Chapter XVII: Part I: tells how a peasant girl is, after a week’s (6)

A very long story, with a multitude of characters. The aim
seems to be to plead that Irishmen should reside in their
own country and work for its welfare. Scenery of Howth,
Artoir-na-Greine, a place near Dublin, and Killarney. Dialect
good. No discussion of religious matters, but a good deal
of politics. The story opens during last session of Irish
Parliament, and, in a discussion between husband and wife, the
Author’s nationalist sentiments appear. Donoghue O’Brien, the
hero, is long kept apart from his Eveleen Erin, but they are
united in the end.

⸺ THE CASTLE CHAPEL. Three Vols. Pp. 963. (LONDON: _Newman_). 1825.

A story of a family of O’Neills of St. Doulagh’s Castle,
somewhere in Ulster, early nineteenth century. Eugene falls
in love with Rose Cormack, his sister’s companion, and they
make vows of marriage in the chapel by moonlight. Eugene,
who dabbles in phrenology and seems somewhat of a fool, goes
away. On his return he is told that Rose has been killed in an
accident. In reality she has been taken away by her father,
a Mr. Mordaunt, former owner of the castle, who has poisoned
his wife. Rose becomes an heiress, dies abroad, and leaves her
fortune to the O’Neills, and an apology for her duplicity. A
queer, outlandish sort of story.

=ROCHFORT, Edith.=

⸺ THE LLOYDS OF BALLYMORE. Two Vols. (_Chapman & Hall_). 1890.

A domestic story, told with simplicity and feeling. The Lloyds
belong to the Protestant landlord class, as do most of the
personages in the tale. Period: 1881: the Land League days.
Scene: the Midlands and afterwards Dublin. The first part of
the plot turns on the agrarian murder of Mr. Lloyd, the trial,
and execution of the murderer; the second on Tom Lloyd’s being
suspected of a bank-robbery when the Lloyds are living in very
straitened circumstances. All through runs a delicately told
and very sympathetic love story. The land question is viewed
from the landlord standpoint, but discussed without excessive
bitterness. Conversations natural and peasant dialect good.

=RODENBERG, Julius.=

⸺ DIE HARFE VON IRLAND: Märchen und dichtung in Irland. Pp. 299. 16mo. (LEIPZIG: _Grunow_). 1861.

Contains:—I. Thirteen Irish melodies, with music. II. Tales.
III. Poems and songs transl. into German verse. At the end
are useful notes, and at p. 283 a list of sources. These are
chiefly the DUBLIN AND LONDON MAGAZINE for 1825-7. Two are
given as “mündlich” (gathered orally). Titles such as:—The
land in the sea, the wizard of Crunnaan, two stories of the
Leprechaun, the land of the ever young (Tír na n-óg), the fairy
handkerchief of the Phuka, the fair Nora, &c.

=ROGERS, R. D.=

⸺ THE ADVENTURES OF ST. KEVIN, and Other Irish Tales. (_Swan Sonnenschein_). Pp. 266. [1897]. 1907.

A dozen humorous sketches, well told, giving the old legends
in a modern comic setting, much in the vein of Edmund Downey’s
_Through Green Glasses_. The brogue is faithfully rendered.

=ROLLESTON, T. W.= B. 1857, at Shinrone, King’s Co. His father was County Court Judge for Tipperary. Ed. St. Columba’s, Rathfarnham, and T.C.D. Lived some years on the Continent, but has since lived alternately in London and in Dublin. Has written much verse. Also several literary, philosophical, and biographical works. Was the first secretary of the Irish Literary Society, London.

⸺ MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF THE CELTIC RACE. Pp. ix. + 457. (_Harrap_). 7_s._ 6_d._ Sixty-four full-page illustr. by Stephen Reid—excellent. (N.Y.: _Crowell_). 2.50. 1911.

A very handsome volume, beautifully printed and bound.
Contents:—1. The Celts in ancient history. 2. The religion of
the Celts. 3. The Irish invasion myths. 4. The early Milesian
kings. 5. Tales of the Ultonian cycle. 6. Tales of the Ossianic
cycle. 7. The voyage of Maeldun. 8. Myths and Tales of the
Cymry. Elaborate Glossary and Index. From about p. 106 onwards
the legends, sagas, &c., are not simply discussed but told as
stories. The résumé of early Celtic history, with the customs,
art, religion, and influence of the race, is very valuable; but
the main interest lies in his complete survey of the cycles of
Irish myth and legend. The editor claims that he has “avoided
any adaptation of the material for the popular taste.” Some
very unfortunate (to say the least) remarks about religion (see
pp. 47 and 66) might well have been omitted.

⸺ THE HIGH DEEDS OF FINN, and Other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland. Pp. lv. + 214. (_Harrap_). 5_s._ Sixteen illustr. by Stephen Reid. (N.Y.: _Crowell_). 1.50. 1910.

Introduction long, but very interesting, by the well-known man
of letters (author of nearly thirty volumes), Rev. Stopford
Brooke. Deals with the relationships and contrasts between the
various cycles of Irish bardic literature and their several
characteristics—and this in a style full of literary charm. The
stories told by Mr. Rolleston (than whom few more competent
could be found for the work) are re-tellings in a style
graceful and poetic, but simple and direct, of ancient Gaelic
romances, some already told in English elsewhere, others now
first appearing in an English dress. They are drawn from all
three cycles above mentioned. Source for each mentioned at end
of book. Some of these tales are already well known, such as
Oisin in the Land of Youth, and the Children of Lir. The style,
it may be added, has not the fire and the dramatic force of
Standish O’Grady, but it has good qualities of its own.

=ROONEY, Miss Teresa J.; “Eblana.”= B. 1840. D. in 1911.

⸺ THE LAST MONARCH OF TARA. Pp. 311. (_Gill_). 2_s._ [1880]. (N.Y.: _Benziger_). 0.80. 1889, &c.

Period: reigns of Tuathal and Diarmaid O Cearbhail. Scene:
chiefly the district around Tara. Aims to present a detailed
picture of the daily life and civilization of Ireland at
the time. Chief events: the murder of Tuathal, the judgment
of Diarmaid against Columbkille, followed by the battle
of Cooldrevne, and finally the Cursing and Abandonment of
Tara. The story is slight and moves slowly; there is no love
interest. The historical events are not all, perhaps, very
certain, but the author has brought very great industry and
erudition (from the best sources) to the portrayal of the life
of the time. The edition (of 1889) was revised and corrected by
Canon U. J. Bourke, M.R.I.A., and is admirably produced.

⸺ EILY O’HARTIGAN, an Irish-American Tale. (_Sealy, Bryers_). 2_s._ 1889.

Time of the Volunteers. Chief incidents in tale: Battle of
Bunker’s Hill, and Irish Declaration of Independence in 1782.
A disagreeable person of the name of Buck Fox (the name under
which the story originally appeared) takes up quite too large
a space in this book; and he and his friends, with their
_soi-disant_ English accents, are most decided bores. The point
of view is strongly national.—(I.M.).

⸺ THE STRIKE. (_Sealy, Bryers_). 6_d._ 1909.

