Stephen Brown [Fr.] (1881-1962)

Life

[Stephen James Meredith Brown, S.J.;] b. Co. Down; ordained, 1914; resided at the Jesuit House in Milltown, Co. Dublin; estb. the Catholic Library, Dublin; issued Reader’s Guide to Irish Fiction (1910), A Guide to Books on Ireland (1912), and Ireland in Fiction (1919), delegating much of the reading to a friends; Essays, Literary and Religious [q.d.], and also Catalogue of Tales and Novels by Catholic Writers (1927), with numerous edns.; the first edition of Fr. Brown’s Ireland in Fiction (1916) was printed by Maunsel but was destroyed by fire in the 1916 Rising; appeared with some revisions in 1919;

delivered ‘We Owe Something to Anglo-Irish Literature’ at UCD Literary & Historical Society, 1939 and subsequently attacked by Stephen Quinn in Catholic Bulletin (‘Sham Literature of the Anglo-Irish’); issued Studies in Life, By and Large (1942) containgin essays such as ‘The Crowd’ and ‘The Message of Poetry’ that show a wide familiarity with literature and ideas; compiled poetry anthologies for Leaving Certificate classes and wrote numerous religious pamphlets, informed by a knowledge of world affairs and occasionally anti-Communist; he was struck by a car outside the British Museum and died soon at Milltown soon after. DIW [IF2] OCIL

[ top ]

Works

Bibliography & Criticism

Guide to Books on Ireland ([Dublin: Talbot] 1912), with bibl. of drama by Joseph Holloway [see details].
Ireland in Fiction: A Guide to Irish Novels, Tales, Romances and Folklore (Dublin: Maunsel 1919) [see details].
The Realm of Poetry: An introduction. London: G. G. Harrap & Co. 1921), 220pp., 8o.
The Divine Song-Book. A brief induction to the Psalms (London: Sands & Co. 1926), 83pp., 8o.
ed. [comp.], Catalogue of Novels and Tales by Catholic Writers [2nd rev. edn.; Catholic Bibliographical Ser., 1] (Dublin: Central Catholic Library Association 1928); Do. [3rd edn.] (Dublin 1929); Do. [4th edn.] (Dublin 1930), xvi, 67pp.; Do. [5th edn.] (Dublin 1932), and Do. [6th edn.; Catholic Bibliographical Ser., 1] (London: London : Burns, Oates & Washbourne 1935), 80pp. [?first issued in America].
ed., Poetry of Irish History (Dublin: Talbot Press 1927), xviii, 380pp. [see details].
Catholic Mission Literature: A Handlist (Dublin: Central Catholic Library Association 1932), vii, 105pp., 8o.
ed. [with Dermot J. Dargon] & intro., Catholic Juvenile Literature: A Classified List (London: Burns, Oates & Co. 1935), 70pp.
International Index of Catholic Biographies [2nd edn., revised & greatly enl. (London: Burns, Oates & Co. 1935), xix, 287pp., 8o.
The Press in Ireland: A Survey and a Guide (Dublin: Browne & Nolan 1937), xi, 304pp., 8o.
Libraries and Literature from a Catholic Standpoint (Dublin: Browne & Nolan 1937), 323pp.
Libraries & Literature from a Catholic Standpoint (Dublin: Browne & Nolan 1937), 323pp.
A Survey of Catholic Literature (Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Co. [1945]), ix, 249pp., 8o.

Religion & Commentary

The Question of Irish Nationality (Dublin: Sealy, Bryers & Walker 1913), 43pp. [rep. from Studies].
The World of Imagery [... &c.] (London: Kegan Paul & Co. 1927), vi, 352pp., 8o.
The Preacher’s Library (London: Sheed & Ward [1928]), xii, 129pp., 8o.
International Relations from a Catholic Standpoint [trans. of La Société internationale, by Eugène Beaupin], ed. by Stephen J. Brown (Dublin: Browne & Nolan 1932), xv, 199pp., 8o.
The Central Catholic Library: The First Ten Years of an Irish Enterprise. By the Hon. Librarian [Stephen J. Brown], &c. (Dublin 1932), 79pp., 8o.
Poison and Balm: Lectures on Soviet Russia, with Special Reference to Anti-clericalism in That Country (Dublin: Browne & Nolan 1938), xiii, 143pp.
Studies in Life, By and Large (Dublin: Browne & Nolan 1942), 243pp.
Towards the Realization of God (Dublin: Browne & Nolan 1944), viii, 180pp., 8o.
Image and Truth. Studies in the Imagery of the Bible (Rome: Officium Libri Catholici 1955), 161pp., 8o.

