Frank O’Connor


Works
Short story collections
  • Guests of the Nation (London: Macmillan 1931), 277pp. [see contents].
  • Bones of Contention and Other Stories (London: Macmillan 1936) [12 stories incl. ‘In the Train’, ‘Michael’s Wife’, and ‘The Majesty of the Law’].
  • Three Tales (Dublin: Cuala 1941); Crab Apple Jelly (London: Macmillan 1944) [12 stories incl. Michael’s Wife’, ‘The Bridal Night’, and ‘Uprooted’, mainly set in Cork].
  • The Common Chord (London: Macmillan 1947), 227pp. [twelve stories on theme of love; banned in Ireland].
  • Traveller’s Samples: Stories and Tales (London: Macmillan 1951), rep. from New Yorker [and banned in Ireland].
  • Domestic Relations (NY: Alfred A. Knopf; London: Hamish Hamilton 1957) [rep. from New Yorker Magazine]; Collection Two (London: Macmillan 1964; rep. 1990) [incl. ‘The Face of Evil’; ‘The Procession of Life’; ‘The Man of the House’; ‘Judas’; ‘The Custom of the Country’; ‘The Mad Lomasneys’; ‘A Great Man’; ‘Masculine Protest’ ‘An Out-and-Out Gift’].
  • The Cornet Player Who Betrayed Ireland (Dublin: Poolbeg 1981) [title story and ‘War’; ‘There is a Lone House’; ‘A Case of Conscience’; ‘Hughie’, et al.]; Ruth Sherry, ed., [O’Connor] with Hugh Hunt, Moses’ Rock (Gerrards Cross: Colin Smythe; Washington: Catholic Univ. of America 1983).
  • The Collar: Stories of Irish Priests, Harriet O’Donovan Sheehy (Belfast: Blackstaff 1993), 216pp. [contains ‘Uprooted’; ‘News for the Church’; ‘The Sentry’; ‘Achilles Heel’; ‘The Frying Pan’, ‘An Act of Charity’; ‘The Mass Island’].
Selected & collected stories
  • The Stories of Frank O’Connor (NY: Alfred A. Knopf 1952; London: Hamish Hamilton 1953) [his own selection of best stories incl. five not prev. published in book form].
  • More Stories of Frank O’Connor (NY: Alfred A. Knopf 1954, 1967).
  • Selected Stories (Dublin: Maurice Fridberg 1956).
  • Collection Three (London: Macmillan 1969), published in US as A Set of Variations: Twenty Seven Stories (NY: Alfred A. Knopf 1969) [see contents].
  • Larry Delaney: Lonesome Genius (Killeen 1996), 160pp. [13 vintage stories episodically arranged].
  • Julian Barnes, intro., The Best of Frank O’Connor [Everyman’s Library] (London: Everyman [Dent]; NY: Alfred A. Knopf 2009), xxxviii, 673pp. [see preface - extract].
Novels
  • The Saint and Mary Kate (London: Macmillan 1932; rep. Blackstaff 1990).
  • Dutch Interior (London: Macmillan 1940; rep. Blackstaff 1990), banned; poetry
  • Three Old Brothers and Other Poems (London: Nelson 1936).
  • The Big Fellow [life of Michael Collins] (London: Nelson 1937).
Plays
  • In the Train (Abbey 1937), and Moses’ Rock (Abbey 1938).
  • with Hugh Hunt, The Invincibles, ed. Ruth Sherry (Newark: Proscenium 1980).
  • ‘Rodney’s Glory’, ed. Ruth Sherry, in Irish University Review, 22 (Autumn Winter 1993), pp.219-41 [one-act play].
Autobiographies
  • An Only Child (NY: Alfred A. Knopf 1961; London: Macmillan 1962) [copyright Harriet O’Donovan; title-page verso citing prev. copyrights in favour of Frank O’Connor, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961]; Do. [rep. edn.] (Belfast: Blackstaff 1993), and Do., with a preface by Declan Kiberd (London: Penguin 2005), q.pp..
  • My Father’s Son (London: Macmillan 1968; NY: Alfred A. Knopf 1969).
Issued together as The Autobiography: An Only Child and My Father's Son (Open Road Media, 2014), 464pp. [Chap. 1 available at Google Books - online; accessed 19.03.2021.]
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Translations & anthologies
  • Fountain of Magic (London: Macmillan 1939) [with assistance of W. B. Yeats].
  • Midnight Court: a rhythmical bacchanalia from the Irish of Bryan Merryman, translated by Frank O’Connor [from Cúirt an Mheadhán Oíche of Brian Merriman] [New Frontiers] (Dublin: Maurice Fridberg 1945), 61pp. [incls. ‘further poems translated from the Irish by Frank O’Connor’: p.[51]-61], and Do. [new edn.] (Dublin: O’Brien Press 1969, 1989, 2000), 72pp., ill. [by Brian Bourke].
  • The Wild Bird’s Nest (Dublin: Cuala 1932).
  • Lords and Commons (Dublin 1938).
  • ed & intro. Modern Irish Short Stories (Oxford: OUP 1957) and Do. [facs. reiss. as Classic Irish Short Stories] (1985) [see ‘The Irish Short Story’ , Introduction], pp.ix-xv.
  • ed., A Book of Ireland (London: Collins 1959) and Do. [num. impressions], and Do. (Belfast: Blackstaff 1991) [see contents].
  • Kings, Lords, & Commoners: Irish poems from the seventh to the nineteenth century, trans. with a preface by Frank O’Connor (NY: Alfred A. Knopf 1959); Do. (London: [Macmillan] 1961, 1963) ii, 169pp. [reps. ‘The Midnight Court’, ‘The Wild Bird’s Nest’, ‘Lords and Commons’, and ‘The Fountain of Magic’].
  • The Little Monasteries: Poems Translated from the Irish] (Dublin 1963, rep. 1976).
  • ed., with David W. Greene, A Golden Treasury of Irish Poetry 600-1200 (London 1967).
Criticism
  • Towards an Appreciation of Literature (Dublin: Metropolitan Publ. Co. 1945).
  • The Art of the Theatre (Dublin & London: Maurice Fridberg 1947).
  • The Road to Stratford (London: Methuen 1948), enlarged and reissued as Shakespeare’s Progress (Cleveland: World Publ. Co. 1960).
  • The Mirror in the Roadway: A Study of the Modern Novel (NY: Alfred A. Knopf 1956; London: Hamish Hamilton 1957).
  • The Lonely Voice: A Study of the Short Story (London: Macmillan 1963); Do. [pb. rep.] (London: Papermac 1965), 223pp. [see extract]; Do. (Cleveland: World Publ. Co. 1963), 222pp.; Do. (Toronto; Nelson, Foster & Scott 1963), and Do. (Melville House Publishing 2004, 2011), 224pp.
  • The Backward Look: A Survey of Irish Literature (London: Macmillan 1967), published in US as A Short History of Irish Literature (NY: Putnam 1967) [see extracts].
Miscellaneous
  • ‘Democracy and the Gaelic Tradition’, Irish Academy of Letters [Lecture], 3 March 1935.
  • [on Irish censorship], The Listener (16 March 1938), p.591.
  • [personal portrait of Yeats,] in The Bell, 1. 5 (Feb. 1941) [see under Notes, infra].
  • ‘The Future of Irish Literature’, in Horizon [ed. Cyril Connolly], 5, 25 (Jan. 1942) [see extracts].
  • Irish Miles (London: Macmillan 1941).
  • sel. & intro., Classic Irish Short Stories [1st edn. as Modern Irish Short Stories 1957] (OUP 1985, NY: rep. OUP 1992) [see contents].
  • ‘The Gaelic Tradition in Literature’, Ireland Today, 1, 1 & 2 (July 1936), pp.21-40.
  • Chap. on ‘Synge’, in The Irish Theatre, ed. Lennox Robinson (London: Macmillan 1939).
  • ‘The Future of Irish Literature’, Horizon, 25, 5 (Jan 1942), pp.55-63.
  • “Discovery and Rediscovery Within the Covers of a Book” [orig. ‘The Modesty of Literature’], New York Times Book Review (15 Jan 1961), p.3.
  • trans. by Tomás de Bhaldraithe, ‘Darcy in Tír na nÓg’, in Éire-Ireland, 3, 2 (Summer 1968), pp. 57-62.
  • [on Irish Censorship; [orig. ‘That Irish Censorship is Insulting to Irish Intelligence’, an address at the TCD Hist, 14 Feb. 1962] in The Dubliner (March 1962), pp.39-44, rep. as ‘Frank O’Connor on Censorship’, in Banned in Ireland, Censorship & the Irish Writer, intro. & ed. Julia Carlson (London: Routledge; Georgia UP 1990), pp.152-57.
  • A Gambler’s Throw: Memories of W. B. Yeats (Edinburgh: Tragara Press 1975) [ltd. edn. 95].
  • Leinster, Munster, and Connaught [sep. vols.; q.d.].
 