“A stirring tale of Dublin in the eighteenth century, when
Ireland stood well ahead in industrial activity, and the Dublin
Liberties were the hub of Irish Industrialism.”

=RORISON, E. S.=

⸺ A TASTE OF QUALITY. Pp. 319. (_Long_). 6_s._ 1904.

Family life among Protestant upper middle class folk in a
country district—very pleasant and refined society. A kindly,
human story, eminently true to life, without bias of any
kind. One becomes quite familiar with the cleverly-drawn
characters—the kindly, cultured Archdeacon and his sister;
patient, crippled Larry, with his cheery slang; devoted Auntie
Nell, bringing comfort and brightness where she goes; the
Austrian countess; and the twins.

=ROSSA, Jeremiah O’Donovan.=

⸺ EDWARD O’DONNELL: a Story of Ireland of Our Day. Pp. 300. (N.Y.: _Green_). 1884.

Scene somewhere near Fethard, Co. Tipperary, during Land League
agitation. The Author’s sympathies are against the L.L. and for
the physical force party, often called dynamiters at the time.
The book is full of the agrarian question, viewed with bitterly
anti-landlord bias. Eviction scenes, boycotting, midnight
conspiracy. Satirical portrait of the pious landlord—Catholic
attorney who battens on the miseries of the poor; also of
various landlord types. In the case of “Father Tim” the
portraits shows all the weak spots, but without bitterness
or disrespect. See ch. 18, Fr. Tim’s sermon against the
dynamiters. Good picture of a dispensary doctor’s life and
difficulties. Well written, but rather a pamphlet than a story.
It is believed in many quarters that Rossa did not write a word
of this story;[12] the edition I examined has on the title-page
what purports to be a facsimile of Rossa’s signature. Rossa
was b. in Rosscarbery, Co. Cork, 1831. Died in U.S.A., 1915,
and was given a public funeral in Dublin. He was a well known
Fenian leader, was condemned for treason-felony in 1865, and
sentenced to perpetual imprisonment, but was subsequently
released and went to New York, where he edited THE UNITED
IRISHMAN.

[12] In a contribution to I.B.L. for Sept., 1915, Mr. Edmund Downey unhesitatingly assigns the book to the late Edward Moran, brother of the present Ed. of THE LEADER.

=RUFFIN, Mrs. M. E. HENRY-=, _see_ =HENRY-RUFFIN=.

=RUSSELL, Maud M.=

⸺ SPRIGS OF SHAMROCK; or, Irish Sketches and Legends. Pp. 134. (_Browne & Nolan_). 6_d._ 1900.

“The little books show how full of charm and fascination the
holiday resorts of Ireland really are.”—(LADY’S PICTORIAL).

=RUSSELL, T. O’Neill; “Reginald Tierney.”= B. near Moate, Co. Westmeath, 1828. Son of Joseph Russell, a Quaker. Was devoted from about 1858 till the end of his life to the revival of the Irish language. During the Fenian movement he was an object of suspicion. He emigrated, and spent thirty years in U.S.A. Returning in 1895, he threw himself heart and soul into the Gaelic Revival. D. 1908.

⸺ TRUE HEART’S TRIALS. (_Gill_). 1_s._ and 1_s._ 6_d._ Still in print, 1910.

A rather rambling tale of the troubles of a pair of lovers.
Scene: first, the Lake district of Cavan and Westmeath, where
we have a glimpse of squireen life. Afterwards the backwoods
north of Albany, U.S.A. Both light and shade of American
colonist life depicted. There are many laughable episodes in
the book.

⸺ DICK MASSEY. Pp. 300. (_Gill_). 1_s._ 1860. New ed., poor print, 1908.

Famine in 1814 and following years, as background for a story
full of incident, humour, and pathos, with faithful pictures
of many sides of Irish life—the emigrant ship, a wedding,
relations of good and bad landlords with tenants. Altogether on
the side of the peasant. Original title:—_The Struggles of Dick
Massey; or, the battles of a boy_, by “Reginald Tierney.”

=RUSSELL, Violet.= Is the wife of George Russell, “A.E.,” Ed. of the IRISH HOMESTEAD and a well-known poet.

⸺ HEROES OF THE DAWN. Pp. 251. (_Maunsel_). 5_s._ Sixteen black and white drawings and four coloured illustr. by Beatrice Elvery. _n.d._ [1913].

Stories of the Fionn cycle, drawn from Standish O’Grady’s
_Silva Gadelica_ and from the _Transactions of the Ossianic
Society_, and retold, with a pleasant simplicity and
directness, for children. “I would have you see in them,” says
the dedication, “a record of some qualities which the heroes
of ancient times held to be of far greater worth than anything
else—an absolute truthfulness and courtesy in thought and
speech and action; a nobility and chivalry of mind, &c....” But
the Author leaves the reader to draw his own moral and does not
force it on him. The illustrations are charming, and the whole
book is produced with great artistic taste.

=RYAN, W. P.=, _see also_ =O’RYAN, W. P.=

⸺ THE HEART OF TIPPERARY. Pp. 256. (_Ward & Downey_). 1893.

A romance of the Land League, but not too much taken up with
politics. Nationalist. Introd. by William O’Brien, M.P.

⸺ STARLIGHT THROUGH THE ROOF. Pp. 240. (_Downey_). 1895. Under pseudonym “Kevin Kennedy.”

Scene: an inland village of Munster (presumably in Co.
Tipperary). A tale of peasant life—Utopian reforms realized by
a returned emigrant, opposed by land agents and a landlord’s
priest; partial conversion of the latter to the people’s side;
arrest of reformer on false charge of murder; breaking open of
prison, and rescue, &c. An early and crude effort in fiction.
Pleasant, emotional style. Very strong Nationalist bias.

=“RATHKYLE, M. A.”=

⸺ FAREWELL TO GARRYMORE. Pp. 127. (_Sealy, Bryers_). 1_s._ net. 1912.

A simple little tale of life in an Irish village, showing
knowledge of the country-folk and of their ways of thought and
speech; also a thorough understanding of children. The Author
is Miss M. Younge, of Upper Oldtown, Rathdowney.

=SADLIER, Mrs. James=,[13] _née_ =Madden=. Born at Cootehill, 1820. D. 1903. In 1844 she went to Canada, where the rest of her life was spent. Between 1847 and 1874 she wrote frequently for the principal Catholic papers in America. In 1895 she received the Laetare Medal. “Each of her works of fiction had a special object in view, bearing on the moral and religious well-being of her fellow Irish Catholics.” She says: “It is needless to say that all my writings are dedicated to the one grand object: the illustration of our holy Faith by means of tales or stories.” Her sympathies are strongly nationalist. Besides the books here noticed, she also published _The Red Hand of Ulster_, and a large number of religious works. Flynn of Boston publishes a uniform ed. of her works at 0.60 each vol. Many of them were, naturally, originally published by the firm of her husband, James Sadlier.

[13] _i.e._, Mary A. Sadlier, to be carefully distinguished from Anna T. Sadlier, her daughter, born in Montreal. The latter has written nearly as much as her mother, but her works are not concerned with Ireland.