Articles

‘Irish Historical Fiction’, in Studies, 4 (1915), 441-53 see extracts].
‘Novels of the National Idea’, in Irish Monthly, 48 (1920), pp.254-62.
‘Gaelic and Anglo-Irish Literature: Contacts and Quality’, in The Irish Statesman (30 Nov. 1929), cp.253.
‘The Press in Ireland’, in Studies, XXV (1936) [q.pp.].

Pamphlets (sel.)

God and Ourselves (Dublin: Irish Messenger Office [1931]), 24pp., 8o.
France (Dublin: ‘Irish Messenger’ 1931), 32pp., 8o.
What Christ Means To Us (Dublin: Irish Messenger Office [1932]), 23pp., 8o.
What the Church Means To Us. (Dublin: Irish Messenger Office [1934]), 24pp., 8o.
Our Little Life (Dublin: Irish Messenger Office 1936), 24pp., 8o.
The Crusade for a Better World [on Riccardo Lombardi] (Dublin: ‘Irish Messenger’ [1956]) [q.pp.]
[...], &c.

Miscellaneous

“A Guide to Books on Ireland” [by Stephen J. Brown, S.J.], in The Irish Book Lover, Vol. I, No. 7 (Feb. 1910), 81 [advertising his the plan of his forthcoming book].
ed., From the Realm of Poetry: An Anthology for the Leaving Certificate and Matriculation ... Examinations (London: Macmillan & Co. 1946), xix, 360pp., 8o. [Dublin printed]

Online Index of Publications available at Internet Archive - Supplied by Clare County Library

Ireland in Fiction: A Guide to Irish Novels, Tales, Romances, and Folk-lore, by Stephen J. M. Brown [new edn.] (Dublin: Maunsel 1919), 362pp.

Available at Internet Archive

See also Stephen J. Brown, SJ, ‘Ireland in Books, 1945’ [column], in The Irish Monthly, ed. Fr. Matthew Russell, 74:874 (April 1946), pp.137-47; available at JSTOR - online.]

[ top ]

Bibliographical details
Poetry of Irish History: - viz., Historical Ballad Poetry of Ireland [New and enl. edn., now re-titled Poetry of Irish History], arranged by Mary J. Brown & ed. by Stephen J. Brown (Dublin; Cork: Talbot Press 1927), xviii, 380pp., 8°/19cm.; prev. iss. as Historical Ballad Poetry of Ireland, arranged by M. J. Brown, with an introduction by Stephen J. Brown (Dublin & Belfast: Educational Co. of Ireland 1912), 256pp., ill. [8 ports., incl. front.],, 19cm.; incls. ‘List of authorities consulted for notes’, p.13.

Guide to Books on Ireland, edited by Stephen Brown, S.J. author of a Reader's Guide to Irish Fiction: Part I: FromLilterature, Poetry, Music and Plays (Dublin: Hodges Figgis & Co.; London: Longmans & Green 1912), 371pp. [Index I: General Collections and Selections, [326]ff.; Index II: Prose Literature, [327]ff.; Index III: Poetry, 332ff; Index to Music, IV, 335ff; V: Index to Plays (Titles), 342ff; VI: Index to Plays (Authors), 359ff.; VII: Index to Plays (Subjects), p.367ff.]

