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Irish Literature
Irish literature is literature written in the Irish, Latin, English and Scots ( Ulster Scots) languages on the island of Ireland. The earliest recorded Irish writing dates from back in the 7th century and was produced by monks writing in both Latin and Early Irish, including religious texts, poetry and mythological tales. There is a large surviving body of Irish mythological writing, including tales such as The Táin and Mad King Sweeny. The English language was introduced to Ireland in the 13th century, following the Norman invasion of Ireland. The 16th and 17th centuries saw a major expansion of English power across Ireland, further expanding the presence of early Modern English speakers. One theory is that in the latter part of the nineteenth century saw a rapid replacement of Irish by English in the greater part of the country, largely due to the Great Famine and the subsequent decimation of the Irish population by starvation and emigration. Another theory among mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Head
Richard Head ( 1637 – before June 1686) was an Irish author, playwright and bookseller. He became famous with his satirical novel ''The English Rogue'' (1665), one of the earliest novels in English that found a continental translation. Life The most important primary source on Head's life is William Winstanley's biographical entry published in his ''Lives of the most famous English poets'' (1687) – a credible if not reliable source insofar as Winstanley could claim to have been personally acquainted with Head. According to Winstanley, Head was a minister's son, born in Ireland. His father was killed in the Irish rebellion of 1641; the incidents seem to be reflected in Head's ''The English Rogue'', the satirical romance he published in 1665. His mother took him to England where she had relatives in Barnstaple. They later moved on to Plymouth, and to Bridport in Dorset where Head is known to have attended the town's grammar school in 1650. Head was eventually admitted to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matthew Concanen
Matthew Concanen (1701 – 22 January 1749) was an Irish writer, poet and lawyer. Life Concanen studied law in Ireland but travelled to London as a young man, and began writing political pamphlets in support of the Whig government. He also wrote for newspapers including the ''London Journal'' and ''The Speculatist''. He published a volume of poems, some of which were original works and some translations. He wrote a dramatic comedy, '' Wexford Wells'', staged at Dublin's Smock Alley Theatre. A collection of his essays from ''The Speculatist'' was published in 1732. His skills attracted the attention of the Whig statesman Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle. In June 1732 the Duke appointed him attorney-general of Jamaica.James Sambrook, 'Concanen, Matthew (1701–1749)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004 He held the post for over sixteen years. While in Jamaica, he married the daughter of a local planter. After his tenure in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Kelly (poet)
Hugh Kelly (c. 1739 – 3 February 1777) was an Irish dramatist and poet. From the 1760s he was employed as a propagandist for the British government, attacking members of the Opposition. After arriving in London in 1760 to work as a staymaker, he soon turned to become a writer and made a living as a journalist. In 1766 he published ''Thespis'', a long poem about the acting profession, which gained him wide attention. He followed up this success with the novel '' Memoirs of a Magdalen'' in 1767. He ultimately became known for his stage plays such as the comedy '' False Delicacy'' and '' A Word to the Wise''. Early life The son of a Dublin publican, Hugh Kelly was born in Killarney, County Kerry. He enjoyed a reasonable education but was forced to drop out following his father's financial difficulties. He was apprenticed to a staymaker, and in 1760, went to London where he worked at his trade for some time, fairly unsuccessfully, and then became an attorney's clerk. He con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edmond Malone
Edmond Malone (4 October 174125 May 1812) was an Irish barrister, Shakespearean scholar and Literary editor, editor of the works of William Shakespeare. Assured of an income after the death of his father in 1774, Malone was able to give up his law practice for at first political and then more congenial literary pursuits. He went to London, where he frequented literary and artistic circles. He regularly visited Samuel Johnson and was of great assistance to James Boswell in revising and proofreading his ''Life of Samuel Johnson, Life'', four of the later editions of which he annotated. He was friendly with Sir Joshua Reynolds, and sat for a portrait now in the National Portrait Gallery, London, National Portrait Gallery. He was one of Reynolds' executors, and published a posthumous collection of his works (1798) with a memoir. Horace Walpole, Edmund Burke, George Canning, Oliver Goldsmith, James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont, Lord Charlemont, and, at first, George Steevens, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sydney, Lady Morgan
Sydney, Lady Morgan (; – 14 April 1859), was an Irish novelist, best known for '' The Wild Irish Girl'' (1806)'','' a romantic, and some critics suggest, "proto-feminist", novel with political and patriotic overtones. Her work, including continental travelogues, sparked controversy and faced censorship. She counted Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron among her defenders. Early life Sydney Owenson was the daughter of Robert Owenson, alias MacOwen, and Jane Hill. Robert Owenson was an Irish Catholic and a professional actor, noted for his comedic performances. He had been raised in London, and while in England he met and married Jane Hill, the Protestant daughter of a trader from Shrewsbury. In 1776 Owenson and his wife returned to Ireland for good. The couple settled in Dublin and Owenson earned a living by performing in theatres around Dublin, Drumcondra, and Sligo. Around 1778 the couple gave birth to Sydney, who was named after her paternal grandmother. The exact date o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Brady (poet)