⸺ THE FATE OF FATHER SHEEHY. Pp. 178 + appendix 76. (_Duffy_). 1_s._ 6_d._ Still in print. [_c._ 1845]. (N.Y.: _Benziger_). 0.60.

The story (true, though told in form of fiction) of how the
heroic patriot-priest was judicially murdered at Clonmel in
1766 by the ascendancy faction, backed by the Government.
Appendix by Dr. R. R. Madden, giving full details of the trial,
depositions of witnesses, &c.

⸺ WILLY BURKE. Pp. 224. (_Duffy_). 1_s._ 6_d._ [_c._ 1850]. In print, 1909.

Story of two Irish emigrant boys left orphans in the States,
and their struggles with temptations against their Faith. One
is a model boy; the other goes off the track, but is brought
back again. A moral and religious story, full of Catholic faith
and feeling. It might, however, be not unreasonably considered
somewhat “goody-goody.”

⸺ NEW LIGHTS; or, Life in Galway. Pp. 443. (N.Y.: _Sadlier_). [1853].

Peasant life in Famine times. Written with a strong sympathy
for the sufferings of the people, and with admiration for
their virtues. There is a good deal about the proselytism
or “souperism” that was rife at the time. The evils of
landlordism, resulting in evictions, &c., are depicted. There
is no love interest.

⸺ THE BLAKES AND FLANAGANS. Pp. 391. (N.Y.: _Kenedy_). 60 cents. net; and (_Duffy_) 2_s._ 6_d._ [1855]. 1909.

Life among lower middle class Irish in New York, showing
in a somewhat satirical way, evil effects of public school
education. The moral purpose, though fairly evident, does not
detract from the naturalness of the story. The conversation is
particularly lifelike.

⸺ THE CONFEDERATE CHIEFTAINS. Pp. 384. Demy 8vo. (_Gill_). 4_s._ Many editions. [1859]. Still in print. (N.Y.: _Benziger_). 0.60 net.

A romance of a popular kind, without great literary
pretensions, giving a good picture of the events of the time,
written from a Catholic standpoint, and sympathising with
the Old Irish party led by O’Neill, who is the hero of the
tale. All the chief men of the various parties figure in the
narrative. Full expression is given to the Author’s sympathies
and dislikes, yet without, we believe, historic unfairness.

⸺ BESSY CONWAY; or, The Irish Girl in America. Pp. 316. (N.Y.: _Kenedy_). 60 cents. net. Print rather poor. _n.d._ [1861].

Theme of story: influence of religion on character. Object
(as stated in Pref.): to point out to Irish girls in America
(especially servants) “the true and never-failing path to
success in this life, and happiness in the next.” Bessy,
daughter of Tipperary farmer, leaves for America. She finds
when on board that Henry Herbert, son of her father’s landlord,
a Protestant, is without encouragement from her, following her
through love. The story tells how a change came over the wild
young man, how he became a Catholic, and married Bessy; how
the two of them made their fortunes in N. Y., and how Bessy
came home just in time to stop the eviction of her father in
the Famine year. Readable, with touches both of humour and of
pathos. Highly moral and religious in tone.

⸺ THE RED HAND OF ULSTER; or, the Fortunes of Hugh O’Neill. (LONDON and DUBLIN), _c._ 1862.

Mentioned in most lists of this Author’s works, but not in
British Museum Library.

⸺ THE HERMIT OF THE ROCK. Pp. 320. (_Gill_). 2_s._ 6_d._ _n.d._ [1863]. In print.

Story of Irish society in the ’sixties. The “hermit,” who
tends the graves and monuments on the Rock of Cashel, is a
sort of Irish “Old Mortality,” and is a storehouse of legend
and tradition. The story is by no means a tame one: there is
a murder mystery, and sensation, though the latter does not
degenerate into melodrama.

⸺ THE DAUGHTER OF TYRCONNELL: a Tale of the Reign of James I. Pp. 160. (_Duffy_), 1_s._ (N.Y.: _Kenedy_). 60 cents, net. [1863]. Still in print.

Sufferings of Mary O’Donnell, daughter of the exiled Earl of
Tyrconnell, at the hands of James I., who adopted her and
wished her to marry a Protestant. She dresses as a man and
escapes to the Continent, where she enters a convent. Founded
on a tradition recorded in MacGeoghegan’s _History of Ireland_.
James is painted in very dark colours; Mary is almost too good
for real life.

⸺ CON O’REGAN; or, Emigrant Life. Pp. 405. (N.Y.: _Kenedy_). 60 cents. [1864]. 1909.

A powerful anti-emigration novel, depicting the hardships of
Irish emigrants in the New England states in the ’forties.
Thoroughly Catholic and sympathetic to the Irish, but does not
conceal their faults.

⸺ THE OLD HOUSE BY THE BOYNE. Pp. 319. (_Gill_). 2_s._ 6_d._ [1865]; also (LONDON) 1888. New ed., 1904. (N.Y.: _Benziger_). 0.60.

Scene: Drogheda. Many descriptions of old historic spots, and
much legendary lore. There is a love interest, also, but the
book is hardly up to the Author’s usual standard. At the outset
of the book Drogheda is well described.

⸺ THE HEIRESS OF KILORGAN. Pp. vi. + 420. (N.Y.: _Kenedy_). 60 cents. [1867]. New ed., 1909.

“A slight and very simple thread of fiction connects throughout
the series of historical sketches constituting these ‘Evenings
with the old Geraldines.’”—(Pref.). The plan is similar to
that of _Hibernian Nights Entertainments_ (Ferguson), _q.v._
At Kilorgan, near the Maigue, in Co. Limerick, dwell a poor
family of descendants of the Geraldines. They are visited by
an Englishman, who has (without their knowledge) bought the
old place in the courts. Every night of his stay a story is
told, the intervals being filled in by somewhat insipid love
episodes, long poems (by Mrs. Hernans, Longfellow, Gerald
Griffin, &c.), and songs. The stories are a series of episodes
from Geraldine history from Gerald FitzWalter in Wales to
the Sugán Earl, _c._ 1598, together with a few miscellaneous
romantic stories. They are simply and interestingly told. Some
are hardly for children. An Appendix gives some Geraldine
documents.

⸺ MACCARTHY MÓR. Pp. 277. (N.Y.: _Kenedy_). [1868]. At present in print. _n.d._

Life and character of Florence MacCarthy Mór based on his _Life
and Letters_ by Daniel M’Carthy. M’Carthy is said by the Author
(Pref.) almost to merit the name of the Munster Machiavelli.
The book presents a striking picture of the struggles of the
great families of the day to preserve faith and property amid
the petty persecutions of the government and the intrigues of
rivals. Chief events introduced: battles of Pass of Plumes,
Curlew Mountains, and Bealanathabuidhe. Elizabeth, Cecil,
Burleigh, the Northern Earls, the “Sugán” Earl, Sir Henry
Power, &c., appear incidentally. The scene varies between
the Killarney district, West Carbery, the Council Chamber of
Elizabeth, and the Tower. The episode of the marriage of the
daughter of MacCarthy Mór to Florence MacCarthy Reagh forms the
theme of Miss Gaughan’s _The Plucking of the Lily_, _q.v._

⸺ MAUREEN DHU. Pp. 391. (N.Y.: _Sadlier_). [1869].

