. even more than at home in Ireland.
O’LEARY, C.
⸺ THE IRISH WIDOW’S SON; or, The Pikemen of ’98. (Boston).
1869.
Wrote also The Last Rosary (Boston), 1869.
O’MAHONY, Nora Tynan. A sister of Katharine Tynan, q.v. Dau. of
the late Andrew C. Tynan, of Whitehall, Clondalkin, Co. Dublin. Married
John O’Mahony (d. 1904), a brilliant Irish barrister. She has written
much for Irish and American periodicals and has just published a vol.
of poems which has been highly praised. Her work is simple, gentle,
with many touches of beauty. The atmosphere is always Irish and
Catholic.
⸺ UNA’S ENTERPRISE. Pp. 241. (Gill). Neat binding. 1907.
Struggles of a young girl of good social position to maintain her widowed
mother and little brother and sister. She eventually does this by means of
poultry farming, of which much is said. There is little distinctively Irish in
the story. The style is graceful and pleasing.
⸺ MRS. DESMOND’S FOSTER CHILD. (Browne & Nolan). 1s. 6d.
1912.
O’MEARA, Graves.
⸺ OWEN DONOVAN, Fenian. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. Paper. 1909.
Adventures of a Fenian in England, and of his lady-love, a prima donna at
Covent Garden. Plenty of sensation, of a crude and improbable type. A
“time-slayer,” as the Author calls it.
O’MEARA, Kathleen; “Grace Ramsay.” B. Dublin, 1839. Dau. of Dennis
O’Meara, of Tipperary, and granddaughter of Barry O’M., Napoleon’s
surgeon. She went with her parents to Paris at an early age, and it is
doubtful whether she afterwards visited her native land. D. N. B.
enumerates fifteen of her works, six of which were novels. D. 1888.
⸺ THE BATTLE OF CONNEMARA. (Washbourne). 1878.
A story of priests and people in Connaught in the days of the Soupers by
an Author distinguished in other fields of literature. The scene is laid partly
in Paris. Noteworthy characters are Mr. Ringwood, an English convert clergyman,
and Father Fallon, an Irish country priest. The plot turns mainly on
the conversion of an English lady who had married an Irishman and settled in
Connaught. Controversy is avoided.
O’MULLANE, M. J., M.A. B. 1889 in Sligo. Gained an honours diploma
in education in the National University. Is Principal of the National
Examining Institute of Ireland, Professor of Mod. Languages in Christian
Schools, Westland Row, and of Irish in Spiddal Summer Irish College,
Galway. He has contributed serials on Irish historical subjects to Our
Boys. He has done much to spread among the people knowledge of
and interest in the heroic period of early Gaelic Ireland by means of his
excellent penny C.T.S.I. pamphlets, soon, we hope, to be given a more
permanent form. The following are the titles:—
Craobh Ruadh; or, the Red Branch Knights. Two parts. 1910.
This is partly a serious study of the subject, partly a retelling of the old
sagas.
The Tuatha de Danaan; or, the Children of Dana. Two parts.
Links with the Past. Containing “Lug-na-Gall” (a legend of 1642), “Green
are the Distant Hills,” “The Origin of Lough Gill,” “Melcha,” “The
Wooing of Eithne.”
The Coming of the Children of Miledh.
Finn MacCoole.
Biroge of the Mountain, and Other Tales, viz.:—“The Recovery of the Táin
Bo Cuailgne,” “The First Water-Mill in Ireland,” “The Wooing of
Moriath,”—all tales of early Ireland.
The Return of the Red Hand. A story of Dunamase, fortress of the O’Moores
in the year 1200.
These nine pamphlets are very well but not pretentiously written. They
are written with good knowledge of the period referred to, but are not overloaded
with archæology. In footnotes the pronunciation of the Gaelic names
is given phonetically. The first eight of these booklets, together with Fr.
Skelly’s Cuchulainn of Muirthemne (q.v.) form an excellent introduction to
Ireland’s Heroic Period and to our saga literature.
O’NEILL, John.
⸺ HANDRAHAN, the Irish Fairy Man; and Legends of Carrick[-on-Suir].
Edited by Mrs. S. C. Hall and publ. 1854. (London: Tweedie).
Pp. 187.
The Author was born in Waterford, 1777. Lived the last years of his
chequered life in poverty in London. Published several volumes of verse,
chiefly on Temperance subjects, and a drama entitled Alva. D. c. 1860.
The above is a very good and original story. Handrahan is a kind of herb-doctor
skilled in potions and in charms against the fairies.
⸺ MARY OF AVONMORE; or, The Foundling of the Beach. Three
Vols.
N.B.—This is not in the British Museum Library or elsewhere that I know
of, but is given a prominent mention in all his biographies.
“O’NEILL, Moira,” Mrs. Skrine, née Nesta Higginson. Author of the well-known
Songs of the Glens of Antrim. Her home was long in Cushendun,
Co. Antrim. She has also published An Easter Vacation, 1893. The
scene laid in an English watering place. A frequent contributor to
Blackwood’s Magazine.
⸺ THE ELF ERRANT. Pp. 109. (A. H. Bullen). Seven illustr. by
W. E. F. Britten. New ed., 1902.
An excursion into Fairyland. A fanciful tale, told in exquisite and simple
language, with elves and fairies for characters. All through there is a subtle
comparison, which only the grown and thoughtful children will notice, of
English and Irish character. This latter by no means interferes with the
interest of the book for children, but makes it well worth reading by the
grown-ups.
Republished, Christmas, 1909, by Sidgwick & Jackson. 3s. 6d.
O’REILLY, Gertrude M.
⸺ JUST STORIES. Pp. 233. (N.Y.: Devin-Adair Co.). $1.00. 1915.
The Author came to America from Ireland in 1907. Agnes Repplier says
of the book: “These Irish stories are as good as good can be; gay, sad,
amusing, pathetic, human. I like the stories themselves; I like the way
they are told. They don’t suggest ‘plot,’ but bits of real life.” In the Pref.
the Author says: “Thoughts go back to the long restful days beside Galway
Bay, to the still evenings in the Cork hills.... These little stories are the fruit
of these moments of retrospection.” There is much dialect, well reproduced.
“O’REILLY, Private Myles,” see HALPINE.
ORPEN, Mrs.
⸺ CORRAGEEN IN ’98. (Methuen). 6s. (N.Y.: New Amsterdam
Book Co.). Pp. 325. 1.50. 1898.
“Written with sympathy for the loyalists. A realistic description of the
more horrible features.”—(Baker).
O’RYAN, Julia and Edmund.
⸺ IN RE GARLAND. (Richardson). 1873.
Time: after Famine of 1846, when the Encumbered Estates Court was in
full swing. Cleverly written, and showing intimate knowledge of Munster
ways of speech and thought among the farming and lower classes. Good
taste and strong faith in the people and in the people’s faith are everywhere
discernible. The writers eschew all moralizing and also all description of
scenery.—(Irish Monthly).
O’RYAN, W. P.; “Kevin Kennedy.” B. near Templemore, Co. Tipperary,
1867. Lived for several years in London, where he took an active share
in the activities of the Southwark Irish Literary Club and the Irish
Literary Society: he has written a history of their beginnings. Was
editor of The Peasant and of its successors, The Irish Peasant and
The Irish Nation. In these he mingled anti-clericalism with much
excellent writing strongly national in tone. The Plough and the Cross
is largely autobiographical. Publ. 1912, The Pope’s Green Island.
⸺ THE PLOUGH AND THE CROSS. Pp. 378. (The Irish Nation).
1s. 1910.
A story, how much of which is fact we do not learn, woven round certain
real events of recent date, and in particular the stopping of a paper of which
the Author was editor. Many of the characters may be recognised as portraits
of real personages, among others the Author himself, Mr. T. P. O’Connor,
Geo. Moore, Mr. James McCann, Mr. Edward Martyn, and Mr. Sweetman.
The book is largely taken up with conversations in which the Author gives
expression to his peculiar views on many subjects. Many of these belong
to the class of ideas known collectively to Catholics as Modernism. Throughout
the book there is constant criticism of the Irish clergy, much of this criticism
being put into the mouths of “progressive” priests. The personages and
the series of events dealt with are highly idealized. Distinctly well written,
but somewhat “exalté” in style. Scene: Dublin and the Boyne Valley.
See RYAN, W. P.
O’SHAUGHNESSY, Tom.
⸺ TERENCE O’DOWD; or, Romanism To-day. Pp. 350. (Philadelphia:
Presbyterian Board of Publication). n.d.
“An Irish story founded on facts.” Scene near Mt. Nephin and the Deel,
Co. Mayo. A long diatribe against the Catholic Church, representing it in
the most odious light, in order, says the Introd., to warn Protestants that
it is the same monstrously wicked system as ever. Ignorance, squalour,
rudeness, and brutality are the terms constantly used to describe the Irish
peasantry. The tone is often facetious and sarcastic. The peasants, including
“Father McNavigan,” speak an extraordinary jargon. Appendices give
extracts from Kirwan’s letter to Bishop Hughes.
O’SHEA, James.
⸺ FELIX O’FLANAGAN, an Irish-American. Pp. 206. (Cork: Flynn).
1902.
The story of an Irish peasant lad, first in Ireland as clerk in a shop and
commercial traveller in a small way, then in America as labourer, soldier,
and business man. Good picture of farming and provincial town life in
Ireland of the day. Point of view Catholic and strongly nationalist. The
book almost a sermon against drink and emigration. Style and handling
of plot somewhat immature.
O’SHEA, John Augustus; “The Irish Bohemian.” 1840-1905. B. Nenagh.
Ed. Catholic Univ. Went to London, 1859. Was war correspondent
and writer on The Standard for twenty-five years. Was a man of
extraordinary versatility—journalist, writer on continental politics,
lecturer, dramatist, Irish politician. He was a member of the Southwark
Irish Literary Club, 1885, sqq. Mr. W. P. Ryan speaks of him as drawing
upon his own experiences of “merry and dashing life” in Tipperary
for his stories—“Conal O’Rafferty” and others. See his Leaves from
the Life of a Special Correspondent and Random Recollections.
⸺ MILITARY MOSAICS: a Set of Tales, &c. Pp. viii. + 303. (Allen).
1888.
[O’SULLIVAN, Rev. P. P.]; “An Ulster Clergyman.”
⸺ THE DOWNFALL OF GRABBUM. Pp. 148. (Belfast: Carswell).
6d. Illustr. 1913.
A political skit on the then situation in Ulster. Grabbum = the English
Garrison in Ireland; Drudge, his devoted dupe = Orangeism. Farmer John
Bull sends Grabbum over to Pat to help him, and is amazed at the result.
The moral is the beneficial effects (including an Anglo-American alliance)
of Home Rule. Irish public men—F. J. Bigger, Sir Roger Casement, Douglas
Hyde, &c., are introduced under thin disguises. The tone is, of course, light
and facetious.
OUTRAM, Mary Frances.
⸺ BRANAN THE PICT. Pp. 356. (R.T.S.). 2s. 6d. Coloured frontisp.
1913.
“An exceedingly well-written tale of the times of St. Columba, based
on the ‘life’ by Adamnan. The hero and his associates are fictitious, but
the setting of the story is worked out with remarkable care.”—(C.B.N.).
In the Van of the Vikings is by the same Author.
“PARLEY, Peter,” see GOODRICH.
[PARNELL, William, M.P.]. Wrote also An Historical Apology for the Irish
Catholics (1807). He was knight of the shire for Wicklow and brother
of Lord Congleton. He died 1821. (See Moore’s Memoirs, vii., 109).
Charles Stewart Parnell came of the same family.
⸺ MAURICE AND BERGHETTA; or, the Priest of Rahery. Pp.
xxiv. + 213. (Boston and London). [1819]. Second ed., 1825.
“Dedicated to the Catholic priesthood of Ireland.” “The character of
Maurice is drawn from a person who not many years ago was a ploughman.
The Author’s object is not to write a novel but to place his observations on
the manners of the Irish peasantry in a less formal shape than that of a regular
dissertation.”—(Introd.). Related by Father O’Brien. The love of Maurice
O’Neal for Berghetta Tual, their marriage and subsequent fortunes, misfortunes,
and romantic adventures, till they rise to be grandees of Spain.
The coincidences are rather far-fetched and improbable and the characters
not very real. Many moral lessons are inculcated.
[PATRICK, Mrs. F. C.].
⸺ THE IRISH HEIRESS. (London). 18—.
PAUL, Major Norris.
⸺ MOONLIGHT BY THE SHANNON SHORE. Pp. 312. (Jarrold).
[1888].
An anti-Land League novel, describing the terrorism of that organisation
and the sufferings it entailed. The plot is the love-story of John Seebright,
an Englishman, for the Irish Eveline Wellwood, who is persecuted by the
League. Devoid of humour and almost of romance. The dialect is well
handled, and the writer clearly knew well his Limerick and Clare. But the
tone of the book is on the whole bitter and somewhat narrow-minded.
⸺ EVELINE WELLWOOD. (Jarrold). 1892.
This is simply another ed. of Moonlight by the Shannon Shore.
PECK, Mrs. F.
⸺ THE LIFE AND ACTS OF THE RENOWNED AND CHIVALROUS
EDMUND OF ERIN, commonly called Emun ac Knuck or Ned of
the Hills, &c. Two Vols. Pp. 345, 300. (Dublin: Tegg). Other
eds., 1841. Ten good illustr. by B. Clayton.
Sub-title: “An Irish Historical Romance of the Seventh Century founded
on facts and blended with a brief and pithy epitome of the origin, antiquity,
and history of Ireland.” An extraordinary and rather eccentric production,
written in a strain of exaggerated enthusiasm for Ireland. The facts are
supposed to be taken mainly “from some very ancient documents found
amongst the papers of the late Dr. Andrews, Provost of T.C.D.,” whose grandniece
the Author was. To the novel she appends “a Circular Letter,” relating
her matrimonial differences with her husband, Capt. P. She also wrote
Tales for the British People, and became a Catholic.
PELHAM, Gordon.
⸺ SHEILA DONOVAN, a Priest’s Love-Story. Pp. 295. (Lynwood).
1911.
“Stephen Glynn loves Sheila D., and there is never the smallest reason
why he should not marry her. Both are represented as sweet and good,
and he is a clergyman. After their sin Stephen’s whole mind is set on religious
atonement: he joins a religious order, leaving Sheila to struggle on alone
with her child. He breaks his vows, and all is apparently to end happily
when, acting under a misapprehension, he drowns himself.”—(T. Lit. Suppl.)
PENDER, Mrs. M. T., née O’Doherty. B. Co. Antrim. Ed. at home, at
Ballyrobin National School and Convent of Mercy, Crumlin Road, Belfast.
Has contributed much prose and verse to various Irish periodicals.
⸺ THE GREEN COCKADE. Pp. 380, close print. (Sealy, Bryers). 3s. 6d.
A love story, the scene of which is laid in Ulster during the rebellion. Full
of romantic adventures. Historical characters introduced: Lord Edward
Putnam M’Cabe, and especially Henry Joy M’Cracken. Battle of Antrim
described, but remainder of incidents almost entirely fictitious. No attempt
at impartiality. The Government side is painted in the darkest colours.
⸺ THE LAST OF THE IRISH CHIEFS.[11]
A sensational romance of the time of Sir Cahir O’Doherty’s rising and
the governorship of Paulett in Derry. c. 1608.
PENROSE, Mrs. H. H., née Lewis. B. Kinsale. Ed. at Rochelle School,
Cork. Took honours in T.C.D. in German and English Literature. In
addition to her novels she has written innumerable stories for the magazines,
e.g., Temple Bar and the Windsor. Resides in Surrey. Besides
the novels mentioned below, As Dust in the Balance and An Unequal
Yoke are partly concerned with Ireland.
⸺ DENIS TRENCH. Pp. 432. (Alston Rivers). 6s. 1911.
Denis and his sister on their mother’s death are left in doubt about the
character and identity of their father, whom they had seen only in their
infancy, and who, as a matter of fact, had left his wife in order to become
a Roman Catholic priest. This priest acts as a kind of providence to his
two children, and reveals himself only on his death bed. The Authoress
seems quite unacquainted with Catholic practice, but does not depict it in
a hostile spirit. The scene is partly in Ireland, but the only trace of Irish
interest is an occasional reference to a mysterious quality in the Celtic blood
of the hero and heroine, and the character of the poor girl Stella Delaney,
whom Denis marries.
⸺ A FAERY LAND FORLORN. Pp. 312. (Alston Rivers). 6s. 1912.
Life among better-class Protestant folk in a little seaside town in the S. of
Ireland. The main interest is furnished by the sad love story of Evelyn
Eyre. Mr. Eyre, gentle and bookloving, and Capt. Donovan, given to drink
and a tyrant in his family, are neighbours and close friends till a misunderstanding
brings estrangement and leads to a tragedy, resulting in the separation—for
ever, as it proves—of Evelyn and her lover Terence Donovan. The
story is wholesome and human and free from religious or other bias. Aunt
Kitty, a lovable old maid, provides an element of humour.
⸺ BURNT FLAX. Pp. 319. (Mills & Boon). 6s. 1914.
The Land League agitation from landlord standpoint. Excellent but
over-firm landlord, hired agitator, attempt on landlord’s life. The
rent-payers are brutally murdered by leaguers, who are represented as drunken
and credulous. There is some good character drawing: Tinsy O’Halloran
the half-witted boy, is original: Father O’Riordan is represented as a good
sensible priest. The brogue is travestied.
[PERCIVAL, Mrs. Margaret].
⸺ THE IRISH DOVE; or, Faults on Both Sides. Pp. 206. (Dublin:
Robertson). 1849.
By the Author of Rosa, the Work Girl. Helen Wilson, whose mother was
Irish, inherits an estate in Kerry. After years of residence in India and
then in England, she comes to live in Ireland, grows to love the people, and
spends what is left of her failing life in teaching the natives the New Testament
in Irish. The interest of the book lies in its picture of and apology for, the
attempt made (chiefly by “The Irish Society”) in the first half of the 19th
century to convert the Irish to Protestantism through the medium of the
Irish language. The witness it gives to the bitterly anti-Irish feeling prevailing
in England at the time is interesting. The peasantry is represented
as debased and priest-ridden, but their condition is ascribed in part to English
hostility and to absenteeism.
PETREL, Fulmar.
⸺ GRANIA WAILE. Pp. 285, large print. (Unwin). Frontispiece and
map. 1895.
A fanciful story written around the early life and after-career of the
O’Malley Sea-queen. Her robbing, when only a young girl, of the eagle’s
nest, her desperate sea-fights, and her many other adventures make pleasant
reading. The atmosphere of the period is well brought out. But few of the
incidents narrated are historical facts.
PICKERING, Edgar.
⸺ TRUE TO THE WATCHWORD. Pp. 299. (Warne). 3s. 6d. Eight
illustr. 1902.
A spirited account of the siege of Derry from the point of view of the
besieged. Full of hairbreadth escapes and of desperate encounters with the
Irishry, who are spoken of throughout as ferocious savages. Apart from
this last point there is no noteworthy falsification of history. For boys.
POLLARD, Eliza F.
⸺ THE KING’S SIGNET. (Blackie, and U.S.A.: Scribner).
France in the days of Madame de Maintenon, and Ireland during Williamite
wars. B. of the Boyne described. Juvenile.
POLSON, Thomas R. J.
⸺ THE FORTUNE TELLER’S INTRIGUE. Three Vols. (Dublin:
McGlashan). 1847.
“Or, Life in Ireland before the Union, a tale of agrarian outrage.” An
unusually objectionable and absurd libel on the priests and people of Ireland.
The latter are represented as slavishly submissive to the former, who are
spoken of as “walking divinities.” The priests attend their dupes at their
execution for agrarian crimes, telling them that they are martyrs for the
faith. The scene is Co. Clare.
The Author, an Englishman, and originally a private soldier, owned and
edited the Fermanagh Mail for about forty years.
PORTER, Anna Maria. Born, 1780, in Durham. Died 1832. Was daughter
of a surgeon of the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, of Ulster extraction, and a
sister of Jane Porter, author of The Scottish Chiefs, &c. She published
more than nineteen books.
⸺ HONOR O’HARA. Three Vols. (Longmans). [1826]. American ed.,
Harper, 1827. Two Vols.
The scene is laid in the N. of England, and the book has no relation to
Ireland except that the heroine is supposed to be of Irish origin.
⸺ THE LAKE OF KILLARNEY. Pp. 350. (London). New ed.,
1839.
Described by the Author as “a harmless romance, which, without aiming
to inculcate any great moral lesson, still endeavours to draw amiable portraits
of virtue.”—(Pref.). An old-fashioned novel in the early Victorian sentimental
manner. The plot is laid chiefly in Killarney (of which there is some
description) and Dublin, at the time of the earlier Napoleonic wars, when
Dublin had its parliament and was the centre of fashion. The plot is intricate,
but turns chiefly on the mischances and misunderstandings that keep apart
the hero, Felix Charlemont, and the heroine, Rose de Blaquière. This
latter name was the title of later editions of this book, e.g. (London: C. H.
Clare), 1856.
POWER, Marguerite A.
⸺ NELLY CAREW. Two Vols. (Saunders & Otley). Engraved frontisp.
1859.
The heroine, daughter of an Irish landlord, is driven by the scheming of
a crafty French stepmother (once her governess) into marriage with an Irish
roué, and leads a life of bitter humiliation. But her honour is stainless
through it all, and there is a happy ending. Characters (e.g., Larry McSwiggan)
are for the most part capitally drawn. The moral is good. The brogue
is well done. This Author, a niece of the Countess of Blessington, wrote
also Evelyn Forrester, 1856, and The Foresters, 1857.
POWER, V. O’D.
⸺ BONNIE DUNRAVEN: a Story of Kilcarrick. Two Vols. (589 pp.).
(Remington). 1881.