See also Interior Voices - “Self Portrait: Interior Voices - Frank O’Connor” - RTÉ broadcast in 2 parts on the 2 and 9 January 1962 - available online [accessed 11.01.2018];

Letters
  • Michael Steinman, The Happiness of Getting It Down Right: Letters of Frank O’Connor to William Maxwell 1945-1966 (Alfred A. Knopf [1996]), xiii, 282pp., ill. [8pp. of pls.; incl. bibl. of New Yorker stories; reviewed by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt in New York Times, ‘The Living Arts’ (30 May 1996), q.p.]
Discography
  • There is a 33rpm long-playing record of Frank O’ Connor Reading Two Complete Stories: The Drunkard and My Oedipus Complex (q.d.).
Selected edition
  • Michael Steinman, ed., A Frank O’Connor Reader (Syracuse UP 1994), xvi, 406pp. [incls. port; 17 stories & poetry concluding with his 1949 article on “Ireland”’ and interview conducted by Larry Morrow from The Bell, March 1951, here pp.305-09];

Bibliographical details

Guests of the Nation (1931)

Guests of The Nation
Attack
Jumbo’s Wife
Nightpiece with Figures
September Dawn
Machine-Gun Corps in Action
Laughter
Jo
Alec
Soirée Chez Une Belle Jeune Fille
The Patriarch
After Fourteen Years
The Late Henry Conran
The Sisters
The procession Of Life

5
19
29
46
56
74
91
100
108
130
145
175
169
184
189

Classic Irish Short Stories, ed. and intro. by Frank O’Connor, [1st Edn. 1957 as Modern Irish Short Stories] (OUP 1985) [Oxford Paperbacks] xv, 356pp. [ded. “In Memory of Lady Augusta Gregory”]

CONTENTS: Introduction “The Irish Short Story” [ix-xv; see extract]; George Moore, “Home Sickness”; E. O. Somerville & Martin Ross, “Lisheen Races”, “Second-hand”; Daniel Corkery, “The Awakening”; James Joyce, “The Dead”; James Stephens, “A Rhinoceros, Some Ladies and a Horse”; Liam O’Flaherty, “The Fairy Goose”, “Three Lambs”, “Going into Exile”; L. A. G. Strong, “Prongs”; Sean O’Faolain, “Unholy Living and Half Dying”; Sean O’Faolain, “The Trout”; Frank O’Connor, “Guest of the Nation”, “My Oedipus Complex”; Eric Cross, “The Jury Case”; Michael McLaverty, “The Poteen Maker”; Bryan MacMahon, “Exile”s Return”; Mary Lavin, “The Will”; James Plunkett, “The Eagles and the Trumpets”; Elizabeth Bowen, “Summer Night”. [0-19-281918-6; £5.99].