A tale of the Claddagh, the famous fishing village beside
Galway city. Its manners and ways are described in detail and
with fidelity. Tells how the beautiful daughter of the chief
fisherman is wooed and won from all competitors by a wealthy
young merchant of the city. The plot is well sustained and
interesting, though somewhat complicated and hampered by
digressions.

=SANBORN, Alvan Francis.=

⸺ MEG McINTYRE’S RAFFLE, and Other Stories. Two Vols. (BOSTON: _Small & Maynard_). $1.25 each. 1896.

“Studies of the poorest classes in a great city, the pathos
often ghastly in its intensity. The title-story is an Irish
idyll.”—(_Baker_, 2).

=SAVAGE, Marmion W.= 1805-1872. B. Dublin. Ed. T.C.D. He was a government official in Dublin for some years, and at that time wrote for DUBL. UNIV. MAGAZINE. In 1856 he went to London, and there edited several periodicals. He was a witty and clever novelist, very popular in his day. Wrote also _Bachelor of the Albany_, _My Uncle the Curate_, _Reuben Medlicott_, _A Woman of Business_.

⸺ THE FALCON FAMILY. (_Chapman & Hall_). [1845]. (_Ward, Lock_). New ed., 1854.

“The best known and choicest of the author’s numerous
stories. It is intended as a satire on the leaders of the
Young Ireland Party; and some of the satire is very keen
and amusing, but as political pictures his sketches are no
better than caricatures.”—(_Read_). John Mitchel, reviewing
it (THE NATION, 13th Decr., 1845), calls it “another of those
pamphlet-novels that infest the literary world ... though
too obviously the production of an Irishman, is as obviously
intended and calculated for the English market.... We have had
some opportunities of acquaintance with the men the writer
attempts to satirize, and do unfeignedly declare that we have
never met (them).... In short, this book is a very paltry and
ill-conditioned performance.”

=SAVILE, Mrs. Helen.=

⸺ LOVE THE PLAYER. (_Sonnenschein_). 6_s._ 1899.

“A tragic plot, with sketches of Irish life, and unpleasant
specimens of humanity in the rector and rector’s wife in the
Protestant community of Tuleen. Old Micky Hogan, the sexton, is
depicted with humour.”—(_Baker_, 2). By the same Author: _The
Wings of the Morning_.

⸺ MICKY MOONEY, M.P. Pp. 250. (BRISTOL: _Arrowsmith_). Illustr. by Nancy Ruxton. 1902.

Career of the hero from bog-trotter to M.P. As a background, a
vulgar and absurd caricature of Irish life. Humour throughout
of a very broad kind. Characters speak in an impossible brogue.

=SCHLICHTTRULL, Aline Von.=

⸺ DER AGITATOR VON IRLAND. Pp. 1043. (BERLIN: _Otto Janke_). 1859.

O’Connell is the hero, but there are a multitude of characters,
chiefly of the ruling classes. Politics are much discussed, the
Author’s sympathies being pretty clearly on the Catholic and
Nationalist side. Scene partly in Ireland, partly in England,
where the reader listens to speeches in the House of Lords.

=SCHOFIELD, Lily.=

⸺ ELIZABETH, BETSY, AND BESS. (_Duckworth_). 6_s._ 1912.

“The purport of the Author is to reveal the varied charm and
grace of a delightful Irish girl’s character between the
ages of thirteen and eighteen or so.... A vital, significant
portrait.”—(T. LITT. SUPPL.). Scene: partly at “Castlemorne,”
partly in a big English school near Liverpool.

=SCOTT, Florence, and HODGE, Alma.=

⸺ THE ROUND TOWER. Pp. 229. (_Nelson_). 1_s._ 6_d._ Pretty picture cover. 1906.

A very slight story centering in the landing of the French
at Killala in 1798. Adventures of two small English boys. An
interesting but one-sided glimpse of some of the episodes of
the time. For boys.

=SENIOR, Dorothy.=

⸺ THE CLUTCH OF CIRCUMSTANCES; or, The Gates of Dawn. Pp. 333. (_Black_). Frontisp. 1908.

An Arthurian romance, with Finola, daughter of Cormac, King
of Leinster, as heroine. She is married to a brutal husband,
but in the end is united to her true love. Not, however,
without passing through a long series of adventures, rescues by
knights errant, escapes, &c. Has all the usual elements of the
romantic _chanson de geste_—tourneys, rose-gardens, adventures
in the green-wood. Told in highly romantic manner, but with
the romance is blended a curious element of the modern problem
novel.

=SEYMOUR, St. John D.=

⸺ IRISH WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY. Pp. 256. (_Hodges & Figgis_). 5_s._ net. 1914.

A very competent piece of work from a scientific point of view.
From the point of view of fiction it is full of weird and
uncanny stories, gleaned from all sorts of sources.

=SEYMOUR, St. John D., B.D., and HARRY L. NELIGAN, D.I., R.I.C.=

⸺ TRUE IRISH GHOST STORIES. (_Hodges & Figgis_). 3_s._ 6_d._ 1914.

Author says in Pref.: “For myself I cannot guarantee the
genuineness of a single incident in this book—how could I, as
none of them are my own personal experience. This at least
I _can_ vouch for, that the majority of the stories were
sent to me as first or second-hand experiences by ladies and
gentlemen whose statement on an ordinary matter of fact would
be accepted without question.” The names of some contributors
are mentioned. The stories are classified partly according to
locality, partly according to the type of ghost in question. A
final chapter gives a kind of Apologia for the book. Index of
place names. The telling is, perhaps, a little monotonous and
dull.

=SHAND, Alexander Innes.= 1832-1907. A Scotchman who interested himself in the Irish land question and wrote _Letters from the West of Ireland, 1884_. Other novels of his were _Against Time_ and _Shooting the Rapids_.

⸺ KILCARRA. Three Vols. (_Blackwood_). 1891.

The influence of a good and sweet-natured woman on selfish men,
with the Land League agitation in Co. Galway for a background.
The peasantry are depicted as wild and lawless and mere tools
of the Land League, but as capable of much good. The shooting
of landlords is sheer barbarism, no attempt being made by
the Author to set forth its causes. The plot is furnished by
the efforts of the hero, Capt. Martin Neville, to trace the
murderer of a previous owner of the Kilcarra estate, and also
by the story of his love for his cousin Ida, or rather hers for
him. There is much about the relations between landlord and
tenant.

=SHARP, William=, _see_ =“FIONA MACLEOD.”=

=SHEEHAN, M. F.=

⸺ NEATH SUNNY SKIES: Stories of the Co. Waterford. Pp. 123. (_Waterford News_). 6_d._ 1912.

A series of simple tales well told and true to life.

