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Life
1912-2002 [angl. James Bourke]; a leading Irish antiquarian bookseller, bibliographer, and dramatist; b. Dublin, son of P. J. Bourke [q.v.], actor-playwright and director of theatrical costumiers at 64 Dame St., Dublin, and Margaret Bourke (née Kearney) and hence uncle of Brendan Behan [q.v.]; historian of the Queen’s Royal Theatre, Pearse [formerly Brunswick] St., Dublin (The Queen's Royal Theatre, Dublin, 1829–1969, 1985); m. Christine O’Neill, with whom two dgs. and four sons, 1935; his plays include adaptation of Kickham’s Knockagow, or the Homes of Tipperary (1944); also Thomas Davis (1948); Limpid River (Gate Theatre, 11 June 1956); Mrs. Howard’s Husband (16 Feb. 1959); The Boys and Girls are Gone (1961); also a novel, Limpid River (1962), and a biography of the author of the Irish national anthem written by his uncle (Peadar Kearney, 1957); d. 2 Aug. 2002. DIW DIL OCIL
De Burca’s Rare Books Catalogue - circulated annually in printed volumes - is a major source for Irish bibliography.
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| De Burca Rare Books, Cloongashel, 27 Priory Drive, Blackrock, Co. Dublin; deburcararebooks@gmail.com & online. |
Criticism
Cheryl Herr, For the Land They Loved (Syracuse Press 1991) - dedicated to him ‘and others who do not fear to speak of ‘98’, calling him ‘a national resource of the highest order’. See similar comments in Stephen Watts, Joyce, O’Casey, and the Popular Irish Theater (Syracuse UP 1991).
References
Robert Hogan, ed., Dictionary of Irish Literature (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan 1979): born James Bourke; cites droll and savage The Howards (1960), and The End of Mrs. Oblong (1968), a rambling imitation of Behan. Also an adaptation of Handy Andy (Lover), unproduced. Remarks, ‘Slovenly and long-winded on paper, but splendidly theatrical on stage.’
Variants: The Howards, cited thus in Dictionary of Irish Literature, ed. Hogan (1979), is listed as Mrs. Howard’s Husband in Dictionary of Irish Writers (1988), while Hogan, ed., Seven Irish Plays (Minnesota UP 1967), also cites The Howards with a production date (16 Feb. 1959). Ireland in Fiction (Pt. 2) omits Limpid River.
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