The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ireland in Fiction, by Stephen J. Brown, S.J.

Author of A Reader’s Guide to Irish Fiction,
A Guide to Books on Ireland, etc.

It may be well to state at the outset in what respects the present work differs from A Reader’s Guide to Irish Fiction published in 1910, and now out of print. The differences may be reduced to four:—

(2). The arrangement is quite new. In the former work the books were classified according to subject matter: in this they are arranged under the names of the Authors, these names being arranged alphabetically. Some lists are appended in which the books are classified as historical novels, Folk-lore, Gaelic Epic and Romantic Literature, &c.

(3). A combined title and subject index has been provided, both of which were lacking in the earlier book. Some new matter is given in the Appendix, in particular some notes on fiction in Irish periodicals.

(4). In A Reader’s Guide, &c., a few notes on Authors were added at the end. In the present work biographical notes on a large proportion of the Authors are given immediately before the notes on their books.

Apart from these differences, the two works have the same scope and aim. In both, the scope includes all works of fiction published in volume form, and dealing with Ireland or with the Irish abroad, and such works only. The present book, therefore, is not, any more than was the earlier book, a guide to the works of Irish novelists—else, Goldsmith, for instance, might surely claim a place. Neither is it, properly speaking, a book of advice as to what is best to read. The aim has been to provide descriptive notes of an objective nature, to record facts, not to set forth personal views and predilections. This is a book of reference pure and simple; it neither condemns nor recommends. In this respect it[viii] differs from several other guides to fiction which at first sight it seems to resemble. The Abbé Bethléem’s most valuable Romans à lire et romans à proscrire has been mentioned in the former preface. Its title proclaims its character. Of a similar nature are some works by members of my own Order that have since come to my knowledge. It will be useful to record their titles:

No. 1 devotes only a chapter to fiction. No. 2 contains a critical examination from a moral point of view of 413 Spanish writers, 1,220 French, 150 English, 98 German, as well as Russian, Belgian, &c. No. 3 devotes a section to Schöne Literatur giving notes and bibliographical details. Symbols are used to indicate the suitability of the books to readers of various ages. The same plan is followed in No. 4, but to a much fuller extent, and the whole work is on a larger scale.

Enough has been said, I think, in the former preface as to the object aimed at in the notes. I have tried to make that object clear: I am far from thinking that it has always been attained, even in this revised work. Some of the excuses for incompleteness that held good for the first steps into an almost untrodden field have no doubt ceased to have the same force. I have had time to explore new ground, and to survey anew that already occupied. On the other hand the years that have slipped away since the former book have been filled by many duties that left little time for literary work. Yet, though I am unable to say with confidence that this work is[ix] bibliographically exhaustive, I trust that, for practical purposes, for the purposes for which it is intended, it may be found reasonably complete. For the achievement of even this result I can by no means claim all the credit. My obligations to my numerous helpers are very great indeed, as will appear from the Acknowledgements.

One further point needs to be dwelt upon—the non-inclusion of works of fiction written in the Irish language. I cannot do better in this connection than quote from the preface to a former work[1] in which this same point came up for explanation:—“I have not included books in the Irish language. My reasons for this are threefold. In the first place my own knowledge of Irish is not yet sufficient to enable me even to edit satisfactorily notes of books in Irish.... In the second place I do not think that a bibliography of works in Irish should be made a mere appendage or sub-section, as it would inevitably be, of a work such as the present. Lastly, it may well be doubted whether the time be yet come for doing this work in the way that it deserves to be done.” This last reason is partly based on the fact of the great mass of Irish literature still remaining in MS., a quantity probably much greater than what has been printed and published. The publication of the National Library’s bibliography is mentioned in the Appendix on Gaelic literature as an additional reason for my omission of books in Irish.

Nevertheless, the omission of books in the Irish language from a Guide to Irish Fiction remains an anomaly, one of the many anomalies produced by the historic causes that have all but destroyed the Irish language as the living speech of Ireland.

[1] A Guide to Books on Ireland, Part I. (Hodges & Figgis), 1912.

The present Guide to Irish Fiction is intended by the Author as the first part of a work in which it is hoped to furnish notes on books of all kinds dealing with Irish subjects.

Before explaining the scope of this section of the work it may be well, in order to forestall wrong impressions, to say at once what it is not. In the first place, then, it does not lay claim to be a bibliography. By this I do not mean that I am content to be inaccurate or haphazard, but simply that I do not aim at exhaustive completeness. In the second place, it is not a catalogue of books by Irish writers. Lastly, it does not deal exclusively with books printed or published in Ireland.

The Author’s aim has been to get together and to print in a convenient form a classified list of novels, tales, &c. (whether by Irish or by foreign writers), bearing on Ireland—that is, depicting some phase of Irish life or some episode of Irish history—and to append to each title a short descriptive note.

Two things here call for some explanation, viz., the list of titles and the descriptive notes.

As to the former, I have, with some trifling exceptions, included everything that I have been able to discover, provided it came within the scope of the work, as indicated above. It has been thought well to do this, because a vast amount of fiction that, from an artistic or from any other point of view, is defective in itself may yet be valuable as a storehouse of suggestion, fact, and fancy for later and better writers. For was it not worthless old tales and scraps of half-mythical history that held the germs of “Hamlet” and “Macbeth,” “King Lear” and “Othello”? There remains, indeed a large class of novels and tales that, so far as one may judge, can[xi] serve no useful purpose. It may be thought that with such books the best course to pursue is to allow them to pass into merited oblivion. But it must be remembered that booksellers and publishers will naturally continue to push such books because it is their business to do so, and the public will continue to buy them because it has ordinarily no other means of knowing their contents than the publisher’s announcement, the title, or—the cover. A “Guide” would, therefore, surely shirk an important portion of its task if it excluded worthless books, and thereby failed to put readers on their guard.

Next, as regards the descriptive notes: there are three points which I should wish to make clear—the source of the information contained in these notes; their scope, that is, the nature and extent of the information with which they purpose to furnish the reader; and, thirdly, the tone aimed at throughout the work.

Information about the books has been obtained in various ways. A considerable number have been read by the Author. Indeed, there are few writers of note included in the Guide about whose works he cannot speak from first-hand knowledge. Of the books that remain the great majority have been specially read for this work by friends, and a full account of the same written by them according to a formula drawn up for the purpose. In all cases, except in a very few—and these have been indicated—the wording of the final note is mine. In the few cases referred to, printed reviews or notices of the books have been drawn upon, the source of the note being mentioned in each instance.

A word about the scope of the notes. My chief object in undertaking this work was to help the student of things Irish. This object determined the character of the notes. A few years ago there appeared in France an excellent work, entitled Romans à lire et Romans à proscrire (Cambrai: Masson), by the Abbé Bethléem, which has since passed through many editions. In this work novels are classed au point de vue moral. In the rare cases in which the books[xii] included in my list contain matter objectionable from a moral or a religious standpoint, I have not hesitated to remark the fact in the note. This was, however, but a small part of the task. It will be clear likewise, from what has been said that my object is not to attempt literary criticisms of Irish fiction. Such literary appreciations are to be found in other works already published, accounts of several of which will be found in the Appendix. True, a certain amount of criticism is often needed lest the account given of a book should be misleading, but it has been avoided wherever it did not seem to further the main purpose. This purpose, let me repeat, is, above all, to give information to intending readers. I have, therefore, endeavoured, as well as might be, in the small space available, simply to give a clear idea of the contents of the books. In a good many cases I have further attempted an appreciation, or rather a characterization, of the book in question, but this was not always possible nor, indeed, necessary.

Of the tone adopted in these notes little need be said. I did not consider that it would further my purpose to aim at that literary flavour and epigrammatic turn of phrase affected, and with reason, by reviewers in many periodicals. Moreover, to do so would have been inconsistent with brevity. Then, I must disclaim all intention of saying “clever” things at the expense of any book, however low it may deserve to be rated. I have endeavoured to avoid, too, the technicalities of criticism. Lastly, I trust the little work has not been rendered suspect to any class of Irishmen by the undue intrusion of religious or political bias.

Apology might well be made here for the defects of the work. They will, I fear, be but too evident. But it should be borne in mind that, with the exception of Mr. Baker’s works, to which I cannot sufficiently acknowledge my indebtedness, I have had no guide upon the way, since no writer, so far as I am aware, has hitherto dealt in this way with Irish fiction as a whole.

It may be asked, for whom especially this book is meant? In the first place, I hope it may be useful to the general[xiii] reader who wishes to study Ireland. Next, it may help in the important and not easy task of selection those who have to buy books for any purpose, such as the giving of presents, the conferring of prizes in school or out of it, the stocking of shops and libraries—in other words, booksellers, library committees, heads of schools and colleges, librarians, pastors, and many others. Again, it may be of some service to lecturers and to popular entertainers. I have some hopes, too, that coming writers of Irish fiction, from seeing what has been done and what has not yet been done, may get from it some suggestions for future work. It may even help in a small way towards the realization of a great work not yet attempted, the writing of a history of Anglo-Irish literature.

My best thanks are due, in the first place, to the authorities of Clongowes Wood College, without whose constant aid and encouragement my task would have been impossible.

Next, I wish to thank those publishers who courteously sent me copies of a number of their books, viz., the Irish publishers, Messrs. Gill; Duffy; Sealy, Bryers and Walker; Maunsel; and Blackie: and the London publishers, Messrs. Macmillan; Nelson; Methuen; Dent; Chatto and Windus; Burns and Oates; Sands; Blackwood; Nutt; Elliot Stock; and Smith, Elder. I should like to give greater prominence to the publications of these firms. The plan of this book prevents me from doing so but I may say that this little work, which will, I hope, help to make known their books, could not have appeared but for their generosity.