A very sympathetic and pleasant love story of modern life in Co. Cork.
The characters are thoroughly natural and human, and, moreover, thoroughly
Irish. Conversations good. But perhaps the chief merit of the story is
its faithful reproduction of South of Ireland “atmosphere,” especially by
word-pictures of Southern scenes—the coasts, the Blackwater, Mount Mellaray.
Was highly praised by The Athenæum, The Academy, and by the Catholic
Press.—(I.M.).
⸺ THE HEIR OF LISCARRAGH. (Art and Book Co.). 1892.
A story in which the romantic elements are very strong.
⸺ TRACKED. (“Ireland’s Own” Library). 6d. Paper covers. 1914.
A wholesome and pleasant story of unrequited love and of jealousy. Scene:
Innishowen (Co. Donegal). A well-worked out plot, with good descriptions
of scenery. Peasants depicted with sympathy and understanding.
PRESTON, Dorothea.
⸺ PADDY. (Sealy, Bryers). 1s. Twenty coloured illustrs.
Paddy’s dreams and adventures in Celtic Fairyland.
PREVOST, Antoine Francois; called Prevost d’Exiles, 1697-1763.
⸺ LE DOYEN DE KELLERINE. Histoire morale composée sur les
mémoires d’une illustre famille d’Irlande; et ornée de tout ce qui peut
rendre une lecture utile et agréable. (La Haye: P. Poppy). 1744.
A trans. of this under title The Dean of Coleraine. A Moral History founded
on the Memoirs of an Illustrious Family in Ireland, was printed in London
(Vol. I.) and Dubl. (Vols. II. and III.) in 1742; another ed. 1780. The
work was originally publ. in Paris, 1735, and there were further editions in
1750, 1821 (six vols.), &c. The Author was a French abbé, and a very voluminous
author, having published upwards of 200 vols. There is a selection
of his works in 39 vols. in the Library of T.C.D. His chief title to fame is
the romance Manon Lescaut. The present is a well written, though very
long, story, showing how the teller of the tale, the Dean or P.P. of Coleraine,
in Antrim, watched with more than a father’s anxious care over the fortunes
of his two half-brothers and sister. Their several characters appear admirably
in the telling, especially that of the poor good Dean, unworldly, unselfish,
deeply affectionate, but over anxious and almost over conscientious. His
efforts to keep his wayward charges in the straight path amid the allurements
of Paris are very well told. There is nothing in the least objectionable.
There is an air of reality about the whole, though the style is old-fashioned.
Towards the close the Dean acts as a Jacobite agent in Ireland.
PURDON, K. F. B. in Enfield, Co. Meath, and has always resided there.
Ed. at home, in England, and at Alexandra College, Dublin. Has
written much for Irish and English periodicals, her first encouragement
coming from the Irish Homestead. She also owes much to the helpfulness
of Richard Whiteing, the well-known writer.
⸺ CANDLE AND CRIB. Pp. 42. 12mo. (Maunsel). 1s. Christmas,
1914.
Quietly but tastefully bound. Four good illustr. in colour by Beatrice
Elvery. An exquisite little Christmas idyll telling of the strange way Art
Moloney brought his new wife home to Ardenoo for Christmas.
⸺ THE FOLK OF FURRY FARM. Pp. 315. (Nisbet). 6s. 1914.
A story of life at Ardenoo, somewhere in the Midlands, depicting in
the most intimate way the conversation, manners, humours, kindliness of
the people. Told as if by one of themselves with the strange phraseology,
the unexpected turns, the often poetic figurativeness of the best shanachies.
Miss Purdon writes as one with close and accurate knowledge of the home-life,
at least in its outward aspects, of the small farmer class to which the chief
characters belong. The matrimonial affairs of Michael Heffernan and his
sharp-tongued sister Julia are humorously told, and the Author is almost
a specialist in tramps. Pref. by “Geo. Birmingham,” giving a sketch of the
Irish Literary movement.
QUIGLEY, Rev. Hugh; “A Missionary Priest.” 1818-1883. B. in Co.
Clare, studied in Rome, and was there ordained for the American
Mission. Was Rector of the University of St. Mary, Chicago, but
resigned and laboured among the Chippewa Indians and among miners
in California. Died in Troy, N.Y.
⸺ THE CROSS AND SHAMROCK. Pp. 240. (Duffy). 2s. (N.Y.:
Benziger). 0.60. Still in print. [1853].
Religious and moral instruction conveyed in the form of a story of the
trials and sufferings (amounting at times to martyrdom) of a family of orphan
children at the hands of various types of proselytisers. A harsh and satirical
tone is adopted in speaking of American Protestantism. Incidentally there
are sidelights on several phases of American life, notably rail-road construction.
Full sub-t.:—“Or, how to defend the faith, an Irish-American Catholic
tale of real life descriptive of the temptations, trials, sufferings, and triumphs
of the children of St. Patrick in the great republic of Washington.”
⸺ THE PROPHET OF THE RUINED ABBEY; or, A Glance of the
Future of Ireland. Pp. 247. (Duffy). 1863.
“A narrative founded on the ancient ‘Prophecies of Culmkill’ and on other
predictions and popular traditions among the Irish.”—(Title p.). To keep
alive these traditions is the Author’s first aim, his second “to keep alive
and kindle in the bosoms of the Irish Catholic people of this republic genuine
sentiments both of patriotism and religion.”—(Pref.). Fr. Senan O’Donnell,
under sentence of death in town of Cloughmore, Co. Waterford, at the hands
of the British Government, is rescued by his brother. In the first part of
the book there is abundance of stirring incident, thrilling escapes, &c., but
the latter part becomes more wildly improbable and unreal as it proceeds.
Fr. Senan is wrecked off coast of Clare and lives for years in a cave in cliffs
of Moher with a little boy, rescued from the eagles. Time: about 1750-1798.
Bitterly anti-English sentiment throughout. Only by an incident
in the last few pages are the title and sub-titles justified.
⸺ PROFIT AND LOSS; or, the Life of a Genteel Irish-American. Pp.
458. (N.Y.: T. O’Kane). 1873.
Purpose: to teach Catholic piety and to guard youth from danger. The
genteel Irish-American is Michael Mulrooney, who was driven out of Ireland
by the tyranny of the landlord class. The first twenty-five pp. tell us of his
troubles in Ireland.
QUINLAN, May.
⸺ IN THE DEVIL’S ALLEY. Pp. 262. (Art and Book Co.). 3s. 6d.
Illustr. very cleverly and humorously by the Author. 1907.
Sketches of the lowest life in the East End of London, chiefly among the
poorest Irish. Told with sympathy, close observation, and quiet humour.
There is pathos too, but the Author never strains it nor forces the note.
Sunt lachrimae rerum. The Author is the dau. of Judge Quinlan, late of
Victoria, Australia.
READ, Charles Anderson. 1841-1878. Born near Sligo. Was for some
years a merchant in Rathfriland, Co. Down. Went to London,
1863. Was an industrious and able writer, and a man full of
enthusiastic admiration for Ireland, its people, and its literature.
Produced numerous sketches, poems, short tales, and nine novels,
the most notable of the latter being Love’s Service; but better
known are his Aileen Aroon and Savourneen Dheelish, of which the
London Review said: “We are presented with a view of agrarian
crime in its most revolting aspect, and there is no false glamour thrown
around any of the characters. Many of the incidents are highly dramatic,
while the dialogue is bright and forcible.” The above notice is taken
from an article by Mr. Charles Gibbon in the Cabinet of Irish Literature,
edited by Mr. Read himself.
⸺ SAVOURNEEN DHEELISH; or, One True Heart. 16mo. (London:
Henderson), 1s. [1869]. 1874, 7th ed.
First appeared in The Weekly Budget. A melodramatic but finely
told story. The principal incident is the historic tragedy utilised by Carleton
in his “Wild Goose Lodge.” Especially thrilling is the scene where Kate
Costelloe gives the evidence which she knows will bring her brother and her
lover to the gallows. Barney Fegan, a jovial pedlar, plays a conspicuous
part. The usual devices of evictions, murders, Whiteboys, traitors, trials,
secret caves, &c. Scenery well described: brogue well done. The fair at
Keady is a noteworthy piece of description. Scene: the district round
Dundalk.
⸺ AILEEN AROON; or, The Pride of Clonmore. (London: Henderson).
1s. [1870.]. Sixth ed. n.d.
First appeared in The Weekly Budget. Garratt O’Neill is falsely accused
of murder. His sweetheart Aileen on her way to Downpatrick to defend
him is abducted by his enemy. Suspected of infidelity, she is driven from
her home, but is befriended by Father Nugent, an unfrocked priest, and
his Fenian band, who lurk in the Mourne Mountains. After many thrilling
episodes and hairbreadth escapes the lovers are united at last. Sensational
but well-told, and containing some good descriptions.
READE, Amos.
⸺ NORAH MORIARTY; or, Revelations of Irish Life. (Blackwood).
Two Vols. 1886.
“A romance bound up with the story of the Land League, its rise ... in
1880, its development, and the outrages and bitter sufferings endured by
the victims.”—(Baker).
READE, Mrs. R. H.
⸺ PUCK’S HALL. Pp. 254. (Belfast: Charles W. Olley). 1889.
Scene: Newcastle, Co. Down. A pleasant story, told in a straightforward
way, with good characterisation. By the same Author:—Milly Davidson,
Dora, Silver Mill, &c.
REED, Talbot Baines.
⸺ SIR LUDAR. Pp. 343. (R.T.S.). Seven illustr. by Alfred Pearse.
[1889]. Cheap reprints (“Leisure Hour” Office), 6d., 1910, and (Boys’
Own Paper). 1913.
Adventures of an English ’prentice boy in company with Sir Ludar, who
is a son of Sorley Boy MacDonnell of Dunluce Castle, Co. Antrim. There is a
constant succession of exciting incidents. The retaking of Dunluce from the
English is the most noteworthy. The heroes are on board the Armada
during its fight with the English. The tone is not anti-Irish, but occasionally
unfair to Catholics. It is a book for boys.
The Author (1852-1893) was a son of Sir Chas. Reed, M.P., F.S.A., Deputy
Governor of the Irish Society, and nephew of John Anderson, the Belfast
bibliographer. He had a great love for Ireland and her people, and always
delighted in visiting her shores.
⸺ KILGORMAN. Pp. 420. (Nelson). Six illustr. (good). 1906.
Scene: mainly in Donegal. Relates adventures of Donegal fisherboy,
first at home, then in Paris during Reign of Terror, then at battle of Camperdown,
then in Dublin, where he frequents meetings of United Irishmen and
meets Lord Edward. Standpoint: not anti-Irish, but hostile to aims of
United Irishmen. Full of exciting adventure. Juv.
REID, Forrest.
⸺ THE BRACKNELS: a Family Chronicle. Pp. 304. (Arnold). 6s.
1911.
This unpleasant and, we hope, abnormal family is that of a self-made
Belfast merchant. The book is a study in temperaments; Mr. Bracknel
himself, a harsh man, with little humanness, without affection, except a
certain regard for an illegitimate child of past days; the daughter Amy, in
love with Rusk, the tutor, and ready to go to any lengths to win him; the
wilful, selfish, elder son; above all, Denis, the youngest, morbid, dreamy,
the victim of delusions, engaging in strange pagan worship, yet with amiable
traits. There is not a trace of religion in the chronicle of this family.
⸺ FOLLOWING DARKNESS. Pp. 320. (Arnold). 6s. 1912.
A soul study in form of autobiography. The hero is a son of a Co. Down
schoolmaster. He is brought up amid uncongenial people and in uncongenial
circumstances, first amid the Mourne Mountains, then in sordid Cromac
St., Belfast. His soul sickens with the dreariness of the education, and
especially of the religion that is imposed on him, and the father, a hard,
unresponsive man, is perversely blind to the genius (an artistic and somewhat
moody temperament) and aspirations of the young man—with consequences
almost fatal. He is thrown back on himself. Hence intense introspection
and then an outlet sought in occult sciences. There is a love story, too,
but it is of minor importance. The book is but a fragment, and has no real
conclusion. The style is exceptionally good.
⸺ AT THE DOOR OF THE GATE. Pp. 332. (Arnold). 6s. 1915.
“One needs no knowledge of Belfast and its people to appreciate nine-tenths
of what Mr. Reid here describes; there can be no question that his
characters are true to life: the small family at the combined post office
and lending library; the hardworking, clean, and grim Mrs. Seawright,
her two sons Martin and Richard, her adopted daughter Grace ... all this
one thoroughly appreciates as one admires the sustained skill with which
in a succession of small strokes Mr. Reid builds up his admirable story.”—(Times
Lit. Suppl.).
RHYS, Grace. “Mrs. Rhys (née Little) was born at Knockadoo, Boyle, Co.
Roscommon, 1865. She is youngest daughter of J. Bennett Little, and
married, in 1891, Ernest Rhys, the poet.... Her novels deal with Irish
life, which she knows well, and are written with sympathetic insight,
tenderness, and tragic power.”—(Irish Lit.).
⸺ MARY DOMINIC. Pp. 296. (Dent). 1898.
The main theme is the seduction of a young peasant girl by the son of the
landlord, and the nemesis that overtook the seducer after many years. The
story is told with exceptional power and pathos. There is no prurient description,
unless one half-page might be objected to on this score. The peasants
are natural and life-like, but there is something strangely repellant in the
pictures of the upper classes. There are incidents bringing out the darker
aspects of the land-war. There is no anti-religious bias.
⸺ THE WOOING OF SHEILA. (Methuen). 6s. [1901]. Second ed.,
1908. (N.Y.: Holt). 1.50.
A gentleman, from unnatural motives, deliberately brings up his son as a
common labourer. The boy falls in love with and marries a peasant girl,
whom he had saved from the pursuit of a rascally young squire. On her
marriage morning she learns that her husband has killed her unworthy lover.
She at once leaves her husband, but a priest induces her to return, and the
crime is hushed up in a rather improbable manner. As in the Author’s other
books, there is a subtle charm of style, delicate analysis of character, and
fair knowledge of peasant life.
⸺ THE PRINCE OF LISNOVER. (Methuen). 1904.
Ireland in the early ’sixties. Has same qualities as Mary Dominic. Devotion
of the people to the old and dispossessed “lord of the soil” is touchingly
brought out. A pretty girl-and-boy love story runs through the whole.
⸺ THE CHARMING OF ESTERCEL. Pp. 318. (Dent). 6s. 1913.
A love story of Ireland in the days of O’Neill and Essex. The main interest
lies in the story of how Estercel is brought to love his cousin Sabia, and in
the adventures of the former, an O’Neill and the envoy of the great Hugh,
in Dublin and in Ulster. But the historical background is well painted
and the historical personages carefully studied. The hero’s wonderful horse,
Tamburlaine, is a strange and original “character” in the piece, and there
is a splendid description of how he carried his master from Dublin home to
the North. The Author writes with sympathy for Ireland. The charm of
the style is enhanced by her sympathy with wild nature and delicate perception
of its sights and sounds.
RHYS, Rt. Hon. Sir John, M.A., D.Litt. B. Cardiganshire, 1840. Ed. Bangor
and Oxford. Also at the Sorbonne, College de France, Heidelberg,
Leipsic, and Göttingen. Prof. of Celtic at Oxford since 1877. Member
of innumerable learned societies and royal commissions. He has read
many valuable papers on Celtic subjects before the R.I.A. Publ. a long
series of works on Celtic subjects, e.g., Celtic Heathendom, 1886.
⸺ CELTIC FOLK-LORE, Welsh and Manx. Two Vols. Pp. xlvi. + 718.
(Oxford: Clarendon Press). 10s. 1901.
Stories gathered partly by letter, partly viva voce, classified and critically
discussed. The group of ideas, he concludes, connected with the fairies is
drawn partly from history and fact, partly from the world of imagination
and myth, the former part representing vague traditions of earlier races.
Many subsidiary questions are raised, e.g., magic, the origin of druidism,
certain aspects of the Arthurian legends, &c. Ch. x. deals with Difficulties of
the Folk-lorist; Ch. xi. with Folk-lore Philosophy; Ch. xii. with Race in
Folk-lore and Myth. Throughout constant references are made to and
frequent parallels drawn with Irish folk-lore, e.g., the Cuchulainn cycle.
RIDDELL, Mrs. née Charlotte E. Cowan. Born at Carrickfergus, 1832.
Published her first book 1858, since when she has written nearly forty
novels. All of these are remarkably clever, and some have been very
popular. They deal chiefly with social and domestic life among the
Protestant upper and middle classes. The scene is laid in London,
Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Scotland, &c. Few deal with Ireland.
We may mention George Geith of Fen Court (1864), City and Suburb (1861),
A Life’s Assize (1870), Above Suspicion (1875), Too Much Alone, Susan
Drummond, Race for Wealth, Head of the Firm. Her books are noteworthy
for the intimate knowledge of the proceedings of law and the business
world of London which they display. D. 1906.
⸺ MAXWELL DREWITT. [1865]. New illustr. ed., 1869. (Arnold).
A rather lengthy but well-told tale of adventures in Connemara, including
an old-fashioned election (time, 1854) and a well-described trial for robbery
on the Drogheda and Dundalk Railway. The plot is well constructed and
the characters, mainly of the landlord class, sympathetically depicted. The
peasantry are faithfully, if somewhat humorously, delineated. Dr. Sheen,
the dispensary doctor, and his patients are well pourtrayed.
⸺ A STRUGGLE FOR FAME. 1883. Several eds.
Partly autobiographical. Describes a young girl and her father sailing
from Belfast with her MS. to win her way in London. Her experiences of
publishers and love affairs.
⸺ BERNA BOYLE. Pp. 443. (Macmillan). 6s. [1884]. 1900, &c.
A love story of the Co. Down about fifty years ago. Deals mainly with
the trials of a young lady, who suffers much from suitors with disagreeable
relatives. The characters are mainly drawn from a rather uninspiring and
unsympathetic type of Ulster folk. Perhaps the most striking feature is
the character of Berna’s mother, a vulgar, pushful, foolish woman. There
is humour not a little in the situations and characters. The story suffers
from its great length.
⸺ THE BANSHEE’S WARNING, and Other Tales. (London: Macqueen).
6d. Paper. 1903.
Six stories, four having some concern with Ireland. The first tells how
the Banshee goes to London to warn the scapegrace son of an Irish family,
who is a clever surgeon, yet always plunged in debt. It is a study of a strange
personality. “A Vagrant Digestion” humorously relates the journeyings
of the hypochondriacal Vicar of Rathdundrum in search of health. “Mr.
Mabbot’s Fright” and “So Near, or the Pity of It” both illustrate the
honesty and the proper pride of the Irish. The latter is pathetic. The
former is humorous, is full of life and movement, and contains fine descriptions
of the coast-drive from Belfast to Larne in the old days, and of an exciting
run-away.
RIDDALL, Walter.
⸺ HUSBAND AND LOVER. Pp. 304. (Swift). 6s. 1913.
The love affairs of a London journalist who comes to Ireland, marries Doris,
and makes love to Laura.—(T. Lit. Suppl.). The Author, who was the
second son of the late Dean Riddall of Belfast, died in 1913, at the age of
forty.
“RITA”; Mrs. Desmond Humphreys. Author of a great many novels:
Mudie’s list enumerates 58, amongst them Peg the Rake and Kitty the Rag,
both introducing Irish elements, and The Masqueraders describing the
wanderings and social experiences of two Irish singers.
⸺ THE SIN OF JASPER STANDISH. Pp. 342. (Constable). 1901.
Scene: one of the midland counties. The story is founded on the Newtonstewart,
Co. Tyrone, tragedy, where a scoundrelly inspector of police murders
the local bank-manager, then himself conducts the investigation, but is
unmasked and brought to justice by the English heroine and her housekeeper.
A morbid and sensational type of book, with not a few traces of
religious and national bias. The English characters are belauded, the Irish
for the most part represented as fools. There is much “stage-Irish” dialogue.
⸺ A GREY LIFE. Pp. 347. (Stanley Paul). 6s. 1913.
Scene: a boarding-house in Bath kept by three reduced ladies, with whom
Rosaleen O’Hara passes (in the later 1870’s) the three or four years covered
by the story. The central figure is the Chevalier Theophrastus O’Shaughnessy,
a charming, scholarly man, with sad stories of his past to tell.
ROBINSON, F. Mabel.
⸺ THE PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. Two Vols. (Vizetelly). 1888.
Scene: Dublin, except for a chapter at Dromore and a visit to London.
Deals with the famous agrarian “Plan of Campaign” in the eighties, viewed
with Nationalist sympathies. Religion is not discussed. A number of men
and women of the educated classes meet to talk politics. They go to see
evictions, and vivid but heartrending pictures of these are drawn. A bad
landlord is killed by a gentleman named Considine. The latter’s friend,
Talbot, helps him to escape, but his daughter Stella dies of grief. Considine,
who is an unbeliever, shoots himself. The story is a good one and skilfully
worked out.
ROCHE, Hon. Alexis.
⸺ JOURNEYINGS WITH JERRY THE JARVEY. (Smith, Elder).
6s. 1915.
Two of these sketches first appeared in the Cornhill. “One of the most
mirth-provoking collection of sketches that has appeared for many a long
day. There is a laugh in every page and a roar in every chapter. Yet it is
all pure comedy: only once does the Author descend to farce.... a delightful
book.”—(I.B.L.). The Author, son of 1st Baron Fermoy, was born in 1853,
and died in 1915.
ROCHE, Regina Maria. 1765-1845. A once celebrated novelist. For many
years before her death she lived in retirement at Waterford. Wrote
also The Vicar of Lansdowne (1793), Maid of the Hamlet, The Monastery
of St. Columba, &c., &c.
⸺ THE CHILDREN OF THE ABBEY. Four Vols. 12 mo. [1798].
(Mason). Twelfth ed., 1835; others 1863, 1867.