A Book of Ireland, edited by Frank O’Connor [gen. ed., J. B. Foreman] (London & Glasgow: Collins 1959), 384pp. [ded. In Memoriam: A E. Coppard], Contents:
HISTORY

The Fighting Race - J. C. Clarke [65]; Who’ll Carve The Pig? - Anon. [67]; The Death of Mess Gegra - Anon: The Siege of Howth [69]; On Baile’s Strand - Anon. [71]; The Viking Terror - Anon. [74]; The Origin of the Battle of Clontarf AD 1014 - Geoffrey Keating (History of Ireland) [74]; The Return from Fingal, AD 1014 - Geoffrey Keating (History of Ireland) [76]; Kincora - Attributed to Mac Liag [79]; The Unforgiven Crime - W. B. Yeats (The Dreaming of the Bones) [ 81]; Dark Rosaleen - Anon. [82]; Hugh Maguire Eochy O’Hussey [85]. The Jacobite War: (1) Jacobite: Patrick Sarsfield - Anon. [87]; (2) Williamite: The Boyne Water - Anon. [89]; A Wild Hope - Anon. [91]; Last Lines - Egan O’Rahilly [91]; The Irish Problem Solved - Jonathan Swift (A Modest Proposal) [92]; The New Nation - Jonathan Swift (The Drapier’s Fourth Letter) [94]; The Querist (1735) - George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne [95]; The Wearing of The Green - Anon. [96]; The Irish Anthem - Rudyard Kipling (Humorous Tales) [97]; The Shan Van Vocht - Popular Song [99]; The First French Invasion, 1796 Theobold Wolfe Tone (Journal) [100]; Slievenamon - Anon. [107]; The French Land, 1798 recorded by Richard Hayes (The Last Invasion of Ireland) 108]; Last Words, 1803 - Robert Emmet [110]; When He Who Adores Thee - Thomas Moore [111]; She is Far From The Land - Thomas Moore [112]; The Famine - John Mitchel [113]; The Uncrowned King - R. Barry O’Brien (The Life of Charles Stewart Parnell) [114]; The Dead King - James Joyce (Portait of The Artist as a Young Man) [115]; Parnell - W. B. Yeats (Collected Poems) [118]; The Englishman in Ireland: Galway Gaol, 1888 - Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (Poems) [118]; Poblacht Na hEireann: The Provisional Government of the Irish Republic to the People of Ireland, 1916 [119]; Easter 1916 - W. B. Yeats (Collected Poems) [121]; A Dublin Ballad: 1916 - Sir Arnold Bax [Dermot O’Byrne] [123]; The Death of Collins, 1922 - Frank O’Connor (The Big Fellow) [125].

PASTORAL & TOWN LIFE

Irish Hospitality- 1: Le Chevalier de la Tocnaye [128]; [2: Asenath Nicholson (The Bible in Ireland) [129]; The Old Woman of the Roads - Padraic Colum [131]; Boy in Ireland - Patrick Gallegher (Paddy the Cope) [132]; The Hiring - Fair Patrick Gallegher (Paddy the Cope) [134]; After the Storm - Asenath Nicholson (The Bible in Ireland) [136]; A Drover Padraic Colum [137]; Four Ducks on a Pond - William Allingham [139]; Merry Christmas, 1778 - Sir Jonah Barrington (Personal Sketches) [139]; The Tragedy of Sir Kit - Maria Edgeworth (Castle Rackrent) [144]; At the Show E. OE. Somerville & Martin Ross (Experiences of an Irish R. M.) [148]; Sport - E. OE. Somerville & Martin Ross (Experiences of an Irish R. M.) [150]; The Roscarberry Foxhounds - Judgement by Lord O’Brien of Kilfenora (Irish Law Records), 1907 [154]; The Master of Hounds - Anthony Trollope (The Land Leaguers) [155]; The Deserted Village - Oliver Goldsmith (The Deserted Village) [159]; A Bold Peasantry - Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (The Canon of Aughrim) [161]; 17th Century Dublin - Richard Head [164]; Dublin Street Cries - Jonathan Swift (An Examination of Certain Abuses) [165]; Cockles and Mussels - Anon. [167]; Going to the Dogs - Brian O’Nolan [Flann O’Brien (The Bell) [168]; the Yellow Bittern - Cathal Buidhe MacElgun [171]; After Hours - Brian O’Nolan [Flann O’Brien] (The Bell) [172].

PEOPLE GREAT & SMALL

A Fair People - Samuel Johnson (Boswell’s Life of Johnson) [176]; These Irish - Rinucinni [176]; These Friendly Irish - William Makepeace Thackeray (Irish Sketch Book) [176]; Nice But- Antliony Trollope (Autobiography) [177]; Decent People Anon. - Letter, 1825 [178]; Temperament - Anthony Trollope (Autobiography) [178]; Carolan - Oliver Goldsmith (Prose Works) [180]; Oliver Goldsmith - William Makepeace Thackeray (English Humorists) [182]; Sir Boyle Roche Sir Jonah Barrington (Personal Sketches) [183]; The Forgetful Poet - Sydney Smith - Letter to Thomas Moore [186]; A Loyalist - George Borrow (Lavengro) [186]; A Man of the World - J. M. Synge (In Wicklow and West Kerry) [188]; Richard Adams, Limerick County Court Judge - A. M. Sullivan (Old Ireland) [189]; Adams Again - Maurice Healy (The Old Munster Circuit) [192]; A Parson - Anthony Trollope (The Land Leaguers) [192]; Miss Martin of Connemara - Maria Edgeworth (Tour in Connemara) [193]; Miss Makebelieve of Dublin - James Stephens (The Charwoman’s Daughter) [196]; A Language Enthusiast - George Moore (Hail and Farewell) [199]; A. E., Yeats, Synge and Moore - James Stephens (The Charwoman’s Daughter) [201]; Yeats - Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh & Edward Kenny (The Splendid Years) [203]; Synge - Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh & Edward Kenny Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh & Edward Kenny (The Splendid Years) [205]; George Moore - James Stephens (Radio Broadcast, 1949) [206]; George Moore - W. B. Yeats (Dramatis Personae) [210].

THE GREAT LADY & THE GREAT MAN

(1) Lady Gregory - The Journals [212]; (2) Sean O’Casey - Inishfallen, Fare Thee Well [214]; (3) Lady Gregory - The Journals [215]; (4) Sean O’Casey - Inishfallen, Fare Thee Well [216]; The Storyteller Frank O’Connor (Leinster, Munster and Connacht) [216]; A Telephone Operator - ROBERT GIBBINGs (Lovely is the Lee) [220]; Epitaphs (1) Jonathan Swift [221]; (2) George Moore by W. B. Yeats (Dramatis Personae) [221]; (3) W. B. Yeats - Under Ben Bulben [221].