=SHEEHAN, Canon Patrick A., D.D.= B. 1852. Educated at St. Colman’s, Fermoy, and Maynooth. Spent two years (1875-77) on English mission in Devonshire. Parish Priest of Doneraile from 1895 till his death in 1913. His books deal chiefly with Catholic clerical life in Ireland—a subject which he was the first to deal with from within. He brought to bear on the features and problems of Irish life a deeply thoughtful and cultured mind. He did not indulge in thoughtless panegyric of Irish virtues, but touched firmly, though sympathetically, upon our national shortcomings and failings. His ideals are of the loftiest, yet never of an unsubstantial and airy, kind. His style is influenced too much perhaps in his earlier books by his very wide reading in many literatures, but particularly in Greek, German, Italian, and English. Besides the novels mentioned here, he has published two books of studies and reflections, viz., _Under the Cedars and the Stars_, and _Parerga_; also a book of poems, _Cithara Mea_, and a selection of _Early Essays and Lectures_.

⸺ GEOFFREY AUSTIN, STUDENT. (_Gill_). 3_s._ 6_d._ Fifth ed., 1908.

Story of life in a secondary school, near Dublin, nominally
controlled by the clergy, but in reality left to the care of
a grinder of more than doubtful character. A most uncatholic
worldliness prevails at Mayfield, and the standards of conduct
and of religion are very low. Geoffrey’s faith is weakened and
well-nigh ruined. The curtain falls upon him as he goes out to
face the world, and we are left to conjecture his fate. Has
been transl. into French under title _Geoffroy_.

⸺ THE TRIUMPH OF FAILURE. Pp. 383. (_Burns & Oates_). [1899].

A sequel to the preceding. It is a close and sympathetic
soul-study. Geoffrey loses all his worldly hopes and falls
low indeed. He suffers the shipwreck of his faith. But in
this valley of humiliation he learns strength to rise and
conceives far different hopes, and we leave him on the heights
of atonement and of regeneration. The book is philosophic in
tone, and is enriched with many elevating thoughts from German,
French, and English moralists. It is said to have been the
Author’s favourite. It has been translated into many languages,
_e.g._, French, under title _Le succès dans l’échec_ (1906),
and German as _Der Erfolg des Misserfolgs_ (_Press of the
Missionaries of Steyl_), M. 6.

⸺ MY NEW CURATE. Pp. 480. (_Art and Book Co._). 6_s._ Eighteenth ed. Eighteen rather poor illustr. [1899]. New ed. (_Longmans_), 2_s._ 6_d._ 1914. (BOSTON: _Marlier_). 1.50.

Into a sleepy, backward, out-of-the-way parish comes a splendid
young priest, cultured, energetic, zealous, up-to-date. He
succeeds in many reforms, but the moral of the whole would seem
to be, “Nothing on earth can cure the inertia of Ireland,” or
rather, perhaps, “You cannot undo in a day the operations of
300 years.” The old parish priest tells the story. There is
in the book intimate sympathy with, and love of, the people,
their humours, and foibles, and virtues. There is plenty of
very humorous incident. Delightful moralizings, like those
in the Author’s _Under the Cedars and the Stars_. It is
full of undidactic lessons for both priests and people. The
religious life of the people is, of course, much dwelt on,
and a good deal of light is thrown on the private life of the
priests. Transl. into French (_Mon nouveau vicaire_), Dutch
(_Mijn nieuwe kapelaan_, by M. van Beek, 1904), German (_Mein
neuer Kaplan_, Bachem, M. 6.), Italian, Spanish (_Mi nuevo
coadjutor_, Herder), Hungarian, Slovene, Ruthenian.

⸺ LUKE DELMEGE. Pp. 580. (_Longmans_). 6_s._ 1901.

The life-story of a priest. The main theme of this great novel
is the setting forth of the spiritual ideals of the race and of
the heights of moral beauty and heroism to which these ideals
can lead. A strong contrast is drawn between the ideals which
the hero sees at work around him during his stay in England,
and those which he finds at work at home. Many phases and
incidents of Irish life are shown—the home-life of the priest,
the eviction, the funeral, scenes in Dublin churches, the
beauty of Irish landscape. One of the best, if not the best,
of Irish novels. Yet as a “problem” novel it is strangely
inconclusive. Luke seems to die with his life-questions
unanswered. Trans. into French, _Luke Delmege, âmes celtiques
et âmes saxonnes_; German, _Lukas Delmege_, trans. Ant. Lohr.
(_Habbel_), M. 6, 1906, sixth ed.; and Hungarian. Canon Sheehan
used to say of this book that its central idea was the doctrine
of vicarious atonement.

⸺ GLENANAAR. Pp. 321. (_Longmans_). 6_s._ [1905]. New ed., 1915. 2_s._ 6_d._

“Tainted blood, inherited shame, is a terrible thing amongst a
people who attach supreme importance to these things.” This is,
perhaps, the central theme of the story. The narrative opens
in 1829 with the famous Doneraile Conspiracy trial in Cork,
when O’Connell, summoned in hot haste from Derrynane, was just
in time to save the lives of the innocent prisoners. The story
traces to the third generation the strange fortunes of the
descendants of one of the informers in this trial. There are
glimpses of the famine of ’48 and of the spirit of the men of
’67. The story of Nodlag is a touching and beautiful one, and
the episode of the returned American is very well done. Trans.
into German, _Das Christtagskind_ (STEYL: _Mission Press_), M.
2.50.

⸺ THE SPOILED PRIEST, and Other Stories. Pp. 213. (_Gill_ and _Burns & Oates_). 5_s._ Nine illustr. by M. Healy. 1905.

Eight stories. The title-story gives a glimpse of the workings
of an ecclesiastical seminary, and also of the Irish peasants’
attitude towards a student who has been refused ordination.
“Remanded” is the story, founded on fact, of a hero-priest of
Cork. “The Monks of Trabolgan” is a curious, fanciful story of
Ireland at some future period. The remaining tales, “Rita, the
Street Singer,” “A Thorough Gentleman,” and “Frank Forest’s
Mince-Pie,” &c., do not deal with Ireland. Has been transl.
into German and Dutch.

⸺ LOST ANGEL OF A RUINED PARADISE. Pp. vi. + 168. (_Longmans_). 3_s._ 6_d._

Three schoolgirls on leaving college take part in tableau as
_Parcae_ or Fates. They announce in make-believe the fates
of their companions. A mysterious voice from the audience
announces their own. The story tells how their fates worked
out. The first part of the drama takes place in Dublin, but
after a time the scene shifts to London. Transl. into French as
_Ange égaré d’un paradis ruiné_.

⸺ LISHEEN; or, the Test of the Spirits. Pp. 454. (_Longmans_). 6_s._ 1907. New ed., 1914, 2_s._ 6_d._

The conception is that of Tolstoi’s _Resurrection_, with the
scene transferred to Kerry. It is the story of how a young
man of the Irish landlord class determines to put to the test
of practise his ideals of altruism. To this end he abandons
the society of his equals and lives the life of a labourer.
He finds how full of pain and heartburning and disappointment
is the way of the reformer. There are many reflections on the
national character and its defects are not whittled down. The
book has two main themes—the greed and callousness of Irish
landlords, and the inability of the Englishman to understand
Irish character.