To those who, as already mentioned, have aided in the work by reading books, and supplying information about them, my sincerest thanks are hereby tendered. I should be glad, if it were possible, to express here my obligations to each individually, but I must, for obvious reasons, limit myself to this general acknowledgment. There are, however, some whom, on account of special obligations on my part, I shall have the pleasant task of thanking by name. To Mr. E. A. Baker, M.A., D.LITT., Librarian of the Woolwich Public Library, I am indebted both for kind permission to quote from his books and for constant advice and suggestion given with the greatest cordiality. To Dr. Conor Maguire, of Claremorris, I owe most of my notes of books on Irish Folk-lore, and to Mr. Edmund Downey, the well-known author and publisher, notes on Lever’s books, together with many useful suggestions. Mr. Francis J. Bigger, M.R.I.A., of Belfast, the always ready and enthusiastic helper of every Irish enterprise, has aided me with valuable[xv] advice and no less valuable encouragement. Mr. J. P. Whelan, Librarian of the Kevin Street Public Library, Dublin, has rendered me every assistance in his power. Dr. J. S. Crone of London, Editor of the Irish Book Lover, has on several occasions kindly opened to me the pages of his periodical. Lastly, I must acknowledge here, with sincere thanks, much help of various kinds given me by many members of my own Order, and notably, Rev. M. Russell, S.J.; Rev. M. Corbett, S.J.; Rev. P. J. Connolly, S.J., and the Rev. J. F. X. O’Brien, S.J.—the last of whom very kindly undertook the tedious labour of revising my proofs.[2]

[Additional (Present Work).]

My obligations to my various kind helpers in the present work are even greater than in the case of the former book, and I am at a loss for an adequate expression of them. My thanks have, of course, been privately conveyed, but there are some collaborators who have had so large a share in the making of this book that I cannot but place on record its indebtedness towards them.

For valuable work in the British Museum Library extending over a considerable length of time I have to thank Mrs. Pearde Beaufort, Miss C. J. Hamilton, and Miss G. B. Ryan. For much tedious labour in the rearrangement of the matter contained in the earlier book, I am indebted to the Misses Chenevix Trench (who also supplied many notes), and to Mrs. O’Neill, of Dundalk. To Dr. Crone, whose readiness to help when any Irish literary enterprise is afoot is inexhaustible, I owe many corrections, suggestions, and additions, and the laborious task of revising my MS. and correcting my proofs. Mr. Edmund Downey, of Waterford, has kindly read part of the proofs. Many books have been read for[xvi] me and notes supplied by Lady Gilbert; Mrs. Concannon, of Galway; Mrs. L. M. Stacpoole Kenny, of Limerick; Miss J. F. Walsh, of Derry; Miss R. Young, of Galgorm Castle, Co. Antrim; Mrs. Macken, of the National University; Fr. MacDwyer, of Killybegs; and, perhaps most of all, Fr. J. Rabbitte, S.J., of St. Ignatius College, Galway. Mr. D. J. O’Donoghue, Librarian of the National University, has given me many suggestions, as well as some useful notes on fiction in Irish periodicals. Mr. Frank Macdonagh also has been very helpful with notes and corrections. I owe likewise a debt of gratitude to the authorities and the staff of the National Library for their courtesy and helpfulness. Nor must I omit a word of thanks to the publishers (including all the Irish publishers, and Messrs. Flynn, of Boston), who, as on a former occasion, made my task much lighter by supplying me with review copies of their books.

Lastly to all the others, and they are many, who have in various ways given me help my very sincere thanks are hereby tendered.

For the matter contained in my notes on the Authors, I am much indebted to Mr. D. J. O’Donoghue’s Poets of Ireland, and to the pages of the Irish Book Lover.

[2] Through an unfortunate oversight the earlier work contained no mention of much kind help rendered me by several students of St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, notably by Rev. J. Henaghan and Rev. J. Pinkman, at present priests on the mission. I now gratefully acknowledge this help.

The place of publication has been mentioned in the case of books not published in Dublin or in London. A list of the Irish publishers will be found in Appendix B.

The price of most new novels on first publication is 6s., not net. When new fiction is issued at a lower price than that this price is usually net. I have not thought it useful to insert the prices of books no longer to be had otherwise than from second-hand booksellers: second-hand prices are constantly varying. The publication Book-Prices Current might be usefully consulted in some reference library. The price I have given is usually the latest price mentioned in the Publishers’ catalogue.

Dates in square brackets, thus [1829], indicate dates of first publication. Besides these I have mentioned the date of the latest edition I am aware of.

The names of an Author placed within square brackets is an indication that the name in question did not appear on the title page of the book to which it is now affixed, the book having been published anonymously, or under a pen-name.

Inverted commas are used thus “M. E. Francis” to indicate a pen-name. The writers’ works are entered under the name most familiar to the public, under Katharine Tynan and Rosa Mulholland rather than under Mrs. Hinkson and Lady Gilbert. However, in the case of old books I have not thought it useful to place the book under the literary disguise. I have entered them under the real name, with a cross-reference. I fear that perfect uniformity and consistency has not been secured, but hope that the book’s usefulness—utility, and not scientific precision, has been the aim—is not thus impaired.

The publishers mentioned are, so far as I have succeeded in discovering them, the publishers not of the first, but of the latest edition.

Books published under a pseudonym which obviously could not be a real name, I have entered as anonymous, except where I have come to know the real name, in which case it will be found under the real name, with a cross reference from the pseudonym.

When the note depends mainly or exclusively on a single already published authority or source, this authority or source is indicated at the end of the note.

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.

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.

“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).

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[2] 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.

⸺ 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.

“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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

“A Chaplet of Irish Fireside Tales, Historic, Domestic, and Legendary. Compiled from approved sources.”

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, an English merchant comes to the west coast of Ireland to pursue a business speculation in grain, and brings his family. He is imprisoned[5] 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.

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.

“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.

Scene: Valley of Blackwater, Lismore. Time: end of eighteenth century (1798) and beginning of nineteenth century. May be described as a Souper[6] 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.

“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 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 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.”

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

“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[13] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.].

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.

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.

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.

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, 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).

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.”

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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 temptation and fall of a young priest, resulting in misery which leads to repentance. Contains some of Banim’s most powerful scenes.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“A sequel to ‘The Way Home,’ &c.” A little religious tract (Protestant) in story form.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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,[24] 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.

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).

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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).

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,[25] 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

“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.

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.

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[27] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.).

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.”

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

“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.

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).

“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.

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.

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.).

Sequel to Lord Edward. Later years of Lord Edward’s life. Shows Castlereagh and Clare planning the rebellion. Shows us Government bribery and[33] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ JOHNNY DERRIVAN’S TRAVELS. Pp. 36. (Dublin: Tims). 6d. [1833]. Second ed., 1839.

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.

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.

A long, rather involved story, in part reprinted from Dublin University Magazine. It contains some excellent descriptions of Donegal scenery—Glenveagh and Barnesmore.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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[38] 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).

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.

⸺ 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 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.”

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

“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.

⸺ 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.

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.

Ireland and England in 1727; then the colony of Virginia, adventures with Indians, &c. The last pages bring us to 1748.—(Nield).

“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 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.).

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.

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.

“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.

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[43] 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.”

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.

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.

⸺ NELLIE NETTERVILLE; or, One of the Transplanted. (N.Y.: Catholic Publication Co.). 1878.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

“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.[47] 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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

⸺ 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.).

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).

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.).

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[53] 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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).

⸺ 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.

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[55] 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.

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.

An earlier effort, with the Author’s qualities not yet developed. Society in a small country town, days with the hounds, clever situations.

Perhaps the best of the lot. Hunting, horse-dealing, and love-making in Co. Cork.

A sequel to the last, with the same vivid descriptions of “runs” and “deals.” A murder trial enters into the plot.

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.

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 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.

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.

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).

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[57] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

⸺ 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 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.

I am not certain whether this story appeared in book form. It is not in the B. Museum Library.

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.

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).

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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 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 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.

“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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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’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.

’98 from the loyalist standpoint, and adventures in Mexico and South Texas, &c. “David” is “Scotch-Irish.”—(Baker, 2).

“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.

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.

“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[65] 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).

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.

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,[66] 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 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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

“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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

A little love story, told skilfully enough in letters from Sir Desmond Fitzgerald to his brother in S. Africa.—[T. Lit. Suppl.].

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.

[3] Her daughter, Ella Loraine Dorsey, has written even more than Mrs. A. H. Dorsey, and is one of the most prominent figures in American Catholic literature.

⸺ 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.

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.[74] 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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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).

⸺ 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.

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.

A sensational story with nothing really Irish about it. The only Irish character is almost a caricature.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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[80] 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.

⸺ 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.

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[81] 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.

[4] An able and certainly not over-enthusiastic estimate of Miss Edgeworth will be found in the Dublin Review, April, 1838, p. 495, sq.

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.”

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.

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.

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).

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.

Ed. by Malcolm Cotter Seton, M.A., in Every Irishman’s Library (The Talbot Press). [In preparation].

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.”

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“A grave domestic story worked out on a basis of character, laid in an Irish rural district.”—(Baker).

“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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

[5] A Midland word for the Western “playboy” or general wag and practical joker.

⸺ 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.).

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.”

“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.

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.).

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.

⸺ 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).

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 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.

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.).

⸺ 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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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”).

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[94] 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.

⸺ 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.

Very low life in Dublin, with no attempt to idealise the rags and filth and squalor; but clever and realistic.—(I.M.).

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.

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.

“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.

“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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

“A domestic tale of young folk in a British settlement in Manitoba, and of the Canadian contingent in the Boer War.”—(T. Lit. Suppl.).

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.

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.

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[98] 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).

⸺ 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.

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 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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[101] 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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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 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 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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

⸺ 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.

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.”

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

Scene: the Donegal coast. A sensational and romantic story. Local Land League doings described. The author writes of the people with knowledge and sympathy.

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.

⸺ 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 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.

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.

⸺ 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.

A love story of the upper middle classes. Pictures of western (Galway) county family life, and of student life in Trinity, both strongly reminiscent[113] 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.

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.

“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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

“A conscientious rendering of homely aspects of life in Co. Antrim.”—(Baker).

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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[117] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.”

⸺ 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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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;[127] 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

“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 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

“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).