HUMOUR, ROMANCE & SENTIMENT

Righteous Anger - James Stephens (Collected Poems) [222]; The Brewer’s Man - L. A. G. Strong (Dublin Days) [222]; Smart Boy - James Stephens (Irish Writing) [223]; The Night Before Larry Was Stretched - Anon. [228]; The Old Orange Flute - Anon. [230]; Eating English Halfpence - Jonathan Swift (The Drapier’s Fourth Letter) [232]; The Tailor on Culture - Eric Cross (The Tailor and Ansty) [233]; The Tailor and Chronology - Eric Cross (The Tailor and Ansty) [235]; Mr. Lightfoot in the Green Isle - A. E. Coppard (Fishmonger’s Fiddle) [237]; Jealousy - Anon. [241]; A Learned Mistress - Anon. [241]; To Tomaus Costello at the Wars - Anon. [242]; The Swimmer - Anon. [245]; Into Exile - Anon. [246]; The Heart’s A Wonder - J. M. Synge (The Playboy of the Western World) [246]; Legal Aid - Maurice Healy (The Old Munster Circuit) [249]; The End of Deirdre - Anon. [250]; Grief - Anon. [252]; Tragedy and Triumph - Lady Gregory (The Gaol Gate) [252].

CUSTOMS & BELIEFS
Irish Courtship (1): Anon. [257]; Irish Courtship (2): Bernard Shaw - letters to Florence Farr [257]; Irish Courtship (3): W. B. Yeats - Letters to Florence Farr [258]; Wintry Marriage Conrad Arensberg (The Irish Countryman) [259]; Innocent Amusement, 1783 Sir Jonah Barrington (Personal Sketches) [262]; A Landlord’s Amusement - Arthur Young (Tour in Ireland) [264]; The Irish Election, I8th Century - Maria Edgeworth (Castle Rackrent) [265]; Carlyle Observes the Savages: (i) Catholic - Thomas Carlyle (Reminiscences of My Irish Journey) [269]; Protestant Thomas Carlyle (Reminiscences of My Irish Journey) [271]; The Art of Perjury - Maurice Healy (The Old Munster Circuit) [272]; The Perfurer Purged - Maurice Healy (The Old Munster Circuit) [273]; Style - Matthew Arnold (The Study of Celtic Literature) [275]; Scholars Anon. [276]; The Student - Anon. [277]; Crow Street Theatre - Sir Jonah Barrington (Personal Sketches) [ 278]; First Night at the Abbey Máire Nic Shiubhlaigh and Edward Kenny (The Splendid Years) 281]; The American Wake Liam O’Flaherty (Going Into Exile) [284]; Aran Funeral - J. M. Synge (The Aran Islands) [287]; Dublin Funeral (1): Bernard Shaw - Music in London [289]; Dublin Funeral (2): Sean O’Casey (Inishallen, Fare Thee Well) [292]; Tombstones - Seumas Murphy (Stone Mad) [295].
POEMS, SONGS & BALLADS
The Scholar and His Cat - Anon. [298]; Liadain - Anon. [299]; The Old Woman of Beare - Anon. [300]; The Sweetness of Earth - Anon. [304]; Woodlore - Anon. [305]; She Is My Dear - Anon. [307]; I Shall Not Die for Thee - Anon. [318]; Dear Dark Head - Anon. [309]; Raftery the Poet - Anthony Raftery [310]; The Orphan - Anon. [310]; My Grief on the Sea - Anon. [311]; Ringleted Youth of My Love - Anon. [312]; The Outlaw of Loch Lene - Anon. [313]; Pearl of the White Breast - Anon. [314]; The Poor Girl’s Meditation - Anon. [316]; The Lament for Yellow-Haired Donogh - Anon. [317]; Let Us Be Merry Before We Go - John Philpot Curran [315]; At The Mid Hour of Night Thomas Moore [319]; The Nameless One - J. C. Mangan [320]; Twenty Golden Years Ago - J. C. Mangan [322]; The Song of Wandering Aengus - W. B. Yeats (Collected Poems) [324]; A Prayer for My Daughter - W. B. Yeats (Collected Poems) [325]; On Behalf of Some Irishmen Not Followers of Tradition - George Russell [A.E.] (Selected Poems) [327]; Non Dolet - Oliver St. John Gogarty (Collected Poems) [329]; John-John - Thomas MacDonagh (Poems) [329]; Last Lines, 1916 - Padraic Pearse [313].
RELIGIOUS & PHILOSOPHICAL

The Bridge of Glass - Anon. (Voyage of Maelduin) [342]; The Fairies (1): Conrad Arensberg (The Irish Countryman) [344]; The Fairies (2): William All1ngham [347]; The Stolen Child - W. B. Yeats (Collected Poems) [349]; To the Leanan Sidhe - Thomas Boyd [350]; The Warrior - Anon. [352]; Generosity - Anon. [354]; Gaelic Comes to England - The Venerable Bede [354]; Ireland v. Rome (1): Anon. [355]; Ireland v. Rome (2): The Venerable Bede [355]; Mo Chua and His Three Treasures - Geoffrey Keating (History of Ireland) [361]; Irish Missionaries: Seventh Century - The Venerable Bede [362]; The Priest - Anon. [363]; Thoughts - Anon. [365]; An Old Flame - Anon. [366]; The Penal Laws - Sydney Smith (Selections from Writings of the Rev. Sydney Smith) [368]; And More Law - Sydney Smith (Selections from Writings of the Rev. Sydney Smith) [371]; To a Boy - Anon. [374]; Prayer at Dawn Diarmuid O’Shea [374]. Epilogue: Joy Be With Us - James Stephens (Collected Poems) [376]; Principal Dates In Irish History [377]; Index of Authors, Sources, First Lines [379].

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The Lonely Voice (London: Macmillan 1963; Papermac 1965), 223pp.; Do. (Cleveland: World Publ. Co. 1962, 1965; Harpers 1985), 220pp.; The Lonely Voice: A Study of the Short Story, Special Anthology Edition with 19 short stories by various authors added to the original [Bantam Classics] (NY & London: Bantam Books 1968), xxx, 429pp.; The Lonely Voice: A Study of the Short Story (Cork City Council 2003), xiii, 154pp.; The Lonely Voice, with an introduction by Russell Banks ( Hoboken, N.J.: Melville House Pub., 2004), 211pp. CONTENTS [chaps.]: Hamlet and Quixote; Country Matters; The Slave’s Son; You and Who Else?; Work in Progress; An Author in Search of a Subject; The Writer Who Rode Away; A Clean Well-lighted Place; The Price of Freedom; The Romanticism of Violence; The Girl at the Gaol Gate. [See also under Quotations, infra.]

