#OTD in 2009 – Death of author, Frank McCourt, in New York.

19/07/2021.Reading time 4 minutes.

Writer and educator Francis “Frank” McCourt was born on 19 August 1930, in Brooklyn, New York, as the eldest of seven children. McCourt’s father, Malachy, worked odd jobs while his mother, Angela, worked to raise the children. The family frequently struggled to make ends meet and, after a long stint of unemployment during the Depression, […]

#OTD in 2003 – James Plunkett, best known for his epic novel of Dublin, ‘Strumpet City’, dies at the age of 83.

28/05/2021.Reading time 1 minute.

“Two divine persons in one. A mother lamenting her children in bondage. A girl ravished by the Saxon, who weeps over her stringless harp. But her young champions keep watch in the mountains, awaiting the dawn of the bright sun of Freedom. They will gather around her with pikes and swords.” –James Plunkett ––Strumpet City […]

#OTD in 1897 – First publication of Dracula, written by Dublin man Abraham ‘Bram’ Stoker.

25/05/2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

The well-known theatre manager and part-time writer Bram Stoker released Dracula, a Gothic adventure novel about the exploits of a Transylvanian vampire in England and the attempts by a crew of respectable professional men (and one woman) to destroy the ancient evil. After suffering a number of strokes, Stoker died at No. 26 St George’s […]

#OTD in 1923 – The Shadow Of A Gunman by Sean O’Casey premiered at the Abbey Theatre.

12/04/2021.Reading time 3 minutes.

The Shadow of a Gunman, drama in two acts by Sean O’Casey, performed at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1923 and published in 1925. Originally titled ‘On the Run,’ it was the fifth play O’Casey wrote but the first to be produced. The comic-tragic play is set in the tenement slums of Dublin in […]

#OTD in 1883 – Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha, writer under the pseudonym ‘An Seabhac’ and promoter of the Irish language is born in Dingle, Co Kerry.

10/03/2021.Reading time 4 minutes.

Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha was born in the Gaeltacht near Dingle in Co Kerry in 1883. Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha went on to become an organiser for Conradh na Gaeilge, cycling all over the countryside to set up branches and promote the Irish language. As a writer, he took the pen-name ‘An Seabhac’, the Hawk, writing books […]

#OTD in 1929 – Brian Friel, playwright and author of Dancing at Lughnasa, is born near Omagh, Co Tyrone.

09/01/2021.Reading time 4 minutes.

“It is not the literal past, the ‘facts’ of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in language.” –Brian Friel When asked why he had two birth certificates, one dated 9 January 1929 and the other 10 January, the Irish playwright Brian Friel, replied: ‘Perhaps I’m twins.’ Originally from Tyrone, Friel moved […]

#OTD in 1820 – Birth of author, Mary Anne Sadlier, in Cootehill, Co Cavan.

30/12/2020.Reading time 6 minutes.

Born Mary Anne Madden in Cootehill, Co Cavan, Sadlier published roughly sixty novels and numerous stories. She wrote for Irish immigrants in both the United States and Canada, encouraging them to attend mass and retain the Catholic faith. In so doing, Sadlier also addressed the related themes of anti-Catholicism, An Gorta Mór, emigration, and domestic […]

#OTD in 1821 – Lady Jane Francesca Wilde is born in Co Wexford. Author, poet and the mother of Oscar Wilde, she is also known as Sperenza.

27/12/2020.Reading time 1 minute.

Jane Francesca Agnes Elgee, later Lady Wilde and mother of Oscar is born. She became famous in her own right as a writer and poet under the name of “Sperenza.” Sperenza was an ardent nationalist in addition to being a staunch feminist. Her most famous poem is probably ‘The Famine Year’. Weary men, what reap […]

#OTD in 1895 – Death of Young Irelander, Author and Poet, Denny Lane.

29/11/2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

Denny Lane, one of the most popular of the Young Ireland leaders, and the writer of the two well-known poems, ‘Kate of Araglen’ and ‘Carraigdhoun’ (or ‘Lament of the Irish Maiden’). Although a Catholic, he graduated from the mainly Protestant Trinity College, Dublin, where he joined the College Historical Society, became a friend of Charles […]

#OTD in 1847 – Birth of author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, in Dublin.

08/11/2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

“We learn from failure, not from success.” –Bram Stoker Stoker published his masterpiece, Dracula, in 1897. Deemed a classic horror novel not long after its release, Dracula has continued to garner acclaim for more than a century, inspiring the creation of hundreds of film, theatrical and literary adaptations. In addition to Dracula, Stoker published more […]

Stair na hÉireann | History of Ireland

Tag: Author

#OTD in 2009 – Death of author, Frank McCourt, in New York.

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#OTD in 2003 – James Plunkett, best known for his epic novel of Dublin, ‘Strumpet City’, dies at the age of 83.

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#OTD in 1897 – First publication of Dracula, written by Dublin man Abraham ‘Bram’ Stoker.

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#OTD in 1923 – The Shadow Of A Gunman by Sean O’Casey premiered at the Abbey Theatre.

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#OTD in 1883 – Pádraig Ó Siochfhradha, writer under the pseudonym ‘An Seabhac’ and promoter of the Irish language is born in Dingle, Co Kerry.

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#OTD in 1929 – Brian Friel, playwright and author of Dancing at Lughnasa, is born near Omagh, Co Tyrone.

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#OTD in 1820 – Birth of author, Mary Anne Sadlier, in Cootehill, Co Cavan.

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#OTD in 1821 – Lady Jane Francesca Wilde is born in Co Wexford. Author, poet and the mother of Oscar Wilde, she is also known as Sperenza.

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#OTD in 1895 – Death of Young Irelander, Author and Poet, Denny Lane.

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#OTD in 1847 – Birth of author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, in Dublin.

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