Irish Collections at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library: Irish Manuscripts--Literature and Culture

12 stanza ballad, praising the 84 volunteers under brave Colonel Leslie, and his Lady and "young Charless." Describes a festal day at Castle Glasslough. Considers the House of Bourbon the enemy. 1 leaf, after 1778.

Contains the romantic comedy Sophia; light verse; poetical epistles. (Juvenilia by the Irish orator and politician who became Lord Chief Baron of the Court of the Exchequer, Ireland.) Added later: character of Hussey Burgh. From the P.S. O’Hegarty collection. **See Reading Room paper inventory (Catalog IV: Burgh, Walter Hussey) for additional details.**

Poems on several occasions. Ireland, 1739. Cover may read "Fred: Tren..." From the P.S. O’Hegarty collection.

Observations on some of the most remarkable remains of antiquity, in Ireland represented in upwards of sixty views & plans taken in a tour through that kingdom in the year 1746. Ireland, 1791. Copied from Wright’s MS by Austin Cooper, Joseph Cooper, and Joseph Turner. Binding title: Wright Louthia vol II. See also 4 sketches. Ireland, ca 1758? Removed from O’Hegarty D6 (Wright’s Louthiana, 1758, Artist not necessarily Wright). **See Reading Room paper inventory (Catalog IV: Wright, Thomas) for additional details.**

Manuscript commonplace book inscribed to Sarah Maria Atkinson of Gortmore, Dundrum, Ireland by her aunt Mabella on April 22, 1859. Consists of 111 pages of English-language poems identified by title and/or author, followed by an inverted 2-page table of contents. Inscriptions and poems seem to be written in the same hand, probably by an adult. Near the end of the volume are 2 small decorative sketches and a small cluster of dried botanical specimens, the latter pasted above a poem about weeds. The loose enclosures, a manuscript poem and a botanical specimen, have been removed to MS P645.

Manuscript "Album" inscribed to "Annie Bushe from Papa June 1857". Contains poems in various hands, some initialed and dated by the contributors. Among them, several commemorative poems establish the date of Annie H. Bushe's death as 1868. Another ownership inscription identifies a later owner (who also added to the album) as "Georgie H. Bushe Arnestown 1878". Illustrated with 3 topographical sketches. A loose insert (a manuscript poem) has been removed to MS P646. A matching album, belonging to Annie's sister, Milly, is at MS B113

Manuscript "Album" inscribed to "Milly Bushe from Papa June 1857". Contains poems in various hands, some initialed and dated by the contributors. Among them, several commemorative poems refer to the death of her sister, Annie H. Bushe, in 1868. The latest dated entry is signed "M[illy] B[ushe] April 1918".The opening poem is illustrated with a pencil sketch. Two loose inserts (printed poems) have been removed to MS P647. A matching album, belonging to Milly's sister, Annie, is at MS B112.

"To Miss Kate M. Sheridan, from Edward Cunningham, these few "Irish Gems," selected from the songs of her country..." Illuminated book of poems. Belfast, 1879. Poems by Thomas Moore, Thomas Davis, Francis Davis, Thomas Campbell.

8 Letters by Anglo-Irish writer Maria Edgeworth to various recipients, 1815-1845, undated. This collection uses multiple online catalog records. For a listing, conduct a "Left Anchored-Call number" search for "MS P102" in KU's online catalog.

Letter to Elkin Mathew and John Lane at The Bodley Head. July 18, 1894. Questions concerning the Dancing Faun. Dated from postmark. Found enclosed in a copy of Dancing Faun in the Yeats collection.

Letter from Willam John Fitzpatrick (1830-1895) in Dublin, Ireland to William Hepworth Dixon (1821-1879) in London (Athenaeum Office?) mentions the late historical author, Daniel Owen Madden (also spelled Maddyn, 1815-1859) and my biography of the late patriotic author, Lady Morgan (Sydney, 1783?-1859). 4 pieces, 16 pages.

Notes on bells by William Frazer (1824-1899), letters received, etc., ca 1884-1898. On ancient Celtic ecclesiastical bells. Includes notebook, loose notes, sketches, letters to Frazer, offprints, etc. Great Britain: Ireland: Dublin; Scotland; England

Magazine of poetry, essays, stories, watercolors issued by the members of the Golden Spear, a charitable and literary club. The Golden Spear appears to be named after a mountain near Bray, south of Dublin. The Home for Crippled Children in Bray opened by Mrs. Lucinda Sullivan in 1874, was renamed the Sunbeam House in 1930 and closed in 1960.