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[134] 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.”

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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).

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

⸺ 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[140] 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.

“Tale of Parliamentary Wars, introducing the principal characters who took part on the Royalist and the Parliamentary sides.”

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.

⸺ 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.

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[141] 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.

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.”

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.

Adventures of a young English officer who arrives in Ireland during the Viceroyalty of the Duke of Grafton. The hero’s Irish experiences include[142] 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.”

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.

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.

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[143] 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.

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.

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.

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.[144] 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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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[146] 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.”

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.

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).

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.

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,[147] 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

“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[148] 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.

Sixteen humorous sketches, “founded on fact—more or less,” reprinted from the People’s Friend.

A tale of twin tomboys, who provide gossip for an Ulster countryside. Dialect well handled.—(I.B.L.).

A story of secret societies and of revenge. Scene: Kerry and Corsica. Unconvincing, but unobjectionable.

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.

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.

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.”

⸺ 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).

⸺ THE DUBLIN STATUES “AT HOME”: A New Year’s Tale. 4to. (Sealy, Bryers). Illustr. with Seven Cartoons. 1912.

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, 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.

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.,[151] 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.

⸺ 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.”

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.

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,[152] 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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[153] 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.

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.

“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.

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.).

⸺ 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.

“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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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[156] 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).

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

⸺ 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

“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 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.

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[160] 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).

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.”

“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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.”

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

“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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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[164] 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.

⸺ 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).

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).

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

[7] Yet seems to have been publ. before it. I give the dates as they are given (doubtless by the Author) in the Literary Year Book.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

[8] So the name is given on the title-page, and it seems improbable that this Author is the same as the Author of the following item, first because there is a difference of thirty-four years between the dates, and secondly because the two books are wholly unlike. But the B. Museum Catal. assigns both to the same person.

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.

“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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

⸺ 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.

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.”

⸺ 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.

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.”

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.

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.

“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.”

A study of Dublin slum-children, told with humour, insight, and sympathy, by one who thoroughly knows their ways. The dialect is faithfully rendered.

“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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.).

⸺ 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.

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[173] 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.

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.”

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.

“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.

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.”

“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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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 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).

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.

“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.

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.

⸺ 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.[178] 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 Alts” was a name adopted by the secret agrarian agitators in Munster, previously known as “Whiteboys.” Not in British Museum Library.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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[179] 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.

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:—

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. II. “The Celtic Doctrine of Rebirth.” Pp. xii. + 352. 1897. (Nutt). 10s. 6d. each.

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.

⸺ 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).

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.

⸺ 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

⸺ 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[183] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.).

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).

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[184] 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, 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.).

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.

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[185] 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.

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.).

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.

[9] The first two (pp. 342 + 332) are taken up by The Wife Hunter.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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” 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.”

Contains “The Girl from under the Lake,” an Irish fairy tale, occupying about one-third of the book. It is charmingly told.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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 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.

⸺ 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 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.

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.

Author’s avowed intention—to present Irish and Catholic view of the Confederation War. With the political and military events of the time in[193] 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.

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 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 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.

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.

⸺ THE PRIEST’S BOY: a Story of Irish Rural Life. (Dublin: Hunter). 1s. 1914.

⸺ FATHER TOM OF CONNEMARA. (N.Y.: Rand, McNally Co.). $1.50. Illustr. [1902]. 1903.

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.

⸺ 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.

Sub-t.: “A non-political story of Ulster’s war.” By a Catholic Conservative.

⸺ 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.

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.”

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 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.

O’BRIEN, Hon. Georgina. Eldest dau. of the late Lord O’Brien of Kilfenora, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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[197] 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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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 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).

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.

Three tales of Connemara. The first is a graceful little fairy story, the third a story of faithful love.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.”

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.

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.

A novel founded on the remarkable Yelverton Marriage Case at Killowen, Co. Down, mentioned in the Author’s Autobiography.

⸺ 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.

“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.”

[10] This is not a work of fiction. But it seems well to mention it here for it is really an elaborate re-telling of the ancient Irish hero-myths and romances.

⸺ 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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.”

⸺ 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.

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.

“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’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.

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.

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.

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:—

This is partly a serious study of the subject, partly a retelling of the old sagas.

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.”

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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).

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

“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.

[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.

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.

⸺ 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.

“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.

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.

A sensational romance of the time of Sir Cahir O’Doherty’s rising and the governorship of Paulett in Derry. c. 1608.

[11] I have not been able to ascertain whether this novel was ever reprinted in volume form from the periodical in which it appeared as a serial.

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 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

France in the days of Madame de Maintenon, and Ireland during Williamite wars. B. of the Boyne described. Juvenile.

“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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.).

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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).

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.

⸺ 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[216] 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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.).

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[217] 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.

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.

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.[218] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.).

“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.”

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.

⸺ 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.

[12] In a contribution to I.B.L. for Sept., 1915, Mr. Edmund Downey unhesitatingly assigns the book to the late Edward Moran, brother of the present Ed. of The Leader.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[13] i.e., Mary A. Sadlier, to be carefully distinguished from Anna T. Sadlier, her daughter, born in Montreal. The latter has written nearly as much as her mother, but her works are not concerned with Ireland.

⸺ 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.

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.”

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.

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[226] 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.

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.

⸺ 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.”

“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.

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.

“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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

⸺ NEATH SUNNY SKIES: Stories of the Co. Waterford. Pp. 123. (Waterford News). 6d. 1912.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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 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.

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.

“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.).

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).

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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[233] 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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, 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.

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.,[235] 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.

“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.).

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.

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.

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,[236] 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.

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 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.

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.

Sub-title: “Ireland and Its Peasantry.” “Another of A. Stewart’s pious little stories.... The reader will fail to discover much originality or force;[237] 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.

⸺ THE LIMERICK VETERAN; or, The Foster Sisters. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.60 net. 1873.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

“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).

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.

⸺ 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).

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.

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.

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.

“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.

TENCH, Mary F. A. Resides in London, and writes a good deal for the periodicals.

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 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.

“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.

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).

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

“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.”

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[245] 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.

A study of political personalities. The scene is London, and the story is little, if at all, concerned with Ireland.

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.

“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.

⸺ 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[246] 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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,[247] 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.

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.

“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 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).

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.

Eighteen exquisite little stories and sketches dealing, nearly all, with the lives of the poorest peasantry. They have all the Author’s best qualities.

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.

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 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.

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.

“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[249] 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.

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.

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.

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 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).

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.

A girl educated much above her mother’s condition in life and mixing in upper class society.

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).

“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.

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 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.

“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.”

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.

⸺ THE FORTUNES OF THE FARRELLS. Pp. 190. (Leisure Hour Library Office). 6d. 1911.

⸺ 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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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).

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.

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.

⸺ 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.

⸺ 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.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

S.W. Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland about A.D. 792. Saxon, Briton, Norseman, and Dane. Juvenile.

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.

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

“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].

⸺ BRITAIN LONG AGO: Stories from Old English and Celtic Sources. (Harrap: Told through the Ages series).

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.

“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.

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.

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.”

⸺ 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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[258] 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 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.

“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.

1. IRISH LITERATURE. Ten Vols. 4126 pp., exclusive of introductory essays, which average over 20 pp.

Originally published by John D. Morris & Co. Afterwards taken over by the De Bower Elliot Co., Chicago, and brought out in 1904.

Edited by Justin M’Carthy, M.P., with the help of an advisory committee, including Stephen Gwynn, M.P., Lady Gregory, Standish O’Grady, D. J. O’Donoghue, Douglas Hyde, LL.D., J. E. Redmond, M.P., G. W. Russell (“A. E.”), J. J. Roche, LL.D., of the Boston Pilot, Prof. W. P. Trent, of Columbia University, Prof. F. N. Robinson, of Harvard, H. S. Pancoast, and W. P. Ryan; with Charles Welsh as Managing Director.

Scope and Object: To give a comprehensive, if rapid, view of the whole development of Irish Literature from its earliest days. In the words of the Editor, it is “an illustrated catalog of Ireland’s literary contributions to mankind’s intellectual store.”

The Choice of Extracts is determined by two canons: literary value and human interest. The Library gives examples of “all that is best, brightest, most attractive, readable, and amusing,” in the writings of Irish authors. There is no dry-as-dust. The extracts comprise mythology, legend, folklore, poems, songs, street-ballads, essays, oratory, history, science, memoirs, fiction, travel, drama, wit, and humour. The vast majority are chosen as being specially expressive of Irish nationality. Choice is made both from the Gaelic and the Anglo-Irish literatures, but the ancient Gaelic literature is given solely in translation. A volume (the tenth) is given to modern Gaelic literature, the Irish text and English translation being given on opposite pages. This volume also contains brief biographies of ancient Gaelic authors. The extracts are never short and scrappy, but nearly always complete in themselves.

Other Special Features: Three hundred and fifty Irish authors are represented by extracts. Of these one hundred and twenty are contemporaries, the great modern intellectual revival being thus very fully represented.

The extracts are given under the name of the authors, and these names are arranged alphabetically, beginning in Vol. I. with Mrs. Alexander, and ending with W. B. Yeats in Vol. IX.

To the extracts from each author there is prefixed a biographical notice, including, in many cases, a literary appreciation by a competent authority, and a fairly full bibliography.

Each volume contains an article, by a distinguished writer, on some special department of Irish literature. Thus, the Editor-in-Chief gives a general survey of the whole subject. W. B. Yeats writes on Irish Poetry, Douglas Hyde on Early Irish Literature, Dr. Sigerson on Ireland’s Influence on European Literature, Maurice Francis Egan on Irish Novels, Charles Welsh on Fairy and Folk Tales, J. F. Taylor, K.C., on Irish Oratory, Stephen Gwynn on the Irish Theatre, &c.

Index of authors, books quoted from, titles and subjects dealt with—exceptionally full and valuable (over 80 pp.).

Publisher’s Work: 1. Illustrations, over 100 (several in colour), consisting of facsimiles of ancient Irish MSS., and of ancient prints and street-ballads, portraits of Irish authors, views of places, objects, scenery and incidents of Irish interest.

