George A. Birmingham was the

pen A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

name of James Owen Hannay (16 July 1865 – 2 February 1950), Irish clergyman and prolific

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

.Taylor, Brian (1995). ''The Life and Writings of James Owen Hannay (George Birmingham) 1865-1950.'' (Studies in British Literature). Edwin Mellen Press, . He was active in the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...

, but strained his relations with

Irish nationalists Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

by supporting

Robert Lindsay Crawford Robert Lindsay Crawford (Lindsay Crawford) (1868–1945) was an Irish Protestant politician and journalist who shifted in his loyalties from Unionism in Ireland, Unionism and the Orange Order to the Irish Free State. He was a co-founder of the Ind ...

in his opposition to clerical control of education.

Protestant Churchman and Gaelic Leaguer

Hannay was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

and educated at

Methodist College Belfast God with us , established = 1865 , type = Voluntary grammar , religion = Interdenominational , principal = Jenny Lendrum , chair_label = Chairwoman , chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth , founder ...

from 1883 to 1884 before attending

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. He was ordained in 1889 as a Church of Ireland (Anglican) minister and from 1904 served as rector of Holy Trinity Church, Westport in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

. Participation in language revival activities in Mayo and defence of the

in the ''Church of Ireland Gazette'' led to Hannay being co-opted onto the League's national executive body in December 1904. His personal network of Irish Irelanders included

President

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 ...

and the principal ideologue of the emergent

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

movement, ''United Irishman'' editor

Arthur Griffith Arthur Joseph Griffith ( ga, Art Seosamh Ó Gríobhtha; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that prod ...

. They were sympathetic to Hannay desire for a "union of the two Irish democracies", Catholic in the south and Protestant in the north. In the north, in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

, he saw a potential ally in Lindsay Crawford, Grand Master of the new

Independent Orange Order The Independent Loyal Orange Institution is an offshoot of the Orange Institution, a Protestant fraternal organisation based in Northern Ireland. Initially pro-labour and supportive of tenant rights and land reform, over time it moved to a more ...

. He regarded the breakaway Order, like the Gaelic League as "profoundly democratic in spirit" and independent of "the rich and the patronage of the great".J.O. Hannay to Lindsay Crawford, 29 May 1905, Lindsay Crawford Papers, National Library of Ireland, Ms.11,415 Hannay's defence of Crawford's opposition to the clerical control of education in Ireland, however, strained his relations with Irish nationalists, and it was a position that had little support in their own church. The ''

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

Gazette'' dubbed Crawford "the solitary champion of

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

in the

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

". Hannay withdrew from the

in the wake of ongoing protests about the tour of his successful play '' General John Regan''.

Later career

Hannay became rector of Kildare parish from 1918 to 1920, and after serving as chaplain to the

Viceroy of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingd ...

, he joined the British ambassadorial team in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

in 1922. He returned to officiate at

Mells, Somerset Mells is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Frome. Vobster The parish includes the village of Vobster, which had a coal mine of the same name on the Somerset coalfield and a quarry, both of which are now disused. ...

from 1924 to 1934, after which he was appointed

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of Holy Trinity Church in the London suburb of

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

where he served from 1934 to his death in 1950.

Sailing

James Hannay enjoyed sailing, and was taught the rudiments by his father and grandfather in Belfast. When he was based in Westport, his financial success of his writing enabled him to purchase a boat. He bought a Dublin Bay Water Wag. In recognition of Hannay, the Water Wag Club of Dun Laoghaire returned to Westport and Clew Bay in 2016. In the frontispiece of his book ''The Inviolable Sanctuary'' George A. Birmingham includes a picture of the Water Wag.

Publications

*'' The Seething Pot'' (1905) *''Hyacinth'' (1906) *''Benedict Kavanagh'' (1907) *''The Northern Iron'' (1907) *''The Bad Times'' (1908) *''Spanish Gold'' (1908) *''The Search Party'' (1909) *''Lalage's Lovers'' (1911) *''The Major's Niece'' (1911) *''The Simpkins Plot'' (1911) *''The Inviolable Sanctuary'' (1911) *''Priscilla's Spies; The Red Hand of Ulster'' (1912) *''Do'' (1913) *''General John Regan: A Play in Three Acts'' (1913) *''The Adventures of Dr. Whitty'' (1913) *''Connaught to Chicago '' (1914) lso printed as ''From Dublin to Chicago''*''The Lost Tribes'' (1914) *''Gossamer'' (1915) *''Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories'' (1915) *''The Island Mystery'' (1918) *''Our Casualty'' (1919) *''Up the Rebels!'' (1919) *''Inisheeny'' (1920) *''Good Conduct'' (1920) *''Lady Bountiful'' (1921) *''The Lost Lawyer'' (1921) *''The Great-Grandmother'' (1922) *''A Public Scandal'' (1922) *''Fed Up'' (1923) *''Found Money'' (1923) *''King Tommy'' (1923) *''Send for Dr Grady'' (1923) *''The Grand Duchess'' (1924) *''Bindon Parva'' (1925) *''The Gun-Runners'' (1925) *''Goodly Pearls'' (1926) *''The Smuggler's Cave'' (1926) *''Lady of the Abbey'' (1926) *''Now You Tell One: Stories of Irish Wit & Humour'' (1927) *''Fidgets'' (1927) *''Ships and Sealing Wax'' (1927) *''Elizabeth and the Archdeacon'' (1928) *''The Runaways'' (1928) *''The Major's Candlesticks'' (1929) *''Murder Most Foul!'' (1929) *''The Hymn Tune Mystery'' (1930) *''Wild Justice'' (1930) *''The Silver-Gilt Standard'' (1932) *''Angel's Adventure'' (1933) *''Two Fools'' (1934) *''Love or Money'' (1935) *''Millicent's Corner'' (1935) *''Daphne's Fishing'' (1937) *''Mrs. Miller's Aunt'' (1937) *''Magilligan Strand'' (1938) *''Appeasement'' (1939) *''Miss Maitland's Spy'' (1940) *''The Search for Susie'' (1941) *''Over the Border'' (1942) *''Poor Sir Edward'' (1943) *''Lieutenant Commander'' (1944) *''Good Intentions'' (1945) *''The Piccadilly Lady'' (1946) *''Golden Apple'' (1947) *''A Sea Battle'' (1948) *''Laura's Bishop'' (1949) *''Two Scamps'' (1950)

Other works

*''The Spirit and Origin of Christian Monasticism'' (1903) from his

Donnellan Lectures The Donnellan Lectures are a lecture series at Trinity College Dublin, instituted in 1794. The lectures were originally given under the auspices of the School of Hebrew, Biblical and Theological Studies. But since 1987 they have been run on a trien ...

*''The Wisdom of the Desert'' (1904) *''Irishmen All'' (1913) *''The Lighter Side of Irish Life'' (1911) *''Golden Sayings from George A. Birmingham'' (1915) *''Recollections of Sir Jonah Barrington'' (1918) *''A Padre in France'' (1918) *''An Irishman Looks at His World'' (1918) *''A Wayfarer in Hungary'' (1925) *''Spillikins: Essays'' (1926) *''Can You Answer This? A Question Book '' (1927) *''Do you Know Your History? A History Questions Book'' (1928) *''Pleasant Places'' (1934)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham, George A. 1865 births 1950 deaths Irish language activists Irish novelists Irish dramatists and playwrights Irish male dramatists and playwrights People from Westport, County Mayo Writers from Belfast 20th-century Irish Anglican priests Irish male novelists People educated at Methodist College Belfast Christian clergy from Belfast