Printed and drawn by James Hurst. Jests, verses, epitaphs, etc., written carefully but not skillfully in a variety of hands, some minute. Drawings include "Military Costumes: Life Guards" and "Miss Fanny Kemble as Juliet". From the P.S. O’Hegarty collection.

Irish verse. Ireland? ca. 1853. Contains: The Amnesty Address (a comic poem on the petition from the Mayor of Dublin, etc., to the Queen to free O’Connell, 1844); Donoghue’s Letter to his brother Dan (a comic poem on the Dublin Exhibition, 1853); Beautiful Snow (a religious poem). Added in another hand: directions for knitting a quilt-border.
From the P. S. O’Hegarty collection.

Paris-Chateau de Launay-Fontainebleau-Auxerre-Dijon-Besançon-Pontalier-Neuchatel-Berne; Berne-Interlaken-Lauterbrun-Grindelwald-Rh^one glacier-Altdorf-Lucerne-Berne; Berne-Payerne-Lausanne-Geneva-Aix-Chambory-Lans-pass-Sura-Turin-Genoa-Carrara-Lucca. Eye for the picturesque & romantic, and agriculture and revenue. Discusses the unjust establishment of the church in Ireland. Meets Mr. Dames and Mr. Griffith. From the P.S. O’Hegarty collection.

The Midnight Court: [a Gaelic miscellany] is a single volume collection of 18th century Irish-language writings by Brian Merriman and Donough MacConmara, copied out with comments and occasional translations by Timothy Keane at Clodagh, Crookstown (Ireland), during the 1880s. The volume includes a printed edition of Michael O'Shea's English translation of the The Midnight Court, a long poem on Irish marriage and celibacy, printed privately by O'Shea in Boston in 1897.

The Booke of Burschen. Constructed for the rituals of the Burchenschaft Club. Comic pseudo-mediaeval account of founding of sham society. Dialogues between St. Patrick, Ritter von Otto, Buische Kavin, King O'Toole, and Barney, interspersed with comic verse: “Ye Burschen ye liked goode thinges galore... Der Pabst lebt herrlich in d' Welt...Songe of ye Blessed St Kavin. Farewell to those dayes full of glee..."

Advanced draft, not quite finished. With lyrics. Heavily revised for performance. 1 v. ill., child’s drawings; ports. (lithographs). From the P.S. O’Hegarty collection. **See Reading Room paper inventory (Catalog IV: Lover) for additional details.**

Papers of 19th century Irish author Denis Florence MacCarthy, including draft poems and translations, notes about Irish history and from research MacCarthy appeared to be conducting, as well as a diary for the year 1877, financial accounts, and other miscellaneous items.

Florence MacCarthy's private memorandum book and loose items. Contains heroic poems, notes, letter drafts, and other materials.Memorandum book includes manuscripts: An adventure of Richard Coeur deLeon by Flor: MacCarthy January 1870; The battle of Clontarf; materials on the Bonaparte Family; The Guard's last stand at Waterloo June 1871, etc. Florence Edward MacCarthy was the son of Irish poet and author Denis Florence MacCarthy (1817-1882).

Fair copy of a lecture given in 1871, revised for publication. Notebook sold by Cork stationer.
Letter from Una ni Conchobhair removed to MS P392:1. From the P. S. O’Hegarty collection.

Corrected galley proofs of her Songs of Sion (Dublin, Browne & Nolan). Ireland, 1898. Includes poem on her father, Denis Florence MacCarthy

This collection consists of a bound volume containing Martin's printed play (Madonna Pia, inlaid) with sketches for costumes by Irish artist Sir Frederic William Burton, with a portrait photograph of Burton; and some loose materials that have been physically separated, including a letter and pencil sketch.

Two letters by or to William Hamilton Maxwell. Maxwell was a Irish soldier in the Napoleonic wars who retired to minister to a remote Irish parish, where he began to write Irish military and sporting novels. After some success he moved to London in the 1830s, where he produced novels, military histories and biographies, and Irish and Scottish travel-books. While he did have some success, he died in poverty on December 29, 1850 in Musselburgh near Edinburgh.