⸺ THE BLINDNESS OF DR. GRAY; or, The Final Law. (_Longmans_). 6_s._ 1909. New ed., 1914. 2_s._ 6_d._

The interest of this novel centres partly in its pictures of
clerical life, partly in a charming love story of an uncommon
type. The central figure is drawn with care and thoroughness.
He is a strict disciplinarian, a rigid moralist, who worships
the law with Jansenistic narrowness and hardness. But as the
story goes on we discover beneath this hard surface unsuspected
depths of human kindness. He himself finds out before the end
that it is love, not law, that rules the world. The story
contains many beautiful and touching scenes, and some fine
description, notably in the South African portion of the book.
There is some incidental criticism of various features of Irish
life—popular politics, religious divisions, the Gaelic League,
the change in the mentality of the people, and there is in it
food for thought about some of our besetting faults. Considered
by many to be the Author’s most finished and most powerful
work. Transl. into German, _Von Dr. Grays Blindheit_, with
introductory sketch (EINSIEDELN: _Benziger_). M. 6. 1911.

⸺ MIRIAM LUCAS. Pp. 470. (_Longmans_). 6_s._ [1912]. New ed., 1914. 2_s._ 6_d._

Miriam is the daughter of wealthy Protestant parents in
Glendarragh, in the W. of Ireland. Her mother, on becoming a
Catholic, is driven by domestic persecution into evil ways,
and subsequently disappears. Society ostracizes Miriam, who,
in revolt against it, goes to Dublin, where, in alliance with
a young visionary Trinity student, she flings herself into the
Socialist movement. Her efforts end in a disastrous strike.
For a time she staves off crime and tragedy, but it comes at
last. Book III. brings her to New York in search of her mother,
whom she discovers sunk to the lowest moral depths. The story
hinges partly, too, on the lifting of the curse of Glendarragh
by Miriam and the hero, who makes her happy in the end. There
are not a few fine dramatic situations, but the plot does not
hang together. The book is meant to deal with Irish social
and religious problems and to picture certain phases of Irish
life. The life pictured is chiefly that of the Protestant
upper classes, of whom a severe and satirical portrait is
drawn. There are just a few glimpses of peasant life. The
Author raises more problems than he solves, and the prevailing
impression left upon the reader is one of gloom. Has been
transl. into German.

⸺ THE GRAVES AT KILMORNA. Pp. 373. (_Longmans_). 6_s._ 1915.

An attempt to set forth the spirit of the Fenian movement of
1867, and even to contrast it with subsequent movements, to
the great disadvantage of the latter; for the Author thought
that the fire of Nationality has burned very low since ’67.
The heroes are James Halpin (apparently intended for Peter
O’Neill Crowley, who fell in ’67) and Miles Cogan, Fenians and
unselfish patriots. There is some good character drawing, but
the interest of plot and incident is slight, the chief interest
being the vein of very ideal philosophy which runs through the
book. The Author is gloomy and pessimistic about modern Ireland.

=SHERLOCK, J.=

⸺ THE MAD LORD OF DRUMKEEL. Pp. 199. (_Sealy, Bryers_). 3_s._ 6_d._ 1909.

“An unexciting chronicle of the solitary Lord Barnabweel,
his quaint experiments with his Irish property and tenantry,
and the story of his son who left him, married in a Dublin
lodging-house, and became a famous musician.”—(TIMES’ LIT.
SUPPL.).

=SIDGWICK, Ethel.=

⸺ HERSELF. (_Sidgwick & Jackson_). 1912.

The story of an Irish girl in Paris and of her life and love
affairs there. Pleasantly written, and giving a kindly account
of the Irish character. (_Press Notice_).

=SIGERSON, Hester.=

⸺ A RUINED RACE; or, the Last Macmanus of Drumroosk. (_Ward & Downey_). 6_s._ 1890.

A very gloomy view of Ireland. The Author displays intimate
knowledge of Irish scenes, idioms, and characteristics.
Period: middle of nineteenth century. Pictures with painful
fidelity and much power the misfortunes of a once happy and
prosperous couple belonging to the well-to-do peasant class.
Misery seems to dog their steps from one end of the book to
the other. The girl dies in the workhouse, the man takes to
drink and is killed in an accident. Seems to aim at picturing
the difficulties and sufferings of the peasantry, especially
under the old land system. The Author was the wife of Dr. Geo.
Sigerson.

=SIME, William.= B. Wick, Caithness, 1851. D. Calcutta, 1895. Author of several other works of fiction—_King Capital_, _To and Fro_, _Boulderstone_.

⸺ THE RED ROUTE; or, Saving a Nation. Three Vols. (_Sonnenschein_). 1884.

Scene: West and South of Ireland, beginning with Galway, where
the hero, Finn O’Brien, goes to college and suffers much both
from collegians and peasantry. Finn becomes a Fenian, but falls
in love with an English widow who had become a Catholic to
escape the pursuit of bishops and parsons of her own Church.
The heroine is a Claddagh girl, whose love for an English
captain, Jeffrey, is crossed by the fact that she is a Fenian.
One of the love affairs ends happily, the other tragically. The
Author is not anti-Irish, but knows little about Ireland. He
drags in priests “smelling strongly of whiskey” and nuns who
have broken their vows.

=SIMPSON, John Hawkins.=

⸺ POEMS OF OISIN, Bard of Erin. Pp. 280. (_M’Glashan & Gill_). 1857.

Translated into English prose from Irish by the Author with
help of native speakers. Contents: Oisin, Bard of Erin
(introductory by the Author); Deardra; Conloch Son of Cuthullin
(_sic_); The Fenii of Erin and Fionn MacCumhal; Dialogue
between Oisin and St. Patrick (pp. 61-184); Mayo Mythology
(various Fenian Tales); The Battle of Ventry.

=SKELLY, Rev. A. M., O.P.=

⸺ CUCHULAIN OF MUIRTHEMNE. Pp. 48. (C.T.S.I.). 1_d._ 1908.

A paper read before the Catholic Literary Society, Tralee. The
Cuchulain epic briefly but admirably related. Passages of verse
from Ferguson and De Vere are skilfully interwoven. Excellent
notes at the end explain difficulties and references.

=SMART, Hawley.=

⸺ THE MASTER OF RATHKELLY. (_F. V. White_). Fifth ed. 1890.

A stirring story of love and sport in “Co. Blarney” in “the
eighties.” Mr. Eyre, one of the “ould stock,” gets into
difficulties with his tenants, who stop the “Harkhallow”
hounds and boycott him. Written from the English and landlord
standpoint. The dialect is wonderfully good and the “horsey”
scenes well done. The Author was a well-known sporting
novelist; 1833-1893.

=SMITH, Agnes; Mrs. Lewis.=

⸺ THE BRIDES OF ARDMORE: A Story of Irish Life. Pp. 393. (_Elliott, Stock_). Frontisp.—view of Ardmore. 1880.

Ardmore, Co. Waterford, in twelfth century. A few descriptions
of scenery, but little local colour, and almost no historical
_mise-en-scène_. The chief object of the story appears to be
to picture forth a “primitive” Irish Church, unconnected with
Rome, and resembling the modern Church of Ireland in many
of its features. The priests are all married. Indeed their
matrimonial affairs and the cruel interruption of these by
decrees from Rome provide the greater part of the incidents.
The tone is not bitter towards Catholicism, but innocently
patronising and didactic.