CONTENTS: Among the dramatists listed under “Plays before 1700” Joseph Holloway - who contributed that section to Brown’s book - cites the following as representing Irish characters and scenes: 1) The Misfortunes of Arthur, with Irish-dressed chars. as Fury and Revenge; 2) MacMorris in Henry IV, Pt. II; 3) History of Sir John Oldcastle with MacShane of Ulster; 4) John Dekker’s Irish characters; 5) Irish allusions in The White Devil; 6) Heywood’s scenes set in Ireland with kernes. Playwright listed as Irish incl. Henry Burnell (Landgartha); James Shirley (St. Patrick’s Day, 1639). Those cites for the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are Charles Shadwell (Rotheric O’Connor King of Connaught, or The Distressed Princess, Dublin 1720), The Plotting Lovers or the Dismal Squire (Dublin 1770), and set in Dublin; also Irish Hospitality or Virtue Rewarded (1720); Thomas Shadwell, Teague O’Divelly, The Irish Priest (1682), and 2nd Part (1682); [John] O’Keefe, The Shamrock, or The Anniversary of St. Patrick (Covent Garden 1783), Patrick in Prussia (Dublin 1786), The Poor Soldier, comic op. (Covent Garden 1783), Wicklow Mountains or Gold in Ireland (q.d.), The Lad of the Hills (London 1796), Wicklow Gold Mines, or The Boy from the Scalp, with Tyrone Power as Billy O’Rourke, his 1st apprentice (1830). Other theatrical figures cited are: Richard Head, Susan Centlever, Matthew Concanen, Issac Sparks (actor), George Stevens, John Michelburne, Arthur Murphy, Robert Ashton, Charles Macklin, George Farquhar, R. B. Sheridan, James Sheridan Knowles, Kitty Clive, Richard Cumberland (wrote The West Indian in Ireland), John McDermott, David Garrick (The Irish Widow, London 1772), (-) Kelly (School for Wives, London 1774), Isaac Jackman, Peter Le Fanu (Smock Alley Secrets, Dublin 1778), Mrs. H. Cowley (The Belles’ Stratagem, Dublin 1829), Thomas Knight (The Honest Thieves, Dublin 1843; studied under Macklin acc. ODNB), Walley Chamberlain Oulton (see also ODNB), (-) Holman. J. C. Cross, Daniel O’Meara (Brian Boroimhe, adapted by Knowles), George Colman, Richard Millikin (Darby in Arms, c.1810), Charles Wilson, Mrs Alicia Le Fanu (Sons of Erin), Henry Brereton Code [Cody], Maria Edgworth (Love and Law, et al. printed London 1817), Walter [“Watty”] Cox, James McNeil (The Agent and the Absentee, 1824), William Macready (The Irishman in London, Dublin 1830, with Tyrone Power), John Baldwin Buckstone (The Boyne Water, 1831, et al.; b. London 1802 [ODNB]), Tyrone Power [ODNB “Irish comedian” with 12 titles listed in GBI], William Collier (Kate Kearney, Maid of Killarney), Mrs S. C. Hall (Groves of Blarney 1836, with Tyrone Power), William Bayle Bernard [ODNB: born Boston 1807], H. P. Grattan (The White Boys, London 1836; The Omadhaun, London 1877). [See longer notes in Bibliography > Scholars > Brown - via index., or as attached. (Available at Internet Archive - online.)

Ireland in Fiction: A Guide to Irish Novels, Tales, Romances and Folklore (Dublin: Maunsel 1919) [Preface dated 1915; Note to New Edition, April 1919, Clongowes Wood, Co. Kildare], and Do. [Burt Franklin Bibliography & Reference Ser., 311; rep. edn.] (NY: Ayer Publishing 1970), 326pp., and Do. [facs. rep.] (Shannon: IUP 1969) - available at Google Books online; accessed 12.02.2012.]

Copy held at Chicago U. (Riverside) - available at Internet Archive [online]; accessed 19.12.2016; another in Toronto UL [online] - both accessed 19.12.2108.

—See enlarged version of these images - attached.

Criticism
Publications of Stephen J. Brown (Dublin: Three Candles Press [1955]), prev. printed in An Leabharlann, 8, 4 (1945) pp.141-43.

[ top ]

Commentary
Thomas Flanagan, The Irish Novelists 1800-1850 (Columbia UP 1959), writes in the notes to his Preface: ‘There is [...]a useful bibliographical study: Stephen Brown, S. J. Ireland in Fiction: A Guide to Irish Novels, Tales, Romances, and Folk-Lore (Dublin 1916). Brown brought to his work a long and affectionate familiarity with Irish letters, but his entries should be checked against a more recent and more professional bibliography: L. Leclaire, A General Analytical Bibliography of the Regional Novelists of the British Isles, 1800-1950 (London, 1954).’ (n.5, p.viii.)

Rolf & Magda Loeber, A Guide to Irish Fiction, 1650-1900 (Dublin: Four Courts Press 2006) - Introduction: ‘[...] Ninety years ago, Father Stephen Brown published his seminal Ireland in Fiction (1916, reprinted 1919), which was followed by a second volume, published in 1985, and co-authored by Desmond Clarke. Although pioneering in many respects, as reference sources the volumes are inadequate (incomplete titles abound, first editions are not consistently identified, and many inaccuracies are apparent). Moreover, because of their focus on fiction dealing with the Irish and with Ireland only, the volumes excluded fiction by Irish authors on non-Irish themes, and narrowly evaluated the suitability of fiction for a Roman Catholic readership. Also, Brown’s volumes do not reveal how widely republished Irish fiction was in other cities and countries. [Ftn. An addition problem was that the dating of books by Brown often deviated from that of more certain sources, such as the catalogue of the British Library.] As a result, it is difficult to grasp from them the extent to which the Irish abroad remained in touch with literature from the mother country. / Perhaps most frustratingly, Brown’s bibliographies do not reveal the location of volumes in public repositories. This is all acute problem aggravated by the fact that many of the volumes are very rare.’ (p.xxii.)

