The ''Irish Monthly'' was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

magazine founded in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland in July 1873. Until 1920 it had the sub-title ''A Magazine of General Literature''.

History

The magazine was founded by Matthew Russell, who was its editor for almost 40 years from 1873. The first two years of the magazine were difficult, but in 1875

Rosa Mulholland Rosa Mulholland, Lady Gilbert (1841 – 21 April 1921) was an Irish novelist, poet and playwright. Life She was born in Belfast, the daughter of Dr. Joseph Stevenson Mulholland of Newry. Originally, Mulholland wished to become a painter, ...

arrived to help out, followed shortly by friends of Father Russell, including Aubrey de Vere, John O'Hagan and Sarah Atkinson, which helped put the magazine on a firm footing. Among the early contributors to the magazine were

Denis Florence MacCarthy Denis Florence MacCarthy (26 May 1817 – 9 April 1882) was an Irish poet, translator, and biographer, from Dublin. Biography MacCarthy was born in Lower O'Connell Street, Dublin, on 26 May 1817, and educated there and at St Patrick's College, M ...

, Lady Fullerton, Charles Gavan Duffy, Stephen Brown, Emily Hickey,

Dora Sigerson Dora Maria Sigerson Shorter (16 August 1866 – 6 January 1918) was an Irish poet and Sculpture, sculptor, who after her marriage in 1895 wrote under the name Dora Sigerson Shorter. Life She was born in Dublin, Ireland, the daughter of George S ...

, Rev. T. A. Finlay, Archbishop Healy, Rev. D. Bearne,

Rose Kavanagh Rose Kavanagh (24 June 1859 or 1860 – 26 February 1891) was an Irish editor, writer and poet. Biography Rose Kavanagh was born at Killadroy, in County Tyrone. When she was eleven years old, her family settled at Mullaghmore, near Augher. Sh ...

, John O'Leary and his sister Ellen. These were members of the Irish cultural and nationalistic circles of the time, which included the likes of

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

and

George Sigerson George Sigerson (11 January 1836 – 17 February 1925) was an Irish physician, scientist, writer, politician and poet. He was a leading light in the Irish Literary Revival of the late 19th century in Ireland. Doctor and scientist Sigerson was b ...

, and many young writers flocked to the magazine as an outlet for their talents. From the beginning there were many Protestant contributors, among them Mary Fagan and

Frances Wynne Frances Wynne (1863 – August 1893) was a 19th-century Irish poet. Frances Wynne was born in 1863 in Collon, a village near Drogheda, County Louth. She was educated privately and at Alexandra College, Dublin. She started writing poetry at ...

. Matthew Russell was impressed her poems of Miss Wynne, and offered to pay for the publication of some; a collection, called ''Whisper!'', was published in 1891. Among the writers "discovered" by the ''Irish Monthly'' are: Oscar Wilde,

M. E. Francis M. E. Francis was the pen name of Mary Elizabeth Blundell (née Sweetman; 1859 – 9 March 1930) who was a prolific Irish novelist. She was described as the best known woman novelist of the day. Biography Mary Elizabeth Sweetman was born at Ki ...

Katharine Tynan Katharine Tynan (23 January 1859 – 2 April 1931)Clarke, Frances (2013)"Hinkson (née Tynan), Katharine Tynan" in ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). was an Irish writer, known mainly for her novels and p ...

Hilaire Belloc Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc (, ; 27 July 187016 July 1953) was a Franco-English writer and historian of the early twentieth century. Belloc was also an orator, poet, sailor, satirist, writer of letters, soldier, and political activist. H ...

, Canon Sheehan of Doneraile, and

Alice Furlong Alice Furlong (26 November 1866 – 1946) was an Irish writer, poet and political activist who also worked on Irish publications with Douglas Hyde (later President of Ireland). Life She was born at Old Bawn, near Tallaght, County Dublin, the ...

.Matthew Russell, Poets I have Known: VIII: Alice Furlong, ''Irish Monthly'', Vol. 36, No. 421 (July 1908), pp. 389-398

Gabriel Fallon Gabriel Fallon (1898–10 June 1980) was an Irish theatre critic, actor and theatre director. He was born in Dublin and joined the Civil Service in 1914. He became an actor in the Abbey Theatre, where he remained until 1930 when he started t ...

was theatre critic from 1926 to 1954. The ''Irish Monthly'' ceased publication in 1954.

References

External links

The Irish Monthly archive at HathiTrustIrish Monthly, 1875Irish Monthly, 1886Irish Monthly, 1890
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Monthly Mass media in Dublin (city) Catholic magazines Defunct magazines published in Ireland Magazines disestablished in 1954 Magazines established in 1873 Magazines published in Ireland Monthly magazines published in Ireland