2. THE CABINET OF IRISH LITERATURE. Four Vols. Super royal 8vo. Pp. 311 + 324 + 346 + 369. (Gresham Publishing Co.). 8s. 6d. each. Illustrations in black and white by J. H. Bacon, C. M. Sheldon, W. Rainey, &c., and portraits. 1903.

Editors: Originally planned by C. A. Read, who collected matter for the first three volumes of the original edition. Completed and edited by T. P. O’Connor, M.P. New edition brought out by Mrs. Katharine Tynan Hinkson.

New edition: The original edition (1879) was published by Blackie. The new edition contains about the same quantity of matter, but large portions of the original edition have been omitted to make room for new matter, which occupies the whole of the fourth volume and a large part of the third. A new Introduction (pp. xi.-xxxiv.) has been prefixed. It is a general survey of Irish literature.

Scope, arrangement, &c.: The authors are arranged chronologically. There is first a sketch (full and carefully done) of each author’s life and works; then follow extracts, as a rule very short, from his works. The principle of selection is to give such extracts as would best illustrate the author’s style, to avoid anything hackneyed, and “anything that would offend the taste of any class or creed.”

In the original edition there was, perhaps inevitably, little of Irish Ireland, still less of Gaelic Ireland. That has been to a certain extent remedied in the new edition. But the old edition had the advantage of containing a mass of information about little known writers and of extracts from curious and rare books.

⸺ A GUIDE TO THE BEST FICTION IN ENGLISH. Sq. 4to. Pp. 813. (Routledge). 21s. New ed., enlarged and thoroughly revised. [1902, Sonnenschein]. 1913.

This new edition is a superb work, deserving the title of an Encyclopedia of English Fiction. It gives information in descriptive notes of between 7,000 and 8,000 works of fiction, including particulars of publishers (both in England and in U.S.A.), prices, and date of publication. It comprises every description of novel, translations of important continental and even non-European fiction, and of early stories and sagas from the Norse and from Celtic languages. The Guide is selective—not everything in the novel line is included—but it is most comprehensive. The arrangement is first by nationalities (English, American, Celtic, pp. 517-521, French, &c.). Each of these divisions is subdivided according to the century in which the book was published, and the entries under the various centuries are arranged alphabetically according to names of authors. The Index, which runs to 170 pp., gives full reference to Authors, Titles, and Subjects. Every specific subject illustrated in the works is indexed with extraordinary accuracy and completeness.

A new ed. of the Author’s History in Fiction; a companion to the preceding and uniform with it in size, publisher, and price. As in the case of the former work, full bibliographical particulars and descriptive notes are given. The main arrangement is according to countries. Under each country it is chronological. The Index (140 pp.) gives information as full as in the preceding work. The standard of selection is “the extent to which a story illustrates any given period of history.”—(Pref.). Ireland is not dealt with separately, the history of the British Isles being taken as a whole.

5. ⸺ HISTORY IN FICTION. Two Vols. 16mo. Pp. 228 + 253. (Routledge). 2s. 6d. each. n.d. (1906).

“A kind of dictionary of historical romance from the earliest sagas to the latest historical novel.”—(Pref.). Aims to include “every good work of prose[263] fiction dealing with past times.”—(Pref.). Full bibliographical particulars (date, price, publisher) are given about each book. In most cases a short descriptive note is added. The entries average seven on a page. The titles are arranged first in order of countries. Thus in Vol. I., pp. 1-128 deal with English History; pp. 129-154, with Scotch; pp. 155-167, with Irish, and so on. Vol. II., pp. 1-56, U.S.A.; pp. 61-117, France; pp. 118-131, Germany, and so on. The books dealing with the history of each particular country are arranged in order of date. A copious Author, Title, and Subject Index is appended to each volume. We retain the note on this book as, though now in a sense out of date, it is still in print, and its price makes it more generally available than is the new edition.

⸺ A GUIDE TO THE BEST HISTORICAL NOVELS AND TALES. Pott 4to. Pp. xviii. + 522. (Elkin Mathews). 8s. nett. [1902, pp. viii. + 124]. Fourth ed., rev. and enlarged. 1911.

Introd. pp. 16 defends historical fiction. The work is in two parts—the main body as it appeared in the third ed., and a supplement nearly as large. Each is separately indexed. Each part is arranged in chronological order. The titles of the books, the author and publisher, the subject are arranged in three vertical columns. Prices are not given. On pp. 119 sq. there is a supplementary list of noteworthy semi-historical novels. On p. 129 a list of fifty representative historical novels. The Author appends suggested courses of juvenile reading and a valuable Bibliogr. The Indexes are (1) Author and title, (2) Title only. The former give the dates of publication of the books. The number of novels noted is about 3,000. Ireland is, of course, not dealt with separately, as the histories of the various countries are mingled in one chronological list.

Intended for teachers of Secondary and Elementary schools. Chronological order with author- and title-indexes. Neatly arranged for ready reference. Full notes on each novel. A good many Irish novels are included.

⸺ IRISH LIFE IN IRISH FICTION. Pp. 338. (N.Y.: Macmillan Co.). 6s. 6d. net. 1903.

Scope of work: A survey and criticism of the leading Irish novelists of the first half of the nineteenth century in so far as give us a picture of the national life and character.

Contents: Chap. i. A general survey of Irish society during the period treated by the novelists, e.g., 1782-1850, based on O’Neill Daunt’s Eighty-five Years of Irish History, Justin M’Carthy’s Outline, J. E. Walshe’s Ireland Sixty Years Ago, Barrington’s Reminiscences, &c. Chap. ii. The novelists of the Gentry. Chap. iii. The novelists of the Peasantry. Chap. iv. Types met with in the novels and typical incidents taken from them. Chap. v. Literary estimate. Then there is a “list of the more important stories and novels of Irish life by Irish writers whose literary activity began before 1850.” Throughout copious quotations are made.

Treatment: Wholly free from bias. Marked by broad-minded, judicial spirit, thorough interest in and sympathy with the subject, wide knowledge, and a remarkable gift of literary characterization. On the whole a work which I can scarcely praise too highly.

9. The following book may be mentioned as possibly useful to reviewers, teachers, and others:—

It is “the result of practical experience in teaching the novel, and its aim is primarily pedagogical.”—(Pref.). Contents:—External Structure, Consecutive Structure, Plot, The Settings, The Dramatis Personæ, Characterization, Subject Matter, Style, Influence, Rhetoric, Æsthetics, Analysis.

10. THE IRISH BOOK-LOVER. Published by Salmond & Co. Monthly. 2s. 6d. per annum, post free.

This excellent little periodical, edited by Dr. J. S. Crone, Kensal Lodge, Kensal Green, London, N.W., is entirely devoted to Irish books and their authors, and is the only publication of the kind. Beginning in August, 1909, and appearing monthly since then, its six volumes are a most valuable storehouse of Irish book lore of all kinds. As regards fiction, it reviews most of the Irish novels that appear, has many articles on Irish novelists past and present, and supplies a quarterly classified bibliography of current Irish literature, in which there is a section for fiction. The obligations of the present work towards it are very great.

Note.—None of these publishers, with the exception of Messrs. Maunsel, has a London house. The London address of Messrs. Maunsel is 40 Museum Street, W.C.

By Lady Morgan (O’Briens and O’Flahertys), J. Banim (The Anglo-Irish), E. E. Crowe (Yesterday in Ireland), Thomas Colley Grattan (Tales of Travel), &c. This series is occasionally to be met with on sale at second hand.

3. DOWNEY & CO.’S IRISH NOVELISTS’ LIBRARY. Edmund Downey, General Editor. Biographical sketch prefixed to each volume, and portrait of Author. Price, 2s. 6d., cloth.

Downey & Co. issued, 1902, paper-covered, well printed, on good paper, a Sixpenny Library of Novels, many of which were by Irish authors such as Lever, Banim, Lady Morgan, Lover, and Carleton. Irish novels were included in several other series published by this firm.

4. CHEAP POPULAR FICTION published by Cameron & Ferguson, of Glasgow. The publications of this firm were taken over by Messrs. Washbourne, who keep in print such of them as were of any value.

THE GREEN AND THE RED; or, Historical Tales and Legends of Ireland. Picture boards, 1s.

THE GAELS OF MOONDHARRIG. By Rev. J. Dollard. A Tale of the Famous Kilkenny Hurlers.

PAUL FARQUHAR’S LEGACY. By J. G. Rowe. A Thrilling Tale of Mining Life in South Africa.

BY THE STREAM OF KILMEEN. By Seamas O’Kelly. Exquisite Sketches of Irish Life.

THE MACHINATIONS OF CISSY. By Mrs. Pierre Pattison. A Tale of a Sister’s Jealousy.

THE HUMOURS OF A BLUE DEVIL IN THE ISLE OF SAINTS. By Alan Warrener. A Tale of the Love Escapades of a certain Captain.

THE HONOUR OF THE DESBOROUGHS. By Rita Richmond. Concerns the Love Affairs of Honor Desborough, and a fight for an Estate.

THE LUCK OF THE KAVANAGHS. By C. J. Hamilton. Relates the extraordinary Adventures of an Emigrant Irish Boy.

This excellent popular periodical, the circulation of which in England and abroad as well as in Ireland is very considerable, is bringing out cheap reprints of stories and other features that have appeared in its pages. The following is a list of the Library to date:—

Each price 6d. Address:—“The People” Printing and Publishing Works, Wexford; or, 11 Sackville Place, Dublin.

7. DUFFY’S POPULAR LITERATURE. Messrs. Duffy publish and keep in print very cheap editions of the standard Irish novelists.

(1) The following by Carleton: The Black Baronet, The Evil Eye, Valentine M’Clutchey, Willy Reilly, Art Maguire, Paddy-go-Easy, The Poor Scholar, Traits and Stories (1s.); The Red Well, Rody the Rover, Redmond Count O’Hanlon. (2) All Griffin’s works, at 2s. each. (3) All Kickham’s novels. (4) Banim’s Boyne Water and The Croppy, at 2s. 6d. each. (5) Many stories by Lever, Mgr. O’Brien, Mrs. Sadlier, &c., noticed in the body of this work.