J. W. Foster, Irish Novels 1890-1940: New Bearings in Culture and Fiction (Oxford UP 2008), remarks that Brown ‘shares with the Literary Revival an interest only in homeland fiction ... For example, he lists but does not give bibliographical details for or summarise the novels of George Moore set in Ireland’, while ‘in another example (almost at random), Brown gives full details of the Irish novels of M. McDonnell Bodkin but passes over in silence Bodkin’s detective fiction, which is set in England.’ Hence, ‘Brown's book is a kind of “repatriation” of Irish fiction. Much fiction by Irish authors has been discarded, therefore, which is recoverable only by our reading beyond Brown’s covers.’ (Foster, op. cit., pp.9-10.)

[ top ]

Quotations
Anglo-Irish Literature: In the Preface to A Reader’s Guide to Irish Fiction (1910), Fr. Brown records his hope that the book ‘may be useful to the general reader who wishes to study Ireland’ and also to those buying books for prizes, presents, stocking shops, etc., and further that ‘coming writers of fiction, from seeing what has been done and what has not been done, may get from it some suggestions for future work.’ He finally hopes that ‘it may even help in a small way towards the realisation of a great work not yet attempted, the writing of a history of Anglo-Irish literature.’ (1969 [rep. edn.], p.xv.)

Stephen Brown, A Reader’s Guide to Irish Fiction (1910)

The Twentieth Century

Note on Some Recent Plays

A certain class of plays that has appeared on the Irish stage within the last few years has been the subject of much controversy. I refer especially to the plays of the late J. M. Synge and to certain plays of Mr. W. B. Yeats, but these remarks will apply in part to some other plays of the same school. It may be well to place on record here the view taken of these in the first place by, I think, the majority of Catholics on religious and moral grounds, and, in the next, by a large section of Irishmen on patriotic grounds as well.

An indication of this view is afforded by the angry hostility of Irish-Americans towards the Irish Players now (October, 1911) touring the States, a hostility displayed both, as we shall see, in the Press and in the striking form of a protest issued by the United Irish-American Societies of New York in the name of the seventy-five organisations which it represents.

The opinions on this subject of many leading Irishmen and the comments of the Irish and Catholic Press both at home and in the States were embodied in a series of articles which appeared (Sept.-Oct., 1911) in America, one of the leading Catholic weeklies. It is from these articles that the following items are taken.*

The New York Sun of July 25th, 1909, in the course of some very unfavourable strictures on Mr. Yeats’s plays, speaks of their “Maeterlinckian atmosphere” (no doubt the “atmosphere” of the earlier Maeterlinck), and of the author’s work as savouring rather of Nietsche [sic], Flaubert, Ibsen, and William Blake than of anything truly Celtic.

As far back as 1904 the New York Herald said of the same writer’s plays: “Mr. Yeats’s parodies of Ireland are as insolently un-Irish as they are insolently incompatible with the foundation and essentials of the Christian religion.”†

And the language of the Irish-American press — notably of the Irish ^ynrlcl and the Gaelic A)iirricaii — during the past few months has been no less emphatic.

At home, likewise, several periodicals of national views — notably the Leader — have severely condemned these plays. The [245] United Irishman said some years ago of The Shadow of the Glen: “Mr. Synge borrows the decadent note of Scandinavia or France, and tries to inject it into a picture of Irish life.” Countless citations of expressions of opinion similar to this last might without difficulty be adduced.

*The editor, though he agrees with some of these judgments, is not to be understood as endorsing all of them. They are adduced as examples of a view, at present pretty widespread, that is taken with regard to these plays.
† This is a quotation from Mr. O’Donuell’s pamplilet (p. 30) referred to below.

245

Even in England, amid the general chorus of praise, severe criticism has not been wanting. The Pall Mall Gazette, in a recent article, speaks of the “enervating, almost luxurious effeminacy” of Mr. Yeats’s plays, and characterises some of Mr. Synge’s as “photographs of bestial stupidity and depravity.”

I shall record the views of but three leading Irish men of Letters. Canon Sheehan thus epitomises the programme of the new school : “Perish the Church, perish everything, so long as you leave us art, and especially the old pagan art of Ireland.” Dr. Hogan, of Maynooth, editor of the Irish Ecclesiastical Record, thinks the work of Synge, etc., “part and parcel of a Pagan Renaissance,” and says elsewhere: “The coarseness of their insults to the Catholic peasantry is as inartistic as it is offensive.” While Mr. Stephen Gwynn, M.P., is reported as saying of these plays that they are “too often a desecration of national legend and an outrage to national sentiment.”