=[SMITH, John].=

⸺ IRISH DIAMONDS. Pp. 183. 16mo. (_Chapman & Hall_). 1847. (_Gibbings_). Five Illus. by “Phiz.” 1890.

Chapters:—On the Road, Young Ireland, Irish Wit, Irish Life,
Irish Traits, The Latter End. Humorous Irish anecdotes, rather
above the average “pigs, poteen, and praties” type, frankly
meant to amuse, but showing not a little knowledge of and
sympathy with Irish traits. When the book was written the
Author was “one of the editors of the LIVERPOOL MERCURY.”

=SMYTH, Patrick G.= B. Ballina, Co. Mayo, about 1856. Was in early years a National School teacher. Besides his novels, he wrote verse for several Irish periodicals between 1876-1885. For some time he was engaged on a Chicago paper.

⸺ THE WILD ROSE OF LOUGH GILL. Pp. 306. (_Gill_). 2_s._ 6_d._ [1883]. Fifth ed., 1904. (_Benziger_). 0.85.

Though nominally not the heroes, Owen Roe O’Neill and Miles
the Slasher are the chief figures in this fine novel of the
Wars of the Confederation. A love-story is interwoven with the
historical events. The view-point is thoroughly national. The
style abounds in imagery and fine descriptive passages. The
novel is one of the most popular ever issued in Ireland. The
story ends shortly after the fall of Galway in 1652. The scene
is laid partly in Co. Sligo, where (near Lough Gill) one of the
most thrilling episodes, founded on a still living tradition,
takes place.

⸺ KING AND VIKING; or, The Ravens of Lochlan. Pp. 200. (_Sealy, Bryers_). 1_s._ _n.d._ (1889).

Tireragh (Co. Sligo) in 888, the date assigned by the Four
Masters to a great battle fought between the men of Connaught
and the Danes. The wars between Danes and Irish furnish the
chief interest of the book, but there is also the story of
the feud between Ceallach the tanist of Hy Fiachrach and
Dungallach, a rival. Much information, drawn from reliable
sources, is given regarding the Irish clans, their customs, and
their territories.

=SOMERVILLE, Edith Œnone, and “MARTIN, Ross.”= Miss Violet Martin, of Ross, Co. Galway. Miss Somerville is dau. of the late Col. Somerville, of Drishane, Skibbereen, Co. Cork. Both Authors are granddaughters of Chief Justice Charles Kendal Bushe. Amongst their other works are _Naboth’s Vineyard_, _Beggars on Horseback_, and _Through Connemara in a Governess’ Cart_ (illust.).

⸺ AN IRISH COUSIN. Pp. iv. + 306. (_Longmans_). 3_s._ 6_d._ [First ed., 1889]; new ed., quite re-written, 1903. Ten illustr. by E. Œ. Somerville.

Modern country-house life in Co. Cork. A serious study of the
slow awakening of a young man to the realization that there are
things in life more real to him than horses and dogs. His love
for a clever cousin returned from Canada has a tragic ending.
The characters of the tale are drawn from Protestant county
society. Clever description of Durrus, the ramshackle home of
the Sarsfields. Miss Jackson-Croly’s “At Home” and the run with
the Moycullen hounds are said to be worthy of Lever.

⸺ THE REAL CHARLOTTE. (_Longmans_). 3_s._ 6_d._ [1894]. Three Vols. (_Ward & Downey_).

A dark tale of a world “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable.”
An unscrupulous woman works the ruin of a sweet-natured,
ill-trained girl. Scene: Irish country neighbourhood.
Characters, land agents, farmers, great ladies, drawn with
impartial and relentless truth. Pronounced by many critics to
be worthy of Balzac.

⸺ THE SILVER FOX. Pp. 195. (_Longmans_). 3_s._ 6_d._ [1898]. (_Lawrence and Bullen_).

The chief interest of this story lies in some sporting scenes
in the West of Ireland. The peasantry are seen from an
uncomprehending standpoint, and the chief figures are people
of fashion, of no particular nationality. “Broadly speaking,
the novel may be said to exhibit in a dramatic form the
extraordinary hold which superstition still possesses on the
minds of the Irish peasantry.”—(_Spectator_).

⸺ SOME EXPERIENCES OF AN IRISH R.M. Pp. iv. + 310. Thirty-second thousand. (_Longmans_). 3_s._ 6_d._ Thirty-one illustr. (pen and ink sketches) by E. Œ. Somerville. 1899.

Racy, humorous sketches of hunting and other episodes in the
south and west. The Author’s most successful work originally
appeared in THE BADMINTON MAGAZINE.

⸺ ALL ON THE IRISH SHORE. Pp. iv. + 274. Eighteenth thousand. (_Longmans_). 3_s._ 6_d._ Ten illustr. by E. Œ. Somerville. 1903.

Sketches of fox-hunting, horse-dealing, racing, trials for
assault between neighbours, petty boycotting, rural larking,
full of sprightly and rollicking humour. Chief characters, the
petty county gentry. The peasantry are drawn in caricature,
usually friendly, and are shown in relation to their social
superiors, not in their own life and reality. If these sketches
were taken seriously, the peasantry would appear as drunken,
quarrelsome, lying, dirty, unconsciously comical—with scarcely
a single redeeming trait. The scene is south-western Cork.

_All on the Irish Shore_ has been described (IRISH MONTHLY) as
“a blend of Lover and Lever (in his coarser rollicking days)
refined by some of the literary flavour of Jane Barlow, but
with none of the insight and sympathy of _Irish Idylls_. The
same may be said of the _Experiences of an Irish R.M._, which
moreover, contains here and there passages needlessly offensive
to national feeling.” Titles of some chapters:—Fanny Fitz’s
Gamble, A Grand Filly, High Tea at McKeown’s, A Nineteenth
Century Miracle, &c.

N.B.—Messrs. Longmans have (April, 1910) issued a new uniform
edition of the works of Somerville and Ross, at 3_s._ 6_d._ per
volume.

⸺ FURTHER EXPERIENCES OF AN IRISH R.M. Pp. 315. (_Longmans_). 3_s._ 6_d._ 1908.

⸺ SOME IRISH YESTERDAYS. Eleventh thousand. (_Longmans_). 3_s._ 6_d._ Fifty-one illustr. by E. Œ. Somerville. 1908.

Admirable illustrations of Connemara scenery, clever sketches
of “natives” (usually of the lowest type). Light magazine
sketches written in clever, racy style. Subjects: Holidays
in Aran and Connemara and Carbery, picnics, country house
anecdotes, superficial studies of peasants in Connemara and
Cork. “In Sickness and in Health” pays a tribute to the
strength of the marriage bond in Ireland.

⸺ DAN RUSSELL, THE FOX. Pp. 340. (_Methuen_). 6_s._ 1911.

Miss Rowan comes over to Ireland and takes “Lake View,” in
the midst of a hunting district in S. Munster. She falls in
love—for the time—with John Michael, handsome, and the most
valiant of huntsmen, but a child of nature whose whole mind
is absorbed in hounds and horses. Hence complications. The
Author’s usual pictures of hunting scenes and happy-go-lucky
country gentry. Mrs. Delanty, the sharp and devious widow, is
a curious portrait. Dan Russell is scarcely more than a minor
character in the piece. It is a story about which we cannot
speak favourably.

