Charlotte Dease (20 July 1873 – 5 May 1953), was a collector of old Irish prayers who also wrote and translated books on the saints.

Biography

Charlotte Dease was born the middle of five children to

Edmund Gerald Dease Edmund Gerald Dease (6 September 1829 – 17 July 1904) was an Irish Home Rule League and Liberal politician. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Queen's County at a by-election in 1870 as a Liberal candidate, and won the seat agai ...

and Mary Grattan on 20 July 1873. Her father was a Member of Parliament and a national education commissioner. He was a supporter of the

Land League The Irish National Land League (Irish: ''Conradh na Talún'') was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which sought to help poor tenant farmers. Its primary aim was to abolish landlordism in Ireland and enable tenant farmer ...

. Dease was a member of the Feis Laoise and Ossory and of the

Ard-Fheis or ''ardfheis'' ( , ; "high assembly"; plural ''ardfheiseanna'') is the name used by many Irish political parties for their annual party conference. The term was first used by Conradh na Gaeilge, the Irish language cultural organisation, for it ...

in 1907. She was particularly interested in traditional prayers. She published various collections of prayers from 1911 on. They were translated from 1915. Introductions to the works were given by Sir

Henry Bellingham Henry Campbell Bellingham, Baron Bellingham, (born 29 March 1955) is a British Conservative politician who sits in the House of Lords and former barrister. He was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Norfolk in 1983. ...

and

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...

. She also translated books from Italian for the English speaking market. During the Commemoration of

Catholic Emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

Dease represented the Central Catholic Library. Dease also wrote for magazines like the ''Irish Messenger'' and ''The Sacred Heart Review''. Dease died 5 May 1953 at 31 Pembroke Road, Dublin.

Bibliography

* Prayers of the People * Irish Rosary * Scenes of the Rosary * The Little flowers of St Catherine of Siena * An Alphabet of Irish saints * Children of the Gael * An Irish Nativity Play

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dease, Charlotte 1873 births 1953 deaths Irish women writers