A sentimental story of a very old-fashioned type. The personages are chiefly
earls and marquises, the heroines have names like Amanda, Malvina, &c.
Though in this novel Irish places (Enniskillen, Dublin, Bray) are mentioned,
the book does not seem to picture any reality of Irish life. This is still on
Mudie’s list. It was republ. in U.S.A. at Hartford, Exeter, Philadelphia,
and N.Y.
⸺ THE MUNSTER COTTAGE BOY. Four Vols. Pp. 1195. (London:
Newman). 1820.
A little girl, Fidelia, grows up without knowing who her parents are. Bad
people try to exploit her: a servant named Connolly tries to save her, but
she falls from one misfortune into another, till finally she meets her father,
and finds herself an heiress. Interminable conversations and intricacies of
episode. A multitude of characters, who are for the most part English in
Ireland. No humour, nor style.
⸺ THE BRIDAL OF DUNAMORE. Pp. 888. (London: Newman).
1823.
A character study of Rosalind Glenmorlie, beautiful but haughty and
ambitious, and of the misery she caused to many and finally to herself. It
is tragedy almost all through. The scene in “Dunamore,” on E. coast of
Ireland. The character of the heroine is overdrawn and exaggerated, like
most of the Author’s dramatis personæ.
⸺ THE TRADITION OF THE CASTLE; or, Scenes in the Emerald
Isle. Four Vols. Pp. 1414. 1824.
A very long story, with a multitude of characters. The aim seems to be
to plead that Irishmen should reside in their own country and work for its
welfare. Scenery of Howth, Artoir-na-Greine, a place near Dublin, and
Killarney. Dialect good. No discussion of religious matters, but a good
deal of politics. The story opens during last session of Irish Parliament, and,
in a discussion between husband and wife, the Author’s nationalist sentiments
appear. Donoghue O’Brien, the hero, is long kept apart from his Eveleen
Erin, but they are united in the end.
⸺ THE CASTLE CHAPEL. Three Vols. Pp. 963. (London: Newman).
1825.
A story of a family of O’Neills of St. Doulagh’s Castle, somewhere in Ulster,
early nineteenth century. Eugene falls in love with Rose Cormack, his
sister’s companion, and they make vows of marriage in the chapel by moonlight.
Eugene, who dabbles in phrenology and seems somewhat of a fool,
goes away. On his return he is told that Rose has been killed in an accident.
In reality she has been taken away by her father, a Mr. Mordaunt, former
owner of the castle, who has poisoned his wife. Rose becomes an heiress,
dies abroad, and leaves her fortune to the O’Neills, and an apology for her
duplicity. A queer, outlandish sort of story.
ROCHFORT, Edith.
⸺ THE LLOYDS OF BALLYMORE. Two Vols. (Chapman & Hall).
1890.
A domestic story, told with simplicity and feeling. The Lloyds belong to
the Protestant landlord class, as do most of the personages in the tale. Period:
1881: the Land League days. Scene: the Midlands and afterwards Dublin.
The first part of the plot turns on the agrarian murder of Mr. Lloyd, the
trial, and execution of the murderer; the second on Tom Lloyd’s being
suspected of a bank-robbery when the Lloyds are living in very straitened
circumstances. All through runs a delicately told and very sympathetic
love story. The land question is viewed from the landlord standpoint, but
discussed without excessive bitterness. Conversations natural and peasant
dialect good.
RODENBERG, Julius.
⸺ DIE HARFE VON IRLAND: Märchen und dichtung in Irland.
Pp. 299. 16mo. (Leipzig: Grunow). 1861.
Contains:—I. Thirteen Irish melodies, with music. II. Tales. III. Poems
and songs transl. into German verse. At the end are useful notes, and at
p. 283 a list of sources. These are chiefly the Dublin and London Magazine
for 1825-7. Two are given as “mündlich” (gathered orally). Titles such
as:—The land in the sea, the wizard of Crunnaan, two stories of the Leprechaun,
the land of the ever young (Tír na n-óg), the fairy handkerchief of
the Phuka, the fair Nora, &c.
ROGERS, R. D.
⸺ THE ADVENTURES OF ST. KEVIN, and Other Irish Tales. (Swan
Sonnenschein). Pp. 266. [1897]. 1907.
A dozen humorous sketches, well told, giving the old legends in a modern
comic setting, much in the vein of Edmund Downey’s Through Green Glasses.
The brogue is faithfully rendered.
ROLLESTON, T. W. B. 1857, at Shinrone, King’s Co. His father was
County Court Judge for Tipperary. Ed. St. Columba’s, Rathfarnham,
and T.C.D. Lived some years on the Continent, but has since lived
alternately in London and in Dublin. Has written much verse. Also
several literary, philosophical, and biographical works. Was the first
secretary of the Irish Literary Society, London.
⸺ MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE CELTIC RACE. Pp. ix. + 457.
(Harrap). 7s. 6d. Sixty-four full-page illustr. by Stephen Reid—excellent.
(N.Y.: Crowell). 2.50. 1911.
A very handsome volume, beautifully printed and bound. Contents:—1.
The Celts in ancient history. 2. The religion of the Celts. 3. The Irish
invasion myths. 4. The early Milesian kings. 5. Tales of the Ultonian
cycle. 6. Tales of the Ossianic cycle. 7. The voyage of Maeldun. 8. Myths
and Tales of the Cymry. Elaborate Glossary and Index. From about p. 106
onwards the legends, sagas, &c., are not simply discussed but told as stories.
The résumé of early Celtic history, with the customs, art, religion, and influence
of the race, is very valuable; but the main interest lies in his complete
survey of the cycles of Irish myth and legend. The editor claims that he
has “avoided any adaptation of the material for the popular taste.” Some
very unfortunate (to say the least) remarks about religion (see pp. 47 and 66)
might well have been omitted.
⸺ THE HIGH DEEDS OF FINN, and Other Bardic Romances of
Ancient Ireland. Pp. lv. + 214. (Harrap). 5s. Sixteen illustr. by
Stephen Reid. (N.Y.: Crowell). 1.50. 1910.
Introduction long, but very interesting, by the well-known man of letters
(author of nearly thirty volumes), Rev. Stopford Brooke. Deals with the
relationships and contrasts between the various cycles of Irish bardic literature
and their several characteristics—and this in a style full of literary
charm. The stories told by Mr. Rolleston (than whom few more competent
could be found for the work) are re-tellings in a style graceful and poetic,
but simple and direct, of ancient Gaelic romances, some already told in
English elsewhere, others now first appearing in an English dress. They are
drawn from all three cycles above mentioned. Source for each mentioned
at end of book. Some of these tales are already well known, such as Oisin
in the Land of Youth, and the Children of Lir. The style, it may be added,
has not the fire and the dramatic force of Standish O’Grady, but it has good
qualities of its own.
ROONEY, Miss Teresa J.; “Eblana.” B. 1840. D. in 1911.
⸺ THE LAST MONARCH OF TARA. Pp. 311. (Gill). 2s. [1880].
(N.Y.: Benziger). 0.80. 1889, &c.
Period: reigns of Tuathal and Diarmaid O Cearbhail. Scene: chiefly
the district around Tara. Aims to present a detailed picture of the daily
life and civilization of Ireland at the time. Chief events: the murder of
Tuathal, the judgment of Diarmaid against Columbkille, followed by the
battle of Cooldrevne, and finally the Cursing and Abandonment of Tara.
The story is slight and moves slowly; there is no love interest. The historical
events are not all, perhaps, very certain, but the author has brought very
great industry and erudition (from the best sources) to the portrayal of the
life of the time. The edition (of 1889) was revised and corrected by Canon
U. J. Bourke, M.R.I.A., and is admirably produced.
⸺ EILY O’HARTIGAN, an Irish-American Tale. (Sealy, Bryers). 2s.
1889.
Time of the Volunteers. Chief incidents in tale: Battle of Bunker’s Hill,
and Irish Declaration of Independence in 1782. A disagreeable person of
the name of Buck Fox (the name under which the story originally appeared)
takes up quite too large a space in this book; and he and his friends, with
their soi-disant English accents, are most decided bores. The point of view
is strongly national.—(I.M.).
⸺ THE STRIKE. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. 1909.
“A stirring tale of Dublin in the eighteenth century, when Ireland stood
well ahead in industrial activity, and the Dublin Liberties were the hub of
Irish Industrialism.”
RORISON, E. S.
⸺ A TASTE OF QUALITY. Pp. 319. (Long). 6s. 1904.
Family life among Protestant upper middle class folk in a country district—very
pleasant and refined society. A kindly, human story, eminently true
to life, without bias of any kind. One becomes quite familiar with the cleverly-drawn
characters—the kindly, cultured Archdeacon and his sister; patient,
crippled Larry, with his cheery slang; devoted Auntie Nell, bringing comfort
and brightness where she goes; the Austrian countess; and the twins.
ROSSA, Jeremiah O’Donovan.
⸺ EDWARD O’DONNELL: a Story of Ireland of Our Day. Pp. 300.
(N.Y.: Green). 1884.
Scene somewhere near Fethard, Co. Tipperary, during Land League agitation.
The Author’s sympathies are against the L.L. and for the physical
force party, often called dynamiters at the time. The book is full of the
agrarian question, viewed with bitterly anti-landlord bias. Eviction scenes,
boycotting, midnight conspiracy. Satirical portrait of the pious landlord—Catholic
attorney who battens on the miseries of the poor; also of various
landlord types. In the case of “Father Tim” the portraits shows all the
weak spots, but without bitterness or disrespect. See ch. 18, Fr. Tim’s
sermon against the dynamiters. Good picture of a dispensary doctor’s life
and difficulties. Well written, but rather a pamphlet than a story. It is
believed in many quarters that Rossa did not write a word of this story;[12]
the edition I examined has on the title-page what purports to be a facsimile
of Rossa’s signature. Rossa was b. in Rosscarbery, Co. Cork, 1831. Died in
U.S.A., 1915, and was given a public funeral in Dublin. He was a well known
Fenian leader, was condemned for treason-felony in 1865, and sentenced to
perpetual imprisonment, but was subsequently released and went to New
York, where he edited The United Irishman.
RUFFIN, Mrs. M. E. HENRY-, see HENRY-RUFFIN.
RUSSELL, Maud M.
⸺ SPRIGS OF SHAMROCK; or, Irish Sketches and Legends. Pp. 134.
(Browne & Nolan). 6d. 1900.
“The little books show how full of charm and fascination the holiday
resorts of Ireland really are.”—(Lady’s Pictorial).
RUSSELL, T. O’Neill; “Reginald Tierney.” B. near Moate, Co. Westmeath,
1828. Son of Joseph Russell, a Quaker. Was devoted from about 1858
till the end of his life to the revival of the Irish language. During the
Fenian movement he was an object of suspicion. He emigrated, and
spent thirty years in U.S.A. Returning in 1895, he threw himself heart
and soul into the Gaelic Revival. D. 1908.
⸺ TRUE HEART’S TRIALS. (Gill). 1s. and 1s. 6d. Still in print,
1910.
A rather rambling tale of the troubles of a pair of lovers. Scene: first,
the Lake district of Cavan and Westmeath, where we have a glimpse of
squireen life. Afterwards the backwoods north of Albany, U.S.A. Both
light and shade of American colonist life depicted. There are many laughable
episodes in the book.
⸺ DICK MASSEY. Pp. 300. (Gill). 1s. 1860. New ed., poor print,
1908.
Famine in 1814 and following years, as background for a story full of
incident, humour, and pathos, with faithful pictures of many sides of Irish
life—the emigrant ship, a wedding, relations of good and bad landlords with
tenants. Altogether on the side of the peasant. Original title:—The Struggles
of Dick Massey; or, the battles of a boy, by “Reginald Tierney.”
RUSSELL, Violet. Is the wife of George Russell, “A.E.,” Ed. of the Irish
Homestead and a well-known poet.
⸺ HEROES OF THE DAWN. Pp. 251. (Maunsel). 5s. Sixteen
black and white drawings and four coloured illustr. by Beatrice Elvery.
n.d. [1913].
Stories of the Fionn cycle, drawn from Standish O’Grady’s Silva Gadelica
and from the Transactions of the Ossianic Society, and retold, with a pleasant
simplicity and directness, for children. “I would have you see in them,”
says the dedication, “a record of some qualities which the heroes of ancient
times held to be of far greater worth than anything else—an absolute truthfulness
and courtesy in thought and speech and action; a nobility and
chivalry of mind, &c....” But the Author leaves the reader to draw his own
moral and does not force it on him. The illustrations are charming, and
the whole book is produced with great artistic taste.
RYAN, W. P., see also O’RYAN, W. P.
⸺ THE HEART OF TIPPERARY. Pp. 256. (Ward & Downey). 1893.
A romance of the Land League, but not too much taken up with politics.
Nationalist. Introd. by William O’Brien, M.P.
⸺ STARLIGHT THROUGH THE ROOF. Pp. 240. (Downey). 1895.
Under pseudonym “Kevin Kennedy.”
Scene: an inland village of Munster (presumably in Co. Tipperary). A
tale of peasant life—Utopian reforms realized by a returned emigrant, opposed
by land agents and a landlord’s priest; partial conversion of the latter to
the people’s side; arrest of reformer on false charge of murder; breaking
open of prison, and rescue, &c. An early and crude effort in fiction. Pleasant,
emotional style. Very strong Nationalist bias.
“RATHKYLE, M. A.”
⸺ FAREWELL TO GARRYMORE. Pp. 127. (Sealy, Bryers). 1s. net.
1912.
A simple little tale of life in an Irish village, showing knowledge of the
country-folk and of their ways of thought and speech; also a thorough
understanding of children. The Author is Miss M. Younge, of Upper Oldtown,
Rathdowney.
SADLIER, Mrs. James,[13] née Madden. Born at Cootehill, 1820. D. 1903.
In 1844 she went to Canada, where the rest of her life was spent. Between
1847 and 1874 she wrote frequently for the principal Catholic papers in
America. In 1895 she received the Laetare Medal. “Each of her
works of fiction had a special object in view, bearing on the moral and
religious well-being of her fellow Irish Catholics.” She says: “It is
needless to say that all my writings are dedicated to the one grand
object: the illustration of our holy Faith by means of tales or stories.”
Her sympathies are strongly nationalist. Besides the books here noticed,
she also published The Red Hand of Ulster, and a large number of religious
works. Flynn of Boston publishes a uniform ed. of her works at 0.60
each vol. Many of them were, naturally, originally published by the
firm of her husband, James Sadlier.
⸺ THE FATE OF FATHER SHEEHY. Pp. 178 + appendix 76. (Duffy).
1s. 6d. Still in print. [c. 1845]. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.60.
The story (true, though told in form of fiction) of how the heroic patriot-priest
was judicially murdered at Clonmel in 1766 by the ascendancy faction,
backed by the Government. Appendix by Dr. R. R. Madden, giving full
details of the trial, depositions of witnesses, &c.
⸺ WILLY BURKE. Pp. 224. (Duffy). 1s. 6d. [c. 1850]. In print,
1909.
Story of two Irish emigrant boys left orphans in the States, and their
struggles with temptations against their Faith. One is a model boy; the
other goes off the track, but is brought back again. A moral and religious
story, full of Catholic faith and feeling. It might, however, be not unreasonably
considered somewhat “goody-goody.”
⸺ NEW LIGHTS; or, Life in Galway. Pp. 443. (N.Y.: Sadlier).
[1853].
Peasant life in Famine times. Written with a strong sympathy for the
sufferings of the people, and with admiration for their virtues. There is a
good deal about the proselytism or “souperism” that was rife at the time.
The evils of landlordism, resulting in evictions, &c., are depicted. There
is no love interest.
⸺ THE BLAKES AND FLANAGANS. Pp. 391. (N.Y.: Kenedy). 60
cents. net; and (Duffy) 2s. 6d. [1855]. 1909.
Life among lower middle class Irish in New York, showing in a somewhat
satirical way, evil effects of public school education. The moral purpose,
though fairly evident, does not detract from the naturalness of the story.
The conversation is particularly lifelike.
⸺ THE CONFEDERATE CHIEFTAINS. Pp. 384. Demy 8vo. (Gill).
4s. Many editions. [1859]. Still in print. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.60 net.
A romance of a popular kind, without great literary pretensions, giving a
good picture of the events of the time, written from a Catholic standpoint,
and sympathising with the Old Irish party led by O’Neill, who is the hero
of the tale. All the chief men of the various parties figure in the narrative.
Full expression is given to the Author’s sympathies and dislikes, yet without,
we believe, historic unfairness.
⸺ BESSY CONWAY; or, The Irish Girl in America. Pp. 316. (N.Y.:
Kenedy). 60 cents. net. Print rather poor. n.d. [1861].
Theme of story: influence of religion on character. Object (as stated in
Pref.): to point out to Irish girls in America (especially servants) “the true
and never-failing path to success in this life, and happiness in the next.”
Bessy, daughter of Tipperary farmer, leaves for America. She finds when
on board that Henry Herbert, son of her father’s landlord, a Protestant, is
without encouragement from her, following her through love. The story
tells how a change came over the wild young man, how he became a Catholic,
and married Bessy; how the two of them made their fortunes in N. Y., and
how Bessy came home just in time to stop the eviction of her father in the
Famine year. Readable, with touches both of humour and of pathos. Highly
moral and religious in tone.
⸺ THE RED HAND OF ULSTER; or, the Fortunes of Hugh O’Neill.
(London and Dublin), c. 1862.
Mentioned in most lists of this Author’s works, but not in British Museum
Library.
⸺ THE HERMIT OF THE ROCK. Pp. 320. (Gill). 2s. 6d. n.d.
[1863]. In print.
Story of Irish society in the ’sixties. The “hermit,” who tends the graves
and monuments on the Rock of Cashel, is a sort of Irish “Old Mortality,”
and is a storehouse of legend and tradition. The story is by no means a tame
one: there is a murder mystery, and sensation, though the latter does not
degenerate into melodrama.
⸺ THE DAUGHTER OF TYRCONNELL: a Tale of the Reign of
James I. Pp. 160. (Duffy), 1s. (N.Y.: Kenedy). 60 cents, net. [1863].
Still in print.
Sufferings of Mary O’Donnell, daughter of the exiled Earl of Tyrconnell,
at the hands of James I., who adopted her and wished her to marry a Protestant.
She dresses as a man and escapes to the Continent, where she enters
a convent. Founded on a tradition recorded in MacGeoghegan’s History of
Ireland. James is painted in very dark colours; Mary is almost too good for
real life.
⸺ CON O’REGAN; or, Emigrant Life. Pp. 405. (N.Y.: Kenedy). 60
cents. [1864]. 1909.
A powerful anti-emigration novel, depicting the hardships of Irish emigrants
in the New England states in the ’forties. Thoroughly Catholic and
sympathetic to the Irish, but does not conceal their faults.
⸺ THE OLD HOUSE BY THE BOYNE. Pp. 319. (Gill). 2s. 6d.
[1865]; also (London) 1888. New ed., 1904. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.60.
Scene: Drogheda. Many descriptions of old historic spots, and much
legendary lore. There is a love interest, also, but the book is hardly up to
the Author’s usual standard. At the outset of the book Drogheda is well
described.
⸺ THE HEIRESS OF KILORGAN. Pp. vi. + 420. (N.Y.: Kenedy).
60 cents. [1867]. New ed., 1909.
“A slight and very simple thread of fiction connects throughout the series
of historical sketches constituting these ‘Evenings with the old Geraldines.’”—(Pref.).
The plan is similar to that of Hibernian Nights Entertainments
(Ferguson), q.v. At Kilorgan, near the Maigue, in Co. Limerick, dwell a
poor family of descendants of the Geraldines. They are visited by an Englishman,
who has (without their knowledge) bought the old place in the courts.
Every night of his stay a story is told, the intervals being filled in by somewhat
insipid love episodes, long poems (by Mrs. Hernans, Longfellow, Gerald
Griffin, &c.), and songs. The stories are a series of episodes from Geraldine
history from Gerald FitzWalter in Wales to the Sugán Earl, c. 1598, together
with a few miscellaneous romantic stories. They are simply and interestingly
told. Some are hardly for children. An Appendix gives some Geraldine
documents.
⸺ MACCARTHY MÓR. Pp. 277. (N.Y.: Kenedy). [1868]. At present
in print. n.d.
Life and character of Florence MacCarthy Mór based on his Life and Letters
by Daniel M’Carthy. M’Carthy is said by the Author (Pref.) almost to
merit the name of the Munster Machiavelli. The book presents a striking
picture of the struggles of the great families of the day to preserve faith
and property amid the petty persecutions of the government and the intrigues
of rivals. Chief events introduced: battles of Pass of Plumes, Curlew Mountains,
and Bealanathabuidhe. Elizabeth, Cecil, Burleigh, the Northern
Earls, the “Sugán” Earl, Sir Henry Power, &c., appear incidentally. The
scene varies between the Killarney district, West Carbery, the Council
Chamber of Elizabeth, and the Tower. The episode of the marriage of the
daughter of MacCarthy Mór to Florence MacCarthy Reagh forms the theme
of Miss Gaughan’s The Plucking of the Lily, q.v.
⸺ MAUREEN DHU. Pp. 391. (N.Y.: Sadlier). [1869].
A tale of the Claddagh, the famous fishing village beside Galway city.
Its manners and ways are described in detail and with fidelity. Tells how
the beautiful daughter of the chief fisherman is wooed and won from all
competitors by a wealthy young merchant of the city. The plot is well sustained
and interesting, though somewhat complicated and hampered by
digressions.
SANBORN, Alvan Francis.
⸺ MEG McINTYRE’S RAFFLE, and Other Stories. Two Vols. (Boston:
Small & Maynard). $1.25 each. 1896.
“Studies of the poorest classes in a great city, the pathos often ghastly in
its intensity. The title-story is an Irish idyll.”—(Baker, 2).