⸺ IN MR. KNOX’S COUNTRY. (_Longmans_). 6_s._ Eight full-page illustr. in chalk. 1915.

Eleven sketches of the same type as the _Experiences of an
Irish R.M._, with some new _dramatis personæ_ in the old
localities.

=SQUIRE, Charles.=

⸺ THE BOY HERO OF ERIN. Pp. 240. (_Blackie_). 2_s._ 6_d._ Handsome cover. Four good illustr. by A. A. Dixon. 1907.

The Cuchulainn Saga told in simple and clear, but somewhat
unemotional and matter-of-fact, style. Sources: Miss Hull’s
_Cuchulainn Saga_ and Miss Winifred Faraday’s _Cattle Raid of
Cuailgne_ (_q.v._). The Author holds Cuchulainn to be a hero
“not less brave and far more chivalrous than any Greek or
Trojan” (Pref.), and thinks that the ancient Gael “invented the
noble system of conduct which we call courtesy.”

⸺ CELTIC MYTH AND LEGEND, Poetry and Romance. Pp. 450. (_Gresham Publishing Co._). Four Plates in colour by J. H. F. Bacon; fourteen in monochrome by the same and others, and a few photos, _n.d._

A kind of digest of the chief published translations of ancient
Irish and Welsh saga and romance, preceded by four short
essays on the interest of Celtic mythology, and the sources
of our knowledge of it, the origin of the Britons and their
religion (44 pp. in all). Pp. 47-248 are a summary of Gaelic
myth, &c., and pp. 250-395 of British ditto. Then there is an
essay on survivals of Celtic paganisms, and an Append. giving
brief bibliogr. Index. The myths and romances are not related
as a tale is told; they are merely placed on record, almost
stripped of their poetry, along with all the extravagances
and absurdities that disfigure them, chiefly through modern
corruptions. Of little or no interest for young people.

=STACE, Henry.=

⸺ THE ADVENTURES OF COUNT O’CONNOR in the Dominions of the Great Mogul. Pp. 343. (_Alston Rivers_). 1_s._ [1907]. 1909.

A string of impossible situations and thrilling escapes,
purporting to be the adventures of an Irish soldier of fortune
in India about 1670, related by himself. The Count frequently
discourses of the honour of an Irish gentleman, and never acts
up to it. His character is that of a thorough rascal. The book
contains many disreputable adventures in harems.

=STACPOOLE KENNY, Mrs.= _see_ =KENNY=.

=STACPOOLE, H. de Vere.= Son of Rev. William Church Stacpoole, D.D., of Kingstown, Co. Dublin. Ed. Malvern College, and St. Mary’s Hospital, London. Is a qualified medical man, but does not practise. Has travelled much. Resides near Chelmsford. Has publ. about twenty-two novels.—(WHO’S WHO). Some of these have been very successful, _e.g._, _The Blue Lagoon_.

⸺ PATSY. Pp. 362. (_Fisher Unwin_). 6_s._ 1908.

A gay and humorous story of a house-party in a country
mansion somewhere in “Mid-Meath.” Full of amusing characters,
cleverly sketched, _e.g._, the Englishman, Mr. Fanshawe, and
the naughty and natural children. Above all there is Patsy,
the page-boy, an odd mixture of soft-hearted simplicity and
preternatural cuteness. He is the _deus ex machina_ of the
piece, causes all sorts of entanglements, and unravels them
again in the strangest way. There is just a little study of
national characteristics, but no politics nor problems.

⸺ GARRYOWEN: The Romance of a Racehorse. Pp. 352. (_Fisher Unwin_). 6_s._ 1910.

“A rattling good story ... Moriarty the trainer is a gem—Mickey
Free redivivus, as full of tricks as a bag of weasels. The
Author knows his Irish peasantry inside and out, and the only
blot on an exceptional book is a needless disquisition on the
rights and wrongs of ‘cattle-driving.’”—(I.B.L.).

⸺ FATHER O’FLYNN. Pp. 245. (_Hutchinson_). 1_s._ 1914.

The idea of the book, which is dedicated to Sir E. Carson and
Mr. Redmond, is (see Pref.) to show the Catholic priest as the
chief factor in present-day Irish life. The priest in question
is represented in a favourable and friendly spirit, though
perhaps hardly “at his best,” as the Author suggests. The
chief interest is perhaps a love affair, conducted chiefly on
horseback, which is told in a lively and spirited way.

=STAVERT, A. A. B.=

⸺ THE BOYS OF BALTIMORE. Pp. 212. (_Burns & Oates_). 2_s._ 6_d._ 1907.

A splendid boy’s story. Rich in the vein of adventure, of sport
and fight by land, of war by sea, of captivity and slavery.
With this there is a solid, but not too obtrusive, lesson of
the value of faith and piety in a boy’s life. The piety of
the young heroes has nothing mawkish about it. The tone is
Catholic. The brogue is very badly imitated.—(N.I.R.). Scene
changes from Cork to Africa, and thence to London. Strafford,
Wentworth, Laud, and Charles I. appear in the story.

=STEPHENS, James.= B. Dublin, 1884. Worked for some years in a solicitor’s office, but has definitely taken to literature. His first published volume was _Insurrections_, since which two other volumes of verse have appeared, and a fourth is about to appear. Has resided principally in Paris for the past two years, but is now living in Dublin, where he holds the position of Registrar at the National Gallery of Ireland. His writings have met with an enthusiastic reception from the critics.

⸺ THE CHARWOMAN’S DAUGHTER. Pp. 228. (_Macmillan_). 3_s._ 6_d._ 1912. Publ. in U.S.A. under title _Mary, Mary_.

A study of the soul of a simple girl of the people and its
development amid the surroundings of a Dublin tenement house
and of the Dublin streets—her girlhood, her dreams for the
future, her love affairs. The incidents are quite subordinate
to the psychological interest. The atmosphere of the reality is
carefully reproduced if somewhat idealised. There is nothing
morbid nor sensational in the book. This, the Author’s first
published novel, and many think his best, first appeared in THE
IRISH REVIEW.

⸺ THE CROCK OF GOLD. Pp. 312. (_Macmillan_). Many reprints. 1912.

Described, accurately enough, by THE TIMES as “this delicious,
fantastical, amorphous, inspired medley of topsy-turveydom.”
A fantasy in which human beings with Irish names, Irish gods
and fairies, and the god Pan are mingled to bewilderment. And
the whole is leavened with what may or may not be the Author’s
philosophy. “Love is unclean and holy” ... “Virtue is the
performance of pleasant actions.” “Philosophy would lead to
the great sin of sterility.” These sentences are isolated from
the context, but they seem to indicate the general trend—the
philosophy of Pan. However, there is much besides this in the
torrent of wayward thought and fancy that is here let loose.
The pictures of nature are finely and delicately touched. And
there is humour of a strange kind not easy to define.

⸺ HERE ARE LADIES. Pp. 349. (_Macmillan_). 5_s._ 1913.