Thomas Augustine Martin (13 November 1935 – 16 October 1995) was an Irish academic, Anglo-Irish scholar, teacher, writer, broadcaster and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

. During his career he was Professor of Anglo-Irish Literature at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, chairman of the Board of the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the pu ...

, and a member of the

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann (, ; "Senate of Ireland") is the upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its memb ...

from 1973 to 1981.

Biography

Augustine Martin was born in

Ballinamore Ballinamore (, meaning "mouth of the big ford") is a small town in County Leitrim, Ireland. Etymology , corrupted ''Bellanamore'', means "town at the mouth of the big ford", so named because it was a main crossing (ford) of the Yellow River. T ...

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...

in 1935. He was a childhood contemporary of author

John McGahern John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006) was an Irish writer and novelist. He is regarded as one of the most important writers of the latter half of the twentieth century. Known for the detailed dissection of Irish life found in wo ...

. Initially educated at the local national school, he completed his secondary education at

Cistercian College, Roscrea Cistercian College, Roscrea or Roscrea College is a private boarding school in Ireland. It is a Roman Catholic seven-day and five-day boarding and day school for boys, founded in 1905. Its pupil population is primarily made up of boarding stud ...

(CCR, Mount St. Joseph's College), a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

where he captained the

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

team, was elected House Captain by the students and in his Leaving Certificate examination, scored an A in English, coming first in the country that year. In 1953 he entered

(UCD), where he took a B.A. in 1957. He married Claire Kennedy (a

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiatio ...

) in 1959 and thereafter he taught English and Irish at his old school (CCR) while he completed his M.A. In 1964 he joined the English department of UCD as a lecturer specialising in Anglo-Irish literature and was subsequently involved with the redrawing of the schools'

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

curriculum as a founder member of the Association for Teachers of English (ATE). During this period he edited the text books ''Exploring English'' (1 and 3) and ''Soundings''. In 1973, he competed his doctoral thesis on James Stephens. He won a

Jacob's Awards The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

in 1968 for presenting ''Telefís Scoile'' programmes about English literature for

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Raidi (; ; also written Ragdi; born August, 1938) is a Tibetan politician of the People's Republic of China. He served as a vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2003 to 2008, and the highest ranking Tibeta ...

. He succeeded

Roger McHugh Roger Joseph McHugh (24 July 1908 – 2 January 1987) was an Irish academic, author, playwright, politician and Irish Republican. He was educated Our Lady's Bower, Athlone; Synge Street CBS, Dublin and University College Dublin (UCD). McHugh w ...

as Chair of Anglo-Irish Literature, at UCD in 1979. In 1973 he was elected to

for the

National University A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. Some national universities are associated with national cultural or po ...

constituency, and reelected in 1977 to serve until 1981. As a senator he spoke for the arts and culture, and was notably active in the opposition to the development of

Wood Quay Wood Quay () is a riverside area of Dublin that was a site of Viking settlement. It is now the location of the Dublin City Council offices. Location The site is bounded on the north side by Wood Quay on the River Liffey, on the west by Win ...

, a 900-year-old

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

settlement in Dublin. In 1983, he was appointed to the Board of the Abbey Theatre (the Irish national theatre), and in 1985 was appointed chairman. He was Chairman of the Yeats International Summer School from 1978 to 1981 and subsequently founded the Yeats Winter School and the Joyce Summer School at Newman House. Gus Martin died on 16 October 1995, aged 59. At the time of his death he was working on a biography of the Irish poet,

Patrick Kavanagh Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist. His best-known works include the novel '' Tarry Flynn'', and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger". He is known for his accounts of Irish life t ...

. He is survived by his wife, Claire and his four children.

Published works

His literary works include: * ''An Anthology of short stories for Intermediate Certificate'' (1967), editor; * ''Introducing English: An Anthology of Prose and Poems'' (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan 1970), editor; * ''Winter's Tales from Ireland'' (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan 1970), editor; * ''James Stephens, The Charwoman's Daughter'' (1972), introduction; * ''James Stephens: A Critical Study'', (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan 1977); * ''‘Eusebius McGreal’, Third Degree, 1, 2'' (Dublin 1977); * ''Anglo-Irish literature'' (Department of Foreign Affairs, 1980); * ''Mary Lavin The House in Clewe Street'', (London: Virgao Press 1987), afterword; * ''W. B. Yeats, Collected poems'', (London: Arena 1983, 1990) editor and introduction; * ''The Genius of Irish prose'' TÉ Thomas Davis Lects.(Mercier/RTÉ 1985); * ''James Joyce : the artist and the labyrinth'' (1990), editor; * ''Friendship'' (Dublin: Ryan 1990); * ''The Collected Prose of James Clarence Mangan: Prose, 1832–1839'' by James Clarence Mangan, Martin Van De Kamp, Jacques Chuto, and Augustine Martin (published post-humously in May 1997). An anthology of his essays was published posthumously: ''Bearing witness: essays on Anglo-Irish'' edited by Anthony Roche (1996)Bearing Witnes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Augustine 1935 births 1995 deaths Academics of University College Dublin Alumni of University College Dublin Independent members of Seanad Éireann Irish literary critics Irish theatre directors Jacob's Award winners Members of Seanad Éireann for the National University of Ireland Members of the 13th Seanad Members of the 14th Seanad People educated at Cistercian College, Roscrea RTÉ television presenters People from Ballinamore Scholars and academics from County Leitrim Broadcasters from County Leitrim