SAVAGE, Marmion W. 1805-1872. B. Dublin. Ed. T.C.D. He was a
government official in Dublin for some years, and at that time wrote
for Dubl. Univ. Magazine. In 1856 he went to London, and there
edited several periodicals. He was a witty and clever novelist, very
popular in his day. Wrote also Bachelor of the Albany, My Uncle the
Curate, Reuben Medlicott, A Woman of Business.
⸺ THE FALCON FAMILY. (Chapman & Hall). [1845]. (Ward, Lock).
New ed., 1854.
“The best known and choicest of the author’s numerous stories. It is
intended as a satire on the leaders of the Young Ireland Party; and some of
the satire is very keen and amusing, but as political pictures his sketches are
no better than caricatures.”—(Read). John Mitchel, reviewing it (The
Nation, 13th Decr., 1845), calls it “another of those pamphlet-novels that
infest the literary world ... though too obviously the production of an
Irishman, is as obviously intended and calculated for the English market....
We have had some opportunities of acquaintance with the men the writer
attempts to satirize, and do unfeignedly declare that we have never met (them)....
In short, this book is a very paltry and ill-conditioned performance.”
SAVILE, Mrs. Helen.
⸺ LOVE THE PLAYER. (Sonnenschein). 6s. 1899.
“A tragic plot, with sketches of Irish life, and unpleasant specimens of
humanity in the rector and rector’s wife in the Protestant community of
Tuleen. Old Micky Hogan, the sexton, is depicted with humour.”—(Baker,
2). By the same Author: The Wings of the Morning.
⸺ MICKY MOONEY, M.P. Pp. 250. (Bristol: Arrowsmith). Illustr.
by Nancy Ruxton. 1902.
Career of the hero from bog-trotter to M.P. As a background, a vulgar
and absurd caricature of Irish life. Humour throughout of a very broad
kind. Characters speak in an impossible brogue.
SCHLICHTTRULL, Aline Von.
⸺ DER AGITATOR VON IRLAND. Pp. 1043. (Berlin: Otto Janke).
1859.
O’Connell is the hero, but there are a multitude of characters, chiefly of the
ruling classes. Politics are much discussed, the Author’s sympathies being
pretty clearly on the Catholic and Nationalist side. Scene partly in Ireland,
partly in England, where the reader listens to speeches in the House of Lords.
SCHOFIELD, Lily.
⸺ ELIZABETH, BETSY, AND BESS. (Duckworth). 6s. 1912.
“The purport of the Author is to reveal the varied charm and grace of a
delightful Irish girl’s character between the ages of thirteen and eighteen or
so.... A vital, significant portrait.”—(T. Litt. Suppl.). Scene: partly at
“Castlemorne,” partly in a big English school near Liverpool.
SCOTT, Florence, and HODGE, Alma.
⸺ THE ROUND TOWER. Pp. 229. (Nelson). 1s. 6d. Pretty picture
cover. 1906.
A very slight story centering in the landing of the French at Killala in 1798.
Adventures of two small English boys. An interesting but one-sided glimpse
of some of the episodes of the time. For boys.
SENIOR, Dorothy.
⸺ THE CLUTCH OF CIRCUMSTANCES; or, The Gates of Dawn.
Pp. 333. (Black). Frontisp. 1908.
An Arthurian romance, with Finola, daughter of Cormac, King of Leinster,
as heroine. She is married to a brutal husband, but in the end is united to
her true love. Not, however, without passing through a long series of adventures,
rescues by knights errant, escapes, &c. Has all the usual elements
of the romantic chanson de geste—tourneys, rose-gardens, adventures in the
green-wood. Told in highly romantic manner, but with the romance is blended
a curious element of the modern problem novel.
SEYMOUR, St. John D.
⸺ IRISH WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY. Pp. 256. (Hodges &
Figgis). 5s. net. 1914.
A very competent piece of work from a scientific point of view. From the
point of view of fiction it is full of weird and uncanny stories, gleaned from all
sorts of sources.
SEYMOUR, St. John D., B.D., and HARRY L. NELIGAN, D.I., R.I.C.
⸺ TRUE IRISH GHOST STORIES. (Hodges & Figgis). 3s. 6d. 1914.
Author says in Pref.: “For myself I cannot guarantee the genuineness of
a single incident in this book—how could I, as none of them are my own
personal experience. This at least I can vouch for, that the majority of
the stories were sent to me as first or second-hand experiences by ladies and
gentlemen whose statement on an ordinary matter of fact would be accepted
without question.” The names of some contributors are mentioned. The
stories are classified partly according to locality, partly according to the
type of ghost in question. A final chapter gives a kind of Apologia for the
book. Index of place names. The telling is, perhaps, a little monotonous
and dull.
SHAND, Alexander Innes. 1832-1907. A Scotchman who interested himself
in the Irish land question and wrote Letters from the West of Ireland, 1884.
Other novels of his were Against Time and Shooting the Rapids.
⸺ KILCARRA. Three Vols. (Blackwood). 1891.
The influence of a good and sweet-natured woman on selfish men, with the
Land League agitation in Co. Galway for a background. The peasantry are
depicted as wild and lawless and mere tools of the Land League, but as capable
of much good. The shooting of landlords is sheer barbarism, no attempt
being made by the Author to set forth its causes. The plot is furnished
by the efforts of the hero, Capt. Martin Neville, to trace the murderer of a
previous owner of the Kilcarra estate, and also by the story of his love for
his cousin Ida, or rather hers for him. There is much about the relations
between landlord and tenant.
SHARP, William, see “FIONA MACLEOD.”
SHEEHAN, M. F.
⸺ NEATH SUNNY SKIES: Stories of the Co. Waterford. Pp. 123.
(Waterford News). 6d. 1912.
A series of simple tales well told and true to life.
SHEEHAN, Canon Patrick A., D.D. B. 1852. Educated at St. Colman’s,
Fermoy, and Maynooth. Spent two years (1875-77) on English mission
in Devonshire. Parish Priest of Doneraile from 1895 till his death in
1913. His books deal chiefly with Catholic clerical life in Ireland—a
subject which he was the first to deal with from within. He brought
to bear on the features and problems of Irish life a deeply thoughtful
and cultured mind. He did not indulge in thoughtless panegyric of
Irish virtues, but touched firmly, though sympathetically, upon our
national shortcomings and failings. His ideals are of the loftiest, yet
never of an unsubstantial and airy, kind. His style is influenced too
much perhaps in his earlier books by his very wide reading in many
literatures, but particularly in Greek, German, Italian, and English.
Besides the novels mentioned here, he has published two books of studies
and reflections, viz., Under the Cedars and the Stars, and Parerga; also
a book of poems, Cithara Mea, and a selection of Early Essays and
Lectures.
⸺ GEOFFREY AUSTIN, STUDENT. (Gill). 3s. 6d. Fifth ed., 1908.
Story of life in a secondary school, near Dublin, nominally controlled by
the clergy, but in reality left to the care of a grinder of more than doubtful
character. A most uncatholic worldliness prevails at Mayfield, and the
standards of conduct and of religion are very low. Geoffrey’s faith is
weakened and well-nigh ruined. The curtain falls upon him as he goes out to
face the world, and we are left to conjecture his fate. Has been transl. into
French under title Geoffroy.
⸺ THE TRIUMPH OF FAILURE. Pp. 383. (Burns & Oates). [1899].
A sequel to the preceding. It is a close and sympathetic soul-study.
Geoffrey loses all his worldly hopes and falls low indeed. He suffers the
shipwreck of his faith. But in this valley of humiliation he learns strength
to rise and conceives far different hopes, and we leave him on the heights of
atonement and of regeneration. The book is philosophic in tone, and is enriched
with many elevating thoughts from German, French, and English
moralists. It is said to have been the Author’s favourite. It has been translated
into many languages, e.g., French, under title Le succès dans l’échec
(1906), and German as Der Erfolg des Misserfolgs (Press of the Missionaries
of Steyl), M. 6.
⸺ MY NEW CURATE. Pp. 480. (Art and Book Co.). 6s. Eighteenth
ed. Eighteen rather poor illustr. [1899]. New ed. (Longmans), 2s. 6d.
1914. (Boston: Marlier). 1.50.
Into a sleepy, backward, out-of-the-way parish comes a splendid young
priest, cultured, energetic, zealous, up-to-date. He succeeds in many
reforms, but the moral of the whole would seem to be, “Nothing on earth
can cure the inertia of Ireland,” or rather, perhaps, “You cannot undo in a
day the operations of 300 years.” The old parish priest tells the story. There
is in the book intimate sympathy with, and love of, the people, their humours,
and foibles, and virtues. There is plenty of very humorous incident. Delightful
moralizings, like those in the Author’s Under the Cedars and the Stars. It
is full of undidactic lessons for both priests and people. The religious life of the
people is, of course, much dwelt on, and a good deal of light is thrown on the
private life of the priests. Transl. into French (Mon nouveau vicaire), Dutch
(Mijn nieuwe kapelaan, by M. van Beek, 1904), German (Mein neuer Kaplan,
Bachem, M. 6.), Italian, Spanish (Mi nuevo coadjutor, Herder), Hungarian,
Slovene, Ruthenian.
⸺ LUKE DELMEGE. Pp. 580. (Longmans). 6s. 1901.
The life-story of a priest. The main theme of this great novel is the setting
forth of the spiritual ideals of the race and of the heights of moral beauty and
heroism to which these ideals can lead. A strong contrast is drawn between
the ideals which the hero sees at work around him during his stay in England,
and those which he finds at work at home. Many phases and incidents of
Irish life are shown—the home-life of the priest, the eviction, the funeral,
scenes in Dublin churches, the beauty of Irish landscape. One of the best,
if not the best, of Irish novels. Yet as a “problem” novel it is strangely
inconclusive. Luke seems to die with his life-questions unanswered. Trans.
into French, Luke Delmege, âmes celtiques et âmes saxonnes; German, Lukas
Delmege, trans. Ant. Lohr. (Habbel), M. 6, 1906, sixth ed.; and Hungarian.
Canon Sheehan used to say of this book that its central idea was the doctrine of
vicarious atonement.
⸺ GLENANAAR. Pp. 321. (Longmans). 6s. [1905]. New ed., 1915.
2s. 6d.
“Tainted blood, inherited shame, is a terrible thing amongst a people who
attach supreme importance to these things.” This is, perhaps, the central
theme of the story. The narrative opens in 1829 with the famous Doneraile
Conspiracy trial in Cork, when O’Connell, summoned in hot haste from
Derrynane, was just in time to save the lives of the innocent prisoners. The
story traces to the third generation the strange fortunes of the descendants
of one of the informers in this trial. There are glimpses of the famine of ’48
and of the spirit of the men of ’67. The story of Nodlag is a touching and
beautiful one, and the episode of the returned American is very well done.
Trans. into German, Das Christtagskind (Steyl: Mission Press), M. 2.50.
⸺ THE SPOILED PRIEST, and Other Stories. Pp. 213. (Gill and
Burns & Oates). 5s. Nine illustr. by M. Healy. 1905.
Eight stories. The title-story gives a glimpse of the workings of an ecclesiastical
seminary, and also of the Irish peasants’ attitude towards a student who
has been refused ordination. “Remanded” is the story, founded on fact,
of a hero-priest of Cork. “The Monks of Trabolgan” is a curious, fanciful
story of Ireland at some future period. The remaining tales, “Rita, the
Street Singer,” “A Thorough Gentleman,” and “Frank Forest’s Mince-Pie,”
&c., do not deal with Ireland. Has been transl. into German and Dutch.
⸺ LOST ANGEL OF A RUINED PARADISE. Pp. vi. + 168. (Longmans).
3s. 6d.
Three schoolgirls on leaving college take part in tableau as Parcae or Fates.
They announce in make-believe the fates of their companions. A mysterious
voice from the audience announces their own. The story tells how their
fates worked out. The first part of the drama takes place in Dublin, but
after a time the scene shifts to London. Transl. into French as Ange égaré
d’un paradis ruiné.
⸺ LISHEEN; or, the Test of the Spirits. Pp. 454. (Longmans). 6s.
1907. New ed., 1914, 2s. 6d.
The conception is that of Tolstoi’s Resurrection, with the scene transferred
to Kerry. It is the story of how a young man of the Irish landlord class
determines to put to the test of practise his ideals of altruism. To this end
he abandons the society of his equals and lives the life of a labourer. He
finds how full of pain and heartburning and disappointment is the way of
the reformer. There are many reflections on the national character and its
defects are not whittled down. The book has two main themes—the greed
and callousness of Irish landlords, and the inability of the Englishman to
understand Irish character.
⸺ THE BLINDNESS OF DR. GRAY; or, The Final Law. (Longmans).
6s. 1909. New ed., 1914. 2s. 6d.
The interest of this novel centres partly in its pictures of clerical life, partly in
a charming love story of an uncommon type. The central figure is drawn
with care and thoroughness. He is a strict disciplinarian, a rigid moralist,
who worships the law with Jansenistic narrowness and hardness. But as
the story goes on we discover beneath this hard surface unsuspected depths of
human kindness. He himself finds out before the end that it is love, not law,
that rules the world. The story contains many beautiful and touching
scenes, and some fine description, notably in the South African portion of the
book. There is some incidental criticism of various features of Irish life—popular
politics, religious divisions, the Gaelic League, the change in the
mentality of the people, and there is in it food for thought about some of
our besetting faults. Considered by many to be the Author’s most finished
and most powerful work. Transl. into German, Von Dr. Grays Blindheit,
with introductory sketch (Einsiedeln: Benziger). M. 6. 1911.
⸺ MIRIAM LUCAS. Pp. 470. (Longmans). 6s. [1912]. New ed.,
1914. 2s. 6d.
Miriam is the daughter of wealthy Protestant parents in Glendarragh,
in the W. of Ireland. Her mother, on becoming a Catholic, is driven by
domestic persecution into evil ways, and subsequently disappears. Society
ostracizes Miriam, who, in revolt against it, goes to Dublin, where, in alliance
with a young visionary Trinity student, she flings herself into the Socialist
movement. Her efforts end in a disastrous strike. For a time she staves
off crime and tragedy, but it comes at last. Book III. brings her to New
York in search of her mother, whom she discovers sunk to the lowest moral
depths. The story hinges partly, too, on the lifting of the curse of Glendarragh
by Miriam and the hero, who makes her happy in the end. There are not
a few fine dramatic situations, but the plot does not hang together. The book
is meant to deal with Irish social and religious problems and to picture certain
phases of Irish life. The life pictured is chiefly that of the Protestant upper
classes, of whom a severe and satirical portrait is drawn. There are just a
few glimpses of peasant life. The Author raises more problems than he
solves, and the prevailing impression left upon the reader is one of gloom.
Has been transl. into German.
⸺ THE GRAVES AT KILMORNA. Pp. 373. (Longmans). 6s. 1915.
An attempt to set forth the spirit of the Fenian movement of 1867, and
even to contrast it with subsequent movements, to the great disadvantage
of the latter; for the Author thought that the fire of Nationality has burned
very low since ’67. The heroes are James Halpin (apparently intended
for Peter O’Neill Crowley, who fell in ’67) and Miles Cogan, Fenians and
unselfish patriots. There is some good character drawing, but the interest of
plot and incident is slight, the chief interest being the vein of very ideal
philosophy which runs through the book. The Author is gloomy and pessimistic
about modern Ireland.
SHERLOCK, J.
⸺ THE MAD LORD OF DRUMKEEL. Pp. 199. (Sealy, Bryers).
3s. 6d. 1909.
“An unexciting chronicle of the solitary Lord Barnabweel, his quaint
experiments with his Irish property and tenantry, and the story of his son
who left him, married in a Dublin lodging-house, and became a famous
musician.”—(Times’ Lit. Suppl.).
SIDGWICK, Ethel.
⸺ HERSELF. (Sidgwick & Jackson). 1912.
The story of an Irish girl in Paris and of her life and love affairs there.
Pleasantly written, and giving a kindly account of the Irish character.
(Press Notice).
SIGERSON, Hester.
⸺ A RUINED RACE; or, the Last Macmanus of Drumroosk. (Ward &
Downey). 6s. 1890.
A very gloomy view of Ireland. The Author displays intimate knowledge
of Irish scenes, idioms, and characteristics. Period: middle of nineteenth
century. Pictures with painful fidelity and much power the misfortunes of
a once happy and prosperous couple belonging to the well-to-do peasant
class. Misery seems to dog their steps from one end of the book to the other.
The girl dies in the workhouse, the man takes to drink and is killed in an
accident. Seems to aim at picturing the difficulties and sufferings of the
peasantry, especially under the old land system. The Author was the wife
of Dr. Geo. Sigerson.
SIME, William. B. Wick, Caithness, 1851. D. Calcutta, 1895. Author of
several other works of fiction—King Capital, To and Fro, Boulderstone.
⸺ THE RED ROUTE; or, Saving a Nation. Three Vols. (Sonnenschein).
1884.
Scene: West and South of Ireland, beginning with Galway, where the
hero, Finn O’Brien, goes to college and suffers much both from collegians
and peasantry. Finn becomes a Fenian, but falls in love with an English
widow who had become a Catholic to escape the pursuit of bishops and parsons
of her own Church. The heroine is a Claddagh girl, whose love for an English
captain, Jeffrey, is crossed by the fact that she is a Fenian. One of the
love affairs ends happily, the other tragically. The Author is not anti-Irish,
but knows little about Ireland. He drags in priests “smelling strongly of
whiskey” and nuns who have broken their vows.
SIMPSON, John Hawkins.
⸺ POEMS OF OISIN, Bard of Erin. Pp. 280. (M’Glashan & Gill). 1857.
Translated into English prose from Irish by the Author with help of native
speakers. Contents: Oisin, Bard of Erin (introductory by the Author);
Deardra; Conloch Son of Cuthullin (sic); The Fenii of Erin and Fionn
MacCumhal; Dialogue between Oisin and St. Patrick (pp. 61-184); Mayo
Mythology (various Fenian Tales); The Battle of Ventry.
SKELLY, Rev. A. M., O.P.
⸺ CUCHULAIN OF MUIRTHEMNE. Pp. 48. (C.T.S.I.). 1d. 1908.
A paper read before the Catholic Literary Society, Tralee. The Cuchulain
epic briefly but admirably related. Passages of verse from Ferguson and
De Vere are skilfully interwoven. Excellent notes at the end explain difficulties
and references.
SMART, Hawley.
⸺ THE MASTER OF RATHKELLY. (F. V. White). Fifth ed. 1890.
A stirring story of love and sport in “Co. Blarney” in “the eighties.”
Mr. Eyre, one of the “ould stock,” gets into difficulties with his tenants,
who stop the “Harkhallow” hounds and boycott him. Written from the
English and landlord standpoint. The dialect is wonderfully good and the
“horsey” scenes well done. The Author was a well-known sporting novelist;
1833-1893.
SMITH, Agnes; Mrs. Lewis.
⸺ THE BRIDES OF ARDMORE: A Story of Irish Life. Pp. 393.
(Elliott, Stock). Frontisp.—view of Ardmore. 1880.
Ardmore, Co. Waterford, in twelfth century. A few descriptions of
scenery, but little local colour, and almost no historical mise-en-scène. The
chief object of the story appears to be to picture forth a “primitive” Irish
Church, unconnected with Rome, and resembling the modern Church of
Ireland in many of its features. The priests are all married. Indeed their
matrimonial affairs and the cruel interruption of these by decrees from Rome
provide the greater part of the incidents. The tone is not bitter towards
Catholicism, but innocently patronising and didactic.
[SMITH, John].
⸺ IRISH DIAMONDS. Pp. 183. 16mo. (Chapman & Hall). 1847.
(Gibbings). Five Illus. by “Phiz.” 1890.
Chapters:—On the Road, Young Ireland, Irish Wit, Irish Life, Irish
Traits, The Latter End. Humorous Irish anecdotes, rather above the average
“pigs, poteen, and praties” type, frankly meant to amuse, but showing not
a little knowledge of and sympathy with Irish traits. When the book was
written the Author was “one of the editors of the Liverpool Mercury.”
SMYTH, Patrick G. B. Ballina, Co. Mayo, about 1856. Was in early years
a National School teacher. Besides his novels, he wrote verse for several
Irish periodicals between 1876-1885. For some time he was engaged on
a Chicago paper.
⸺ THE WILD ROSE OF LOUGH GILL. Pp. 306. (Gill). 2s. 6d.
[1883]. Fifth ed., 1904. (Benziger). 0.85.
Though nominally not the heroes, Owen Roe O’Neill and Miles the Slasher
are the chief figures in this fine novel of the Wars of the Confederation. A
love-story is interwoven with the historical events. The view-point is
thoroughly national. The style abounds in imagery and fine descriptive
passages. The novel is one of the most popular ever issued in Ireland.
The story ends shortly after the fall of Galway in 1652. The scene is
laid partly in Co. Sligo, where (near Lough Gill) one of the most thrilling
episodes, founded on a still living tradition, takes place.
⸺ KING AND VIKING; or, The Ravens of Lochlan. Pp. 200. (Sealy,
Bryers). 1s. n.d. (1889).
Tireragh (Co. Sligo) in 888, the date assigned by the Four Masters to a
great battle fought between the men of Connaught and the Danes. The wars
between Danes and Irish furnish the chief interest of the book, but there is
also the story of the feud between Ceallach the tanist of Hy Fiachrach and
Dungallach, a rival. Much information, drawn from reliable sources, is
given regarding the Irish clans, their customs, and their territories.
SOMERVILLE, Edith Œnone, and “MARTIN, Ross.” Miss Violet Martin,
of Ross, Co. Galway. Miss Somerville is dau. of the late Col. Somerville,
of Drishane, Skibbereen, Co. Cork. Both Authors are granddaughters
of Chief Justice Charles Kendal Bushe. Amongst their other works
are Naboth’s Vineyard, Beggars on Horseback, and Through Connemara
in a Governess’ Cart (illust.).
