Denis Rolleston Gwynn (1893–1973) was an Irish journalist, writer and professor of modern Irish history. He served in the British Army in World War I.

Life

Denis Gwynn was born on 6 March 1893, the third son of Stephen Gwynn, the Irish patriot, writer and Irish Parliamentary Party Member of Parliament. His mother was Mary ('May') Louisa Osborn Gwynn; his parents were first cousins. The middle name Rolleston was derived from Denis Gwynn's great grandmother Catherine Rolleston, who married his great grandfather John Gwynne.''Burke’s Irish Family Records'', Burke’s Peerage Ltd, 1976. Along with his mother and siblings, but not his father, Denis Gwynn was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 1902. He was educated at

St. Enda's School St. Enda's School (( ga, Scoil Éanna)) was an Irish language secondary established in 1908 by Irish nationalist Patrick Pearse. Originally Pearse's school was established in 1908 at Cullenswood House, Ranelagh before moving to the Hermitage i ...

Rathfarnham, Clongowes Wood College and at University College Dublin where he graduated BA (1914), MA (1915) and D.Litt. (1932). During World War I, in 1916, Gwynn enlisted in the Royal Munster Fusiliers. He served on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

in France from 1916 to 1917, but was then invalided home and worked for the remainder of the war at the British Ministry of Information.''A Biographical Dictionary of Cork'', Tim Cadogan and Jeremiah Falvey, Four Courts Press, 2006 After the war Gwynn worked as a journalist. He became assistant editor of the periodical ''Everyman'' in London, joined the National Press Agency, worked for a while as a reporter in Brittany and Paris, then in 1922 returned to London where he was active for many years as a journalist specialising in Irish Catholic issues. He was on the editorial staff of the Westminster Gazette and edited the Dublin Review from 1933 to 1939. During World War II Gwynn retired to the Hampshire countryside and became a farmer. In 1948 Gwynn returned to Ireland and took up the post of research professor of Modern Irish History at University College Cork. He remained in this post until his retirement in 1962. Professor Gwynn also acted as editor of the

Cork University Press Cork University Press (CUP) is a publisher located in Cork, Ireland. It was founded in 1925 and is associated with University College Cork. The Press publishes under its own imprint and two others: Attic (which specializes in women's studies) a ...

(1954–1962) and wrote a regular column called ''Now and Then'' in the Cork Examiner. He wrote several works of history and biography and was a contributor to ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Denis Gwynn was married to Alice Trudeau (born in the US, 1904), the only daughter of Dr Edward Livingston Trudeau and Hazel Martyn, an American beauty who later became the wife of Irish artist John Lavery; for many years Hazel Lavery's face, as drawn by Lavery, featured on Irish banknotes.McCoole, Sinéad, ''Lavery, Lady Hazel'' in ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'', Cambridge University Press Denis Gwynn died at his home in Malahide Dublin, on 10 January 1973 and was buried at

Stamullen Stamullen () is a village in County Meath, Ireland on the border with County Dublin. It lies just off the M1 motorway some 35 km north of Dublin City and beside the Delvin River. In the late 1990s and early 21st century, it expanded signif ...

Cemetery

Co Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the s ...

Literary Connection

The novelist Jessie Victor Rickard lived the final years of her life, until her death in 1963, at Denis Gwynn's house in

Montenotte, Cork Montenotte is an area in the northeast of Cork City, Ireland, which was home to merchants and a prosperous middle class from the early to mid-19th century. It was named after the late 18th century Napoleonic battle, the Battle of Montenotte, whic ...

. Jessie Rickard was a close friend of Alice Gwynn.

Works

* ''The Catholic Reaction in France'' (1924) * ''The Irish Free State, 1922-1927'' (1928) * ''A Hundred Years of Catholic Emancipation'' (1929) * ''

Daniel O’Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

, the Irish Liberator'' (1929) * ''The Life and death of

Roger Casement Roger David Casement ( ga, Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during Worl ...

'' (1930) * '' Edward Martyn and the Irish revival'' (1930) * ''

John Keogh John Keogh (1740 – 13 November 1817) was an Irish merchant and political activist. He was a leading campaigner for Catholic Emancipation and reform of the Irish Parliament, active in Dublin on the Catholic Committee and, with some ...

: the pioneer of Catholic Emancipation'' (1930) (1934) * ''Daniel O’Connell and Ellen Courtney'' (1930) * ''The Life of

John Redmond John Edward Redmond (1 September 1856 – 6 March 1918) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist politician, barrister, and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. He was best known as lead ...

'' (1932) * '' De Valera'' (1933) * ''The

O'Gorman Mahon Charles James Patrick Mahon (17 March 1800 – 15 June 1891), known as the O'Gorman Mahon or James Patrick Mahon, was an Irish nationalist journalist, barrister, parliamentarian and international mercenary. Personal life Mahon, the eldest of ...

'' (1934) * ''The Vatican and the War in Europe'' (1940) * '' William Smith O'Brien'' (1946) * ''Young Ireland and 1848'' (1949) * ''Cardinal Wiseman'' (1950) * ''The history of

Partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

'' (1950)

Biographical sources

* A Dictionary of Irish History since 1800, D. J. Hickey & J. E. Doherty, Gill & MacMillan (1980) * A Biographical Dictionary of Cork, Tim Cadogan & Jeremiah Falvey (2006), p. 117

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gwynn, Dennis Rolleston 1893 births 1973 deaths Academics of University College Cork Alumni of University College Dublin Irish Examiner people Irish non-fiction writers Irish male non-fiction writers Irish people of World War I People educated at Clongowes Wood College People from County Kildare People from Malahide 20th-century non-fiction writers People educated at St. Enda's School British Army personnel of World War I Royal Munster Fusiliers soldiers