Besides these, Messrs. Duffy issue seven or eight series of popular fiction. The volumes of these series are neatly, in many cases tastefully, bound, and very cheap. Many, however, are old-fashioned in turn-out, and printed from old founts. The majority of the stories are moral and religious in tendency, but by no means all. The literary standard in some is not very high, but in many it is good. Of “Prize Library,” Series I. (42 titles), Mrs. Sadlier’s Daughter of Tyrconnell is an example; of II. (20 titles), the same author’s Willy Burke; of III. (24 titles), Curtis’s Rory of the Hills, and Anon. The Robber Chieftain. Series IV. has 16 titles, 2s. 6d. each; V., 15 titles, at 3s.; VI., 9 titles at 3s. 6d. There is also a “Popular Library” at 6d., “for the instruction of youth,” and a “Juvenile Library,” with 24 stories, at 1d. each.

This firm (originally McGlashan, then McGlashan & Gill) has behind it a long history of publication, most of the books issued by it being Irish in subject. At present the catalogue of its publications contains various popular series or “libraries” at more or less uniform prices. None of these consist exclusively of fiction. The “Green Cloth Library” is one of them.

The main object of this Society is religious and moral propaganda, but it aims also at fostering among the people an interest in their country—its history, antiquities, ruins, scenery, &c. Cheap popular fiction is one of the chief vehicles of this propaganda, and it has published in the fifteen years of its existence—it was founded in 1899—upwards of a hundred penny booklets, besides the shilling series mentioned below. Nearly all these stories are Irish in subject. Most of them are distinctively Catholic in tone, and a number of them aim directly or indirectly at religious instruction. But there are a fairly considerable number which simply tell tales of ancient Ireland in pagan as well as in Christian times. The importance of the work of this Society may be gathered from the fact that since its start it has distributed over seven million copies of its publications. All that can be done here is to give a list of the stories published by the C.T.S.I., indicating the nature of the contents of some of them.

Home life of native Irish chiefs and their intercourse with continent, end of 16th century.

A waif cast up by the sea on the island of Inishglas, and his life among the islanders.

Others by Lucy M. Curd, Nora F. Degidon, S. A. Turk, &c., and a series of thirteen stories entitled The Emerald Library.

THE IONA SERIES. A new venture of the Irish Catholic Truth Society. Consists of 16mo volumes, prettily bound in cloth, with frontispiece. Price 1s.

A GROUP OF NATION BUILDERS—O’DONOVAN, O’CURRY, PETRIE. By Rev. P. M. MacSweeney, M.A.

Address, 69 Southwark Bridge Rd., London, S.E. This is the original Society, founded in 1884, on the model of which the Irish, Scottish, and Australian bodies were founded. It has on its lists a few Irish stories. Lady Gilbert has written a certain number for it, e.g., Penal Days, Nellie. Her sister Clara Mulholland has published through it a little shilling volume: Some Stories (also in penny parts); Katharine Tynan another shilling volume: The Land I love best; Alice Dease: Some Irish Stories, 6d. (and in penny parts); and “M. E. Francis” has also some stories.

The Office of the little periodical The Irish Messenger of the S. Heart, Gt. Denmark St., Dublin, publishes penny booklets of a kind similar to those of the Catholic Truth Societies. Here are some of the titles:—

THE TRAIL OF THE TRAITOR. (35th thousand). A story of Cromwell’s sack of Wexford.

The fiction in the Irish Messenger itself and in the Madonna is almost always of an Irish complexion. The circulation of the former of these is over 170,000 a month.

A new (Autumn, 1915) enterprise of The Talbot Press, 89 Talbot Street, Dublin. The aim is to bring out in a cheap (2s. 6d.) but worthy form both well-known works by Irishmen about Ireland and new works. The Editors-in-chief are Mr. Alfred Percival Graves, Prof. William Magennis, and Dr. Douglas Hyde. It hopes to include every department of Irish literature—poetry, fiction, oratory, sport and travel, history, wit and humour, essays and belles lettres, politics, biography, art, music and the drama. Each book is in the hands of a competent editor, so that none of the books in the series are mere reprints. The volumes have been designed, printed, and bound (cloth, Celtic design in green and gold) in Ireland. The publication has been greatly interfered with by the war. The first six volumes, which are as follows, do not include a work of fiction, but Griffin’s “Collegians” and Carleton’s Stories will be in the next batch.

THOMAS DAVIS. Selections from his Prose and Poetry. Edited by T. W. Rolleston, M.A.

IRISH ORATORS AND ORATORY. Edited by Professor T. M. Kettle, National University of Ireland.

Has in course of publication two series of novels and stories by Irish writers, viz.:—

(1). A series at 1s., bound in red cloth, crown 8vo size, with excellent paper and printing. It includes the following books:—

(2). A series at 2s., crown 8vo., cloth; equal in get-up to the average 6s. novel. The following is a list of the books hitherto published in this series:—

A great many American publishers bring out books on Irish subjects: few specialize in this line. On the whole little new fiction of an Irish complexion is published in the States. On the other hand a large number of Irish tales and novels which have been allowed to go out of print in this country are still reprinted and sold on the “other side.” Many such books will be found in the catalogues of such firms as Benziger Bros., of New York; P. J. Kenedy, of the same city; Flynn, of Boston; John Murphy Co., of Baltimore; McVey, of Philadelphia, &c. J. S. Pratt, of 161 6th Ave., nr. 12th St., N.Y., publishes a catalogue containing Irish items exclusively.

There is a wealth of Irish fiction buried in the volumes of long extinct Irish periodicals and others still existing. Most people will have pleasurable recollections of stories read by them in one or other of the magazines which they were accustomed to read in youth—recollections which are only occasionally confirmed on a second reading in after life. I can still recall with delight many stories of Irish and even of alien characters which appeared in The Shamrock, Young Ireland, The Lamp, and other periodicals—not to speak of the numerous tales, serial and otherwise, which were a feature of the weekly editions of the ordinary Irish newspapers. Perhaps in some future edition of “A Guide to Irish Fiction” it may be possible to appraise some of the more notable of these stories and their authors. Meanwhile, it is worth recalling that in the old Dublin and London Magazine, 1825-7, there is much admirable Irish fiction, chiefly by Michael James Whitty and Denis Shine Lawlor. The same may be said, in a more restricted sense, of that in The Dublin Penny Journal, The Dublin Journal of Temperance, Science, and Literature, The Irish Penny Journal, The Irish Penny Magazine, and, above all, in The Dublin University Magazine, which in its forty odd years of existence added[271] enormously to the general body of Irish literature. A good word must also be said for Duffy’s Hibernian and Fireside magazines, which carried on the work down to about the seventies. The Irish Monthly, most valuable of all in its services to the literature of the country, encouraged a host of clever novelists and sketch writers, though, as in the case of The Dublin University Magazine, much of its output has been gathered into volumes, there is still much to be gleaned. Much of the work already referred to is partly accessible in the libraries, but where is one to consult the stores of fiction—often charming and mostly interesting—which appeared first (and last) in the pages of The Shamrock, Young Ireland, The Irish Fireside, The Lamp (especially during John F. O’Donnell’s editorship), The Irish Emerald, and other more recent magazines? So far as I know, there are no complete sets of these in any library. But some of our best writers began their literary career by writing for these humble periodicals, and even authors who had arrived did not deem it beneath their dignity to contribute their maturer work. But it is a large question how much of this fiction is of permanent value. I have no doubt myself that a judicious collector could make many discoveries if an enterprising publisher could be found to give the results to the public. But perhaps that is not even worth discussing in these stormy days.

[16] I have thought it best to insert Mr. O’Donoghue’s note as it stood, though my doing so involved certain repetitions in the following note.

IRISH FICTION IN PERIODICALS.[17]

I.—DEFUNCT PERIODICALS.

I should have liked to include in this work the fiction, at least the serial fiction, that lies buried in the back numbers of Irish periodicals. I was obliged to make up my mind, regretfully enough, that this was impossible. All that I have found practicable is to insert here a general note giving the names and dates, with occasional remarks, of some of the more noteworthy of Irish periodicals, omitting of course such as contain no fiction.

Of the eighteenth century literary periodicals, such as Droz’s Literary Journal (1744-8) and Walker’s Hibernian Magazine (1771-1811), it is unnecessary to say much, as the little fiction they contain is not of a very Irish character. But in Watty Cox’s famous Irish Magazine, which began in 1807 and ran to 1815, there are excellent Irish stories. To The Dublin and London Magazine (1825-27) M. J. Whitty and Denis Shine Lawlor, both noteworthy writers, contributed Irish tales of a sympathetic and national character. Whitty collected his into a volume, which is noted in the body of this work. A serial about Robert Emmet and another entitled “The Orangeman” ran in this periodical. Bolster’s Quarterly (1826-31) and The Dublin Monthly Magazine (1830), afterwards revived in 1842-3 as The Citizen or Dublin Monthly Magazine, call for no special comment though they contain a certain amount of fiction. The latter, for instance, had a story of 1641, “Lord Connor of Innisfallen,” and, in the 1842 revival, “Gerald Kirby, a tale of ’98.” Some of Carleton’s Traits and Stories first saw the light in this magazine. The Dublin Penny Journal (1832-6), first edited by Philip Dixon Hardy, contains a large proportion of Carleton’s stories, and many others signed McC., S. W., J. H. K., E. W., &c. In fact, it is full of matter interesting from an Irish point of view.

Then there was The Irish Penny Journal, The Irish Penny Magazine, and The Irish Metropolitan Magazine, 1857 sqq. This last was not very Irish in tone; its eyes were upon the ends of the earth, but an occasional Irish story such as “Life’s Foreshadowings” is to be found in it.