⸺ AN IRISH COUSIN. Pp. iv. + 306. (Longmans). 3s. 6d. [First ed.,
1889]; new ed., quite re-written, 1903. Ten illustr. by E. Œ. Somerville.
Modern country-house life in Co. Cork. A serious study of the slow
awakening of a young man to the realization that there are things in life
more real to him than horses and dogs. His love for a clever cousin returned
from Canada has a tragic ending. The characters of the tale are drawn
from Protestant county society. Clever description of Durrus, the ramshackle
home of the Sarsfields. Miss Jackson-Croly’s “At Home” and the
run with the Moycullen hounds are said to be worthy of Lever.
⸺ THE REAL CHARLOTTE. (Longmans). 3s. 6d. [1894]. Three
Vols. (Ward & Downey).
A dark tale of a world “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable.” An unscrupulous
woman works the ruin of a sweet-natured, ill-trained girl. Scene:
Irish country neighbourhood. Characters, land agents, farmers, great
ladies, drawn with impartial and relentless truth. Pronounced by many
critics to be worthy of Balzac.
⸺ THE SILVER FOX. Pp. 195. (Longmans). 3s. 6d. [1898].
(Lawrence and Bullen).
The chief interest of this story lies in some sporting scenes in the West of
Ireland. The peasantry are seen from an uncomprehending standpoint,
and the chief figures are people of fashion, of no particular nationality.
“Broadly speaking, the novel may be said to exhibit in a dramatic form the
extraordinary hold which superstition still possesses on the minds of the
Irish peasantry.”—(Spectator).
⸺ SOME EXPERIENCES OF AN IRISH R.M. Pp. iv. + 310. Thirty-second
thousand. (Longmans). 3s. 6d. Thirty-one illustr. (pen and ink
sketches) by E. Œ. Somerville. 1899.
Racy, humorous sketches of hunting and other episodes in the south and
west. The Author’s most successful work originally appeared in The Badminton
Magazine.
⸺ ALL ON THE IRISH SHORE. Pp. iv. + 274. Eighteenth thousand.
(Longmans). 3s. 6d. Ten illustr. by E. Œ. Somerville. 1903.
Sketches of fox-hunting, horse-dealing, racing, trials for assault between
neighbours, petty boycotting, rural larking, full of sprightly and rollicking
humour. Chief characters, the petty county gentry. The peasantry are
drawn in caricature, usually friendly, and are shown in relation to their
social superiors, not in their own life and reality. If these sketches were
taken seriously, the peasantry would appear as drunken, quarrelsome, lying,
dirty, unconsciously comical—with scarcely a single redeeming trait. The
scene is south-western Cork.
All on the Irish Shore has been described (Irish Monthly) as “a blend of
Lover and Lever (in his coarser rollicking days) refined by some of the literary
flavour of Jane Barlow, but with none of the insight and sympathy of Irish
Idylls. The same may be said of the Experiences of an Irish R.M., which
moreover, contains here and there passages needlessly offensive to national
feeling.” Titles of some chapters:—Fanny Fitz’s Gamble, A Grand Filly,
High Tea at McKeown’s, A Nineteenth Century Miracle, &c.
N.B.—Messrs. Longmans have (April, 1910) issued a new uniform edition
of the works of Somerville and Ross, at 3s. 6d. per volume.
⸺ FURTHER EXPERIENCES OF AN IRISH R.M. Pp. 315. (Longmans).
3s. 6d. 1908.
⸺ SOME IRISH YESTERDAYS. Eleventh thousand. (Longmans).
3s. 6d. Fifty-one illustr. by E. Œ. Somerville. 1908.
Admirable illustrations of Connemara scenery, clever sketches of “natives”
(usually of the lowest type). Light magazine sketches written in clever, racy
style. Subjects: Holidays in Aran and Connemara and Carbery, picnics,
country house anecdotes, superficial studies of peasants in Connemara and
Cork. “In Sickness and in Health” pays a tribute to the strength of the
marriage bond in Ireland.
⸺ DAN RUSSELL, THE FOX. Pp. 340. (Methuen). 6s. 1911.
Miss Rowan comes over to Ireland and takes “Lake View,” in the midst
of a hunting district in S. Munster. She falls in love—for the time—with
John Michael, handsome, and the most valiant of huntsmen, but a child of
nature whose whole mind is absorbed in hounds and horses. Hence complications.
The Author’s usual pictures of hunting scenes and happy-go-lucky
country gentry. Mrs. Delanty, the sharp and devious widow, is a
curious portrait. Dan Russell is scarcely more than a minor character in
the piece. It is a story about which we cannot speak favourably.
⸺ IN MR. KNOX’S COUNTRY. (Longmans). 6s. Eight full-page
illustr. in chalk. 1915.
Eleven sketches of the same type as the Experiences of an Irish R.M., with
some new dramatis personæ in the old localities.
SQUIRE, Charles.
⸺ THE BOY HERO OF ERIN. Pp. 240. (Blackie). 2s. 6d. Handsome
cover. Four good illustr. by A. A. Dixon. 1907.
The Cuchulainn Saga told in simple and clear, but somewhat unemotional
and matter-of-fact, style. Sources: Miss Hull’s Cuchulainn Saga and Miss
Winifred Faraday’s Cattle Raid of Cuailgne (q.v.). The Author holds
Cuchulainn to be a hero “not less brave and far more chivalrous than any
Greek or Trojan” (Pref.), and thinks that the ancient Gael “invented the
noble system of conduct which we call courtesy.”
⸺ CELTIC MYTH AND LEGEND, Poetry and Romance. Pp. 450.
(Gresham Publishing Co.). Four Plates in colour by J. H. F. Bacon;
fourteen in monochrome by the same and others, and a few photos, n.d.
A kind of digest of the chief published translations of ancient Irish and
Welsh saga and romance, preceded by four short essays on the interest
of Celtic mythology, and the sources of our knowledge of it, the origin of
the Britons and their religion (44 pp. in all). Pp. 47-248 are a summary of
Gaelic myth, &c., and pp. 250-395 of British ditto. Then there is an essay on
survivals of Celtic paganisms, and an Append. giving brief bibliogr. Index.
The myths and romances are not related as a tale is told; they are merely
placed on record, almost stripped of their poetry, along with all the extravagances
and absurdities that disfigure them, chiefly through modern corruptions.
Of little or no interest for young people.
STACE, Henry.
⸺ THE ADVENTURES OF COUNT O’CONNOR in the Dominions of
the Great Mogul. Pp. 343. (Alston Rivers). 1s. [1907]. 1909.
A string of impossible situations and thrilling escapes, purporting to be
the adventures of an Irish soldier of fortune in India about 1670, related by
himself. The Count frequently discourses of the honour of an Irish gentleman,
and never acts up to it. His character is that of a thorough rascal. The
book contains many disreputable adventures in harems.
STACPOOLE KENNY, Mrs. see KENNY.
STACPOOLE, H. de Vere. Son of Rev. William Church Stacpoole, D.D.,
of Kingstown, Co. Dublin. Ed. Malvern College, and St. Mary’s Hospital,
London. Is a qualified medical man, but does not practise. Has travelled
much. Resides near Chelmsford. Has publ. about twenty-two novels.—(Who’s
Who). Some of these have been very successful, e.g., The Blue
Lagoon.
⸺ PATSY. Pp. 362. (Fisher Unwin). 6s. 1908.
A gay and humorous story of a house-party in a country mansion somewhere
in “Mid-Meath.” Full of amusing characters, cleverly sketched, e.g.,
the Englishman, Mr. Fanshawe, and the naughty and natural children. Above
all there is Patsy, the page-boy, an odd mixture of soft-hearted simplicity
and preternatural cuteness. He is the deus ex machina of the piece, causes
all sorts of entanglements, and unravels them again in the strangest way.
There is just a little study of national characteristics, but no politics nor
problems.
⸺ GARRYOWEN: The Romance of a Racehorse. Pp. 352. (Fisher
Unwin). 6s. 1910.
“A rattling good story ... Moriarty the trainer is a gem—Mickey Free
redivivus, as full of tricks as a bag of weasels. The Author knows his Irish
peasantry inside and out, and the only blot on an exceptional book is a needless
disquisition on the rights and wrongs of ‘cattle-driving.’”—(I.B.L.).
⸺ FATHER O’FLYNN. Pp. 245. (Hutchinson). 1s. 1914.
The idea of the book, which is dedicated to Sir E. Carson and Mr. Redmond,
is (see Pref.) to show the Catholic priest as the chief factor in present-day
Irish life. The priest in question is represented in a favourable and friendly
spirit, though perhaps hardly “at his best,” as the Author suggests. The
chief interest is perhaps a love affair, conducted chiefly on horseback, which is
told in a lively and spirited way.
STAVERT, A. A. B.
⸺ THE BOYS OF BALTIMORE. Pp. 212. (Burns & Oates). 2s. 6d.
1907.
A splendid boy’s story. Rich in the vein of adventure, of sport and fight
by land, of war by sea, of captivity and slavery. With this there is a solid,
but not too obtrusive, lesson of the value of faith and piety in a boy’s life.
The piety of the young heroes has nothing mawkish about it. The tone is
Catholic. The brogue is very badly imitated.—(N.I.R.). Scene changes
from Cork to Africa, and thence to London. Strafford, Wentworth, Laud,
and Charles I. appear in the story.
STEPHENS, James. B. Dublin, 1884. Worked for some years in a solicitor’s
office, but has definitely taken to literature. His first published volume
was Insurrections, since which two other volumes of verse have appeared,
and a fourth is about to appear. Has resided principally in Paris for
the past two years, but is now living in Dublin, where he holds the position
of Registrar at the National Gallery of Ireland. His writings have met
with an enthusiastic reception from the critics.
⸺ THE CHARWOMAN’S DAUGHTER. Pp. 228. (Macmillan). 3s. 6d.
1912. Publ. in U.S.A. under title Mary, Mary.
A study of the soul of a simple girl of the people and its development amid
the surroundings of a Dublin tenement house and of the Dublin streets—her
girlhood, her dreams for the future, her love affairs. The incidents are
quite subordinate to the psychological interest. The atmosphere of the
reality is carefully reproduced if somewhat idealised. There is nothing
morbid nor sensational in the book. This, the Author’s first published novel,
and many think his best, first appeared in The Irish Review.
⸺ THE CROCK OF GOLD. Pp. 312. (Macmillan). Many reprints.
1912.
Described, accurately enough, by The Times as “this delicious, fantastical,
amorphous, inspired medley of topsy-turveydom.” A fantasy in which
human beings with Irish names, Irish gods and fairies, and the god Pan are
mingled to bewilderment. And the whole is leavened with what may or may
not be the Author’s philosophy. “Love is unclean and holy” ... “Virtue
is the performance of pleasant actions.” “Philosophy would lead to the
great sin of sterility.” These sentences are isolated from the context, but
they seem to indicate the general trend—the philosophy of Pan. However,
there is much besides this in the torrent of wayward thought and fancy that
is here let loose. The pictures of nature are finely and delicately touched.
And there is humour of a strange kind not easy to define.
⸺ HERE ARE LADIES. Pp. 349. (Macmillan). 5s. 1913.
Fragments of the Author’s peculiar philosophy of life conveyed in odds
and ends of stories and sketches. Some are pure fancy, some are very closely
observed bits of real life; some are humorous, with a kind of sardonic humour;
some whimsical, some border on pathos. Many deal with various phases
of married life. Little poems are sandwiched between the tales. The book
is full of aphorisms, indeed the style is a riot of curious metaphor, flights of
fancy, unexpected turns of phrase. The last piece (pp. 277-348) consists of
a series of disquisitions by an old gentleman in the style of the Autocrat of
the Breakfast Table. An Irish flavour is noticeable at frequent intervals.
The idiom (not the brogue) of Anglo-Irish conversation is well reproduced.
⸺ THE DEMI-GODS. Pp. 280. (Macmillan). 5s. 1914.
The travels through Ireland of Patsy McCann, tinker and general rascal,
and his daughter Mary, in company with three angels, become tinkers for
the nonce. Patsy is a very human and a very real tinker, an ugly specimen
of a disreputable class. The wanderings of this strange company form a
thin thread on which is strung a medley of strange fancies, wayward comments,
scraps of very excellent description, and glimpses of low life in its most sordid
aspects (e.g., the drab Eileen Cooley, who appears at intervals). There is an
effort to picture not only the outward doings, experiences, and sensations
of the tramps, but also their outlook, such as it is, upon life, their makings
of a philosophy, and the morality of the roads.
STEUART, John A. Author (born 1861) of A Millionaire’s Daughter,
Self Exiled, In the Day of Battle, The Minister of State, Wine on the Lees,
The Eternal Quest, A Son of Gad, The Rebel Wooing, &c., &c. Was born
in Perthshire; lived in Ireland, America, and England. Edited Publishers’
Circular, 1896-1900.
⸺ KILGROOM. Pp. 228. (Low). 6s. and 2s. 6d. [1890]. 1900.
The interest of the story turns on incidents of the Land War in a southern
county. The Author takes the popular side, and paints the evils of landlordism
in the darkest colours. Most of the characters are humble folk, including an
amusing Scotchman, Sandy M’Tear. The story tells how a thirst for vengeance,
engendered by oppression, takes possession of the young peasant, Ned Blake,
almost stifling his love for his betrothed and ruining his life.
STEVENSON, JOHN. Is a member of the printing and publishing firm of
McCaw, Stevenson & Orr, of Belfast. He made his first hit with Pat
McCarty, Farmer of Antrim: His Rhymes, with a Setting (1903), in
part reprinted from The Pen, a magazine run by the employes of his
company.
⸺ A BOY IN THE COUNTRY. Pp. 312. (Arnold). 5s. Illustr. by
W. Arthur Fry. 1913.
A lad sent for his health to the care of an aunt in Co. Antrim tells his experiences
and observations, his thoughts and dreams, and he tells them
charmingly. Stories and anecdotes of the lives of the folk among whom he
lives, told with insight and sympathy.
STEWART, Agnes M.
⸺ GRACE O’HALLORAN. (Gill. N.Y.: Benziger). 0.60 net. [1857].
1884, &c.
Sub-title: “Ireland and Its Peasantry.” “Another of A. Stewart’s pious
little stories.... The reader will fail to discover much originality or force;
but in these days it is no small praise to say there is nothing to condemn.”—(D.R.).
Miss S. wrote a great number of stories between 1846 and 1887. All
are highly moral in aim and tone, a series of them having for titles the various
moral virtues.
⸺ FLORENCE O’NEILL; or, The Siege of Limerick. 1871.
Also publ. under title Florence O’Neill, or, The Rose of Saint Germain.
⸺ THE LIMERICK VETERAN; or, The Foster Sisters. (N.Y.:
Benziger). 0.60 net. 1873.
STEWART, Miss E. M.
⸺ ALL FOR PRINCE CHARLIE; or, The Irish Cavalier. Pp. 270.
(Duffy). 1s. Very cheap paper and print. n.d.
The ’45 from a strongly Catholic and Jacobite standpoint. The story
opens in an old castle in Bantry Bay, where the hero and heroine meet before
the former goes off to fight for Prince Charlie. Various adventures during
the raid on England and the retreat, and a complicated plot turning on the
close resemblance between the hero and a twin brother, supposed dead, but
who plays the traitor and the spy. All is well in the end. Some glimpses of
penal laws at work. A little comic relief is afforded by the talk of Paddy
O’Rafferty. Dialect poor.
STEWART, Rev. J.
⸺ THE KILLARNEY POOR SCHOLAR. Pp. 164. 16mo. (London).
[1845]. Third ed., 1846. New ed., 1866.
Sub-t.:—“Comprising the most remarkable features of the enchanting
scenery of the Irish lakes, interspersed with sketches of real character.”
In pref. Author claims thorough knowledge of places and people described.
His object is to impress a high moral tone upon the mind. “A moral is
deduced from every incident: a moral established by every dialogue.”
This aim is fully carried out in the little story, which is merely a peg whereon
to hang a moral, and is very sentimental.
STOKER, Bram. 1847-1912. B. in Dublin. Ed. T.C.D., where he had a
distinguished career. Entered Civil Service and was called to the Bar,
but subsequently for twenty-seven years secretary to Sir Henry Irving.
Wrote also Dracula, Miss Betty, The Mystery of the Sea, Snowbound,
&c., &c.
⸺ THE SNAKE’S PASS. Pp. 372. (Collier). 1s. New ed. [1891].
(N.Y.: Harper). 0.40. 1909.
A tale written around the strange phenomenon of a moving bog. Scene:
the Mayo coast, which is finely described. Hidden treasure, prophetic
dreams, attempted murder, and much love and sentiment are bound up
with the story. The sentiment is pure and even lofty. There is no bigotry
nor bias, and no vulgar stage-Irishism. Andy Sullivan, the carman, is drawn
with much humour and kindliness, but we cannot consider “Father Pether”
a true type of Irish priest.
STOKES, Whitley. Ed.
⸺ THE DESTRUCTION OF DÁ DERGA’S HOSTEL. (Paris:
Bouillon). 1902.
“Conary becomes king on condition that he abide by certain bonds (geasa)
imposed on him by his fairy kinsfolk. Having transgressed these conditions,
he comes to his death in a great affray with outlaws, who attack the hostel.
Portents and marvels are characteristic of the story from beginning to end.”—(Baker,
2).
“STRADLING, Matthew,” see MAHONY, Martin F.
STRAHAN, Samuel A. K., M.D.
⸺ THE RESIDENT MAGISTRATE. (London: Alexander & Shepherd).
1s. 1888.
A tale of the “Jubilee Coercion days.” The leading character is founded
on Captain Plunket of “Don’t hesitate to shoot” fame. With the doings
of this personage (which look like clippings from the Star newspaper of those
days) is mingled the story of a persecuted heroine suffering from an uncommon
form of mania (in which the Author was a specialist). Dr. Strahan was a
Belfast man. The materials of the story are handled, we think, with but
little skill. Another of his stories, Dead yet Speaketh (Arrowsmith), was founded
on the sudden death in his chambers in the Temple of an Irish fellow-student
of the Author.
STRAIN, E. H.
⸺ A MAN’S FOES. Pp. 467. (Ward, Lock). 6s. Illustr. by A.
Forestier. (N.Y.: New Amsterdam Book Co.). 0.50. [1895.] Three
Vols.
A strongly conceived and vigorously written historical tale of the siege of
Derry. Point of view aggressively English and Protestant. The personages
in the story often express bitterly anti-Catholic sentiments, but only such as
may reasonably be supposed to have been freely expressed at the period. The
Author, a Scottish lady resident in Ayrshire, has also published four other
works of fiction.
“SWAN, Annie S.”; Mrs. Burnett Smith. B. Mountskip, Goresbridge, N.B.
Ed. Edinburgh. Has written a great many novels. Resides in England
or at Kinghorn, Scotland.—(Who’s Who).
⸺ A SON OF ERIN. Pp. 344. (Hutchinson). 6s. Six illustr. 1899
and 1907.
Scene: first Edinburgh, then chiefly Co. Wicklow. Period: just before
retirement of Butt and rise of Parnell, who is one of the personages of the
tale. The interest turns on the discovery of the identity of a child abandoned
in Edinburgh when an infant. No love interest. Titles of over sixty of her
novels will be found in Mudie’s list.
SYKES, Jessica S. C.
⸺ THE M’DONNELLS. Pp. 299. (Heinemann). 6s. 1905.
Aims at presenting picture of early Victorian manners and morals as seen
in the life of this (rather unattractive) family, of Irish origin, but living in
England, and in their surroundings. It was a period lacking in ideals and
unstirred by new ideas, artistic, literary, or other. The Author paints it
stupid, gross, and material, and seems to sum it up as “humbug” (from a
review in the Athenæum).
Lord Charles Beresford, in a letter to the writer (see Pref.), acknowledges
the book as “a true picture of English and Irish life in the upper circles of
society five and forty years ago,” and that “it explains the idiocrasies (sic)
of the Irish people, both Nationalist and Orange, and gives a clear explanation
of the real causes of the unceasing discontent and strife existing in our sister
isle.” “I have tried to give a description of the condition ... to which
English females of position were reduced by a wave of Evangelical cant and
exaggerated morality....”—(Pref.). Has written also Algernon Casterton
and Mark Alston.
“SYNAN, A.,” see CLERY, A. E.
TAUNTON, M.
⸺ THE LAST OF THE CATHOLIC O’MALLEYS. (Washbourne.
N.Y.: Kenedy).
Scene: Western Mayo, about 1798, but no historical events are introduced.
An unpretentious little story, telling how Grace is married at fifteen
against her will to a disreputable young man. He grows fond of her, and
dies penitent three years after. Their child is stolen by a too fond nurse.
The child grows up and joins the navy. Years after, Grace, who has married a
naval officer, gets her sailor son back.
TAYLOR, Mary Imlay.
⸺ MY LADY CLANCARTY. Pp. 298. (Gay & Bird). Illus. by A. B.
Stephens. 1905.
“Being the true story of the Earl of Clancarty and Lady Elizabeth Spencer.”
Donough McCarthy, a Jacobite nobleman, married in childhood to wealthy
heiress of English Whig family, does not meet his bride again till many years
later, and then in strange circumstances. Scene: England in days of
William III., with glimpses of Ireland in the background. Appears to be
founded on Tom Taylor’s play, Clancarty.
TEMPLETON, Herminie.
⸺ DARBY O’GILL AND THE GOOD PEOPLE. (N.Y.: McClure).
1.50. 1903.
TENCH, Mary F. A. Resides in London, and writes a good deal for the
periodicals.
⸺ AGAINST THE PIKES. Pp. 357. (Russell). n.d. (1903).
How the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to the third and
fourth generation. Phil O’Brien, returning to Ireland after long years of
sin and suffering in Australia, finds his first love unchanged in heart—only
to see her taken from him by death. He foregoes for her sake revenge on
the man who had wrecked his life, and dies to save his enemy. Though the
characters are Irish, there is little about Irish life (nothing about pikes).
