Sybil le Brocquy

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Bibliograpical details
Stella’s / Birth-days / Poems by Jonathan Swift / edited with a commentary by Sybil Le Brocquy (Dublin: Dolmen Press 1967), [7]-39pp., with front. port of “Stella from orig. drawing by Revd. George Parnel, Archdeacon of Clogher, in the possession of G. Faulkner” [formerly front. to Faulkner’s edn. of Swift’s Works, 1768]. Contents: Introduction [7]; Stella’s Birth-Days [9]; 1: 1718-19 [21]; II: 1719-20 [22]; III: 1721-22 [24]; IV: 1722-23 [25]; V: 1723-24 [28]; VI: 1724-25 [30]; VII: 1726-27 [32]; Stella to Doctor Swift, 1721 [36]; Appendix A: Jealousy [38]; Appendix B: On Censure [39].

A View on Vanessa: A Correspondence with Interludes for the Stage (Dublin: The Dolmen Press 1967), 80pp. [Introduction, p.[8]; A View, 9-79; notice: A view on Vanessa was first produced at the Lantern Theatre, Dublin, on Wednesday, 19th April, 1967, with the following cast: Jim O’Brien - Tom Thurley; Kate O’Brien - Miriam McCann; Hetty Moore - Deirdre Maher; Sean Macken - Paul Clarke; Eileen Maguire - Eugenie Merritt; Ricky Maguire - Denis Merritt; the play was directed and designed by Liam Miller. (p.80.) [See Introduction, infra.]

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Criticism
Robert Jackson Wyse, review of Sybil le Brocquy, A View on Vanessa, and Stella’s Birthdays, in The Dublin Magazine, ed. Bruce Arnold, et al. [‘Swift Tercentenary Edition’ (Autumn-Winter 1967), qpp.; Mary Manning, “Sybil Le Brocquy”, An Appreciation, in Hibernia ( 21 Sept. 1973), p.15 [infra]; Manning, “A Personal Appreciation of Sybil le Brocquy” (priv. 1976) [pamph.]. See also Anne Madden le Brocquy, Louis le Brocquy: A Painter Seeing His Way (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan 1994). There is a “Quidnunc” column containing a copy of a letter by Sybil Le Brocquy concerning her discovery of the birth-place of W. B. Yeats [as infra].

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Commentary
Winning Ways (1932)

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Signe Toksvigs, Irish Diaries, 1922-1937, briefly refers to ‘Mrs le Brocquy (Helen Staunton), a fresh-faced, well-bred, nicely dressed young woman who left in a few minutes.’ (q.p.)

Terence de Vere White, ‘Jonathan What?’, in ‘Swift’, Irish Times Special Supplement [6d.] (30th Nov. 1967), counters Sybil le Brocquy’s ‘passionate plea’ on behalf Vanessa in Cadenus: ‘Sybil le Brocquy has argued on documentary records that he had a child called Patrick with Vanessa, the cause of his passionate quarrel with her and the sundering of his friendship with Stella [...]’

Terence de Vere White, ‘In Memory of Sybil le Brocquy’, in The Irish Times (16 June 1976): ‘When Sybil le Brocquy died some of her friend formed themselves into a committee to make a suitable memorial for her. She had devoted herself unselfishly to many good causes – the Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom, the League of National Society, the Irish Association, the National Library, the Friends of the National Collections, Amnesty International and the Book Association of Ireland. She had made herself an authority on Swift and her book Cadenus was a worthwhile contribution to Swift scholarship. She acted and wrote plays. And she played an important part in the resurrection of the Gate Theatre. / It was decided as a fitting tribute to her memory to restore the Rutland Fountain in Merrion Square. Percy de Clerc, MRIAI, RIDA, acted as honorary architect for the work, which with the active assistance of Dublin Corporation has restored the fountain to its former elegance. In addition the Committee has acquired a copy of William Molyneux’s The Case for Ireland State (168). This will be presented to the National Library on whose board of trustee Miss Le Brocquy played an energetic and resourceful part. A commemorative illustrated booklet compiled by Andrew Carpenter and designed by Liam Miller, has been published by the Dolmen Press, limited to 400 copies.’ [T. d. V. W.]

