John McDonald (19 September 1846 – 1932) was a noted Irish cultural nationalist poet during the nineteenth century

Irish Literary Revival The Irish Literary Revival (also called the Irish Literary Renaissance, nicknamed the Celtic Twilight) was a flowering of Irish literary talent in the late 19th and early 20th century. It includes works of poetry, music, art, and literature. O ...

. Known for frequent contributions to weekly and periodical Irish publications, he published a book of poetry in 1886.

Biography

Born in the parish of

Cloone Cloone () is a village in County Leitrim, Ireland. The village is located in the south of the county, just off the R201 regional road; its nearest town is Mohill. Its name is an anglicised version of the Irish-language word ''cluain'', meani ...

in county Leitrim, John was the son of a small farmer and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. He completed his education in local schools before pursuing a teaching career. From 1881, he lived in New York for a few years. McDonald married his wife Mary , and they raised eight children, named Michael, Patrick, Mary, John, Anne, Charles, and two unknown. The family lived at Cloonboniagh South

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

near

Dromod Dromod () is a village in County Leitrim, Ireland. Dromod is a noted fishing village beside Bofin and Boderg, which are threaded by the River Shannon. Built along the River Shannon, this is a Tidy Towns winner with a modern harbour frequented ...

in county Leitrim, John running a farm whilst holding down a job as schoolteacher in

county Longford County Longford ( gle, Contae an Longfoirt) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Longford. Longford County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 46,6 ...

. He died October 1932, and many of his children emigrated to America.

Poetry

An Irish cultural nationalist, McDonald contributed verse to periodicals such as "", "", "", "", and to local newspapers in

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 ...

and

. While living in America for a time, he published poetry in the "". McDonald's sole book, a collection of poetry titled "", was published in 1886. He wrote most of his poetry in his spare time, mainly at night or Sunday evenings, explaining his motivation thus- * "". One copy of the book is kept at Keenans Hotel -Tarmonbarry in

county Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

, and another copy is kept in the archives of the

National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland is ...

in Dublin. Reprints of his poems appeared in

the Leitrim Observer The ''Leitrim Observer'' is the oldest newspaper in County Leitrim. It is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday and once competed with another newspaper called the ''Leitrim Post'' which was forced to close in 2009 during the economic cr ...

newspaper during the 1960s. All his poems usually appeared with the signature "".

Land League

McDonald was an Irish nationalist, supporting the

Irish National 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 ...

movement. Writing to

John Devoy John Devoy ( ga, Seán Ó Dubhuí, ; 3 September 1842 – 29 September 1928) was an Irish republican rebel and journalist who owned and edited '' The Gaelic American'', a New York weekly newspaper, from 1903 to 1928. Devoy dedicated over ...

in 1881,

John Sexton John Edward Sexton (born September 29, 1942) is an American lawyer, academic, and author. He is the Benjamin F. Butler Professor of Law at New York University where he teaches at the law school and NYU's undergraduate colleges. Sexton served as t ...

enthused "".

List of works

* ''

Irish National Poems 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 ...

'', Dublin, Sealy, Bryers & Walker, 1886. Bound with green cloth, title and author appear in gilt on upper cover and a gilt harp and bunch of shamrock in centre, gilt title on spine.

Biography

Poetry

Land League

List of works

References and notes

Citations

Primary sources

Secondary sources

Further reading