The Backward Look: A Survey of Irish Literature (1967), 264pp.

CONTENTS: Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Early Ireland; 2. The beginning of Poetry; 3. Early Irish Story-telling; 4. Primary Literature; 5. Sagas and Pseudo-sagas; 6. The Norse and After; 7. Romanesque and Gothic; 8. The Renaissance in Ireland; 9. Anglo-Irish Literature; 10. Eighteenth-century Literature in English; 11. The Background of Modern Irish Literature; 12. The Beginning of Modern Literature; 13. Death and Transfiguration; 14. William Butler Yeats (I); 15. William Butler Yeats (II); 16. All the Olympians; 17. Antithesis (I); 18. Antithesis (II); 19. Transition; 20. And now that our story …’; APPENDIX: Early Irish Story-telling [pp.231-256]; Selected Bibliography [257-60]. TEXT [1-256]. Note: Many of the remarks in this text are distributed throughout under “Authors A-Z” throughout RICORSO.

INDEX: Abbey Theatre, 168, i69-70, 178-9, 180, 193; Absentee, The (Edgeworth), 123; Adomnán, St., 56, 236, 243; ‘Adventures of Nera, The’, 237; Aed mac Ainmire, 57; Aedagán, Abbot of Louth, 21; Aeneid, 32, 34, 49, 236, 248, 249; ‘After the Race’ (Joyce), 176, 196; ‘Aideen’s Grave’, 150; Ailill, 32, 33, 34-35, 37-38, 39, 250-5; Ailill Anguba, 43; Alspach, Professor Russell, 122, 123, 124, 12S, 127, 129; An Cleamhnas (Hyde), 176; Anluan, 50, 51, 249; Annals of the Four Masters (Zeuss), 156; ‘Apocryphal Gospel of St. Thomas’, 53-55; Aran Islands, The (Synge), 171; Aristotle, 200-1; Arnold, Matthew, 41, 154, 156-60, 206; Athirne the Exacting, 3, 244; ‘Bardic Poetry’ (Bergin), 12-13; Barrington, Sir Jonah, 127; Beare, Nun of, 58, 65-67; Bede, Venerable, 9, 53, 158; Behan, Brendan, 229; Bell, The, 224; Belloc, Hilaire, 158; ‘Bells of Shandon, The’ (Mahony), 145; Bergin, Osborn, 12-13, 97, 98; Berkeley, Bishop, 123; Beside the Fire (Hyde), 169, 188; Binchy, Professor D. A., 8, 14, 31; ‘Blackbird, The’, 79, 89; B1áthmacc, 53; Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen, 125 [‘Canon of Aughrim’], 183, 184, 191; Boann, 43, 44, 240; Book of Drumsnaught, 249; Book of the Dun Cow, 21; Book of Leinster, 33, 39, 250, 251; Borstal Boy (Behan), 229; Boyd, Thomas, 212, 213; ‘Boyish Feats of Cil Chulainn’ 1, 6, 36, 234-5, 252, 254; ‘Bricriu’s Feast’, 71; Brooke, Charlotte, 6, 130; Browning, Robert, 232; Buckley, Timothy, 14, 225, 227; ‘Burial of King Cormac, The’ (Ferguson), 150; Callanan, Jeremiah Joseph, 144-5; Campbell, Joseph, 176; ‘Canon of Aughrim, The’ (Blunt), 125; Carew, Ellen, 107-8; Carleton, William, 134, 137-8, 139-40, 143, 146, 148-9; Carney, Professor James, 51, 53, 55, 79, 99, 235, 236; Castle Rackrent (Edgeworth), 123, 126-7; Cathleen ni Houlihan (Yeats), 17; ‘Cattle Raid of Cooley, The’, 2, 4, 15, 30-31, 32-40, 46, 47, 48, 55, 70, 71, 95, 233, 234-5, 236, 237, 239, 241, 242, 250-5; ‘Cattle Raid of Froech, The’, 235, 237; Cé1echar, Bishop of Clonmacnois, 21; Cet mac Mágach, 3, 50; Charlemagne, 48; Charwoman’s Daughter, The (Stephens), 213, 214-16; Chrètien de Troyes, 155; Ciarán, St., 56, 232; ‘Cin Dromma Snechta’, 84; Clanricarde, Marquis of, 12; Clarke, Austin, 224, 227-8, 229; Clothru, 45; Collegians, The (Griffin), 139, 146-7; Colmán mac Lénéni, 23-25, 26; Colum, Padraic, 175, 176, 212; Colum Cille, St., 24-26, 31, 236, 243; Conall Cernach, 3, 31, 50, 51, 242, 244-6, 247-8; Conchobar mac Nessa, 3-4, 46, 48, 234-5, 237, 240, 255; Congal, 50-51; Conn the Almoner, 21; Corkery, Daniel, 114, 170; Cormac Connlongas, 34, 255; Cormac MacCarthy, 83; Cormac mac Cuileannáin, 80; Costello, Tomas, 99, 100; Countess Cathleen, The (Yeats), 171, 173, 180; ‘Créd’s Lament’, 58, 59-60; ‘Crock of Gold, The’ (Stephens), 213, 216; Cross, Eric, 225; Crunnchu mac Agnoman, 237-9; Cú Chonnacht O’Clery, 98, 103; Cú Chulainn, 6, 7, 30, 31, 32, 35-36, 37, 39, 45-46, 49-50, 130, 173, 170, 180, 234-5, 239, 247-9, 252, 253 254-5; Cuirithir, 1277-8; 145; Cummíne, St., 58, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66; Curran, John Philpot; Dafydd Ap Gwilym; Dallan Forgaill; ‘Dark Rosaleen’ (Mangan); Davis, Thomas Osborne, 7; ‘Death of Conchobar, The’; ‘Death of Cú Chulainn, The’ [3, 49-50, 236, 247-8, 249]; ‘Death of Derbfhorgaill, The’, 236; ‘Death of Nath Í, The’, 232; Deevey, Teresa, 179; Deirdre of the Sorrows’ (Synge), 176; ‘Denis O’Shaughnessy Going to Maynooth’ (Carleton), 139-40, 148-9; Derdriu, 46-47, 48; Dervorgilla, 45-46, 84, 192-3; Dervorgilla (Gregory), 171, 174, 191-3; ‘Description of the Day of Judgement, A’, 55, 232; ‘Description of the Resurrection, A’, 55, 232; Description of the Western Isles of Scotland (Martin), 13; ‘Deserted Village, The’ (Goldsmith), 122, 123-5; Desmond, Gerald, Earl of, 5, 11, 90, 91, 92-96, 97, 98; ‘Destruction of Dá Derga’s Hostel, The’, 4, 55, 233; ‘Destruction of Dinn Rig, The’, 236; Diarmait 0 Duibne, 80, 92; Diarmuid MacCarthy, 92, 94; Dínertach, 58; Domnall, King of Tara, 24; Donn, 51, 249; Dostoevsky, Fyodor, 207; ‘Downstream’ (Kinsella), 229; Drapier’s Letters (Swift), 120; ‘Dream of Oengus, The’, 237; Dreaming of the Bones, The (Yeats), 192; Drennan, William, 129; Dublin Penny Journal, 151; Dubliners (Joyce), 196, 198, 199, 203, 222; Duffy, Gavan, 154, 155, 156; Dúnchad, Bishop of Clonmacnois, 21; Edgeworth, Maria, 