John Augustus O'Shea (24 June 1839 – 13 March 1905) was an Irish soldier, journalist and novelist.

Biography

Born at

Nenagh Nenagh ( ; , or simply 'the Fair') is the county town of County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the East Munster Ormond Fair. Nenagh was the county town of the former county of Nort ...

, Ireland, the son of journalist John O'Shea, in 1856 he was sent to study medicine at the

Catholic University of Ireland The Catholic University of Ireland (CUI; ) was a private Catholic Church, Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1851 following the Synod of Thurles in 1850, and in response to the Queen's University of Ireland and its assoc ...

in Dublin. Two of his sisters, Elizabeth and Marion, were also writers. Another sister, Margaret (Mrs Kelly) (1854–1927) was noted as being fluent in a number of languages, and translated French works, and her brother Robert Gabriel (1854?–1882) was the London political correspondent for the '' Freeman's Journal''. Later that year he journeyed to London where he sought work as a journalist. He left to serve in

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

's Irish battalion. During the 1860 siege of Ancona, he reported on the conflict for a newspaper in America. Following his military service for the Papacy, he was hired as a correspondent by the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the '' New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Hi ...

'' and reported on the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

in 1866. In 1869 he was a special correspondent for the ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'', for whom he went to France to report on the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. During the Siege of Metz (1870), he was arrested as a spy and nearly put to death. His life was spared through the intervention of other journalists and the French Emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

. He remained with the ''Standard'' for the next 25 years. During his career he reported on the

Third Carlist War The Third Carlist War (), which occurred from 1872 to 1876, was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is sometimes referred to as the "Second Carlist War", as the earlier Second Carlist War, "Second" War (1847–1849) was smaller in scale and relative ...

and the Bengal famine. Toward the end of his life he became paralysed, followed by his death in London. He is buried at the St. Mary's Cemetery at

Kensal Green Kensal Green, also known as Kensal Rise, is an area in north-west London, and along with Kensal Town, it forms part of the northern section of North Kensington, London, North Kensington. It lies north of the canal in the London Borough of Brent ...

, London. He was twice married and was survived by his second wife and a daughter.

Bibliography

* ''Leaves from the Life of a Special Correspondent'' (1885), 2 volumes * ''An Iron-bound City; or, Five Months of Peril and Privation'' (1886), 2 volumes * ''Romantic Spain: A Record of Personal Experiences'' (1887), 2 volumes * ''Military Mosaics: Set of Tales'' (1888) * ''Mated from the Morgue: A Tale of the Second Empire'' (1889) * ''Brave Men in Action'' (1890), with S. J. McKenna * ''Roundabout Recollections'' (1892), 2 volumes Selected articles
"With the Carlists,"
''The Catholic World'' (1884)
"The Nosology of Regicide,"
''The Catholic World'' (1885)
"Delectable Seville,"
''The Catholic World'' (1885)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:OShea, John Augustus 1839 births 1905 deaths Irish writers Irish journalists Irish war correspondents People associated with University College Dublin People from Nenagh 19th-century Irish journalists Irish male journalists 19th-century Irish male writers