The whole book is very sad, the pathos of the close is painful, “navrant.”
By the same Author: Where the Surf Breaks, A Prince from the Great Never-Never,
&c.
THACKERAY, William Makepeace. The great novelist paid only one visit
to Ireland (1842), the immediate outcome of which was his Irish Sketch
Book (1843). The tone of this book gave great offence to Irishmen
generally. Sir Samuel Ferguson severed his connection with the Dublin
University Magazine because Lever, then editor, accepted Thackeray’s
dedication. He could speak of the Young Irelanders only in terms of
ridicule—witness his ballad “The Battle of Limerick”—though he
was a personal friend of Gavan Duffy. He derived some of the incidents
of Barry Lyndon from the chap-book, Life of Freney, which he read
one night in Galway. Many of the characters in his greater novels are
Irish, e.g., “The O’Mulligan,” said to be founded on W. J. O’Connell;
“Capt. Shandon,” whose original was Dr. Maginn; “Capt. Costigan”
and his famous daughter, “the Fotheringay,” said to be suggested by
the dramatic triumph of Miss O’Neill, afterwards Lady Becher. “Ye
hate us, Mr. Thackeray, ye hate the Irish,” said to him Anthony
Trollope’s old Irish coachman. “Hate you? God help me, when all I
ever loved on earth was Irish!” and his eyes filled with tears.—(Trollope).
His wife was Irish.
⸺ THE MEMOIRS OF BARRY LYNDON, ESQ. [1844]. Many
editions in all styles.
The autobiography of a blackguard and a cad, a compound of every vice—meanness,
mendacity, licentiousness, heartless selfishness. Add to these
swagger, vulgarity, and a fire-eating audacity, which, however, is always
on the safe side, and you have the portrait of the hero as painted by himself.
All the characters are vicious or contemptible or both, the English and other
foreigners no better than the Irish. Lyndon (real name Redmond Barry) belongs
to an ancient and decayed family, once aristocratic. The story tells how he
fights a duel at home in Ballybarry, falls in with swindlers in Dublin, deserts
from the army, serves under Frederick the Great in the Seven Years’ War,
becomes a professional but aristocratic gamester, marries (after a desperate
struggle) the rich Lady Lyndon, blazes through a brief season in Dublin
(1771), worries his wife into her grave, and finally runs through all his wealth.
There is some humour in places, but it is grim and sardonic, and does not
relieve the picture. Moral (see footnote near the close)—“Do not as many
rogues succeed in life as honest men? More fools than men of talent?”
Founded in part on the strange marriage of Andrew Bowes and the Countess
of Strathmore at end of eighteenth century.
THOMAS, Edward.
⸺ CELTIC STORIES. Pp. 128. (Oxford: The Clarendon Press). 1911.
“The Boyhood of Cuhoolin,” “Father and Son,” “The Battle of the
Companions” (C. and Ferdia), “The Death of C.,” “Deirdre and Naisi,”
“The Palace of the Quicken Trees,” “The Land of Youth.” The rest (pp. 82-end)
are Welsh tales. Told very plainly and briefly, yet not dully. The
diction is quite modern and prosaic. The grotesquer folk-lore elements
are not excluded. The Author has also publ. Norse Stories and many other
works on a variety of subjects.
THOMPSON, E. Skeffington. Was a granddaughter of John Foster, last
Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. She was an ardent Nationalist.
About 1889 she and her sister Mrs. Rae founded the Southwark Junior
Irish Literary Society.
⸺ MOY O’BRIEN. Pp. 300. (Gill). 3s. 6d. [1887]. New ed., 1914.
Deals with the politics of the day, but not to the neglect of the story,
which shows considerable literary power, though containing but little incident.
Strongly patriotic in tone. There is no religious bias. Treats of
social and political life in Ireland thirty or forty years ago. Ends with many
happy marriages. First appeared in U.S.A. in Harper’s (Irish Monthly).
THOMSON, C. L.
⸺ THE CELTIC WONDER WORLD. Pp. 155. (Horace Marshall). 1902.
No. 2 of the Romance Readers. Irish, Welsh, and Breton stories edited
for children. Very pretty and imaginative illustr. by E. Connor. The tales
are taken from good sources—Whitley Stokes, Standish O’Grady, Crofton
Croker, “Atlantis,” O’Curry, the Mabinogion, &c. Contains “Deirdre,”
“Ossian in the Land of Youth,” Cuchulainn stories, &c., told in simple but
not childish language.
THURNEYSEN, Rudolf.
⸺ SAGEN AUS DEM ALTEN IRLAND. Pp. 152. Demy 8vo. (Berlin:
Wiegandt & Grieben). 1901.
Short introd., then very briefly (in German, of course) the chief Irish sagas—the
Courtships of Etain and of Fraoch, Mesgedra, Bricriu, episodes from
the Cuchulainn cycle, the birth of Conachar, the Vision of MacConglinne, &c.
THURSTON, E. Temple. His novels are for the most part a series of studies
or rather pamphlets on the action and influence of the Catholic Church
on human nature. His conclusions are usually hostile to that Church.
His writings give constant evidence of misconception of Catholic doctrine.
Incidentally Irish types and scenes are introduced, and the writer is fond
of comments on Irish life and character. Moreover, his first four books
aim at “brutal” realism, or naturalism. His recent book, The City
of Beautiful Nonsense, is a reaction to Idealism. Besides his Irish novels,
noticed below, he has written Sally Bishop, The Evolution of Katherine,
The Realist, and other tales (more or less anti-Christian in tendency),
and Mirage.
⸺ THE APPLE OF EDEN. Pp. 323. (Chapman & Hall). 1905.
An argument against the celibacy of the clergy, conveyed in the story
of a young priest—his childhood, inexperience, life at Maynooth, first experiences
in confessional. Here he meets the woman whom he had loved.
He tells her that, but for the fact that she is married, he would break all ties
for her sake. There is much study of Irish life (in Waterford), but the Author
has nothing good to say about anything Irish, country doctors and priests
being especially attacked.
⸺ TRAFFIC. Pp. 452. (Duckworth). 1906.
Scene: Waterford and London. Has been well described by the
Athenæum as a pamphlet in guise of a story, the thesis being that the refusal
of the right of divorce in the Catholic Church may lead in practice to results
disastrous to morality. This is conveyed in the story of a girl who leaves
an unworthy Irish husband, and goes to London, where, being obliged to
refuse an offer of marriage from an honourable Protestant, she takes to
the streets. Contains strange misconceptions of Catholic doctrine and
morality.
⸺ THE GARDEN OF RESURRECTION. Pp. 307. (Chapman &
Hall). 6s. [1911]. 1912.
Sub-t.: “Being the love story of an ugly man”—viz., Bellairs, a confirmed
bachelor, who tells his own story. Overhears in restaurant conversation of
a young man, from which he learns that the latter is about to marry a young
West Indian girl named Clarissa, but cares only for her money. Bellairs
is struck with pity for her, and determines to tell Clarissa of the worthlessness
of Harry. He goes to the W. of Ireland, where Harry had left her in charge
of two maiden aunts. She will not believe him, and goes to London with
Harry. He betrays and deserts her: she comes back forlorn to Bellairs,
and they are married. The writer has a keen feeling for nature, and there
is much description. The character study is careful and the style is full of
pleasant whimsicalities. The “Cruikshank” and “Bellwattle” of The
Patchwork Papers reappear here.
⸺ THIRTEEN. Pp. 279. (Chapman & Hall). 1912.
Short stories reproduced from magazines. Three of the thirteen are little
bits of Irish—Wexford—life:—“The Little Sisters of Mercy,” “An Idyll
of Science,” and “Holy Ann.” The rest deal with London. There is
sentimentality and mannerism, but the literary craftsmanship is very good.
⸺ THE PASSIONATE CRIME: a Tale of the Faerie. Pp. 311. 6s.
(Chapman & Hall). 1915.
“The story of a strange murder—the murderer a poet—solitary among
the romantic atmosphere of the lonely Irish hills.”—(Times Lit. Sup.).
THURSTON, Katherine Cecil. B. Cork in 1875. Dau. of Paul Madden, a
friend of Parnell, and at one time nationalist mayor of Cork. She began
to write only in 1903, and married E. Temple Thurston, q.v. Died at
Cork, 1911. In this short period appeared six or seven novels. Of
John Chilcote, M.P., her greatest success, it is estimated that 200,000
copies were sold in America alone.
⸺ THE GAMBLER. (Hutchinson). 6s., and 6d. n.d. (1906). (N.Y.:
Harper). 1.50.
A psychological study of an Irish woman’s character. Treats of Protestant
upper middle class society, but questions of creed do not enter into the book.
The scene for about the first third of the book is laid in Ireland, in an
out-of-the-way country district. Then it shifts to Venice, and afterwards
to London. In both places the heroine moves in a smart set, whose empty
life and petty follies are well drawn. There is a problem of pathetic interest
centering in two ill-assorted marriages. The part about Irish life, showing
the foolish pride of some of the Irish gentry, is skilfully and sympathetically done.
⸺ THE FLY ON THE WHEEL. Pp. 327. (Blackwood). 6s. (N.Y.:
Dodd & Mead). 1.50. 1908.
Middle class Catholic society in Waterford, pictured, without satire, in its
exterior aspects by one quite familiar with them. The heroine is an impulsive,
self-willed girl in revolt against conventionality. With her Stephen Carey, a
middle-aged man, conventionally married, falls in love and is loved in return.
The theme on the whole is treated with restraint, yet there are passionate
scenes. The complication is ended by the intervention of a priest, whose
character is very sympathetically drawn. The end of all is the suicide of the
girl.
THYNNE, Robert.
⸺ RAVENSDALE. Three Vols. (Tinsley). 1873.
An attempt to represent the men and motives of the Emmet insurrection.
Point of view Unionist. Free from caricature, vulgarity, patois, and conventional
local colour. Scene at first in England, but mainly Dublin and Co.
Wicklow. Deals with fortunes of a family named Featherstone—loyalists,
with one exception, Leslie, who is a friend of Emmet. Michael Dwyer,
Emmet, Lord Kilwarden, &c., figure in the tale. Love, hatred, murder,
incidents of 1803, Emmet’s trial, escape of Leslie and his ultimate restoration
keep up the interest to the end, when the real murderer confesses.
⸺ TOM DELANY. Three Vols. (Tinsley). [1873]. 1876.
Begins with sale, in Encumbered Estates Court, of Mrs. Delany’s property
in the West. The family then emigrate to Melbourne, where the rest of the
story takes place. Most of the characters, however, are Irish, from Sergeant
Doolan to Mr. Brabazon. There are various love-affairs, ending some brightly,
others sadly; and there are pictures of life in the gold-diggings. Eventually
the estate is restored, and the family comes back to Ireland.
⸺ STORY OF A CAMPAIGN ESTATE. Pp. 429. (Long). 6s. Several
editions. 1899.
A tale of the Land League and the Plan of Campaign, written from the
landlord’s point of view. The estate is placed near the Curragh of Kildare.
The chief characters are nearly all drawn from the Protestant middle and
upper classes. There is also a fanatical Land League priest, and a peacemaking
one, of whom a favourable portrait is drawn. “More cruel,” says
the hero, “more selfish, more destructive than our fathers’ loins is the little
finger of this unwritten law of the land—this juggernaut before which the
people bow, and are crushed.” The question is ably argued out in many
places in the book. The Author seems to identify the Land League with
the worst secret societies, such as the Invincibles. The tone is not violent;
there is no caricaturing, and no brogue.
⸺ IRISH HOLIDAYS. Pp. 317. (Long). 6s. 1898, 1906, &c.
Story of an Englishman who goes down to spend his holidays with the
Rev. John Good, Curate of Coolgreany, somewhere in the Bog of Allen, six
miles from Birr and six from Banagher. Chiefly concerned, apart from a
few sporting incidents, with aspects of agrarian agitation. Traditional
English Conservative standpoint, accentuated by ignorance of Irish history
and present conditions, and by ludicrous misconceptions. Fanciful descriptions
of moonlighting, in which the peasantry appear as a mixture of fools
and ruffians. But little humour, and that unconscious. No objectionable
matter from religious or moral standpoint.
⸺ BOFFIN’S FIND. Pp. 324. (Long). 6s. 1899 and 1906.
An exciting tale of Australian life in the fifties. One of the characters is
a stage-Irishman of the earlier Lever type, who in one chapter relates his
experiences with the Ribbonmen.
⸺ JOHN TOWNLEY. Pp. 346. (Drane). 1901.
A political novel, “the last of a trilogy of Irish disaffection.”—(Pref.).
J. T. is an Anglican clergyman who becomes a Catholic and, later, a priest.
He comes to Ireland, where he finds the priests immersed in politics and
using the confessional for political purposes. He is involved in circumstances
of a tragic kind, and to escape from a disagreeable situation he goes
to S. Africa, where he reverts to Protestantism. Dwells much on boycotting,
moonlighting and murder. Describes the Phœnix Park murders, the subsequent
trial, and the murder of the informer. The interest is exclusively
political.
TOTTENHAM, G. L.
⸺ TERENCE McGOWAN, the Irish Tenant. Two Vols. (Smith, Elder).
1870.
Depicts, from the landlord’s point of view, the land struggle in the sixties.
This view-point is, in general, that “poor backward, barbarous, benighted
Ireland” owed whatever good it possessed to the landlord class: the influence
of the priest was evil: and Ireland’s troubles due mainly to the lawlessness
and unreasonableness of the people and the weakness of the government.
But the writer is not without knowledge of the people, and his pictures of
life are probably true enough in the main. The story is well told, and the
love story of Terence and Kathleen O’Hara and their sad fate is feelingly
related. The book brings out well the evil results of the rule of a thoroughly
unsympathetic landlord in the person of the English Mr. Majoribanks. An
idea is given of how elections were conducted at the time. This Author
wrote also Harry Egerton, Harcourt, and other novels.
TOWNSHEND, Dorothea.
⸺ THE CHILDREN OF NUGENTSTOWN and their Dealings with the
Sidhe.[14] Pp. 176. (Nutt). 3s. 6d. Eight good illustr. by Ruth Cobb.
1911.
The young Nugents, two boys and a girl, go to visit their Aunt in her
tumbledown old family place near Cork. The children get into touch with
the fairies, and as a result family papers are recovered and fortune smiles
once more on the Nugents.
“TRAVERS, Coragh,” see CRAWFORD, Mary S.
TRENCH, W. Stewart. 1808-1872. Was land agent in Ireland to the
Marquess of Lansdowne, the Marquess of Bath, and Lord Digby. Owing
to his very admirable character he came to be respected by the people.
His opinion of Irish character was very high. His views will be found
set forth more fully in his Realities of Irish Life.
⸺ IERNE. (Longmans). Two Vols. 1871.
“A study of agrarian crime ... in which the Author used material collected
for a history of Ireland, which he refrained from publishing owing to the
feeling occasioned by the controversy over the Irish Land Bill. He endeavours
... to show the causes of the obstinate resistance by the Irish to measures
undertaken for their benefit, and to show the method of cure.”—(Baker).
TROLLOPE, Anthony. 1815-1882. Lived in Ireland, 1841-1859, at Banagher
and at Clonmel. Finished in Ireland his first two novels, The MacDermotts
(1844), and The Kellys and O’Kellys (1848), both failures with
the public. He claims to have known the people, and was sympathetic
but anti-nationalist. It would be out of place here to dwell on the
place in English literature of the Author of Barchester Towers and The
Warden and Orley Farm, and the rest. An admirable contemporary
article on his novels will be found in Dublin Review, 1872, Vol. 71,
p. 393. The following deserves quotation: “This Englishman, keenly
observant, painstaking, absolutely sincere and unprejudiced, with a
lynx-like clearness of vision, and a power of literal reproduction of
which his clerical and domestic novels, remarkable as they exhibit it,
do not furnish such striking examples, writes a story as true to the
saddest and heaviest truths of Irish life, as racy of the soil, as rich with
the peculiar humour, the moral features, the social oddities, the subtle
individuality of the far west of Ireland as George Eliot’s novels are true
to the truths of English life.”
⸺ THE MACDERMOTTS OF BALLYCLORAN. (Lane). 1s. [1844].
1909.
Scene: Co. Leitrim. Chief characters: the members of a broken-down
Catholic county family. Miss MacDermott is engaged to a Sub-Inspector
of police. This latter, because of certain difficulties that stand in the way
of their marriage, attempts to elope with her. Her brother comes on the
scene, and there is an affray, in which the Sub-Inspector is killed. Young
MacDermott is tried and publicly hanged. This is the mere outline. More
interesting is the background of Irish rural life, seen in its comic and quaint
aspect, by an observant and not wholly unsympathetic Englishman. The
portrait of the grand old Father John M’Grath is most life-like and engaging,
but the pictures of low life in the village and among the illicit stills is vulgar in
tone and the humour somewhat coarse. The book is spoken of by a competent
critic, Sir G. O. Trevelyan, as in some respects the Author’s best. The Author
himself considers this his best plot. It has been spoken of as “one of the most
melancholy books ever written.”
⸺ THE KELLYS AND THE O’KELLYS. (Chapman & Hall). [1848].
New ed., 1907. (Lane). 1s.
Scene: Dunmore, Co. Galway, at the time of O’Connell’s trial, 1844.
Mainly a love story of the upper classes. Some clever portraits, e.g., Martin
Kelly, the Widow Kelly, and the hero, Frank O’Kelly, Lord Ballindine.
Picture of hard-riding, hard-drinking, landlord class. A much more cheerful
story than the preceding. It is fresh and genuinely humorous, and the
human interest is very strong. The seventh London ed. appeared in 1867.
⸺ CASTLE RICHMOND. Pp. 474. (Harper, Ward, Lock). 2s. [1860].
Fifth London ed., 1867. Still in print.
Scene: Co. Cork during the Famine years, 1847, and following, with
which it deals fully. Tale of two old Irish families. The plot is commonplace
enough but redeemed by great skill in the treatment, by admirable delineation
of character, and by the drawing of the background. Absolutely cool and free
from partisanship, he yet draws such a picture of those dreadful times as, in
days to come, it will be difficult to accept as free from exaggeration. It
is a graphic and terrible picture. The noble character of Owen Fitzgerald is
finely drawn. There are touches of pleasant humour and of satire.
⸺ PHINEAS FINN, the Irish Member. (Bell). 1866.
⸺ PHINEAS REDUX. (Bell). 1874.
A study of political personalities. The scene is London, and the story is
little, if at all, concerned with Ireland.
⸺ THE LAND LEAGUERS. Three Vols. (Chatto & Windus). 1883.
Story of an English Protestant family who buy a property and settle in
Galway. The book was never finished, and has, perhaps, little interest as
a novel. But the life and incidents of the period are well rendered, notably
the trials of people who are boycotted. Much sympathy with the people is
displayed by the Author, and, on the whole, fair views of the faults and
misunderstandings on both sides are expressed. The plot turns on the
enmity of a peasant towards his landlord, whom he tries to injure in every
way. The landlord’s little son is the only witness against the peasant. The
child is murdered for telling what he knows. There is some harsh criticism
of Catholic priests.
TROTTER, John Bernard. 1775-1818. Of a Co. Down family, and brother
of E. S. Ruthven, M.P. for Dublin. Ed. T.C.D.; B.A., 1795. Barrister,
and private secretary to Charles James Fox. Died in great poverty in
Cork. His Walks in Ireland is his best known work, though he wrote
many other works, literary and political.
⸺ STORIES FOR CALUMNIATORS. Two Vols. (Dublin: Fitzpatrick).
1809.
“Interspersed with remarks on the disadvantages, misfortunes, and habits
of the Irish.” Dedicated to Lord Holland. A remarkable book in many ways.
Through the medium of three stories, largely based on fact, the Author sets
forth instances of the sad aftermath of the rebellion, illustrating the tragic
consequences that may ensue if those in authority listen to the voice of slander
and condemn on suspicion. The stories are told to a Mr. Fitzmaurice by
persons related to the victims, and Mr. F.’s own romance is interwoven with
the tale. Incidentally the Author gives his own views on Irish politics,
views full of the most kindly tolerance and of true patriotic feeling without
ráiméis. He seems not a Catholic, but is most friendly towards Catholics.
He is strongly in favour of the Irish language, of land reform, and of the
higher education of women—astonishing views considering the period.
TURK, S. A.
⸺ THE SECRET OF CARRICFEARNAGH CASTLE. (Washbourne).
2s. [1912]. Second ed., 1915.
“It has a somewhat sensational plot; but it certainly displays the deep
piety, patriotism, and Christian charity of Erin’s sons and daughters.”—(Publ.).
TYNAN, Katherine; Mrs. H. A. Hinkson. Born in Dublin, 1861, ed. Dominican
Convent, Drogheda. Lived for many years in England, but now resides
in Co. Mayo. Her stories aim at the purely romantic. As they are not
concerned with the seamy side of life, their atmosphere is almost entirely
happy and ideal. They are never morbid nor depressing. They do
not preach, and are not of the goody-goody type. The style is pleasant
and chatty, with plenty of colour, often full of the poet’s vivid sense
impressions. The tone is thoroughly Catholic, the sentiment Irish.
Mrs. Hinkson is a very prolific writer. Besides the novels mentioned,
and several volumes of poems, she has written several novels which are
not concerned with Ireland, e.g., A Red Red Rose, The Luck of the Fairfaxes,
Dick Pentreath, For Maisie, Mary Gray, &c. In choice of subject
she has made a speciality of broken-down gentlefolk, and often introduces
Quakers into her stories.
⸺ A CLUSTER OF NUTS. Pp. 242. (Lawrence & Bullen). 1894.
Seventeen short sketches written for English periodicals. Subject: daily
life of the peasantry—the village “characters,” a spoilt priest, the migrating
harvesters, and a pathetic picture of a poor old village priest. Charming
descriptions of scenery, not too long drawn out. Much tender and unaffected
pathos.
