Thomas William Hazen Rolleston (1 May 1857 – 5 December 1920) was an Irish writer, literary figure and translator, known as a poet but publishing over a wide range of literary and political topics. He lived at various times in

Killiney Killiney () is an affluent seaside resort and suburb in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It lies south of neighbouring Dalkey, east of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill. The place grew around the 11th century Killiney Churc ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

, Germany, London and County Wicklow; settling finally in 1908 in Hampstead,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where he died. His Killiney home, called Secrora, subsequently became the home of tennis player

Joshua Pim Dr Joshua Pim FRCSI (20 May 1869 – 15 April 1942) was a medical doctor and Irish amateur tennis player. He won the Wimbledon men's singles title two years in a row, in 1893 and 1894, and was ranked British number one in both those years. H ...

Early years

Rolleston was born in Glasshouse,

Shinrone Shinrone () is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is in the southernmost part of the county, close to the border with County Tipperary. It lies at the junction of the R491 regional road between Nenagh and Roscrea with the R492 to Sharavo ...

, County Offaly, the son of a judge. He was educated at

St Columba's College, Dublin St Columba's College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school founded in 1843 located in Whitechurch, County Dublin, Ireland. Among the founders of the college were Viscount Adare (who later became The 3rd Earl of Dunraven and M ...

and Trinity College, Dublin.

Career

After a time in Germany he founded the ''Dublin University Review'' in 1885; he published ''Poems and Ballads of Young Ireland'' (1888), and a ''Life of Lessing'' (1889). As the first managing director of the Irish Industries' Society, he helped preserve from extinction many Irish handicrafts, such as lacemaking, handmade tweeds, and

glassmaking Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...

. In London in the 1890s he was one of the

Rhymers' Club The Rhymers' Club was a group of London-based male poets, founded in 1890 by W. B. Yeats and Ernest Rhys. Originally not much more than a dining club, it produced anthologies of poetry in 1892 and 1894.''The Oxford Companion to English Literatu ...

and a founder-member of the

Irish Literary Society The Irish Literary Society was founded in London in 1892 by William Butler Yeats, T. W. Rolleston ,and Charles Gavan Duffy. Members of the Southwark Irish Literary Club met in Clapham Reform Club and changed the name early in the year. On 13 Febru ...

. He was to cross paths several times, and sometimes to clash, with

W. B. 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 ...

, who described Rolleston in his memoirs as an "intimate enemy". He was also involved in

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 ...

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 ...

. He also spent time as a journalist, and as a civil servant involved with agriculture.

Family life

He had eight children, from two marriages. His first marriage was to Edith de Burgh (1859-1896), daughter of the Rev. Dr W. de Burgh; and his second, in 1897, was to Maud Brooke, daughter of the Rev. Stopford A. Brooke.''The Times'', 6 December 1920.

Works

Approximately 168 books are associated with Rolleston, some as writer or editor. These are the more prominent works; publication dates listed if known. * ''The Teaching of Epictetus'' (1888) * ''Life of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing'' (1889) * ''Tannhauser: a dramatic poem'' by Richard Wagner (illustrated by Willy Pogany) (1900) * ''A Treasury of Irish Poetry in the English Tongue'' by Stopford A. Brooke & T. W. Rolleston (1900)
''Parallel Paths: A Study in Biology, Ethics, and Art''
(1908) * ''The High Deeds of Finn Mac Cumhail'' (1910)
''Celtic Myths and Legends''
also entitled ''Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race'' (1911, reprinted 1917, 1990) ** ''The Illustrated Guide to Celtic Mythology''. London: Studio Editions, 1993 (Based on ''Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race'') * ''Parsifal or, The Legend of the Holy Grail, retold from ancient sources with acknowledgement to the "Parsifal" of Richard Wagner'' (1912) * ''The tale of Lohengrin, knight of the swan'' by Richard Wagner and T. W. Rolleston; illustrated by Willy Pogany (1913)

References

External links

Biography
at Offalyhistory.com
Details of address in Killiney
at nationalarchives.ie * * * * * (Rolleston, T. W., Commentator; Davis, Thomas, Creator) * ''849: the Dead at Clonmacnois'', from the Irish of Angus O'Gillan; ''The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolleston, T. W. 1857 births 1920 deaths Irish poets People from County Offaly Irish translators