Patrick Henchy, The National Library of Ireland, 1941-1976 - A Look Back: A Paper Read to the National Library of Ireland Society (NLI 1986): ‘Sybil Le Brocquy was a lady who involved herself in a wide range of cultural activities and in doing good wherever she went. I recall how one Sunday in 1974[?] she got me to drive her to Offaly to search for the grave of Jaspar Joly. We found it eventually in Clonbullogue, and this Society was responsible for putting on the tombstone the inscription which tells of Joly’s great gift of books, MSS and maps which led to the establishment of the National Library. That trip also led to the discovery of the Joly family papers which were acquired by the National Library and were the subject of a paper read by me to the Society which was later published in the issue of the Irish University Review devoted to the National Library centenary in 1977. / When Sybil died in 1973 her friends decided to commemorate her [27] by seeking to restore the decaying Rutland memorial in Merrion Square. The restoration which was carried out in co-operation with the Corporation of Dublin bears the inscription cut in the seat facing the street which reads: “This fountain was restored by the Corporation of Dublin as part of its contribution to European Architectural Heritage Year 1975. The project was assisted by generous donations from friends of Sybil Le Brocquy, 1892-1973 whose enthusiasm for life, literature and the arts enriched many lives.” / I have in my possession a film of the opening ceremony which was performed by President Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh. / Among the many readers and scholars whom it was my privilege to know and assist over the years, there is one scholar whom I will select for special mention - Richard Ellmann - but, as in the case of Sybil Le Brocquy, it is not possible to convey here an adequate picture of this outstanding scholar.’ (pp.27-28.)

Quidnunc (The Irish Times, in 1965): ‘[...] I am very grateful to Sybil Le Brocquy, and I am sure Cyril Duff will be, too, for this letter. / “Many years ago I was amazed to find that nobody knew where Yeats was born, neither his family nor close associates like Lennox Robinson. Jack Yeats’s only clue was a family joke that ‘Willy was born in a lane in Sandymount.’ The Register of Births states that he was born in ‘1 Georgeville, Sandymount Strand,’ but there never existed a Georgeville on Sandymount Strand. When I pointed this out to the official who copied the certificate, he said that “fathers weren’t always in a reliable condition,” but John Butler Yeats certainly knew the locality - he was a tenant of 18 Madeley terrace, Sandymount, in 1863. / The Valuation Office books, fortunately, give clear proof, because in October, 1864, John B. Yeats is entered as tenant of 3 Sandymount avenue. On the map of that year, 3 Sandymount avenue proves to be a newly-built house, which was later described as ‘1 George’s ville.’ When Pembroke Urban District was taken over by the Dublin Corporation, Sandymount avenue was renumbered, and Yeat’s birthplace lost its identity. Fortunately on the reverse of a granite stone on the gateway ‘1 Georges Ville’ is still inscribed. / The ‘lane’ which amused the Yeats family is now Prince of Wales Terrace. It is a bitter reflection on Dublin that it has required a centenary to jog its civic memory into recognising the birthplace of its most famous son. Had the house been in Sligo, as many people believe, it would now be a place of international pilgrimage. How many of your ‘litherary illitherates’ know where Synge was born?” / I’ve always thought he was born in Shaw street, as Shaw was born in Synge street.’ / QUIDNUNC.’ [i.e., Seamus Kelly.]

P. J. Kavanagh, Voices in Ireland (1994), p.276, and n.41 (p.335) cites Sybil le Brocquy’s Cadenus as ‘an example of the legend at its extreme’.

Bruce Arnold, Swift: An Illustrated Life (Dublin: Lilliput Press 1999), draws on le Brocquy’s theory of a child born to Swift and Vanessa as well as on Denis Johnston’s view of his abhorrence of sexual relations with Stella whom he loved but whom he believe to be a half-sister.