Much was done for Irish periodical literature by the firm of James Duffy. Duffy’s Irish Catholic Magazine, 1847 sq., contains much interesting Irish matter, but little fiction except a serial, “King Simnel and the Palesmen,”[272] which, however, seems to have been dropped after the thirteenth chapter. Duffy’s Hibernian Magazine appeared in the early sixties. It had many of Carleton’s stories[18] and several serials, such as “Raymond de Burgh, or the Fortune of a Stepson, A Romance of the Exodus,” and “Winifred’s Fortune,” a story of Dublin in the days of Queen Anne.

Other ventures of Duffy’s were The Illustrated Dublin Journal (1862) and Duffy’s Fireside Magazine.

In the fifties came a periodical whose title seems a faint premonition of the Irish revival—The Celt, 1857 sq. It had a curious series of articles on Ireland’s temptations, failings, and vices. There were sketches of the South of Ireland by Aymer Clington, and C. M. O’Keeffe’s “Knights of the Pale” ran in it as a serial.

The sixties were, as we have seen, catered for by some of Duffy’s ventures. In the middle of the seventies appeared The Illustrated Monitor, afterwards The Monitor, published by Dollard, a Catholic magazine which ran for about eight volumes. Vol. I. contains two serials, “The Moores of Moore’s Court,” by D. F. Hannigan, and “High Treason,” which is not of Irish interest. Other serials that ran in subsequent volumes were “Julia Marron, a tale of Irish peasant life,” by “Celt,” and “The False Witness; or, the martyr of Armagh,” by A. M. S.

In 1877 The Dublin University Magazine reached its 89th volume and became The University Magazine, losing thereby its distinctively Irish character. In the forty odd years of its existence this magazine collected a great body of first-rate Irish literature.

Then there was Young Ireland, The Irish Fireside, and The Lamp (especially during the editorship of John F. O’Donnell). In these and others such some of the best of our Irish writers began their literary careers.

As we near our own times the number of periodicals of all kinds that have appeared and disappeared—most of them after a very brief career—becomes bewildering. But the fact that they have run their course within our own memory makes detailed reference to them the less necessary. It is not many years since The Irish Packet closed its career, an excellent little popular periodical that was edited by Judge Bodkin. The Irish Literary movement produced several periodicals, for the most part perhaps somewhat exotic—Dana, Samhain, Beltaine, &c., &c. Their latest successor, and to our way of thinking much the best of them—The Irish Review—is only just deceased. The Gaelic movement, too, has produced its periodicals, but naturally most, if not all, of the fiction they contain is in the national language. The two best of these, The Gaelic Journal and Gadelica, have most unhappily come to an end, the former after quite a considerable career, the latter after a short one.

I have said nothing of the provincial press, though there were excellent literary periodicals in Cork and Belfast,[19] nor of the weekly editions of the ordinary daily papers, which sometimes contain fiction of very good quality.

It would be impossible to give here even a bird’s-eye view of the fiction of the Irish-American press. I may, however, mention a very fine review, the Gael, of New York, which reached its twenty-third and last volume in 1904. It has contributions from all our leading present day Irish writers.

[17] In the compilation of this short survey I am indebted for useful notes to Dr. J. S. Crone.

[18] E.g., “The Man with the Black Eye,” “The Rapparee,” and “The Double Prophecy.”

[19] Notably a periodical of fine national spirit which was run by Miss Alice Milligan and “Ethna Carbery,” The Shan Van Vocht (1896-1899).

II.—CURRENT PERIODICALS.

The Irish Monthly may fairly, I think, claim mention in the first place for, to the best of my knowledge, its forty-three years constitute a life longer than that of any other still surviving Irish literary review.[20] In it, under the[273] sympathetic guidance and the kind encouragement of Father Matthew Russell, its founder and for forty years its editor, many authors well known to-day began the making of their literary reputations. It contains many serials, not a few of which have since appeared in book form. “The Wild Birds of Killeevy” first ran in its pages.

The Irish Rosary is in its nineteenth volume. It is one of the very few Irish periodicals that has succeeded in maintaining itself as a well illustrated magazine, and it has done so at the exceptionally low price of fourpence. Fiction forms a large proportion of its contents, which are never stodgy nor yet what is called goody-goody.

The Catholic Bulletin is comparatively a new-comer, but already quite a number of volumes, including Fr. Fitzgerald’s two books (q.v.), have been reprinted from its pages. Its tone is thoroughly Irish.

Then there are innumerable little periodicals which, unlike the three just mentioned, contain stories of an almost exclusively religious or moral character, such as the Annals of St. Antony, The Messenger of the Sacred Heart, &c.

The excellent Ireland’s Own, a popular weekly on the lines of Answers and Tit-Bits, deserves a word of mention. Its library of reprints is referred to elsewhere.

Besides these there are the weekly numbers of the daily papers already referred to and the periodicals devoted to Gaelic literature, a list of which will be found in the section of this Appendix, entitled Gaelic Epic and Romantic Literature.

In America many periodicals publish Irish fiction from time to time, but practically the only periodicals the contents of which are predominantly Irish are of an almost exclusively political character. The Catholic World has published Irish serials, e.g., in the seventies, “The Home Rule Candidate: a tale of New Ireland,” by the author of “The Little Chapel at Monamullin.” Several of Canon Sheehan’s novels first appeared in American periodicals.

[20] The Dublin Review and The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, which are older, not being, properly speaking, literary reviews.

I.—IRISH HISTORICAL FICTION.

The following is a select list: it does not aim to include all the historical novels mentioned in the body of this work. But many novels that, as literature, are of very little value have been included in order to cover periods not otherwise dealt with in fiction.

II.—GAELIC EPIC AND ROMANTIC LITERATURE.

I have thought it well to set apart from the mass of Anglo-Irish fictional literature and to put together in a list that portion of our national fiction which draws its inspiration from ancient Gaelic sources. To do this with any sort of completeness, it would be necessary, of course, to deal with the whole body of fiction that has been written in the Irish language. Reasons have been given in the Preface stating why this task was not undertaken. A further reason presented itself some two years ago, viz., the appearance of the magnificent work published in 1913 by the National Library—Bibliography of Irish Philology and of Printed Irish Literature (price 5s.). In this scholarly work the literature of Gaelic epic, saga, and romance is scientifically classified and described with the greatest bibliographical accuracy. For me to attempt that task over again would be little better than an impertinence. It might even be thought, and not unnaturally, that the present list is wholly superfluous. Yet perhaps it may not be without its utility, owing to the fact that in the work just referred to descriptive notes are not provided. This list, then, is practically an excerpt from that work, with the addition of some notes that may be useful. The notes will be found in the body of the book.

O’Mullane, M. FINN MacCOOLE: His Life and Times, and other pamphlets published by the C.T.S. of Ireland. See under name O’Mullane.

Rolleston, T. W. THE HIGH DEEDS OF FINN, and other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland.

Owing to a mistake the note on this writer and his books will be found partly on p. 68 and partly on p. 125.

Many of our heroic legends and ancient sagas have been retold in English verse. Though fiction in verse does not come within the scope of the present Guide, yet it may be of interest to mention here a few of these poetic renderings of ancient Gaelic tales. Sir Samuel Ferguson’s Congal, Conary, Lays of the Red Branch, and Lays of the Western Gael; Aubrey de Vere’s[281] Foray of Queen Maeve; Robert Dwyer Joyce’s Blanid and Deirdre; John Todhunter’s Three Irish Bardic Tales; Douglas Hyde’s Three Sorrows of Story-telling; Herbert Trench’s The Quest; Katharine Tynan’s “Diarmuid and Gráinne” in her Shamrocks; Mrs. Hutton’s stately blank verse translation of The Táin; and, last year, Dr. Geo. Sigerson’s The Saga of King Lir; also The Red Branch Crests, a trilogy by Charles L. Moore; The Death of Oscar by Alice Sargant. Hector MacLean has collected in the Highlands and presented in English verse Ultonian Hero Ballads, which, as the title implies, are of Irish origin. For notes and bibliographical particulars of the above see A Guide to Books on Ireland, Part I. (Hodges & Figgis), 1912.

It may be useful to subjoin here a list of publications (periodical and other) which contain, generally along with other matter, ancient Gaelic tales. I can give here only a bare list, but it will serve to give an idea of what has already been accomplished in this field.

The Ossianic Society. Six big volumes concerned exclusively with the Fenian Cycle. 1854-1861.

The Irish Archæological Society and the Celtic Society, afterwards united as the Irish Archæological and Celtic Society. Twenty-seven volumes.

Zeitschrift fur Celtische Philologie. Collected in eight or nine volumes; in progress.

Irische Texte of Windisch and Whitley Stokes. Five volumes, 3793 pp., exclusive of introductory matter.

III.—LEGENDS AND FOLK-TALES.

O’Hanlon, Canon John; “Lageniensis.” IRISH FOLK LORE: Traditions and Superstitions of the Country, with Humorous Tales.

Blake-Forster, Charles Ffrench. A COLLECTION OF THE OLDEST AND MOST POPULAR LEGENDS OF THE PEASANTRY OF CLARE AND GALWAY.

O’Neill, John. HANDERAHAN, THE IRISH FAIRY MAN, and LEGENDS OF CARRICK-ON-SUIR.

Wentz, Walter Yeeling Evans. THE FAIRY-FAITH IN CELTIC COUNTRIES: Its Psychical Origin and Nature.

It may be of interest to mention, as specimens, some of the chief collections of Scottish Gaelic folk-lore, for it is, at bottom, identical with that of Gaelic Ireland.

WAIFS AND STRAYS OF CELTIC TRADITION. A Series initiated and directed by Lord Archibald Campbell. It comprises four volumes:—

IV.—FAIRY TALES FOR CHILDREN.

V.—CATHOLIC CLERICAL LIFE.

Most of Canon Sheehan’s books deal directly or indirectly with the priestly life.

Guinan, Rev. J. SCENES AND SKETCHES IN AN IRISH PARISH; or, Priests and People in Doon.

It would be easy to extend this list, as many novelists introduce Irish priests, at least incidentally.