Nicholas Brady (28 October 165920 May 1726), Anglican divine and poet, was born in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. He was the second son of Irishman Major Nicholas Brady (Ó Brádaigh or Mac Brádaigh) and his wife Martha Gernon, daughter of the English-born judge and author Luke Gernon (little is known of her mother); his great-grandfather was Hugh Brady, the first Protestant Bishop of Meath. He received his education at Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford; he had degrees from Trinity College, Dublin (BA 1685, MA 1686, BD & DD 1699)Burtchaell, George Dames; Sadleir, Thomas Ulick (eds), Alumni Dublinenses: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin(1593-1860)'', p. 93: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935. Brady was a zealous promoter of the Glorious Revolution and suffered for his beliefs in consequence. When war broke out in Ireland in 1690, Brady, by his influence, thrice prevented the burning of the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John O'Keeffe (writer)
John O'Keeffe (24 June 1747 – 4 February 1833) was an Irish actor and dramatist. He wrote a number of farces, amusing dramatic pieces and librettos for pasticcio operas, many of which had great success. Among these are '' Tony Lumpkin in Town'' (1778), '' Love in a Camp'' (1786), and ''Omai'' (1785), an account of the voyages of the Tahitian explorer Omai, and '' Wild Oats'' (1791). Early life O'Keeffe was born in Abbey Street, Dublin in 1747 to Roman Catholic parents and was educated by the Jesuits. His father was from King's County and his mother (née O'Connor) from County Wexford. After showing a talent for drawing he studied art at an academy in Dublin, but grew increasingly more interested in the theatre. After a two-year period in London, where he became an admirer of David Garrick, he settled on a career as an actor and playwright. O'Keeffe wrote his first play ''The She Gallant'' when he was twenty, and it was performed in Dublin at the Smock Alley Theatre. In Cork, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Murphy (writer)
Arthur Murphy (27 December 1727 – 18 June 1805), also known by the pseudonym Charles Ranger, was an Irish writer and barrister. He established himself in London as a leading playwright. Biography Murphy was born at Cloonyquin, County Roscommon, Ireland, the son of Richard Murphy and Jane French. He studied at the Jesuit-run College of Saint-Omer, France, and was a gifted student of the Latin and Greek classics. He worked as an actor in the theatre, became a barrister, a journalist and finally a (not very original) playwright. He edited '' Gray's Inn Journal'' between 1752 and 1754. As Henry Thrale's oldest and dearest friend, he introduced Samuel Johnson to the Thrales in January 1765. No. 16 Hammersmith Terrace was built for him in 1775.'London Portfolio: 16 Hammersmith Terrace', in ''Country Life'', Vol. 193, Issue 5, February 4, 1999), p. 59 He was appointed Commissioner of Bankruptcy in 1803. But his own debts caught up with him and he was forced to sell the house and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thady Connellan
Thady Connellan () (1780–1854) was an Irish school-teacher, poet and historian. Life He was born in Skreen, County Sligo, and was a relative of the scholar Owen Connellan. He started a school of his own, but had more success when he became principal of a school established by the Rev. Albert Blest (father of William Cunningham Blest), a Baptist, supported by the London Hibernian Society in Greenville, Coolaney Coolaney () is a village in County Sligo, Ireland. Coolaney sits at the foot of the Ox Mountains with the river Owen Beg running through it around which is a walk. The remains of an old mill are located along the riverside walk, and the remains ..., in the early 1800s. Like his relative Owen he left the Catholic church and embraced Protestantism, around 1808. Among other works he produced an Irish-English dictionary and edited a series of song-books.Ó hAilín, T. (1968) "The Irish Society and Tadhg Ó Coinnialláin." Studia Hibernica, No 8., pp 60-78. He die ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Tighe
Mary Tighe (9 October 1772 – 24 March 1810) was an Irish poet. Life and career Mary Blachford (or Blanchford) (or Blackford) was born in Dublin, 9 October 1772. Her parents were Theodosia Tighe, a Methodist leader, and William Blachford (d.1773?), a Church of Ireland clergyman and librarian. She had a strict religious upbringing, and when she was twenty-one she married Henry Tighe (1768–1836), her first cousin and a member of the Parliament of Ireland for Inistioge, County Kilkenny. The marriage is said to have been unhappy, though little is known. The couple moved to London in the early nineteenth century. She became acquainted with Thomas Moore, an early admirer of her writing, and others interested in literature. Although she had written since girlhood, she published nothing until ''Psyche'' (1805), a six-canto allegorical poem in Spenserian stanzas. ''Psyche'' was admired by many and praised by Moore in his poem, "To Mrs. Henry Tighe on reading her Psyche". Havi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish playwright, writer and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and Ilchester. The owner of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London, he wrote several prominent plays such as ''The Rivals'' (1775), '' The Duenna'' (1775), '' The School for Scandal'' (1777) and '' A Trip to Scarborough'' (1777). He served as Treasurer of the Navy from 1806 to 1807. Sheridan died in 1816 and was buried at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. His plays remain a central part of the Western canon and are regularly performed around the world. Early life Sheridan was born in 1751 in Dublin, Ireland, where his family had a house on the then fashionable Dorset Street. His mother, Frances Sheridan, was an Anglo-Irish playwright and novelist. She had two plays produced in London in the early 1760s, though she is best known for her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
