Read Ebook: Ireland in Fiction: A Guide to Irish Novels Tales Romances and Folk-lore by Brown Stephen J M Stephen James Meredith

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? OLD CELTIC ROMANCES. Pp. xx. + 474. . . Third ed., revised and enlarged. 1907.

? LEGENDS OF THE WARS IN IRELAND. Pp. 352. . 1868.

? IRISH FIRESIDE TALES. Pp. 376. . 1871.

Sixteen stories, some 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" ; "The Building of Mourne" ; "A Little Bit of Sport" ; "Madeline's Vow" ; "The Golden Butterfly" ; "Creevan, the Brown Haired"; "Mun Carberry and the Phooka"; "a story of Dublin life in the days of Queen Ann," &c. Very little dialect.

? T?IN BO CUALNGE. ENL?VEMENT DU TAUREAU DIVIN ET DES VACHES DE COOLEY. Pp. 190. . En livraisons. 1907-9.

"La plus ancienne ?pop?e 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 Eug?ne Bibart."

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.

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 Six tales of the Rockites, the brutal doings of a secret society that flourished about 1830; Legends and tales of the peasantry of Queen's County and North Munster; 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; Pp. 493-552, Poems.

Adventures of a Mr. Gervase Orme, "sometime lieutenant in Mountjoy's 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. . . 1.50. . 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 during the rising. Presbyterian-Nationalist bias. Strong character study. Faithful descriptions of scenery. The study of the Government spy is especially noteworthy.

? A BEGGAR ON HORSEBACK. Pp. 319. . 1906.

A swaggering young bravo--a faint imitation of Barry Lyndon--tells his adventures in Dublin and on the Continent in the days of the drinking, gambling, out-at-elbows squireens . 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" . A facetious, swashbuckler tone is adopted throughout.

? RODY BLAKE.

The preceding book seems to have been publ. also under this title, or possibly this is a sequel, but I failed to come across it, in spite of much research.

Ten short stories reprinted from THE CATHOLIC FIRESIDE, and other Catholic magazines. High moral tone, characterisation good, dialogue 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 , the evils of emigration, and of proselytism, the reward of charity, &c., one is a ghost-story. They are told with great simplicity.

? THE MANOR OF GLENMORE; or, The Irish Peasant. Three Vols. . 1839.

Scene: Stradbally, in the Queen's County. Most of the personages of the tale and many of its incidents are real. The country is very well described; the book has many interesting incidents; peasant life is pictured with knowledge and sympathy. The last year of the agitation for Catholic Emancipation is the period dealt with. The famous Clare election is described, and there is a character sketch of Dr. Doyle . 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.

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 FITZGERALD; an Irish Tale. Five Vols . . 1831.

? LEGENDS OF MOUNT LEINSTER. Pp. 283. 16mo. . 1855.

? FICTIONS OF OUR FOREFATHERS. 1859.

? LEGENDARY FICTIONS OF THE IRISH CELTS. . . 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" , "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.

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 good book" . 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 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 na?vet?. In all the language is simple but very adequate and dignified. They are free from anything that would make them unsuitable for the young.

"Has no higher ambition than that of agreeably occupying a leisure hour."--. "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."--. 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. . 1909.

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.

Scene: West County . 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 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 . 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 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. .

? THE FORTUNES OF MAURICE CRONIN. Three Vols. . 1875.

A very long novel with a very complicated plot and without a trace of brightness or of humour. The plot turns chiefly on a case of mistaken identity. Maurice returns from soldiering in India to find that he is really heir to the estates of the Grace family, and can marry Mary Grace, his cousin, whom his putative mother had thought to be his sister. No national interest. Date 184-. Places such as Deverell's Chase, Desmond's Tower, Rathcroghan, are mentioned.

? SLIEVE BLOOM. Pp. 153. . Three illustr. 1881.

A little non-controversial Methodist story for young people. Tells how May and Willie lived a very poor life with their maternal grandmother, but by the coming of their father's mother were raised to better circumstances. Nice descriptions of Mountmellick, the Bog of Allen, and Slieve Bloom.

? KILKEE. Pp. 193. . Third ed. 1885.

A moral and religious 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. . 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.

Main theme: the fortunes and the sufferings of an Irish family of small farmers under the old land system. The peasant's love of home and the bitter sadness of emigration are brought out in the unfolding of the tale. All through there runs a love-tale told with the Author's usual restraint, simplicity, and delicate analysis of motive. There is a humorous element, too, amusing bailiffs and policemen furnishing much of it. Constable Sproule driving home the pigs is capitally done. Rody Flynn is a grand old character, evidently sketched from life.

? THE PIG-DRIVING PEELERS.

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.

? A GERALDINE. Two Vols. 1893. .

? ROSE O'CONNOR: A Story of the Day. Pp. 173. . Second ed. 1881.

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