''Knocknagow, or The Homes of Tipperary'' is an 1879 novel by the Irish nationalist

Charles Kickham Charles Joseph Kickham (9 May 1828 – 22 August 1882) was an Irish revolutionary, novelist, poet, journalist and one of the most prominent members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Early life Charles Kickham was born at Mullinahone, County ...

Background

Kickham wrote ''Knocknagow'' in the aftermath of his 1869 release from Woking Prison after serving years in prison for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

Plot

Greed and the Land Laws work the depopulation of a

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...

village.

Characters

* Mary Kearney * Mrs Kearney * Hugh Kearney * Maurice Kearney * Ned Brophy * Beresford Pender * Mick Brian * Peg Brady * Tom Hogan * Billy Heffernan * Phil Lahy * Norah Lahy * Honor Lahy * Bessy Morris * Grace Kiely * Barney "Wattletoes" Broderick * Mat "the Thresher" Donovan

Reception and legacy

The book sold over 70,000 copies, and is Kickham's most famous and successful. Matthew Russell of ExClassics.com wrote of it, "For many years ''Knocknagow'' was the book - along with a prayerbook and '' Old Moore's Almanac'' -- most likely to be found in any Irish home. ..

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 ...

described it as "The most honest of Irish novels" and Con Houlihan as "The greatest Irish novel." For all its

sentimentality Sentimentality originally indicated the reliance on feelings as a guide to truth, but in current usage the term commonly connotes a reliance on shallow, uncomplicated emotions at the expense of reason. Sentimentalism in philosophy is a view in ...

and inept plotting, it gives a very accurate picture of rural Irish life in the nineteenth century. Furthermore, it is one of the few such novels which was written by one of the ordinary people. Almost all the other writers who dealt with the rural poor were either of the landlord class themselves (

Lady Gregory Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (''née'' Persse; 15 March 1852 – 22 May 1932) was an Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, ...

J. M. Synge Edmund John Millington Synge (; 16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, collector of folklore, and a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His best known play ''The Playboy of the Western World'' was poorly r ...

Somerville and Ross Somerville and Ross (Edith Somerville and Violet Florence Martin, writing under the name Martin Ross) were an Anglo-Irish writing team, perhaps most famous for their series of books that were made into the TV series ''The Irish R.M.''. The tel ...

Emily Lawless The Hon. Emily Lawless (17 June 184519 October 1913) was an Irish novelist, historian, entomologist, gardener, and poet from County Kildare. Her innovative approach to narrative and the psychological richness of her fiction have been identifi ...

Maria Edgeworth Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the n ...

) or urban Protestant middle-class (

George A. Birmingham George A. Birmingham was the pen name of James Owen Hannay (16 July 1865 – 2 February 1950), Irish clergyman and prolific novelist.Taylor, Brian (1995). ''The Life and Writings of James Owen Hannay (George Birmingham) 1865-1950.'' (Studies ...

Charles Lever Charles James Lever (31 August 1806 – 1 June 1872) was an Irish novelist and raconteur, whose novels, according to Anthony Trollope, were just like his conversation. Biography Early life Lever was born in Amiens Street, Dublin, the second ...

Dion Boucicault Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the ...

Samuel Lover Samuel Lover (24 February 1797 – 6 July 1868), also known as "Ben Trovato" ("well invented"), was an Irish songwriter, composer and novelist, and a portrait painter, chiefly in miniatures. He was the grandfather of Victor Herbert. Life Lov ...

). However sympathetic and well-written their accounts, they were written from the outside looking in. ''Knocknagow'' was written from the inside." In 1941,

Seán Ó Faoláin Seán Proinsias Ó Faoláin (27 February 1900 – 20 April 1991) was one of the most influential figures in 20th-century Irish culture. A short-story writer of international repute, he was also a leading commentator and critic. Biography Ó ...

wrote of ''Knocknagow'', “This spirited and idealised novel, ''Knocknagow'', written by a

fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood, secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries dedicated ...

who had been in jail, with the whole

land question Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

running through it, came in the precise moment that demanded such a book, and it was exactly of the right spirit for a people emerging from bad times. 'Thank God, there are happy homes in Tipperary still,' are the last spoken words of the novel, and they measure its qualified

optimism Optimism is an attitude reflecting a belief or hope that the outcome of some specific endeavor, or outcomes in general, will be positive, favorable, and desirable. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass filled w ...

.” The

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

Mullinahone Mullinahone () is a village located in the barony of Slievardagh, County Tipperary in Ireland. It is also a parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. , the village population was 499. Location and access Mullinahone is situa ...

is named Knocknagow Community Centre in honour of the novel.

Adaptations

A 1918

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

adaptation was written by

Ellen Sullivan Ellen (Nell) O'Mara Sullivan (6 June 1882 – 17 May 1919) was an Irish silent film screenwriter and film company director. The company her family funded and ran was said to be the most prolific Irish silent film company. Life She was born into th ...

. In 1968, a stage version was written by Séamus de Búrca.https://www.irishplayography.com/play.aspx?playid=31517

References

External links

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1879 novels 19th-century Irish novels Irish romance novels Novels set in Ireland Novels set in the 1870s Irish political novels