VI.—HUMOROUS BOOKS.

The word “humour” is used here in a wide sense to cover wit and comicality or broad comedy, as well as humour in the strict sense of the word. The present list is not a selection of the best samples of Irish humour. It merely brings together a number of books which are entirely or mainly of a humorous character. Humour of a greatly superior order is often to be found here and there in books of a predominantly serious purpose—in My New Curate, for instance, or in Knocknagow.

There are some humorous stories in Lefanu’s “Purcell Papers” that make us regret that he did not give us more in the same vein. Carleton’s “Stories” are a miscellany containing episodes of the wildest fun amid much that is gloomy, and scenes of pleasant and kindly humour interspersed with traits of savagery and of fanaticism.

This is, in the main, an index of titles. Some selected subjects have also been indexed, viz., the more important of those occurring in the notes. Subjects dealt with in the classified lists (Appendix D) have not been indexed here.

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	PAGE
Preface	vii.
Preface to A Reader’s Guide to Irish Fiction (1910)	x.
Acknowledgments	xiv.
Signs, Abbreviations, etc.	xvii.
Irish Fiction under names of Authors arranged alphabetically	1
Appendix:
A.—Some useful Works of Reference	261
B.—Publishers and Series	264
C.—Irish Fiction in Periodicals	270
D.—Classified Lists:
I.—Historical Fiction	273
II.—Gaelic Epic and Romantic Literature	279
III.—Folk-Lore and Legend	282
IV.—Fairy Tales for Children	283
V.—Catholic Clerical Life	284
VI.—Humorous Books	285
Index of Titles and Subjects	287

b.	= born.
c. (before dates)	= approximately.
d.	= died, daughter.
ed.	= edition, edited, editor, educated.
q.v.	= which may be referred to.
n.d.	= no date printed in the book referred to.
sqq.	= and following (years or pages).
C.B.N.	= Catholic Book Notes.
D.R.	= The Dublin Review.
I.B.L.	= The Irish Book Lover.
I.E.R.	= The Irish Ecclesiastical Record.
I.M.	= The Irish Monthly.
N.I.R.	= The New Ireland Review.
T. Lit. Suppl.	= The Times Literary Supplement.
C.T.S.I.	= Catholic Truth Society of Ireland.
S.P.C.K.	= Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge.
R.T.S.	= Religious Tract Society.
Allibone	= Allibone’s Critical Dictionary of English Literature.
Baker	= Baker’s Guides (see Appendix A) a 2 indicates that the new ed. has been used.
Krans	= Krans’s Irish Life in Irish fiction. (Appendix A).
Read	= The Cabinet of Irish Literature. (Appendix A).
I. Lit.	= Irish Literature in twelve Vols. (Appendix A).
N.Y.	= New York.

Dublin:	Messrs. Browne & Nolan, Nassau Street.
	” James Duffy & Co., Westmoreland Street.
	” The Educational Co. of Ireland, Talbot Street.
	” M. H. Gill & Co., O’Connell Street.
	” Hodges & Figgis, Grafton Street.
	” Maunsel & Co., Ltd., 96 Middle Abbey Street.
	” Sealy, Bryers & Walker, Middle Abbey Street.
	” Alex. Thom & Co., Middle Abbey Street.
Belfast:	Erskine Mayne.
	McCaw, Stevenson & Orr.
Cork:	Guy & Co.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ireland in Fiction: A Guide to Irish Novels, Tales, Romances, and Folk-lore

IRELAND IN FICTION.

CONTENTS.

PREFACE.

PREFACE TO A READERS GUIDE TO IRISH FICTION (1910).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
(Reader’s Guide, etc.)

[Additional (Present Work).]

SIGNS, ABBREVIATIONS, ETC.

IRISH FICTION UNDER NAMES OF AUTHORS, ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.

APPENDIX A.
SOME USEFUL WORKS OF REFERENCE.

APPENDIX B.
PUBLISHERS AND SERIES.

APPENDIX C.
IRISH MAGAZINE FICTION.[16]

IRISH FICTION IN PERIODICALS.[17]

I.—DEFUNCT PERIODICALS.

II.—CURRENT PERIODICALS.

APPENDIX D.

I.—IRISH HISTORICAL FICTION.

II.—GAELIC EPIC AND ROMANTIC LITERATURE.

III.—LEGENDS AND FOLK-TALES.

IV.—FAIRY TALES FOR CHILDREN.

V.—CATHOLIC CLERICAL LIFE.

VI.—HUMOROUS BOOKS.

INDEX.