I next quote the writer in America, expressing, as he does in the most emphatic terms, the view I am endeavouring to set forth. He contends that the claim of this particular school of Irish writers “to have initiated the Gaelic literary revival and to be its chiefest flower is supported neither by the history of the movement nor by the intrinsic worth of their productions.” After bringing forward proofs of this point he proceeds to deal severally with the plays of the writers in question. Neither Countess Cathleen — a French legend whose heroine, transplanted to Ireland, proved her altruism by selling her soul to the devil — nor Where There is Nothing — an attempt, after the manner of Ibsen’s Ghosts, to extinguish law, order, Church, and morality — enhanced Mr. Yeats’s authority as an interpreter of Irish sentiment. The Pot of Broth is an unobjectionable trifle, and The Hour Glass and Kathleen Ni Houlahan are elevated in style and thought, and worthy of better antecedents. …” Mr. J. M. Synge he describes, and of course correctly,* as “a Trinity College student of literary tastes who went to the Paris Latin Quarter to develop them. There he made a study of the decadent French writers, particularly Baudelaire.” But in Paris he accomplished nothing, and, some years afterwards, Mr. Yeats, coming across him there, advised him to go to the Islands of Aran, and in this unexplored field seeks new materials for his art. This Mr. Synge did, and

* See Mr. Yeats’s book, J. M. Synge and the Ireland of his Day, noticed on p.441.

246

the result wo see in his book on Aran and in his plays. Of the latter the writer I am quoting says: “The design and substance of his plays are of the Gallic decadence.” Riders to the Sea, perhaps the least objectionable, is Loti’s Pecheurs d’Islande set down on the Irish coast. The root idea of The Well of the Saints is in a play of Clemenceau’s. The Shadow of the Glen fable may be found in Voltaire’s Zadig, and the notorious Playboy of the Western World is a dramatization of a freak of Baudelaire.* Nor is the form and tone less foreign than the substance. ... In all his plays ugly sneers at the people’s morals and religious practices arc frequent; but in the Playboy’ his anti-Catholic animosity is openly revealed. ... There is frequent and blasphemous reference to God and the Blessed Virgin and the saints; not one of the characters reveals a single good quality, and their only moral motive is “fear of Father Reilly.” The language and details are too disgusting for citation.” Finally, after a reference to Lady Gregory’s “Ibsenistic comedies,” he says: “The trio are much Maeterlincked, Baudelaired, and Ibsenized, but Gaelicized not at all.”

I do not think that these views regarding the tone and language of J. M. Synge’s plays — especially the Playboy of the Western World — are unduly harsh. Indeed, I cannot but consider the production of this last play, as it stands, to be unjustifiable on any grounds. But (it is hardly necessary to add) this does not imply that all the plays of the same school are of the stamp of those particularly referred to above. Several even of Mr. Yeats’s are of a wholly different stamp. Several, we believe, have gone far towards the ideal — not the highest, perhaps, but still an ideal — thus expressed by Fiona Mac Leod: “A drama that would not set itself to please through a facile laughter and an easy pathos, but through the magic of legendary associations and the spell of a timeless imagination, working within a passionate nationalism of mind and spirit.”

Moreover, as regards the dramatic and literary value of the late Mr. Synge’s plays, not all of those who hold the views above expressed are at one. Whatever may be said about their dramatic merits, I think it would be hard to deny a certain beauty to their literary style. The talk of the Irish peasant is at times shot through with a strange poetic imaginativeness. It abounds in quaint turns, idioms, and images unknown to English. These peculiarities the dramatist has reproduced and accentuated. And it is little wonder that to audiences strangers to the Gaedhaltacht his work should appeal with a sense of [247] delightful freshness and originality. But his peasants are seen through a distorted medium. He himself has been known to admit in private life that the Connacht peasant whom he put upon the stage was not the peasant as he existed in real life, but the writer’s own literary fancies set amidst Connacht surroundings. — Ed.]

247

* The credit for these identifications is entirely due to Mr. D. J. O’Donoghue, who first made them in his article of August, 1911, referred to below.

* * * * * *

Since the above was put in type much additional matter bearing on the subject has come under the writer’s notice, some of which have already been referred to in footnotes. The earliest in point of date is Mr. F. H. O’Donnell’s pamphlet, The Stage-Irishman of the Pseudo-Celtic Drama, 1904. Nothing said by the American papers above quoted exceeds in severity the strictures which this author passes on Mr. Yeats’s plays — J. M. Synge was then barely on the horizon. He speaks of them as “a sort of Maeterlinckian-Ibsenitish-Baudelairian drama,” and finds (see p.25) sneers and blasphemies against religion” scattered with full hands in Mr. Yeats’s principal plays.”

In the Irish Daily Independent of August 21st. 1911, a temperate but damaging piece of criticism was published by Mr. D. J. O’Donoghue, Librarian of the National University, and a well-known literary man. The article points out specifically the foreign origin of Mr. Synge’s plots, and the deficiencies of some of them from the dramatic standpoint. It created a considerable stir at the time of its appearance.

