Kenneth Sheils Reddin (born John Kenneth Sheils Reddin; 1895 – 17 August 1967) know by the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Kenneth Sarr, was an Irish author and judge.

Biography

He was born in Dublin to John . J.and Annie Reddin. He attended

Belvedere College Belvedere College S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school has numerous alumni in the arts, politics, sports, science, and business. History Belvedere owes its origin ...

, Clongowes Wood College, and from 1910

Scoil Éanna 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 ...

, where

Thomas McDonagh Thomas Stanislaus MacDonagh ( ga, Tomás Anéislis Mac Donnchadha; 1 February 1878 – 3 May 1916) was an Irish political activist, poet, playwright, educationalist and revolutionary leader. He was one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising ...

and Patrick Pearse were formative influences. His first pseudonym was Kenneth Esser (from "Kenneth S. R.") later shortened to Kenneth Sarr.Feeney 1984 pp.252–253 He joined the Irish Volunteers and was interned after the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

. Literary figures often met at J.J. Reddin's house and Kenneth was associated with the Irish Theatre Company in Hardwicke Street, where his brothers Kerry and Norman acted. He attended University College Dublin and qualified as a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

. He was a member of the

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and sometime President of the Irish

PEN Club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

. He visited James Joyce in Paris several times, first with a gift of Olhausen's black pudding, later at a PEN congress. Joyce, during

his father His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...

's final illness, telegraphed Reddin's brother Dr Kerry Reddin about his treatment. Reddin supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty and his father's house in Artane was burned in the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

. In 1922 he was appointed a District Court judge based in Mullingar, later moving to the Newbridge and then Dublin districts. In court he wore what Terry De Valera called "his self-designed headdress like a black

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". As well as writing plays and novels, he collected humorous anecdotes from his judicial work intended for a book to be called ''Laughter in My Court''. In 1941 he objected to an article in PEN's magazine which he said was "propaganda, attacking the neutrality of Eire, and that all we wanted was to be left alone". In 1948, Erina Brady appointed him President of her short-lived Dublin Dance Theatre Club. He retired from the bench on 19 March 1965. His papers are held by the

Kenneth Spencer Research Library The Kenneth Spencer Research Library is a library at the University of Kansas (KU) in Lawrence. Completed and dedicated in 1968, the library houses special collections materials including rare books, maps, archives, and photographs. The library i ...

at the University of Kansas.

References

Sources

Citations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarr, Kenneth 1895 births 1967 deaths Writers from Dublin (city) People from Mullingar 20th-century Irish judges 20th-century Irish lawyers Irish male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Irish novelists Irish revolutionaries Alumni of University College Dublin People educated at Clongowes Wood College People educated at Belvedere College Irish republicans interned without trial People educated at St. Enda's School