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Kevin Kiely, review of Cadenus and Swift’s Most Valuable Friend, in Books Ireland (May 2004), p.114: Kiely treats le Brocquy’s theory that Swift and Vanessa had son called Bryan McLoughlin, fostered after her death by Stella, and who is referred to as ‘the little master’ in the correspondence and later mentioned in Monck Berkeley’s Literary Relics (1789) as being ‘reported [wrongly] to be the Dean’s son by Mrs Johnston [...] the boy strongly resembled the Dean in his complexion ... he dined constantly at the Deanery on Sunday’. According to le Brocquy, the boy died eight years after Vanessa. Kiely notes that ‘Andrew Carpenter in the introduction does not accept her findings from the cryptic references in the Swift-Vanessa correspondence’, but remarks: ‘If you give it half a chance it seems a plausible enough theory.’ (See further under Swift, Commentary, infra.)

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Mary Manning, ‘Sybil Le Brocquy’, An Appreciation, in Hibernia (21 Sept. 1973), p.15: ‘She withdrew quietly and gracefully as she had lived-to die. She was buried, without any fanfare: only the family assembled to see her off. No shots were fired over her grave but if anyone earned the Freedom of the City it was Sybil Le Brocquy. I have been thinking about her the last sad weeks and it’s only the beginning of a long sadness for she has left a gap which can never be filled. Sybil did not belong to the twentieth century. She would, I think, have been most at home with the great ladies of the nineteenth century. All those intelligent charming women who found their intellectual outlet in writing letters, keeping diaries which are now in valuable, who read all the new books with passionate fervour, helped young artists and writers and enjoyed the company of the great names in literature, and at the same time adored their children and reigned like queens over their orderly households. / Sybil, I suppose, would have been described as a blue-stocking and possibly even now might have earned that label but she also loved the sensual joys. She took infinite pleasure in her conservatory and her fragrant oldfashioned garden. “See those delphiniums. I grew them from seed. They were sent to mefrem Frank Hatch in Boston. I suppose it was illegal but I find all illegal things have a peculiar charm. Illegitimate children were once known as love children. Don’t you think that it is beautiful? The children of love …”.’ (See full text, infra.)

Nuala O’Faolain, ‘Orphanages not just consigned to history’, in The Irish Times (March 1996). ‘[...] Perhaps even one light in the darkness counts. This woman in London adds: "I was saved by a lady called Mrs Le Brocquy. Her son is some kind of famous artist. My mother worked for them before I was born. Then she had to let my ma go because she couldn’t keep us both. But she was so kind to my ma - took her to the hospital and then to the home. Down through the years when things got really bad for me - I was always in trouble - my mother would write to Mrs Le Brocquy from England. Mrs Le Brocquy saved my skin so many times …” / Mrs Le Brocquy lent the beautiful family christening robe for the baby - now the woman in London - to be baptised in. That’s respect. The woman has never told her mother - who lives near her in London - what the orphanages were like: the mother thinks she had a happy childhood. That’s surely love. And the women who spend an afternoon drinking and reminiscing and supporting each other - that’s a reaching for life and health. Dunblane happened. But so does this. So does this.’ [End] (For full text, see infra.)

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Quotations

A View on Vanessa (1967), Introduction: ‘A short time after Swift’s death, in 1745, Lord Orrery published the following account of Esther Van Homerigh: Vanessa was exceedingly vain, fond of dress, impatient to be admired, bappy in the thoughts of being Swift’s concubine, but still aiming and intending to be his wife ... So perished at Celbridge, a miserable example of an ill-spent life, fantastic wit, visionary schemes and female weakness. / A couple of years later, Swift’s cousin and biographer, Deane Swift, wrote his account of Vanessa: I have been assured that Mrs. Van Homrigh was as far from encouraging any style of address inconsistent with the Rules of Honour and good-breeding as any woman alive ... Her only misfortune was that she had a passion for Doctor Swift. Thus died, at Celbridge, worthy of a happier fate, the celebrated Mrs. Van Homrigh, a martyr to Love and Constancy. / Eleven years after Swift first met the girl, he wrote to her: What beasts in petticoats are all the women in the world to me, compared with you ... What cruelty to make me despise so many, whom, did I not compare them with you, I could tolerate ... Be assured that your friend has never loved, honoured, esteemed, adored anyone else in this world except yourself. / A VIEW ON VANESSA is an attempt to reconcile conflicting opinions as to the relationship of Swift and Vanessa, by using some of their genuine letters and linking them with imaginary interludes.’ [End; op. cit., Dolmen Press 1967, p.[5].)

