Agnes Mary Frances Castle ( Sweetman; c. 1860/1861 – 1922) was a

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

Irish author who worked with both her sisters and husband. The stories that she co-wrote were the basis of several plays and films.

Life

Agnes Mary Frances Sweetman was born in

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

to Michael James Sweetman (1829-1864), of Lamberton Park, Queen's County, JP,

High Sheriff of Queen's County The High Sheriff of Queen's County was the British Crown's judicial representative in Queen's County, Ireland (now County Laois), Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the of ...

in 1852, and (Mary) Margaret, only child and heir of Michael Powell, of Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin. She had two brothers and was the youngest of four sisters. The Sweetman family were landed gentry of Longtown,

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

, and per family tradition were "long settled in Dublin" and "previously resident near Callan and Newtown, County Kilkenny", tracing their line back to the mid-1500s. After her father's death, when she was a small child, the remaining family moved to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1873 and she spent her summers in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Her sisters, Elinor and Mary Elizabeth, were also writers. With her sisters she began two family magazines: the "Ivy Home Magazine" and "Ivy Home Library". Agnes married

Egerton Castle __NOTOC__ Egerton Castle M.A., F.S.A. (12 March 1858 – 16 September 1920) was an author, antiquarian, and swordsman, and an early practitioner of reconstructed historical fencing, frequently in collaboration with his colleague Captain Alfred ...

in 1883 and co-authored many novels with her husband. She also wrote plays for children, as well as stories for magazines such as ''Temple Bar'', ''Cornhill Magazine'', and ''Macmillan''. She has largely been ignored as a writer compared to her husband. Her daughter, Marie Louise Egerton Castle (1885-1969), made a "considerable reputation" as author of a "History of Italian Literature" and reviser of Cary's translation of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and ...

''; on 25 October 1922, at the Brompton Oratory, she married Count Antoine de Meeûs, of Brussels.

Selected works

* * * * * * * *''The Bath Comedy'' (Macmillan 1901) *''If Youth But Knew'' (Smith Elder 1906) *''Flower o' the Orange and Other Stories'' (Methuen 1908) *''The Star Dreamer'' (Constable 1903) *''The Composer'' (1911) *''Incomparable Bellairs'' (1903) *''Rose of the World'' (1905) *''The Heart of Lady Anne'' (1905) *''Flower o' the Orange and Other Tales of Bygone Days'' (1908) *''Panther's Cub'' (1911) *''The Golden Barrier'' (1913) *''Forlorn Adventures'' (1915) *''Minniglen'' (1918) *''Our Sentimental Garden'' illustrated by Charles Robinson (1914, USA; 1915, London) *''A Little House in War Time'' (1916) *''Wolf-Lure'' (1917) *''New Wine'' (1919) *''John Seneschal's Margaret'' (1920) *''Pamela Pounce; a tale of tempestuous petticoats'' (1921) *''Diamonds Cut Paste'' (1922) *''The Wind's Will'' (1916) *"The Heart of Lord Mandeville", Vol 19, 1903-04 ncluded in ''Incomparable Bellairs'', 1903*"To the Tune of Little Red Heels", ''Windsor Magazine'', Vol 19, 1903-04 ncluded in ''Incomparable Bellairs'', 1903*''Vengeance Is Mine; Enchanted Casements'', Hutchinson 1923

Filmography

Agnes co-wrote the books these films were based on. *''

The Pride of Jennico ''The Pride of Jennico'' is a four-act play based on the book by the same name from Agnes Castle and Egerton Castle published in 1897 by the Macmillan Company. The setting is the mid-1700s and the plot revolves around Captain Basil Jennico, a ...

'', directed by

J. Searle Dawley James Searle Dawley (October 4, 1877 – March 30, 1949) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, stage actor, and playwright. Between 1907 and the mid-1920s, while working for Edison, Rex Motion Picture Company, Famous Player ...

(1914, based on ''

'') *''The Incomparable Bellairs'', directed by Harold M. Shaw (UK, 1914, based on ''The Incomparable Bellairs'') *''

The Secret Orchard ''The Secret Orchard'' is a 1915 American drama silent film directed by Frank Reicher and written by Channing Pollock and William C. deMille. The film stars Cleo Ridgely, Blanche Sweet, Edward MacKay, Gertrude Kellar, Carlyle Blackwell and Theod ...

'', directed by Frank Reicher (1915, based on ''The Secret Orchard'') *''

Sweet Kitty Bellairs ''Sweet Kitty Bellairs'' is a 1930 American historical musical comedy film directed by Alfred E. Green. The film is based on the 1900 novel, ''The Bath Comedy'' by Agnes Castle and Egerton Castle. Shot entirely in Technicolor, the film stars ...

'', directed by James Young (1916, based on ''The Bath Comedy'') *'' Rose of the World'', directed by

Maurice Tourneur Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and Lo ...

(1918, based on ''Rose of the World'') *''

'', directed by Alfred E. Green (1930, based on ''The Bath Comedy'')

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castle, Agnes 1860s births 1922 deaths Irish women novelists Victorian women writers Date of birth unknown Victorian novelists Writers from County Dublin Irish women short story writers Irish women dramatists and playwrights Irish children's writers