About the middle of December, 1911, the Rev. George O’Neill, S.J., M.A., delivered before the Students’ National Literary Society a remarkable lecture, afterwards published in the Irish Catholic for December 23rd, and soon, we understand, to be issued in pamphlet form. It is a moderate and thoughtful discussion of the claims of these plays to be Irish in theme and spirit. The conclusion is decisively against these claims.

Meanwhile articles in which the highest and often the most extravagant praise is given to J. M. Synge’s plays continue to appear in English periodicals. Meanwhile the hostile attitude of the Irish people in America has become more and more accentuated.

Plays by W. B. Yeats (1865).

For Mr. Yeats ’s views on the drama see (1) The introductions to some of his plays. (2) Some of the essays in Ideas of Good and Evil, a note on which will be found on p.19. (3) Criticisms scattered through the pages of Beltaine (1899-1900), the organ of the Irish Literary Theatre, and of Samhain (1901- ), the organ of the Irish National Theatre Society. (4) Ch. iv. of W. B. Yeats and the Irish Literary Revival, by H. S. Krans. See p. 44.

N.B. — It has been thought well to place Mr. Yeats’s plays in this position, as though his first plays were acted as far back as 1894, the bulk of his dramatic work belongs to a much later date.

— The Land of Heart’s Desire.1 A Verse Play in 1 Act.
A wife willingly leaves all her earthly happiness to follow the call of the “good people “ to the land of heart’s desire. The poet has put much beautiful poetry into his conceit. First played at the Globe, London, on ’March 29th, 1894. Cast : 3 males, 2 females, and a little girl. Revived at the Abbey on February 16th, 1911.

— The Countess Cathleen.2 A Miracle Play in Verso in 3 Acts.
The play’s action takes place during a terrible time of famine in Ireland in the “once upon a time” period of the country’s existence. A noble young Countess, the beloved of all around her, seeing her people die and she incapable of relieving them, sells her soul to demons in order that the starving peasantry may have food for their relief. For this heroic deed of self-sacrifice the lovely lady is ultimately saved, and the demons cheated out of their prey. This piece was first produced at the Antient Concert Rooms, Dublin, on May 8th, 1899, by the Irish Literary Theatre, when a number of young college students thought well to create a hostile demonstration, as they did not think “the means justified the end” in the case of the fair Countess’s bargain. It is really a beautiful work, and would well repay revival. The cast is made up of 9 male and 6 female characters. It was published in book form, along with Various Legends and Lyrics, in 1892. Revived (a new version with mediaeval setting) at Abbey, on December 14th, 1911, with Marie O’Neill in the title role. A French writer originated the story.

1.Turns on another revolting burlesque of Catholic religion. . . Instinct with dechristianisation.” — F. H. O’Donnell.
2. A ridiculous and offensive absurdity.” — F. H. O’Donnell.

[....]

—Brown, op. cit., 1910, 244-48; available online; acccessed 22.05.2024.

Literary Revival: ‘[...] whatever their literary merits, the claim made for them that they interpreted the Gaelic thought-world, or that the qualities which they contributed to Anglo-Irish literature were authentic Gaelic qualities is quite another thing. One wonders, for instance, if there be anything in common between Mr. Yeats and his shadowy, Celtic dreamland and the flesh and blood Gaels who wrote our Gaelic literature, from the unknown authors of the Táin, through Colmcille, the Medieval bards, Keating and the Munster poets, to Canon Peadar Ó Laoghaire.’ (‘Gaelic & Anglo-Irish - Contacts and Quality’, in The Irish Statesman, 30 Nov. 1929, p.253; quoted in Terence Brown, ‘After the Revival: The Problem of Adequacy and Genre’, in The Genres of Irish Literary Revival, ed. Ronald Schleifer, Oklahoma: Pilgrim; Dublin: Wolfhound 1980, pp.153-78; p.154.)

‘Irish Historical Fiction’ (1916): ‘There are many sad lessons lurking for us in every corner of our history had we but manful courage to face them. Now, I would urge again that one of the best mediums for conveying this lesson, especially to the younger generations and to those whose studies cease with their boyhood, is historical fiction [...]. If there be any truth in these considerations why not see to it that among the works of fiction put into the hands of Irish boys and girls there shall be found some that will imprint in their imagination what of Irish history is best worth remembering, and that will help to fix their affections upon the country whose children they are? How many even to-day are growing among us well-educated in other respects, but knowing nothing about their country. (Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review &c. No. 4, 1915; quoted in James Cahalan, Great Hatred, Little Room: The Irish Historical Novel, Syracuse UP 1983.)