⸺ AN ISLE IN THE WATER. Pp. 221. (Black). 1895.
Fifteen short pieces collected out of various English periodicals. The
scene of about half of them is an unnamed island off the West coast. The
scene of the other is Achill. The title does not cover the rest. Sketches
chiefly of peasant life, in which narrative (sometimes told in dialogue) predominates.
The stories are very varied. There are pathetic sketches of
young girls: “Mauryeen,” “Katie,” “How Mary came Home”; tales of
the supernatural, such as “The Death Spancel”; “A Rich Woman,” a
racy story of legacy hunting; while heroic self-sacrifice is depicted in “The
Man who was hanged” and “A Solitary.” The last two pieces in the book
are not stories: they are musings or subjective impressions.
⸺ THE WAY OF A MAID. Pp. 300. (Lawrence & Bullen). 1895.
Domestic and social life in Coolevara, a typical Irish country town, chiefly
among Catholic middle class folk. It is a simple and pleasant story of love
and marriage with a happy ending.
⸺ A LAND OF MIST AND MOUNTAIN. Pp. 195. (Catholic Truth
Society). 1895.
Short sketches of Irish life written with the Author’s accustomed tenderness
and simple pathos. Noteworthy are the tales that contain Jimmy, the
Wicklow peasant lad, who loves all animals; the prodigal who returns after
twenty years, and the exiles Giuseppe and Beppo, in their queer little Dublin
shop. Real persons—Rose Kavanagh, Ellen O’Leary, and Sarah Atkinson—are
introduced in a fictitious setting.
The Land I Love Best is another series of eight tales issued by the same
publishers about 1898. 200 pages.
⸺ THE DEAR IRISH GIRL. (Smith, Elder). 6s. (Chicago: McClurg).
1.50.
Motherless, and an only child, Biddy O’Connor brings herself up in a big,
lonely Dublin house. Dr. O’Connor lives amid his memories and his books.
Biddy is a winsome girl, and keeps the reader’s heart from the time we first
meet her with the homeless dogs of Dublin as her favourite companions to
the day when she weds the master of Coolbawn. The chief charm of the
book lies in the picture of life amid the splendid scenery of Connaught. The
book has a pleasant atmosphere of bright simplicity and quick mirthfulness.
The Spectator calls it “fresh, unconventional, and poetic.”
⸺ SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY. Pp. 310. (Smith, Elder). (Chicago:
McClurg). 1.50. 1899.
Three delightful girls of a class which the Author delights to picture—impoverished
gentry and their love affairs. The minor characters, servants,
village people, &c., are very humorous and true to life. In this story the
course of true love is by no means smooth, but all is well at the last. The
scene varies between “Carrickmoyle” and London.
⸺ A GIRL OF GALWAY. (Blackie). 5s. Handsome gift-book binding.
1900.
She stays with her grandfather, a miserly old recluse living in the wilds of
Connemara, seeing nobody but his agent, an unscrupulous fellow, in whom
he has perfect confidence. A love affair is soon introduced. It seems hopeless
at first, but turns out all right owing to a strange unlooked for event.
Pleasant and faithful picture of Connemara life.
⸺ THREE FAIR MAIDS. Pp. 381. (Blackie). 6s. [1900]. (N.Y.:
Scribner). 1.50. Twelve illustr. by G. Demain Hammond. 1909.
The three daughters of Sir Jasper Burke are of the reduced county family
class, about which the Author loves to write. The expedient of receiving
paying guests results in matrimony for the three girls. With this simple plot
there are all the things that go to make Katharine Tynan’s works delightful
reading: insight into character, impressions of Irish life, lovable personalities
of many types.
⸺ A DAUGHTER OF THE FIELDS. (Smith, Elder). 6s. (Chicago:
McClurg). 1900.
“Another gracious Irish girl. Well educated, and brought up to a refined
and easy life, she applies herself to the drudgery of farm work rather than
desert her toiling mother; but the novelist finds her a husband and a more
fortunate lot.”—(Baker).
⸺ A UNION OF HEARTS. Pp. 296. (Nisbet). 2s. 6d. and 1s. 6d. n.d.
[1900].
A typical example of Mrs. Hinkson’s stories. The main plot is a simple,
idyllic love-story. The hero, much idealized, is an Englishman who tries to
do good to his Irish tenants in his own way, and hence incurs their hatred,
for a time. The heroine is an heiress come of a good old stock. Several
of the characters are cleverly sketched: old Miss Lucy Considine and her
antiquarian brother, in particular. Scenes of peasant life act as interludes
to the main action, which lies in county family society. All the chief persons
are Protestants, but the religious element is quite eliminated from the book.
⸺ THAT SWEET ENEMY. (Constable). 6s. (Philadelphia: Lippincott).
1.50. 1901.
“A sentimental story of two Irish girls, children of a decayed house;
their love affairs, the hindrance to their happiness, and the matrimonial
dénouement.”—(Baker).
⸺ A KING’S WOMAN. Pp. 155. (Hurst & Blackett). 6d. [1902].
1905.
Told by Penelope Fayle, a young Quaker gentlewoman, a loyalist or King’s
woman, but sympathetic to the Irish. Scene: a Leinster country house
in 1798. No descriptions of the fighting, but glimpses of the cruelty of Ancient
Britons, yeomanry, &c., and of the dark passions of the time. Racy,
picturesque style, with exciting incidents and dramatic situations.
⸺ THE HANDSOME QUAKER. Pp. 252. (A. H. Bullen). 1902.
Eighteen exquisite little stories and sketches dealing, nearly all, with the
lives of the poorest peasantry. They have all the Author’s best qualities.
⸺ LOVE OF SISTERS. Pp. 344. (Smith, Elder). 6s. [1902]. Third
ed. 1908.
The scene varies between the West of Ireland and Dublin. A love-story, in
which the central figures are Phillippa Featherstonhaugh and her sister,
Colombe: a contrast in character, but each lovable in her own way. The plot
turns on the unselfish devotion of the former, who, believing that her lover
has transferred his affections to her sister, heroically stands aside. We shall
not reveal the dénouement. The minor characters are capital, all evidently
closely copied from life. There are the elderly spinsters, Miss Finola and Miss
Peggy, and quite a number of charming old ladies, the country priest and
the sisters’ bustling, philanthropic mother, always in a whirl of correspondence
about her charities, and others equally interesting.
⸺ A DAUGHTER OF KINGS. (Nash). 6s. (N.Y.: Benziger). 1.25.
1903.
The daughter of a broken-down aristocratic county family is obliged to
take service as chaperon in an English family. Careful study of girl’s lovable
character. Contrast between the pride and poverty of Witches’ Castle, Co.
Donegal, and opulence of English home.
⸺ THE HONOURABLE MOLLY. Pp. 312. (Smith, Elder). Second
impression, 1903.
The Honourable Molly is of mixed Anglo-Irish aristocratic (her father
was a Creggs de la Poer) and Scoto-Irish middle class origin (her mother’s
people were O’Neills and Sinclairs). She has two suitors, one is from her
mother’s people, the other is the heir to Castle Creggs and the title. Both
are eminently worthy of her hand. She finally chooses one, after having
accepted the other. Has all the sweetness and femininity of Katherine
Tynan’s work. Is frankly romantic but not mawkish. There is no approach
to a villain. There is some quiet and good-natured satire of old-fashioned
aristocratic class-notions. The portraits of the two old maiden aunts are
very clever.
⸺ JULIA. Pp. 322. (Smith, Elder). 6s. Second impression, 1904.
How a baseless slander nearly ruined the life of Julia, the Cinderella of
her family, how she was nearly lost to her lover, and by what strange turns
of fortune she was restored. The chief characters belong to two branches of
a Kerry family, whose history is that of many another in Ireland. Julia’s
mother is a splendid type of the old-fashioned Irish matron. There is touching
pathos in the picture of the Grace family (minor personages of the tale)—a
mother’s absolute devotedness to a pair of thankless and worthless daughters.
The old parish priest, too, is well drawn.
⸺ THE ADVENTURES OF ALICIA. (White). 6s. 1906.
“A characteristically winning story of a poor young Irish girl, who had to
serve English employers, but, in spite of all temptations, remained true to
her Irish lover.”—(Press Notice).
⸺ THE STORY OF BAWN. Pp. 312. (Smith, Elder). 6s. (Chicago:
McClurg). 1.50. 1906.
One of the Author’s prettiest stories. Family of high standing falls into
the meshes of money-lender. The daughter consents to marry him—but
the plot need not be revealed. The scene appears to be Co. Kerry in the early
’sixties, but there seem to be some anachronisms.
⸺ HER LADYSHIP. Pp. 305. (Smith, Elder). 6s. (Chicago: McClurg).
1.25. Second impression, 1907.
Lady Anne Chute is mistress of a vast estate in Co. Kerry. From the
moment of her succession to the property she resolves to act the part of
Providence in her people’s lives. She sets about improving their condition,
founding industries, &c., and with full success. This is the background to a
love-story. Old Miss Chenevix, once a “lady,” but now living almost on the
verge of starvation in an obscure quarter of Dublin, is a pathetic figure.
Pathetic also is the devotion of her old servant to the fallen fortunes of the
family. Then there is the picture, drawn with exquisite sympathy, of the
poor girl dying of consumption, and of how her religion exalted and brightened
her last days. The descriptions or rather impressions of nature which brighten
the story are peculiarly vivid.
⸺ THE HOUSE OF THE CRICKETS. (Smith, Elder). 1908.
A story of Irish peasant farmer life. The heroine lives, with her brothers
and sisters, a life of abject slavery, ruled by a tyrannical and puritanical
father. In this wretched home she and her brother, Richard, develop noble
qualities of character and mind. The members of the family are very life-like
portraits, and the picture of Irish life is drawn with much care and skill.
⸺ MEN AND MAIDS. Pp. 294. (Sealy, Bryers). 3s. 6d. Illustr. by
Dorothea Preston. 1908.
A collection of short stories, chiefly thoroughly romantic love-stories.
“A Big Lie” is, however, of a different character, and the Author has hardly
ever written a more delightful story.
⸺ PEGGY THE DAUGHTER. Pp. 335. (Cassell). 1909.
A romance of Ireland in early Victorian days. A young spendthrift nobleman,
a widower, runs away with Priscilla, a Quakeress, and also an heiress.
The description of the pursuit is exciting and dramatic. The penalty of
his deed is a long imprisonment, from which he issues a sadder and wiser
man. Priscilla’s care of his little daughter, Peggy, in the meantime is a
pathetic story. The plot suggested by the attempted abduction by Sir H.
B. Hayes of the Quakeress, Miss Pike, of Cork.
⸺ COUSINS AND OTHERS. Pp. 319. (Laurie). 1909.
Eleven stories. The title story, the longest (there are nine chapters) tells
how a shabby branch of an old Irish family finally won recognition by means
of a marriage with the supposed heir and by the finding of certain old family
papers. Contains some goodnatured satire on the snobbishness of Irish
county society. One of the remaining stories is Irish in subject. All show
the Author’s best qualities—freshness, charm, and cheerful optimism.
⸺ THE HANDSOME BRANDONS. (Blackie). 3s. 6d. New ed. Illustr.
by G. Demain Hammond.
How a marriage between scions of two ancient Irish houses heals a long-standing
feud.
⸺ THE HOUSE OF THE SECRET. Pp. 314. (James Clarke). 6s.
1910.
The story of Maeve Standish’s self-sacrifice in the sorrow-shadowed home
of her father’s old friend, Miss Henrietta O’Neill, of her ultimate good fortune,
and finally of her happy marriage. The setting is entirely Irish.—(Press
Notice).
⸺ HEART O’ GOLD; or, The Little Princess. Pp. 344. (Partridge).
3s. 6d.
Story of how Cushla MacSweeney and her sister, left as orphans, are carried
off from their tumbled-down Irish home and brought up at Tunbridge Wells.
How Cushla returns at twenty-one full of dreams for the improvement of
Ireland, and is aided in her plans by a young man whom she afterwards
marries. Full of the Author’s interesting character-studies.
⸺ THE STORY OF CECILIA. Pp. 304. (Smith, Elder). 6s. (N.Y.:
Benziger). 1.00. 1911.
Scene: Kerry and Dublin. Two stories, of mother and daughter, Ciss and
Cecilia, interwoven. Ciss’s fiancé is reported killed. She loses her reason
and persuades herself that a Dr. Grace, who is of peasant extraction, is her
lover come back. To save her from the asylum Lord Dromore, her cousin
and guardian, has to consent unwillingly to the marriage. The absent lover
returns, but she does not meet him for twenty years. Meanwhile Ciss’s
mésalliance is causing trouble in the course of Cecilia’s love for Lord Kilrush.
But all ends happily. The characters are mainly drawn from the
denationalised Irish upper classes. The story is told with much charm.
⸺ PRINCESS KATHARINE. Pp. 320. (Ward). 6s. 1912.
A girl educated much above her mother’s condition in life and mixing in
upper class society.
⸺ ROSE OF THE GARDEN. Pp. 312. (Constable). 1912.
The story of Lady Sarah Lennox (1745-1826) in the form of fiction. A
good many Irish members of the beau monde appear in the tale. It is not
for young readers. See The Life and Letters of Lady Sarah Lennox, edited
by the Countess of Ilchester and Lord Stavordale. Two vols. (Murray).
⸺ A SHAMEFUL INHERITANCE. Pp. 324. (Cassell). 6s. 1914.
“Katharine Tynan, in her gentle way, puts before us the growing up of
the boy Pat in ignorance of the disgrace (a jewel robbery) of his mother and
the suicide of his father, and the effect upon him of the disclosure. A lovable
and spiritual Father Peter plays a leading part in it all.”—(T. Litt. Suppl.).
Pat finds his mother in time to comfort her deathbed, and in the end marries
an old friend. Somewhat vague, and not free from inconsistencies.
⸺ COUNTRYMEN ALL. Pp. 238. (Maunsel). 2s. 1915.
A volume of stories and sketches, very varied in its contents, from well-told
but rather unconvincing little melodramas like “The Fox Hunter” and “John
’a Dreams” to very vivid glimpses of life, choses vues et vécues. These show
various sides of Irish life and character; an unpleasant side in “The Ruling
Passion” (a woman discussing her own funeral with her daughter), as
well as the pleasant and lovable aspects. “The Mother” and “The Mother
of Jesus” are little studies of exquisite tenderness. Several of the sketches
are humorous, for instance the weird episode, “Per istam sanctam unctionem,”
related by a priest. The scene of several seems to be the neighbourhood
of Dublin.
⸺ THE HOUSE OF THE FOXES. Pp. 307. (Smith, Elder). 6s. 1915.
The Turloughmores are overshadowed by a curse made long ago by an
old woman wounded to death by the hounds of a former Lord T. when hunting.
According to the curse, every head of the house must die a violent death, in
forewarning of which foxes will be seen in twos and threes about the house
for some time before. The actual Lord T. is expected home from his yachting
cruise, his wife ever in dread of the doom. He is wrecked and apparently
lost, but Meg Hildebrand, who is staying at the castle, discovers the almost
dying lord in mysterious circumstances. He dies in his bed, his heir is married
into a lucky house, and the curse is said to be lifted. Founded on a legend
(still current) of a well-known Irish family. Many threads of various interest
are woven into the tale.
⸺ MEN, NOT ANGELS, and Other Tales told to Girls. (Burns & Oates).
3s. 6d. Many full-p. illustr. 1915.
Dainty stories, healthy and pleasant in tone, not weakly sentimental,
definitely Catholic in character. Laid in various countries—England, France,
Switzerland, as well as Ireland. Sympathetic studies of priests.
UPTON, W. C.
⸺ UNCLE PAT’S CABIN. Pp. vi. + 284. (Gill). 1882.
“Or life among the agricultural labourers of Ireland.” “All the facts
relative to the agricultural labourer in these pages can be vouched for.”—(Pref.).
Describes vividly the long struggle of a labourer against adversity,
the evils arising out of the competition for the land. A graphic picture of
the conditions of the poor. Scene: Co. Limerick in the years from 1847 to
1880 or so. The writer was a carpenter working at Ardagh, who afterwards
went to America. The chapters relating to a parliamentary contest are less
valuable than the rest of the book. Lecky, in his “History of Ireland in the
Eighteenth Century” (Vol. 3, ch. 8, pp. 413-14 in a footnote), speaks of the
book as “one of the truest and most vivid pictures of the present condition
of the Irish labourer.”
VAIZEY, Mrs. G. de Horne.
⸺ PIXIE O’SHAUGHNESSY.
Scene: first, a fashionable English girls’ school, afterwards a half-ruined
castle in the West of Ireland. The book is taken up with the amusing scrapes
and other adventures of a wild little Irish girl, and with the love affairs of
her sisters. Gives a good, if somewhat overdrawn, picture of Irish character,
especially of traditional Irish hospitality.
⸺ MORE ABOUT PIXIE. (R.T.S.). 6d. 1910.
⸺ THE FORTUNES OF THE FARRELLS. Pp. 190. (Leisure Hour
Library Office). 6d. 1911.
VANCE, Louis Joseph.
⸺ TERENCE O’ROURKE, Gentleman Adventurer. Pp. 393. (E.
Grant Richards). 1906.
Thrilling adventures of a penniless soldier, who goes about Don Quixote-wise
rescuing distressed damsels—each more beautiful than the last—fighting
duels, and so forth. A good story of its class, and free from anything objectionable.
VEREKER, Hon. C. S., M.A., F.G.S.
⸺ OLD TIMES IN IRELAND. Three Vols. (Chapman & Hall). 1873.
The Author was commandant of the Limerick City Artillery Militia and
son of Lord Gort. Chiefly heavy light-comedy, with conventional characters
and an air of unreality about the whole. The humour, the dialect, the
characteristics of the various personages, all are highly exaggerated. A
Lord Lieutenant, a Duke, the absurd Mr. and Mrs. O’Rafferty, the still more
absurd love-sick schoolmaster, ruffianly Terry Alts, figure, among many
others, in the tale.
VERNE, Jules.
⸺ FOUNDLING MICK (P’tit Bonhomme). Pp. 303. (Sampson, Low).
Seventy-six good illustr. 1895.
The very varied and often exciting adventures of a poor waif. Rescued
from a travelling showman at Westport, Co. Mayo, he is sent to a poor school
in Galway, resembling the workhouse in Oliver Twist. Further adventures
bring him to Limerick, and then to Tralee, and afterwards to many other
parts of Ireland. The book is written in thorough sympathy with Ireland,
and in particular with the sufferings of the poor under iniquitous Land Laws,
though at times with a little exaggeration. There is a vivid description of
an eviction. Other aspects of Irish life are touched on, and with considerable
knowledge. Dublin, Belfast, Killarney, Bray, are some of the places described.
The spirit is Catholic: witness the kindly words on page 8 about
Irish priests.
“WALDA, Viola.”
⸺ MISS PEGGY O’DILLON; or, the Irish Critic. (Gill). 1890.
WALSHE, Miss E. H.
⸺ THE FOSTER BROTHERS OF DOON. Pp. 394. (R.T.S.). Illustr.
n.d. (c. 1865).
The foster-brothers are Myles Furlong, a Co. Wexford blacksmith on the
rebel side in the rising of ’98, and Capt. Butler, a loyalist. Their respective
adventures amid the historic events of the time are very well told. The
Captain’s election as M.P. for Doon is well described. Putnam McCabe,
Hamilton Rowan, Tone, Curran, and Jackson appear in the tale. Dialect
good. Leans to loyalist side. “Written from a decidedly Protestant standpoint.”—(Nield).
⸺ GOLDEN HILLS. (R.T.S.). 1865.
The Famine.
⸺ THE MANUSCRIPT MAN; or, the Bible in Ireland. Pp. 226. (R.T.S.).
1869.
In the biographical note prefixed to this story we are told that the Author
was all her life interested and actively engaged in evangelical work. She
was born in Limerick, 1835, died 1868. The story tells how a family of
Protestant landowners succeeded in distributing among their Catholic
tenantry copies of the Bible in Irish, and thereby converted a number of
them to Protestantism. The converts afterwards emigrate and settle in
America. Scene: apparently West Connaught. Throughout, “Romanism”
and “Romish” practices are contrasted with Protestantism, greatly to the
disadvantage of the former. The book is well and interestingly written.
WARD, Mrs.
⸺ WAVES ON THE OCEAN OF LIFE: a Dalriadian Tale. Pp. 322.
(Simpkin). 1869.
Domestic life, with glimpses of religious and political strife in Ulster at
close of eighteenth century truthfully delineated. Scene: Lough Erne and
Antrim, the scenery of Dunluce and the Causeway described, and some real
incidents introduced. Sympathetic towards the people, and does not disparage
the ’98 insurgents.
WATSON, Helen H.
⸺ PEGGY, D.O.: the Story of the Seven O’Rourkes. Pp. 312. (Cassell).
3s. 6d. Four coloured plates from drawings by Gertrude Steele. 1910.
The story told by a little lame girl of fourteen of a proud Irish family reduced
to a cheap flat, and living in discomfort and anxiety without losing their
cheerfulness of heart. There is both humour and pathos. We are introduced
to some pleasant and lovable children.
WENTZ, Walter Yeeling Evans.
⸺ THE FAIRY-FAITH IN CELTIC COUNTRIES: Its Psychica
Origin and Nature. (Rennes: Imprimerie Oberthur). 1909.
The Author is Docteur ès Lettres, France; A.M., Stanford College, California;
Member of Jesus College, Oxford; an American, and a pupil of
Sir John Rhys, q.v. An investigation and discussion of “that specialised
form of belief in a subjective realm inhabited by subjective beings which
has existed from prehistoric times until now in Ireland, Scotland, Man,
Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany.” The Author, a believer in the existence
of fairies, went himself through many parts of the countries above mentioned
and spoke with and studied the peasantry. Divisions of work: I. The Living
Fairy Faith Psychically Considered. II. The Recorded Fairy Faith Psychically
Considered. III. The Cult of Gods, Spirits, Fairies, and the Dead. IV. The
Fairy Faith Reconstructed.