123, 126-7; Edwards, Professor Philip, i, 8; Égertach, 21; Eithne, 43, 240; Elcmar, 42, 43, 240, 242; Eochaid Airem, 43-44; Eochaid Allfather, 43, 240-2; Eogan, 21; Étain Echraide, 43-44, 48, 241-2; Erc mac Cairbre, 49, 247; ‘Eveline’ (Joyce), 176, i96, 197 Exiles (Joyce), 207, 208; Fay, Frank, 169; Fear Flatha Ó Gnimh, 13; Feidelm Noichride, 36, 252; Feidilmid mac Crimthainn, 56-57, 232; Fer Diad, 39, 254; Fergus mac Roich, 15, 30, 32, 34, 35, 37-38, 39-40, 46, 234-5, 252, 253, 254, 255; Ferguson, Sir Samuel [from whom the title], 6, 7, 131, 145, 146, 149-51, 157, 165, 173, 194, 222, 230; Finnegan’s [sic index; Finnegans: text] Wake (Joyce), 211; Fionn mac Cumhaill, 31, 85; Fitzgibbon, John, Earl of Clare, 133; Flanagan, Professor Thomas, 122, 123; 124, 127, 151; ‘Flight to Africa’ (Clarke), 228; Four Plays for Dancers (Yeats), 178-180; Frost, Robert, 145, 177; Fuamnach, 43, 241, 242; ‘Gaol Gate, The’ (Gregory), 171, 188, 190-1; Gárlach Coileánach, 14; Gerald, Earl of Desmond, 5, 11, 90, 91, 92-96, 97, 98; ‘Germans and their Neighbouring Tribes, The’ (Zeuss), 156; Gilbert, Stuart, 204, 205-6; Giolla Bride Mac Conmhidhe, 87-88, 89, 91; Gisippus (Griffin), 146; Gogarty, Oliver St. John, 168, 207; ‘Going into Exile’ (O’Flaherty), 222-23; Goldsmith, Oliver, 115, 122-5; Gonne, Maud, 164, 166, 173, 177, 178; Gorman, Abbot of Louth, 21; ‘Grace’ (Joyce), 203; ‘Grace before Death’ (Mael Ísu Ó Brolchán), 80; Grammatica Celtica (Zeuss), 156 Grania, 80, 82; Grattan, Henry, 120, 133, 134; ‘Great Hunger, The’ (Kavanagh), 224; ‘Green Helmet, The’ (Yeats), 176; Greene, Professor David, i, 8, 26, 33, 36-37, 50, 51, 74, 243; Greene, Professor David H., 184; Gregory, Lady, 146, 160, 166, 167, 168, 169, 171, 173, 174, 176, 178-9, 183, 184, 186, 188, 189-93, 194, 217 Griffin, Gerald, 122, 139, 143, 146-8 Griffith, Arthur, 17S, 186; Guaire, King of Aidne, 58, 60; Gulliver’s Travels (Swift), 40; Hackett, Father, 107-8; Hail and Farewell! (Moore), 173, 176, 187 n.; Hardy, Thomas, 9, 41, 147 Hauser, Arnold, 158; Healy, Maurice, 127; Herne’s Egg, The (Years), 182 Higgins, F. R., 163; History of the English Church (Bede), 9, 158; Hogan, Professor James, 226; ‘Home Sickness’ (Moore), 197; Hopkins, Gerard Manley, 75; Horizon, 224; Huc, E. R., 134; Hughes, Herbert, 176; Hyde, Douglas, 168, 169, 176, 188, 189, 228; In the Shadow of the Glen (Synge), 186, 187; Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger (Nicholson), 134-7, 138-9; Irish Melodies (Moore), 143-4; ‘Ivy Day in the Committee Room’ (Joyce), 161, 199, 203; Jackson, Kenneth, 72; ‘John O’Dwyer of the Glen’, 110-11, 118; Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 129; Joseph (confessor), 21; Joyce, James, i55, 161-2, 163, 172, 176, 186, 195-211, 212, 213, 214, 222; ‘Judgements of Blood-lyings’, 29; Juno and the Paycock (O’Casey), 219; Kavanagh, Patrick, 213, 224, 229; Keane, Sir John, 225; Keating, Geoffrey, 6; Kelly, Michael, 109; King, Archbishop, of Dublin, 115-18, 120; ‘King and Hermit’, 58, 193; King’s Threshold, The (Yeats), 176, 196; Kinsella, Thomas, 229; Knott, Eleanor, 78, 89, 90; Knox, John, 32, 256; Lake, The (Moore), 176; ‘Lament for Art O’Leary’, 11-12, 14; Laoiseach Mac An Bhaird (Lewis Ward), 103-4; Larcom, Sir Thomas Aiskew, 149; Laurence, St., 84; Lavin, Mary, 229; Lawless, Emily, 212; Lawrence, D. H., 164, 168, 187, 207; ‘Let Us Be Merry’ (Curran), 127, 145; Liadan, 58, 60-64; ‘Liadan and Cuirithir’, 16, 58, 60-64, 65, 193; Luchairán, 21; Lugaid of the Red Stripes, 45, 46, 247-48; ‘Lullaby’, 80; ‘Mac Con Clinne’s Dream’, 234, 240; Mac Dá Cherda, 58, 61; ‘Mac Dathó’s Pig’, 50, 51, 52, 248, 249; MacBride, Major John, 173, 178; MacCarthy, Sir Desmond, 109, 211; MacEgan, Tadhg, 91; Macha, 16, 31, 38, 65, 237-9; ‘MacLeod, Fiona’ (William Sharp), 167; Macpherson, James, 129-30; Mael Chiaráin, 21; Mael Fhothartaig, 50-51; Mael Ísu Ó Brolchán, 79-80; Mael Muire, 21, 83, 233; Magee, William, 18; Magennis, Professor William, 226; Maguire, Hugh, 100-1; Mahony, Sylvester, 145; Malachy, St., 83; Mangan, James Clarence, 18, l01, 131, 143, 146, 151-3, 157, 165; Martin, Martin [auth. of Description&c.], 13; Martyn, Edward, 172, 195; Martyr, The (O’Flaherty), 222; ‘May Day’ 76, 77-78; Mayor of Casterbridge, The (Hardy), 19; Medb, Queen of Connacht, 30-31, 32, 33-35, 37-38, 39, 65, 250-5; Merryman [sic] , Bryan, 124, 130, 140, 226; Mess Gegra, 3, 50, 240, 244-6, 248; Meyer, Kuno, 50, 57, 77, 156, 193; Midir, 43, 44, 241, 242; Midnight Court, The (Merryman), 124, 130, 126; ‘Mr Hunter’s Day’ [i.e., germ of Ulysses] (Joyce), 203; Mo Chota, St. 22; Modest Proposal, A (Swift), 120-1; Mongan, 58; Monstrous Regiment of Women (Knox), 32, 256; Moore, George, 167, 168, 169, 173, 176, 184, 187n., 193, 196-7, 222, 223; Moore, Thomas, 18, 131, 143-4, 145, 157, 192; ‘Municipal Gallery Revisited, The’ (Yeats), 175; Murphy, Gerard, 72, 77; ‘Nameless One, The’ (Mangan), 151; New Songs (Russell), 176; Nicholson, Asenath, 134-7, 138-9; ‘Night before Larry was Stretched, The’, 128; Noisi, 46-47, 48; ‘Nun of Beare, The’, 58, 60, 61, 65-67; ‘O Woman of the Piercing Wail’ (Mangan), 153; O’Brien, Edna, 229; O’Carolan, Turlough, 115; O’Carroll, Margaret, 94; O’Casey, Sean, 154, 213, 216-21, 