[ top ]

Moral standpoint: in selecting books for Dublin’s Central Catholic Library in the 1930s, Father S.J. Brown admitted that ‘a certain number of novels by Catholic authors have been deliberately omitted as objectionable from the moral standpoint’. (Catalogue of novels and tales by Catholic writers, Dublin 1932, 5th edn), p.v; quoted in Rolf & Magda Loeber, A Guide to Irish Fiction, 1650-1900, Dublin: Four Courts Press 2006, p.lxvi.)

Land League novels: ‘We may omit consideration of the novels that deal with the last named period. They belong to politics rather than to history.’ (Studies, 4, 1915; p.447; quoted in Cahalan, idem.)

Glorious gain: ‘All that is distressing and grievous in life may become for a man so much glorious gain if it draws him away from what is merely outward and passing and throws his mind back on the thought of God’. (Studies in Life, By and Large, 1942). Note that the title-page cites From God to God: An Outline of Life (n.d.) by by the same author but makes no mention of his bibliographical compilations.

[ top ]

References

British Library holds [1] Historical Ballad Poetry of Ireland. Arranged by M. J. Brown. With an introduction by Stephen J. Brown. [Another copy, with a different titlepage.]. 256pp. Educational Co. of Ireland: Dublin & Belfast, 1912. 8o. Longmans & Co.: London, 1912. 8o. [2] Poetry of Irish History. Edited by Stephen J. Brown. Being a new and enlarged edition of ‘Historical Ballad Poetry of Ireland’ arranged by M. J. Brown. xviii, 380pp. Talbot Press: Dublin & Cork, 1927. 8o. [3: a namesake] [4] A Guide to Books on Ireland. Edited by S. J. Brown ... Part I. Prose Literature, Poetry, Music and Plays. xvii. 371pp. Hodges, Figgis & Co.: Dublin: Longmans & Co.: London, 1912. 8o. [5] A Readers’ Guide to Irish Fiction. [Another copy, with a different titlepage.]. xii, 226pp. Longmans & Co.: London, 1910. 8o. Browne & Nolan: Dublin, 1910. 8o. [6] An Index of Catholic Biographies. xvi, 142pp. Central Catholic Library Association: Dublin, 1930. 8o. [7] An Introduction to Catholic Booklore. vii, 105pp. Burns, Oates & Co.: London, 1933. 8o. [8] Catalogue of Novels and Tales by Catholic Writers ... Fourth edition, revised, &c. Title Fifth edition, revised. Title Sixth edition, revised. xvi, 67pp. Central Catholic Library Association: Dublin, 1930. 8o. xvi, 83pp. Central Catholic Library Association: Dublin, 1932. 8o. 84pp. Burns, Oates & Co.: London, 1935. 8o. [9] Catholic Juvenile Literature. A classified list. Compiled and edited with an introduction by S. J. Brown ... with the assistance of Dermot J. Dargon. 70pp. Burns, Oates & Co.: London, 1935. 8o. [10] Catholic Mission Literature. A handlist. vii, 105pp. Central Catholic Library Association: Dublin, 1932. 8o. [11] Essays of Contention. ix, 213pp. Talbot Press: Dublin, 1954. 8o. [12] France. 32pp. ‘Irish Messenger’: Dublin, 1931. 8o. [13] From God to God. An outline of life. x, 316pp. Brown & Nolan: Dublin, 1940. 8o. [14] From the Realm of Poetry. An anthology for the Leaving Certificate and Matriculation ... examinations. Edited by S. J. Brown. xix, 360pp. Macmillan & Co.: London; Dublin printed, 1946. 8o. [15] God and Ourselves. 24pp. Irish Messenger Office: Dublin, [1931.] 8o. [16] Home to God. 20pp. Irish Messenger Office: Dublin, [1943.] 8o. [17] Image and Truth. Studies in the imagery of the Bible. 161pp. Officium Libri Catholici: Rome, 1955. 8o. [18] In the Byways of Life. ix, 165pp. Talbot Press: Dublin, 1952. 8o. [19] International Index of Catholic Biographies ... 2nd edition, revised and greatly enlarged. xix, 287pp. Burns, Oates & Co.: London, 1935. 8o. [20] Ireland in Fiction. A guide to Irish novels, tales, romances, and folk-lore. Title New edition. xviii, 304pp. Maunsel & Co.: Dublin & London, 1916. 8o. xx, 362pp. Maunsel & Co.: Dublin & London, 1919. 8o. [21] Ireland in fiction. A guide to Irish novels, tales, romances and folklore, &c. Title [Another copy.]. Shannon: Irish University Press, 1969- . 23 cm. [22] Libraries and Literature from a Catholic Standpoint. 323pp. Browne & Nolan: Dublin, 1937. 8o. [23] Our Little Life. 24pp. Irish Messenger Office: Dublin, 1936. 8o. [24] Poison and Balm. [Lectures on Soviet Russia, with special reference to anti-clericalism in that country.]. xiii, 143pp. Browne & Nolan: Dublin, 1938. 8o. [25] Studies in Life, by and large. 243pp. Browne & Nolan: Dublin, 1942. 8o. [26] The Crusade for a Better World [On the work of Riccardo Lombardi, with a summary of his proposals in ‘Per un mondo nuovo.’]. 23pp. ‘Irish Messenger’ Office: Dublin, [1956.] 8o. [27] The Divine Song-Book. A brief induction to the Psalms. 83pp. Sands & Co.: London, 1926. 8o. [28] The Preacher’s Library. xii, 129pp. Sheed & Ward: London, [1928.] 8o. [29] The Press in Ireland. A survey and a guide. xi, 304pp. Browne & Nolan: Dublin, 1937. 8o. [30] The Question of Irish Nationality. (Reprinted from “Studies”.). 43pp. Sealy, Bryers & Walker: Dublin, 1913. 8o. [31] The Realm of Poetry. An introduction. 220pp. G. G. Harrap & Co.: London, 1921. 8o. [32] The World of Imagery, &c. vi, 352pp. Kegan Paul & Co.: London, 1927. 8o. [33] Towards the Realization of God. viii, 180pp. Browne & Nolan: Dublin, 1944. 8o. [34] What Christ means to us. 23pp. Irish Messenger Office: Dublin, [1932.] 8o. [35] What the Church means to us. 24pp. Irish Messenger Office: Dublin, [1934.] 8o. [36] A Survey of Catholic Literature. ix, 249pp. Bruce Publishing Co.: Milwaukee, [1945.] 8o. [37] [La Société internationale.] International Relations from a Catholic standpoint. [Edited by Eugène Beaupin.] Translated from the French. Edited [i.e. the translation edited] ... by Stephen J. Brown. xv, 199pp. Browne & Nolan: Dublin, 1932. 8o. [38] The International Organisation of Labour. [Translated by Stephen J. Brown.] [39] The Central Catholic Library. The first ten years of an Irish enterprise. By the Hon. Librarian [Stephen J. Brown], &c. 79pp. Dublin, 1932. 8o.