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Reference
The National Library of Ireland contains manuscript articles and holographs; personal correspondence with Mrs. W. B. Yeats, Austin Clarke, Joseph O’Neill, Blanaid Salkeld, et al., and num. docs. relating to her studies of Jonathan Swift, League of Nations and Amnesty International (Irel.) held as MS 24,218-252; 20 items relating to Drama League, 1926-1942; Minutes of Drama League, 2 vols., 1941-42; Papers of the New Players Society, 1930; 100 items relating to the Yeats Society, 1965-70; 200 items relating to Swift Tercentenary. The Library also holds papers of Albert le Brocquy incl. 100 items relating to the League of Nations Society of Ireland, 1923-47, and 20 relating to the Concordia Association, 1927-35, with others relating to the International Affairs Assoc., 1947.

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Notes
On the Threshold: Threshold 5, 1 (Summer 1961), ed. Mary O’Malley, contains a letter to the editor from Sybil le Brocquy arguing that ‘it really is time the critics bothered to read Swift’s letters to the tragic young woman [i.e., Vanessa Van Homerigh]’ (p.69).

Commemoration: The commemorative committee convened to honour Sybil le Brocquy consisted of Patrick Henchy, Bryan Guinness, Norah McGuinness, Mary Manning, Liam Miller, Shelah Richards, Michael Scott, Lilo Stephens and Andrew Carpenter.

William Molyneux, Case for Ireland [...; &c.], donated to NLI in copy formerly owned by William King in honour of Sybil le Brocquy. (See further in Mary Manning, ‘A Personal Appreciation [of Sybil le Brocquy]’, 1976, under Wm. Molyneux, infra.)

Living Quarters: Sybil le Brocquy lived all her married life at 51, Kenilworth Sq., Rathmines, [Co.] Dublin, at first in a rented flat above above the main rooms for three years, and later in the whole house when purchased for £1,400 by her father-in-law Louis le Brocquy Snr, prop. of Greenmount Oil Co. (Harold’s Cross).

Date of death: By her own request Sybil Le Brocquy’s funeral was not noticed in the papers in advance; instead, a notice was placed there saying goodbye to all her friends after her interrment which was attended by close family members only. An appreciate by Terence de Vere White appeared in The Irish Times (6 Sept. 1973), referring to the death as having occurred on Tuesday of the same week.

W. B. Yeats: a photo-port. of “W. B. Yeats during his Senate Years” reprinted as full-page plate in Donald Pearce, ed., The Senate Speeches of W. B. Yeats (London: Faber & Faber 1960), facing p.30, acknowledges the “courtesy of Mr. Albert Le Brocquy.” A letter of request from Thames and Hudson Ltd., slipped into the copy in the possession of Mrs. Melanie Stewart [née le Brocquy], being addressed to Mr Le Brocquy and signed by Imogen Bright, dated 5th April 1968, seeks permission to print the photo in A Pictorial Biography of W. B. Yeats by Michael Mac Liammoir, to contain about 150 ills. In a subsequent letter, also slipped into this volume, Bright responds with thanks to a letter of 8th April and further asks for the address of Donald Pearse, together with a query: ‘Is the photograph on loan to him, or does it now belong to him?’ There is no record of a response.

Kate O’Brien: The library of Melanie Stewart [née Le Brocquy] holds The Flower of May (1953), with the author’s inscription on front-paper: ‘Love to my dear friend Sybil / With this inscriptions - / Nov. 17th, 1953. / Women Writers’ Clublin - Dublin.” The text is signed and date “Roundstone / Co. Galway / October 1952’ [374pp.]

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