224; O’Connell, Eileen, 11-12; O’Daly, Geoffrey, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 100; O’Daly, Murrough, 17, 86, 89; O’Donnell, Rory, Earl of Tyrconnell, 102; O’Donoghue, D. J., 134; O’Donovan, Gerald, 195; O’Donovan, John, 86, 91, 149, 156; O’Dwyer, John, 110-10; O’Faolain, Sean, 158, 224, 227, 229; O’Flaherty, Liam, 222-3, 227; O’Grady, Standish, 194; O’Higgins, Kevin, 151, 223; O’Higgins, Tadhg, 89, 103; O’Hussey, Eochy, 100-2, 107, 153; O’Leary, Colonel Arthur [of ‘The Lament’], 11; O’Leary, John, 165, 166; O’Leary, Father Peter, 141-2; O’Rahilly, Egan, 113-14; O’Rahilly, T. F., 31, 97; ‘O’Rourke’s Wife’ (O’Higgins), 99-100; O’Ryan, Edmund, 111-13; ‘Ode to the Maguire’ (O’Hussey), 100-02, 146, 153; Oengus, 43, 44, 241, 242; Oengus of Clonenagh, 68-69; Old Munster Circuit (Healy), 127; On Baile’s Strand (Yeats), 41, 176, 190, 196; On the Study of Celtic Literature (Arnold), 157-60; Only Child, An (O’Connor), 228; Only Jealousy of Emer, The (Yeats), 179-80; ‘Ossian’, 129; Parnell, Charles Stewart, 134, 155, 160-61, 198; Patrick, St., 11, 20, 31, 57; ‘Pearl of the White Breast’, 145; Pearse, Patrick, 7, 178, 220; Personal Sketches (Barrington), 127; Petrie, George, 6, 35, 136, 137, 142, 145, 149, 150, 151, 194; Playboy of the Western World, The (Synge), 170, 175, 184, 187-8, 189, 193; Plough and the Stars, The (O’Casey), 219-20, 222; Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce), 161-2, 172, 198, 199, 202, 203, 211; Pot of Broth, The (Yeats), 176; Pound, Ezra, 205; Pritchett, V. S., 200, 211; Pyle, Hilary, 213; ‘Red-Haired Man’s Wife, The’, 144; Reliques of Ancient Irish Poetry (Brooke), 30; Richard de Burgo, 17, 90; Riders to the Sea (Synge), 176, 187, 188, 190; Rising of the Moon, The (Gregory), 168, 171, 190, 193; Robinson, Lennox, 178, 179, 220; Rónán, 50, 57; ‘Rónán’s Kin-slaying’, 50-51, 52, 57, 236, 249; Russell, George (A.E.), 163, 164, 165, 167, 173, 176, 212, 213, 219, 223; ‘Scholar and his Cat, The’, 52; Sedulius of Liège, 51; Senchán Torpóist, 15, 30, 32; ‘September 1913’ Yeats), 177; Shadow of a Gunman, The (O’Casey), 217-18, 219, 222; Shaw, Bernard, 223, 224, 226; Short View of the State of Ireland (Swift), 119; ‘Sick-bed of Cú Chulainn, The’, 45, 57, 71, 237; ‘Siege of Howth, The’, 3, 50, 51, 236, 244-8, 249; Sigerson, Dora (Mrs. Clement Shorter), 177; Sigerson, George, 163; Silence of the Valley, The’ (O’Faolain), 227; ‘Sisters, The’ (Joyce), 176, 196; Social History of Art (Hauser), 158; Sohrab and Rustum (Arnold), 41; Songs of Uladh (Hughes), 176; Spreading the News (Gregory), 176, 188, 190, 196; Spring Sowing (O’Flaherty), 222, 223, 227; Stephen Hero (joyce), 198, 200-1; Stephens, James, 98, 213-16, 221, 222; ‘Story of Macha, The’, 237-40; Strong, L. A. G., 143; ‘Suibne Ceilt’, 78; ‘Summer’, 76-77; ‘Supernatural Songs’ (Yeats), 105; Swift, Jonathan, 115-21, 123, 126, 133; Synge, J. M., 146, 167, 168, 170, 171-2, 175-6, 177, 183-9, 191, 194; Tailor and Ansty, The (Buckley and Cross), 225-6; ‘Tempest’, 75; Tennyson, Lord, 42, 158; Teresa and other Stories (O’Faolain), 227; Thomas Muskerry (Colum), 176, 212; Thurneysen, Rudolf, 3, 4, -5, 9, 4, 15, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 70, 235, 239, 247, 248, 249; Tinker’s Wedding, The (Synge), 187; ‘To a Poet who would have me Praise certain Bad Poets’ (Yeats), 175; Tolstoy, Leo, 47, 164, 168; Tone, Theobald Wolfe, 117, 128, 130; Torbach, Abbot of Armagh, 21; Tracy’s Ambition (Griffin), 147-8; Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry (Carleton), 140n.; Travelling Man, The (Gregory), 171, 190; Travels in Tartary and Thibet (Huc), 134; Trevelyan, Sir Charles, 133; ‘Two Gallants’ (Joyce), 199; Ulysses (Joyce), 40, 198, 203-7, 208-211, 214; ‘Uná Bhán’, 99; Untilled Field, The (Moore), 193, 196, 222; Virgil, 32, 49, 52, 236, 249; ‘Vision of Adomnán, The’, 55, 232; ‘Voyage of Mael Dúin, The’, 42, 159, 232; ‘Wake of William Orr, The’ (Drennan), 129; Walsh, John Edward, 127, 128; Well of the Saints, The (Synge), 187; ‘Winter Night, A’, 80; With the Wild Geese (Lawless), 212; ‘Woman of Three Cows, The’, 80; ‘Wooing of Emer, The’, 55, 233; ‘Wooing of Étaín, The’, 42-45, 55, 233, 240-3; Wordsworth, William, 185-6; ‘Wreck of the Deutschland’ (Hopkins), 75; Yeats, W. B., 7, 18, 41, 80, 105, ‘14, 130, 131, 146, 149, 161, 162, 163-82, 183, 184, 185, 186, 190, 192, 194, 195-6, 197, 202, 210-11, 212, 223, 224, 229, 230; Yellow Bittern, The (Corkery), 170, 171; Zeuss, Johann Kaspar, 156; Zimmer, Heinrich, 21. NOTE also his comments on the 18thc. Ascendancy, 126. A Publisher’s Note refers to ‘new thoughts on the interpretation of the texts discussed in the chapters on early Irish story-telling [which he had hoped to incorporate in the present volume but his death, on 10 mar 1966, prevented this … Fortunately, these fresh ideas were expressed in lectures at Trinity College dublin, and at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, a few week before his death. These lectures are so significant and illuminating that, despite some repetition of material in the early chapters they are printed in their entirety as an appendix to this volume.’ The volume is dedicated: ‘For my children / look back to look forward’.