Belfast Central Library holds Studies in Life, By and Large (1942). Belfast Linenhall holds Irish Historical Fiction (n.d.)

[ top ]

Notes
Poetry of Irish History (Dublin: Talbot 1927) is an anthology divided by historical ‘periods’ (First Period ... Fifth Period’) including lesser sections such as ‘Ireland Beyond the Seas’, and ‘Love Thou Thy Land’ - the latter opening with “The Green Hills of Erin” by Donnchadh Mac Conmara. The anthology is replete with patriotic poems by Davis, Stephen Gwynn and others. (Copy held in Morris Collection of the University of Ulster Library.)

The Irish language: ‘one of the many anomalies produced by the historic causes that have all but destroyed the Irish language as the living speech of Ireland’ (Preface, Ireland in Fiction 1919; facs. rep. 1969, p.xii, apologising for the absence of books in Irish from the earlier Guide to Fiction (1912).

Desmond Clarke supplies a note on Brown in the foreword of Ireland in Fiction [Pt. I] (1919) and another in the preface to Ireland in Fictioni [Pt II] (1985) remarking that his precedessor received fatal injuries in old age when knocked over by a car outside the British Museum while working on the second edition and died ‘at his beloved Milltown Park.’ (Brown’s own preface to the first volume is addressed Clongowes Wood.)

Seán O’Faolain calls John Banim’s Father Connell ‘one of the earliest novels dealing with priests sympathetically’. He adds on his own account: ‘I find it rather sentimental. Others have approved of it wholeheartedly’, and quotes Stephen Brown: ‘The character is one of the noblest in fiction. He is the ideal Irish priest, almost childlike in simplicity, pious, lavishly charitable, meek and long-suffering but terrible when roused to action’. Note that O’Faolain has taken up the conjectural date 1840 from Brown [err. for 1842].

Dublin memory recalls a young man who had courted Fr. Brown’s cousin Maddy Ross, latter a member of Women Writers’ Club; and had subsequently gone to India - after which silence. On discovering a bundle of letters in a drawer on the death of her mother (with whom she had remained while she lived), the girl finds proposals of marriage from her soldier in them.

Namesake: See The International Organisation of Labour, trans. by Stephen J. Brown (q.d.);

[ top ]