Thomas Caulfield Irwin (4 May 1823 – 20 February 1892) 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 ...

poet, writer, and classical scholar. He was born in

Warrenpoint Warrenpoint ( ga, An Pointe) is a small port town and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits at the head of Carlingford Lough, south of Newry, and is separated from the Republic of Ireland by a narrow strait. The town is beside t ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, to a prosperous family. He was educated privately. He travelled to Europe and Africa but later became impoverished through the collapse of family fortunes. He took up journalism in Dublin around 1848. He was highly regarded as a poet by contemporaries.Hogan, 1979 He was a prolific writer and contributed to the

Dublin University Magazine The ''Dublin University Magazine'' was an independent literary cultural and political magazine published in Dublin from 1833 to 1882. It started out as a magazine of political commentary but increasingly became devoted to literature. The magazine ...

and

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

, among other publications. He wrote at least one novel and several volumes of poetry. He also carried out translations from classical and European writers.Brown, 1919 He died after some years of poverty in

Rathmines Rathmines () is an affluent inner suburb on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It lies three kilometres south of the city centre. It begins at the southern side of the Grand Canal and stretches along the Rathmines Road as far as Rathgar to t ...

, Dublin, and is buried in

Mount Jerome Cemetery Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

Selected works

*''From Caesar to Christ'' (novel, Dublin 1853) *''Versicles'' (Dublin: Wm. Hennessy 1856) *''Poems'' (Dublin: McGlashen & Gill 1866) *''Irish Historical and Legendary Poems'' (Cameron & Ferguson 1868) *''Irish Poems and Legends'' (Dublin, 1869) *''Songs and Romances'' (Dublin: Gill 1878) *''Winter and Summer Stories, and Slides of Fancy’s Lantern'' (Dublin: Gill 1879) *''Pictures and Songs'' (Dublin: Gill 1880) *''Sonnets and Poetry on the Problems of Life'' (Gill 1881) *''Poems, Sketches, and Songs'' (Dublin: Gill 1889).

Notes

References

*Geoffrey Taylor, ''Irish Poets of the Nineteenth Century'' (London 1951) *Geoffrey Taylor, ''A Neglected Irish Poet'', The Bell, 3 (1942) * Stephen Brown, ''Ireland in Fiction: A Guide to Irish Novels, Tales, Romances and Folklore'' t. I(Dublin: Maunsel 1919) *Robert Hogan, ed., ''A Dictionary of Irish Literature'' (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan 1979) {{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Thomas Caulfield 1823 births 1892 deaths Irish poets Irish translators Thomas Caulfield Irwin People from Warrenpoint 19th-century translators 19th-century poets