[WEST, Jane]. 1758-1852. B. in London; the wife of a farmer in Northamptonshire.
Author of A Gossip’s Story.
⸺ THE HISTORY OF NED EVANS: A Tale of the Times. Two Vols.
(Dublin). [1796]. 1805.
Title-p.:—“Interspersed with moral and critical remarks; anecdotes
and characters of many persons well known in the polite world; and incidental
strictures on the present state of Ireland.” The hero is supposed to
be the son of a Welsh parson. The story opens in 1779, and is the love story
of the Lady Cecilia, daughter of Lord Ravensdale, and the hero, who turns
out in the end to be the true Lord Ravensdale. The story is full of incident.
Ch. xxii. brings the hero to Ireland. He has some adventures in Dublin,
which is partly described; then goes down to Ravensdale, which is seventy-six
miles from Dublin. He goes to the American war, and has many adventures
with Indians, narrow escapes, &c.; but finally returns to wed Cecilia.
The story is highly moral and sentimental, with a religious tone. The
characters are mainly of the Anglo-Irish gentry—Lord Rivers, Lord Squanderfield,
&c. The then state of Ireland is but slightly dwelt on.
[WESTRUP, Margaret]; Mrs. W. Sydney Stacey. Author of Elizabeth’s
Children.
⸺ THE YOUNG O’BRIENS. Pp. 347. (Lane). 6s. 1906.
Doings of a family of Irish children left with an aunt in London during
their father’s absence in India. With all their fun and pranks the children
pine in London and long for the meadows and the woods of their home in
Kilbrannan.
WEYMAN, Stanley.
⸺ THE WILD GEESE. (Hodder & Stoughton). 6s. 1908. (N.Y.:
Doubleday). 1.50. New thin paper ed., pp. 384, 2s. 1911.
Story of an abortive rising in Kerry in reign of George I., with exciting
situations and a love interest. Style clear and vigorous. Irish characters
nearly all vacillating, treacherous, and fanatical. Generally considered as
giving an unreal idea of the times.
WHISTLER, Rev. Charles Watts. B. 1856. Author of a series of admirable
stories for boys.
⸺ A SEA QUEEN’S SAILING. (Nelson). 3s. 6d. 1907.
The Vikings about A.D. 935, time of Hakon the Good. Adventures of,
among others, an Irish prince with the Vikings. Scene: northern and Irish
coasts. Juvenile.
⸺ A PRINCE ERRANT. (Nelson). 2s. 6d. 1908.
S.W. Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland about A.D. 792. Saxon, Briton, Norseman,
and Dane. Juvenile.
WHITE, Captain L. Esmonde.
⸺ IRISH COAST TALES OF LOVE AND ADVENTURE. Pp. 307.
(Smith, Elder). 1865.
Contains two tales—(1) “The Black Channel of Cloughnagawn;” (2) “The
Lovers of Ballyvookan.” Dr. Small goes to the west as a dispensary doctor,
and meets the various types of character. The pursuit of a slave ship is
well described, as are the men who man the western hookers, and know every
turn of the dangerous Black Channel. The second deals with the wreck of
H.M.S. Wasp and the love story of Norah Flynn. Both are exciting stories.
The brogue is fairly good.
[WHITTY, Michael James]. (1795-1873).
⸺ TALES OF IRISH LIFE. Two Vols. 12mo. (London: Robins).
Six illustr. by Cruikshank. 1824.
“Illustrative of the manners, customs, and condition of the people.”
Contents:—“Limping Mogue,” “The Rebel,” “The Absentee,” “The
Robber,” “The Witch of Scollough’s Gap,” “The Informer,” “The Poor
Man’s Daughter,” “Poor Mary,” “North and South, or Prejudice Removed”
(showing, see especially pp. 29 sq., V. II., the Author’s freedom from bigotry),
“The Priest’s Niece,” “The Last Chieftain of Erin,” “Turn-coat Watt”
(Proselytism), “Protestant Bill,” &c. Intended “to disabuse the public
mind and communicate information on a subject confessedly of importance.”
Excellent stories by a journalist very well known in his day. B. Wexford,
1795, he came to London in 1821. In 1823 he was appointed editor of the
London and Dublin Magazine, in which he published his work on Robert
Emmet. From 1829 till his death he lived and worked in Liverpool. His
Liverpool Daily Post, 1855, was the first penny daily paper.—(D.N.B.).
His son, E. M. Whitty (1827-1860), was a brilliant journalist, and wrote a
novel: Friends in Bohemia, and Parliamentary Portraits.
WHYTE-MELVILLE, Major G. J. (1821-1878). Had Irish connections
and wrote many novels. Killed in hunting field—a death he had often
described.
⸺ SATANELLA: A story of Punchestown. Pp. 307. (Chapman and
Hall). 1873. 2s. other eds.
A racy story of sportsmen and soldiers. Opens in Ireland and scene
shifts to London. The talk of grooms and trainers fairly well done. The
fate of the heroine and the famous black mare, both called “Satanella,” is
tragic.
WILDE, Lady; “Speranza.” Well known as a poet of the Nation, one
of the most passionately patriotic of them all. B. in Wexford, 1826.
D. in London, 1896.
⸺ ANCIENT LEGENDS OF IRELAND. Pp. 350. (Ward & Downey).
6s. 1888.
A collection of fairy stories, legends, descriptions of superstitious practices,
medicals cures and charms, robber stories, notes on holy wells, &c., taken
down from the peasantry, some in Gaelic, some in English. The legends, &c.,
are preceded by a learned essay on the origin and history of legend, and the
book concludes with chapters on Irish art and ethnology and a lecture by
Sir W. Wilde on the ancient races of Ireland. Contains a vast amount of
matter useful to the folk-lorist, to the general reader, and even to the historian.
The stories are rather pathetic and tender than humorous. Wrote also
Ancient Cures, Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland, Driftwood from Scandinavia,
The American Irish, &c.
WILLIAMS, Charles. B. Coleraine, 1838. D. London, 1904. The celebrated
war correspondent of the Daily Chronicle and Standard; first editor
of Evening News, and founder of the Press Club. Wrote a Life of Sir
Evelyn Wood.
⸺ JOHN THADDEUS MACKAY. Pp. 327. (Burleigh). (1889). 6s.
In this clever novel the Author draws upon his recollections of early days
in Ulster. The hero, “a stickit minister,” goes out to India in company
with a “Howley” father, so named after a famous Archbishop of Canterbury,
and both learn charity and brotherly love and see the narrowness of their own
views through mixing with the natives. Many real personages are introduced
under thinly disguised cognomens, thus “Rev. Thomas Trifle” is the
late Rev. Thomas Toye, of Belfast.
WILLS, William Gorman. B. Kilkenny, 1828. D. London, 1891. Poet,
Painter, Dramatist, and Novelist. Ed. T.C.D. Son of Rev. James
Wills, also a prolific writer. Wills is better known as a dramatist,
having written no fewer than thirty-three plays, amongst the finest of
them being Charles I., Olivia, and Faust. Amongst his other novels
are Life’s Foreshadowings, which first appeared as a serial in Irish
Metropolitan Magazine, 1857-8; The Wife’s Evidence, founded on
an Irish tragedy, where a man named McLaughlin was hanged for a
murder committed by his mother; Old Times, Notice to Quit, David
Chantry, besides a long poem, Melchior.
⸺ THE LOVE THAT KILLS. Three Vols. (Tinsley). 1867.
“It [the above novel] drew striking pictures of the relations between
landlord and tenant in Ireland, the Irish Famine, and the Rebellion of 1848:
and it showed a warm glow of sympathy with the Irish peasantry, which no
one would have suspected in a man apparently so wholly out of touch with
politics.” [From “Life of W. G. Wills” by Freeman Wills. London. 1898].
WILMOT-BUXTON, E. M.
⸺ BRITAIN LONG AGO: Stories from Old English and Celtic Sources.
(Harrap: Told through the Ages series).
⸺ OLD CELTIC TALES. Pp. 128, large clear type. (Harrap). 6d.
1910.
One of Harrap’s “All-Time Tales,” a series of supplementary readers for
young children. The first tale is “The Children of Lir,” told in three-and-a-half
pages. The rest are from the Mabinogion and other Welsh sources.
Six or seven moderately good full page ill. (one col.). Neat cover. Remarkably
cheap.
WINGFIELD, Hon. Lewis Strange. B. 1842. Son of 6th Lord Powerscourt.
Ed. Eton and Bonn. Lived a very strange life, trying as experiments
various rôles—actor, nigger minstrel, attendant in a mad-house, traveller
in Algeria and China, painter, &c., &c. Wrote many novels and books
of travel. D. 1891.
⸺ MY LORDS OF STROGUE. Three Vols. (Bentley). 1879.
“A Chronicle of Ireland from the Convention to the Union.” History
and romance curiously intermingled, e.g., Robert Emmet’s Insurrection is
purposely ante-dated by two years and a half. “The prominence given to
such unpleasant personages as Mrs. Gillin makes the book unsuitable at least
for the lending libraries of convents.”—(I.M.). The Author is fair-minded
and not anti-national.
WOODS, Margaret L. B. Rugby, 1856. Dau. of late Dr. Bradley, Dean of
Westminster. Ed. at home and at Leamington. Lives in London.
Author of about a dozen volumes—novels, poems, and plays.
⸺ ESTHER VANHOMRIGH. Pp. 347. (Murray). 1891.
A clever and interesting psychological study of the relations between
Swift and the two Esthers, Johnson and Vanhomrigh, the latter being the
chief centre of interest. The scene: partly in Ireland, partly in England.
The political events and questions of the time are scarcely touched upon,
but the atmosphere, language, and costume of the time have evidently been
carefully studied, and are vividly reproduced. Swift’s relations to these
two women are represented in a convincing and sympathetic manner. There
is nothing objectionable in the tone of the book.
⸺ THE KING’S REVOKE. Pp. 334. (Smith, Elder). 6s. (N.Y.:
Dutton). 1.50. Second impression. 1905.
The strange adventures of Patrick Dillon, an officer in the Spanish army,
in the course of his attempt to set free Ferdinand VII. of Spain, imprisoned
in France by Napoleon I. Its pictures of Catholic life in Spain are not always
flattering, though doubtless not intentionally offensive.
[WRIGHT, E. H.].
⸺ ANDRÉ BESNARD. (Cork). 1889.
A tale of Old Cork, giving good descriptions of its people, buildings, &c.
Period: that preceding the times of the Volunteers. A tale of courtship and
adventure. One of the chief characters is Paul Jones, the celebrated American
admiral. Published under pen-name “G. O’C.”
WRIGHT, John, A.M.
⸺ THE LAST OF THE CORBES: or, The MacMahon’s Country.
Pp. 342. (Macrone). 1835.
Described on title-p. as “a legend connected with Irish history in 1641.”
A plain tale, devoid of description, excitement, and historical “atmosphere,”
chiefly concerned with a family named Willoughby. The writer is anti-Puritan
but not pro-Irish. He mentions the deed of the traitor O’Connolly
with approval, and dwells much on the excesses of the insurgents. Heber
Macmahon (afterwards Bishop of Clogher), Sir Phelim O’Neill, and Roger
Moore are introduced into the story. The writer was rector of Killeevan,
Co. Monaghan.
WRIGHT, R. H.
⸺ A PLAIN MAN’S TALE. Pp. 192. (Belfast: McCaw, Stevenson &
Orr). 1904.
Adventures of a young Yorkshireman who, about the ’98 period, sails for
Ireland and lands at Island Magee, in Antrim. Exciting episodes—love-making,
smuggling, &c. Not concerned with the rising. For boys.
⸺ THE SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF MY FRIEND PATRICK
DEMPSEY. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. 1910.
WYNDHAM, Eleanor.
⸺ THE WINE IN THE CUP. Pp. 380. (Werner Laurie). 6s. 1909.
Scene laid in Rathlin Island, but the book cannot be said to depict the life
of the place with fidelity to real conditions. By same Author: The Lily and the
Devil, 1908.
WYNNE, Florence.
⸺ THE KING’S COMING. Pp. 489. (Skeffington). 6s. 1904.
The king is “Edward VII. of England and I. of Ireland” (sic). Nearly
half the book is composed of minute descriptions of his reception in various
parts of Ireland. The rest is chiefly made up of long discussions (mostly
by the hero and heroine) on religion, divorce, loyalty, Irish history, the
position of the Church of Ireland, and landlords. The Author seems to be
strongly “loyal,” a High-Church member of the C. of I., an ardent Home-Ruler,
and a Gaelic enthusiast. But no bias is displayed against any class
or creed, though the Author does not seem partial to the landlord class,
unpleasant specimens of whom are introduced. Written with obvious
sincerity and earnestness.
“WYNNE, May”; Miss N. W. Knowles. Writes much for magazines, and
has published some twenty books. Has much sympathy with Ireland
and the Irish. Resides in Kent.
⸺ LET ERIN REMEMBER. Pp. 312. (Greening). 6s. 1908.
A sensational romance of the Norman invasion of Ireland, very similar in
kind to the Author’s For Church and Chieftain, q.v. The Irish are depicted
as a wild, passionate people, torn by murderous feuds, led by selfish, unscrupulous
chieftains. The Normans, who appear in the story, Strongbow
in particular, are represented as gentle and courteous knights.
⸺ FOR CHURCH AND CHIEFTAIN. Pp. 314. (Mills & Boon). 6s.
1909.
A romance of the thrilling and popular type. Full of wonderful coincidences
and the still more wonderful escapes of the heroes from the clutches
of their enemies. The story is little concerned with historical events and
persons. The Earl of Desmond, Archbishop O’Hurley, Dowdall, and Zouch
are introduced occasionally. The tone is healthy, the standpoint Irish and
Catholic.
⸺ FOR CHARLES THE ROVER. Pp. 324. (Greening). 6s. (N.Y.:
Fenno). 1.50. Third ed., 1909.
Scene: Cork city, and the neighbourhood of Kenmare. Adventures of
Hugh Graham, a Scotchman, in recruiting for the Irish Brigade in company
with Morty Oge O’Sullivan, a gay, reckless, debonnair type of Irish chieftain.
On the other side are the brainless Whig fop, Sir Henry Morton, and
O’Callaghan, a spy in King George’s pay. The unfortunate love-story of
O’Callaghan’s beautiful sister and the happier love of the sister of Morty
are interwoven with the narrative. The Author’s sympathies are Irish and
Jacobite.
WYNNE, George Robert, D.D. Archdeacon of Aghadoe, Rector of St. Michael’s,
Limerick, and Canon of St. Patrick’s, Dublin. Author of a number of
religious works: The Light of the City, Spiritual Life in its Advancing
Stages, &c.
⸺ NOT PEACE BUT A SWORD. Pp. 190. (R.T.S.). n.d. (1897).
Relates how Miss Sybil Marchant, a young English lady, succeeded in
converting to Protestantism some members of a poor family of Joyces in
Connemara. Is concerned chiefly with the trials of the new converts at the
hands of friends and the clergy. Tone not bitter towards Catholicism, which
however, is regarded from the Low Church, strongly Protestant, standpoint.
The story is pleasantly told.
⸺ BALLINVALLEY; or, A Hundred Years Ago. Pp. 244. (S.P.C.K.).
2s. 6d. Two illustr. by J. Nash. 1898.
Scene: Wicklow, whose scenery is well described. Rebellion seen from
Protestant and loyalist standpoint. Rebels appear as recklessly brave
savages. Battles of New Ross and Hacketstown described. Characters
well brought out. Some aspects of the life of the times described, notably
stage-coach travelling and illicit distilling. Brogue not well reproduced.
Based, says the Pref., chiefly on Lecky, but also on Maxwell, Musgrave, and
Hay. There is a good deal about gold-mining in Co. Wicklow.
YEATS, William Butler. B. 1865, at Sandymount, Co. Dublin. Son of
J. B. Yeats, R.H.A., a distinguished Irish artist. Ed. Godolphin School,
Hammersmith, and Erasmus Smith School, Dublin. Went to London
in 1888, and there, in 1889, publ. his first volume of verse. Since then
many others have appeared, and he is now known as one of the foremost
poets of the day, perhaps the only Irish poet whose name is familiar
to students of European literature outside of Ireland, and it is true to
say with Mrs. Hinkson in her Reminiscences, “All the world that cares
about literature knows of his work to-day.” He was for a number
of years actively interested in spiritism and magic, and there is more
of this than of genuine folk-lore in his writings. What there is of folklore
in them seems to have been gleaned during visits to his mother’s
people in Sligo. His prose is that of a poet full of changing colour
and strange rhythm and vague suggestion.
⸺ FAIRY AND FOLK-TALES OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY. Pp.
326. (W. Scott). 3s. 6d. and 1s. [1888]; often republ.
Introd. and notes by Ed. The Tales, sixty-four in number, are selected
from previously published collections (Croker, Lover, Kennedy, Wilde, &c.),
including several examples of poetry about the fairies. They are classed
under these heads:—The Trooping Fairies, The Solitary Fairies, Ghosts,
Witches, Tir na-n-óg, Saints and Priests, The Devil, Giants, &c. Each
class is introduced by some general remarks. There is nothing objectionable
but it is hardly a book for children. The weird and grotesque element largely
predominates.
⸺ IRISH FAIRY AND FOLK-TALES. Twelve full page illustr. by
James Torrance. (W. Scott). 3s. 6d.
⸺ JOHN SHERMAN, and DHOYA. Pp. 195. (Fisher Unwin). 1891.
John Sherman is not wild and fantastic like The Secret Rose, &c., but a
pleasant narrative dealing with life in Ballah (Sligo), the scene at times
shifting to London. The descriptions both of scenery and character are full
of quaint little touches of very subtle observation. The style is remarkable
for a dainty simplicity, lit up now and then by a striking thought or a brilliant
aphorism. Dhoya (last 25 pp.) is a wild Celtic phantasy.—(I.M.). Published
under the pen-name of “Ganconagh.”
⸺ IRISH FAIRY TALES. Ed. with Introd. by. Pp. 236. 16mo.
(Fisher Unwin). 2s. 6d. Illustr. by J. B. Yeats. Third impress. 1892.
A dainty little volume, very popular with children. None of the stories
included in it are to be found in the same Author’s Irish Fairy and Folk-tales.—(W.
Scott).
⸺ THE SECRET ROSE: Irish Folk-lore. Illustr. by J. B. Yeats.
Pp. 265. (Maunsel). 3s. 1898. (N.Y.: Dodd & Mead). 2.00.
Wild, formless tales, altogether from the land of dreams, told with the
Author’s accustomed magic of word and expression, but to the ordinary
reader well-nigh meaningless. In one of these tales some monks solemnly
crucify a wandering gleeman because he had dared complain of the filthy
food and lodging which they had given him. This tale may fairly be taken
as typical of much that is in the book.
⸺ THE CELTIC TWILIGHT. Pp. 235. (A. H. Bullen). 3s. [1893].
New ed., enlarged, 1902. (N.Y.: Macmillan). 1.50.
Disconnected fragments of dim beliefs in a supernatural world of fairies,
ghosts, and devils, still surviving among the peasantry. Told in a style
often beautiful, but vague and elusive, by a latter-day “pagan,” who would
fain share these beliefs himself. The talk of half-crazy peasants, the Author
tells us, is set down as he heard it. To the ordinary reader the book cannot
but seem full of puerilities. The peasants of whom the Author speaks are
chiefly those of North-Eastern Sligo.
⸺ STORIES OF RED HANRAHAN: The Secret Rose: Rosa Alchemica.
Pp. 228. (Bullen). 6s. net. 1913.
The first ed., 1897, had the general title The Secret Rose, q.v. In the present
volume the revised ed., which appeared in Mr. Yeats’s collected works, 1908,
has been followed.
YOUNG, Ella. B. 1867, at Fenagh, Co. Antrim. Is a graduate of the Royal,
now the National, University. Is chiefly interested in the old tales of
the Irish MS. collections and in folk-lore gathered directly from the people.
Has published a volume of poems and many articles and tales in the
Manchester Guardian, The Irish Review, Irish Year Book, &c.,
and in American and New Zealand periodicals. Her writings are full of
the influence of the Celtic Revival, in which movement she numbers
many friends.
⸺ THE COMING OF LUGH. (Maunsel). 6d. net. 1909.
“A Celtic Wonder-tale Retold” for the young. A dainty little volume
in which is prettily told the story of Lugh Lamh Fada’s sojourn in Tir-na-nOg
and his return to Erin with the Sword of Light to drive out the Fomorians.
The illustrations by Madame Gonne-MacBride are very well done.—(Press
Notice).
⸺ CELTIC WONDER TALES. Pp. 202. (Maunsel). 3s. 6d. Illustr.
by Maud Gonne. 1910.
Tales of the ancient days of De Danaan gods and heroes—of Angus and
Midyir and Lugh and the Gobhaun Saor. Told in rhythmic and musical
language and with much beauty of expression, but most of the tales are
altered quite out of their antique and primitive form by a strong flavour of
modern mysticism and symbolism of the school of Yeats and A. E. “Conary
Mor,” the finest (we think) of the tales, is perhaps freest from this. The
first two or three are most influenced by it. Tales like “A Good Action,”
“The Sheepskin,” strike a different and, as it seems to us, a discordant note,
viz., broadly comical episodes, in which the actors are gods. Includes The
Children of Lir and the Children of Turann (under title “The Eric Fine of
Lugh”), and the Coming of Lugh. Original and artistic Celtic cover design,
head-pieces, and tail-pieces. Four coloured illustr. The first two are mystic
and symbolic. Most Catholics would consider them very much out of place
here. The book is beautifully produced.