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A Set of Variations: Twenty Seven Stories (NY: Alfred A. Knopf 1969), 338pp.; Contents: A Set of Variations on a Borrowed Theme [orig. in NY]; The American Wife; The Impossible Marriage; The Cheat; The Weeping Children [orig. in NY]; The Saint; A Minority [orig. in NY]; An Out-and-Out Free Gift [orig. in NY]; Anchors; Sue [orig. in NY]; Music When Soft Voices Die [orig. in NY]; A Life of Your Own; The Corkerys [orig. in NY]; A story by Maupassant; A Great Man [orig. in NY]; The School for Wives [orig. in NY]; Androcles and the Army; Public Opinion; The Party [orig. in NY]; Achilles’ Heel [orig. in NY]; Lost Fatherlands [orig. in NY]; The Wreath; The Teacher’s Mass [orig. in NY]; The Martyr; Requiem [orig. in NY]; An Act of Charity [orig. in NY]; The Mass Island [orig. in NY]. [set in Linotype in Granjon, a new font designed George W. Jones, based on on the type used by Claude Garamond, and and named after Robert Granjon (fl.1557-62). Copyrights for the component stories extend back to 1945; stories appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s Bazaar, Harper’s Magazine, Mademoiselle, The Saturday Evening Post, and Woman’s Day; the majority first appeared in The New Yorker [as marked]. See Harriet O’Donovan’s introductory remarks, infra.)

Julian Barnes, intro., The Best of Frank O’Connor [Everyman’s Library] (London: Everyman [Dent]; NY: Alfred A. Knopf 2009), xxxviii, 673pp. Introduction: “The contents have been intriguingly divided into eight narrative threads that influenced and informed O’Connor’s oeuvre. “War” includes the famous “Guests of the Nation”, set during the Irish War of Independence; “Childhood” draws on autobiographical writings to present a revealing picture of the author as a boy, the only child of an alcoholic father and doting mother; “Writers” bears witness to his literary debt to Yeats and Joyce. The stories in “Lonely Voices” movingly demonstrate O’Connor’s theory that in this genre can be achieved ’something we do not often find in the novel - an intense awareness of human loneliness’; yet they are counter parted by his wonderfully polyphonic tales of family, friendship and rivalry in “Better Quarrelling”. In “Ireland” come poems, stories and articles inspired by the native land he loved but never sentimentalized, while from “Abroad” the writer in exile discourses upon universally relevant themes of emigration, hardship, absence and return. Finally, “Last Things” contains O’Connor’s thoughts on religion, the church, the soul and its destiny, but remains above all a celebration of humanity ‘who for me represented all I should ever know of God’. (Quoted in COPAC - online.)