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

	DALARADIA. William Collins.
c. 500-1016.	KINGS AND VIKINGS. Lorcan O’Byrne.
500-507.	THE LAST MONARCH OF TARA. T. J. Rooney.
c. 550-597.	BRANAN THE PICT. Mary Frances Outram.
c. 560-615.	COLUMBANUS THE CELT. Walter T. Leahy.
c. 584-592.	THE DRUIDESS. Mrs. Florence Gay.
c. 650.	THE LIFE AND ACTS OF EDMOND OF ERIN. Mrs. F. Peck.
	THE INVASION. Gerald Griffin.
888.	KING AND VIKING. P. G. Smyth.
935.	A SEA QUEEN’S SAILING. C. W. Whistler.
c. 1130-1151.	THE KNIGHT OF THE CAVE. W. Lorcan O’Byrne.
1152-1172.	DEARFORGIL, THE PRINCESS OF BREFFNY. C. B. Gibson.
[274]The Invasion and After.
1169.	THE FALCON KING. Lorcan O’Byrne.
1167-1198.	THE COURT OF RATH CROGHAN. Miss M. L. O’Byrne.
	LET ERIN REMEMBER. May Wynne.
1333.	THE RETURN OF CLANEBOY. Sir Samuel Ferguson.
1373-1399.	UNDER ONE SCEPTRE. Emily S. Holt.
1375-1417.	ART MURROUGH O’KAVANAGH. M. L. O’Byrne.
c. 1397.	THE CAPTURE OF KILLESHIN. Sir Samuel Ferguson.
c. 1410.	CORBY MacGILLMORE. Sir Samuel Ferguson.
The Geraldines.
	THE HEIRESS OF KILORGAN. Mrs. J. Sadlier.
Silken Thomas.
1533-7.	THOMAS FITZGERALD THE LORD OF OFFALY.
1532-1537.	THE WEIRD OF “THE SILKEN THOMAS.” R. Manifold-Craig.
1534-5.	THE SIEGE OF MAYNOOTH.
1534-5.	THE REBELLION OF SILKEN THOMAS. Sir Samuel Ferguson.
Seaghan O’Neill.
1559-1567.	A PRINCE OF TYRONE. Charlotte Fennell and J. P. O’Callaghan.
The Desmond Wars.
c. 1560.	THE PALE AND THE SEPTS. M. L. O’Byrne.
1565.	RALPH WYNWARD. H. Elrington.
c. 1577.	FOR CHURCH AND CHIEFTAIN. May Wynne.
1577-1582.	MAELCHO. Emily Lawless.
1580-2.	GERALDINE OF DESMOND. Miss Crumpe.
Grania Ni Mhailie (Grace O’Malley).
c. 1585-1590.	A QUEEN OF MEN. William O’Brien, M.P.
c. 1579 sq.	GRACE O’MALLEY, PRINCESS AND PIRATE. Robert Machray.
c. 1585.	GRANIA WAILE. Fulmar Petrel.
c. 1585.	THE DARK LADY OF DOONA. W. H. Maxwell.
Elizabethan Persecutions.
	THE SPAEWIFE. Rev. John Boyce, D.D.
1584.	THE SORROW OF LYCADOON. Mrs. T. Concannon.
Elizabethan Ireland.
1585-1590.	SIR LUDAR. Talbot Baines Reed.
	HIBERNIAN NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS. Sir Samuel Ferguson.
	THE BOG OF STARS. Standish O’Grady.
1580-1600.	THE SPANISH WINE. Frank Mathew.
[275]The War of the Earls.
1587.	FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE. Standish O’Grady.
1601-1602.	ULRICK THE READY. Standish O’Grady.
	EARL OR CHIEFTAIN. Patricia Dillon.
	THE ADVENTURER.
	THE RED HAND OF ULSTER. Mrs. Sadlier.
	THE CHARMING OF ESTERCEL. Grace Rhys.
c. 1597.	MacCARTHY MOR. Mrs. James Sadlier.
1599-1603.	LAST EARL OF DESMOND. C. B. Gibson.
	THE BROKEN SWORD OF ULSTER. Richard Cuninghame.
	SIR GUY D’ESTERRE. Selina Bunbury.
1599.	WITH ESSEX IN IRELAND. Emily Lawless.
Ireland under James I. and Charles I.
1608.	THE LAST OF THE IRISH CHIEFS. Mrs. M. T. Pender.
1603.	THE DAUGHTER OF TYRCONNELL. Mrs. James Sadlier.
1609.	HUGH TALBOT. W. J. O’Neill Daunt.
1633.	KATHLEEN CLARE. Dora McChesney.
1640.	FRANK MAXWELL. J. H. Lepper.
The Confederation and the Parliamentary Wars.
1641-1652.	THE CONFEDERATE CHIEFTAINS. Mrs. James Sadlier.
1641-1652.	THE WILD ROSE OF LOUGH GILL. P. G. Smyth.
1642-1652.	THE CHANCES OF WAR. Rev. T. A. Finlay, S.J.
1644.	CAPTAIN HARRY. J. H. Lepper.
c. 1645.	SILK AND STEEL. H. A. Hinkson.
1645.	FRIENDS THOUGH DIVIDED. G. A. Henty.
1647-1654.	LORD ROCHE’S DAUGHTERS OF FERMOY. M. L. O’Byrne.
	THE FLIGHT FROM THE CLIFFS. James Murphy.
1649.	WHEN CROMWELL CAME TO DROGHEDA. Randal M’Donnell.
1649.	IN THE KING’S SERVICE. F. S. Brereton.
1649.	CASTLE OMERAGH. F. Frankfort Moore.
1649.	JOHN MARMADUKE. Samuel Harden Church.
c. 1649.	THE SILK OF THE KINE. Miss L. MacManus.
Roundhead Rule.
1652-1660.	THE KING OF CLADDAGH. T. Fitzpatrick.
1654.	CAPTAIN LATYMER. F. Frankfort Moore.
1654.	ETHNE. Mrs. Field.
1654.	NESSA. L. MacManus.
[276]The Williamite Wars.
1671-1748.	MEMOIRS OF GERALD O’CONNOR. W. O’Connor Morris.
1680.	THE FIGHT OF FAITH. Mrs. S. C. Hall.
1685-1691.	THE BOYNE WATER. J. Banim.
1689.	TRUE TO THE WATCHWORD. E. Pickering.
1689-1690.	A MAN’S FOES. E. H. Strain.
1689.	THE KNIGHTS OF THE WHITE ROSE. George Griffith.
1689.	DERRY. Charlotte Elizabeth.
1690.	IN SARSFIELD’S DAYS. Miss L. MacManus.
1690.	LEIXLIP CASTLE. M. L. O’Byrne.
1689-91.	THE FORTUNES OF COL. TORLOGH O’BRIEN. J. Sheridan Le Fanu.
1689-1691.	MY SWORD FOR PATRICK SARSFIELD. Randal M’Donnell.
1689-1690.	THE CRIMSON SIGN. S. R. Keightley.
1689-1691.	ORANGE AND GREEN. G. A. Henty.
	BALDEARG O’DONNELL. Hon. Albert S. Canning.
	THE HOUSE OF LISRONAN. Miriam Alexander.
1689-1770.	THE IRISH CHIEFTAINS. Charles Ffrench Blake-Forster.
The Eighteenth Century.
c. 1696.	THE DENOUNCED. John Banim.
1696.	REDMOND O’HANLON. William Carleton.
1690-1726.	LUTTRELL’S DOOM. D. F. Hannigan.
c. 1698.	THE COMING OF THE KING. Arthur Synan.
c. 1705-1710.	THE COCK AND ANCHOR. J. Sheridan Le Fanu.
c. 1712.	ESTHER VANHOMRIGH. Margaret L. Woods.
1761-1764.	THE HEARTS OF STEEL. James M’Henry, M.D.
1770.	ANDRÉ BESNARD.
1770.	IN THE DAYS OF GOLDSMITH. M. M’D. Bodkin.
c. 1771.	THE JESSAMY BRIDE. F. Frankfort Moore.
1750-1798.	THE TWO CHIEFS OF DUNBOY. J. A. Froude.
1760.	SARSFIELD. Dr. John Gamble.
1766.	THE FATE OF FATHER SHEEHY. Mrs. James Sadlier.
The Irish Brigade.
	A SWORDSMAN OF THE BRIGADE. M. O’Hannrachain.
c. 1702.	MOUNTCASHEL’S BRIGADE. Brigadier-Gen. C. G. Halpine.
c. 1702.	LALLY OF THE BRIGADE. Miss L. MacManus.
1703-1710.	IN THE IRISH BRIGADE. G. A. Henty.
[277]1719.	CLEMENTINA. A. E. W. Mason.
	SPANISH JOHN. William McLennan.
c. 1745.	THE LAST RECRUIT OF CLARE’S. S. R. Keightley.
c. 1745.	TREASURE TROVE. Samuel Lover.
Grattan’s Parliament and the Union.
c. 1785.	THE KING’S DEPUTY. H. A. Hinkson.
1780-1797.	THE LOST LAND. Julia M. Crottie.
1782-1803.	MY LORDS OF STROGUE. Lewis Wingfield.
1793-1798.	THE O’BRIENS AND O’FLAHERTYS. Lady Morgan.
1797-1801.	ILL-WON PEERAGES. M. L. O’Byrne.
c. 1800.	THE KNIGHT OF GWYNNE. Charles Lever.
Ninety-eight in the North.
	THE INSURGENT CHIEF. James McHenry.
	O’HARA. W. H. Maxwell.
	THE NORTHERN IRON. George A. Birmingham.
	THE GREEN COCKADE. Mrs. M. T. Pender.
	STRONG AS DEATH. Mrs. Charles M. Clarke.
	THE NORTHERNS OF ’98. Eyre Evans Crowe.
	A PRISONER OF HIS WORD. Louie Bennett.
	NINETY-EIGHT AND SIXTY YEARS AFTER. “Andrew James.”
	BETSY GRAY. W. G. Lyttle.
	THE PIKEMEN. S. R. Keightley.
Ninety-eight in Wexford.
	THE FORGE OF CLOHOGE. James Murphy.
	THE CROPPY. Michael Banim.
	CROPPIES LIE DOWN. William Buckley.
	AGNES ARNOLD. William Bernard MacCabe.
	NINETY-EIGHT. “Patrick C. Faly” (John Hill).
	MAUREEN MOORE. Rupert Alexander.
	KATHLEEN MAVOURNEEN. Randal M’Donnell.
	THE IRISH WIDOW’S SON. C. O’Leary.
	CORRAGEEN IN ’98. Mrs. Orpen.
	ROSE PARNELL. D. P. Conyngham.
	OLIVE LACY. Anna Argyle.
	THE WOOD OF THE BRAMBLES. Frank Mathew.
	UP FOR THE GREEN. H. A. Hinkson.
	THE O’MAHONY, CHIEF OF THE COMERAGHS. D. P. Conyngham.
1798-1805.	MICHAEL DWYER, THE INSURGENT CAPTAIN. Dr. Campion.
[278]Humbert in the West.
1798.	THE ROUND TOWER. Florence Scott and Alma Hodge.
1793-1809.	MAURICE TIERNAY. Charles Lever.
	CONNAUGHT: A TALE OF 1798. M. Archdeacon.
1798.	LE BRISEUR DE FERS. Georges D’Esparbes.
	THE RACE OF CASTLEBAR. Emily Lawless and Shan F. Bullock.
The United Irishmen.
	TRUE TO THE CORE. C. J. Hamilton.
	THE PATRIOT BROTHERS. Charles Graham Halpine.
1798.	THE SHAN VAN VOCHT. James Murphy.
c. 1796.	LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD. M. M’Donnell Bodkin.
1792-1798.	KILGORMAN. Talbot Baines Reed.
1796.	THE REBELS. M. M’Donnell Bodkin.
1796-1797.	THE HOUSE IN THE RATH. James Murphy.
1797.	THE O’DONOGHUE. Charles Lever.
Emmet.
1803.	ROBERT EMMET. Stephen Gwynn.
	TRUE MAN AND TRAITOR. M. M’D. Bodkin.
1803.	RAVENSDALE. Robert Thynne.
1797-1803.	THE ISLAND OF SORROW. George Gilbert.
The Nineteenth Century.
1817.	THE BLACK PROPHET. William Carleton.
1829.	GLENANAAR. Canon P. A. Sheehan.
1830.	HUGH ROACH THE RIBBONMAN. James Murphy.
c. 1830.	THE MANOR OF GLENMORE. Peter Burrowes Kelly.
1831.	THE TERRY ALT. Stephen Joseph Meany.
	IRISH LIFE IN COURT AND CASTLE. (Isaac Butt.)
1843.	THE KELLYS AND THE O’KELLYS. Anthony Trollope.
The Famine and Young Ireland.
	THE HUNGER. Andrew Merry.
1845-1848.	CASTLE DALY. Miss Keary.
1846-1847.	CASTLE RICHMOND. Anthony Trollope.
1848.	MONONIA. Justin M’Carthy.
1848.	LILY LASS. Justin Huntly M’Carthy.
1848.	THE FALCON FAMILY. Marmion Savage.
1848.	MAURICE RHYNHART. J. T. Listado.
[279]Fenianism.
1865-6.	THE THREE FENIAN BROTHERS. John Hamilton.
	THE GRAVES AT KILMORNA. Canon P. A. Sheehan.
1866.	CARROLL O’DONOGHUE. Christine Faber.
1865-1883.	FITZGERALD, THE FENIAN. J. D. Maginn.
1865.	WHEN WE WERE BOYS. William O’Brien, M.P.
1866.	RIDGEWAY. “Scian Dubh.”
1867.	THE DUNFERRY RISIN’. J. J. Moran.
1867.	LIGHT AND SHADE. Charlotte Grace O’Brien.
Home Rule, &c.
1870.	THE BAD TIMES. G. A. Birmingham.
c. 1870.	A SON OF ERIN. Annie S. Swan.
1875-1891.	HER MAJESTY’S REBELS. S. R. Lysaght.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ireland in Fiction: A Guide to Irish Novels, Tales, Romances, and Folk-lore

IRELAND IN FICTION.

CONTENTS.

PREFACE.

PREFACE TO A READERS GUIDE TO IRISH FICTION (1910).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (Reader’s Guide, etc.)

[Additional (Present Work).]

SIGNS, ABBREVIATIONS, ETC.

IRISH FICTION UNDER NAMES OF AUTHORS, ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.

APPENDIX A. SOME USEFUL WORKS OF REFERENCE.

APPENDIX B. PUBLISHERS AND SERIES.

APPENDIX C. IRISH MAGAZINE FICTION.[16]

IRISH FICTION IN PERIODICALS.[17]

I.—DEFUNCT PERIODICALS.

II.—CURRENT PERIODICALS.

APPENDIX D.

I.—IRISH HISTORICAL FICTION.

II.—GAELIC EPIC AND ROMANTIC LITERATURE.

III.—LEGENDS AND FOLK-TALES.

IV.—FAIRY TALES FOR CHILDREN.

V.—CATHOLIC CLERICAL LIFE.

VI.—HUMOROUS BOOKS.

INDEX.

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
(Reader’s Guide, etc.)

APPENDIX A.
SOME USEFUL WORKS OF REFERENCE.

APPENDIX B.
PUBLISHERS AND SERIES.

APPENDIX C.
IRISH MAGAZINE FICTION.[16]