The Great Invasion of Britain. Written by Samuel Waddell (later known under pseudonym, Rutherford Mayne) and illustrated by N. Mercier. Story written by Sam. Waddell and N. Mercier to rent to their schoolmates for 2d per vol per week. Largely a description of land and sea battles: the English (including the school regiment) and the Germans against the Russians and French.

Collection size: 3 and a half manuscript boxes; consists primarily of letters from and to the Anglo-Irish writer George Moore (1854-1933). For more detailed information, please consult Reading Room paper inventory (Catalog IV: Moore, George)

Words and music from parts 1-9 of Moore's Irish Melodies (which were originally published 1808-1824). With musical analysis of each melody. A fair copy. Not in Moore's hand.

Five letters by Irish poet, singer, and lyricist, Thomas Moore (1779-1852), best known for his Irish Melodies.

Papers of Irish author, journalist, and historian Standish James O'Grady, whose popular English version of Irish sagas earned him the title "father of the Irish literary revival" in the late 19th century, particularly after William Butler Yeats and other Irish authors made his work more widely known. This small collection of papers by Standish O'Grady includes an autobiographical sketch and letters to Colles, [William?] Morris, and Edward Martyn.

A play set in vaguely classical times: Octavius, Spartans, Agesilaus, robbers, In notebook labeled "John Chambers’s Printing-Office ... 4, Abbey-Street, Dublin." From the P.S. O’Hegarty collection. (See also Act I, Scene 1 only at MS B107)

Radnor; in three acts. Dublin, ca. 1800. Act 1, Scene 1, only. From the P. S. O’Hegarty collection.

"The personality of Tennyson." 1887. Original autograph MS of an unpublished article. **See also MS D19 listed under Stoker's name under 20th Century heading**

Lengthy allegorical poem, with notes. With introduction signed "Rossana, January 1802"; with sonnet "to my Mother." Some paper watermarked 1805. Not in Tighe's hand. The 1805 edition of Mary Tighe's Psyche was printed in a limited edition of 50 copies and circulated among admirers, who made their own copies until the1811 Psyche, with Other Poems appeared. This may be a post-1805 copy (likely not professional due to several variants/errors). From the P.S. O’Hegarty collection.

Letter to P.S. O’Hegarty. 167 Gleneldon Road, Streatham [London] 18 May 1906. 4 p. (1 piece) and clipping. Scope/Content: Thank you for your interest in me; Irishmen in general don’t read or buy books about themselves; I will have to write pot-boilers about the alien hereafter, although I am patriotic. The Irish character. Found in O’Hegarty’s copy of his Awkward Squads, 1893 (O’Hegarty B1331); includes obituary clipping. Provenance: P.S. O’Hegarty.

Unbound poems and letters by Irish poet, Padraic Colum (1881-1972 ): 6 poems written out as gifts to friends; 6 friendly/literary letters; 1 clipping (Irish politics); 1 letter Grylls to Whelen. 1907-1963 & undated.

Autograph poem signed. 3 p. (2 sheets).

Correspondence involving editor Bruce Arnold, manuscripts, and proofs concerning the literary magazine The Dubliner, specifically related to volume 1, numbers 1-6 and volume 2 numbers 1-2 (November 1961-Summer 1963). The magazine was published by Bruce Arnold and Douglas Sealy of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Small collection of correspondence of Anglo-Irish writer (including of fantasy) Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett Dunsany, 18th Baron, 1878-1957. Includes a group of items concerning Grant Richards, and S.H Sime's illustrations for Dunsany's The Gods of Pegāna.

MS P415:1: Letter to P.S. O’Hegarty. 15 Ely Place, Dublin, 17 Sept. 1924. 1 p. Content: Autograph Letter Signed; five guineas will pay me very well. Found in O’Hegarty’s copy of Gogarty’s An Offering of Swans, London (O’Hegarty C45) with O’Hegarty’s cheque (MS P415:1b). MS P415:2: Letter to P.S. O’Hegarty. 15 Ely Place, Dublin, 20 May 1936. 2 p. (1 piece) and env. Scope/Content: Autograph Letter initialed; Rich and Cowan, my London publishers, fear libel suits, unlike the American Reynall and Hitchcock, and are delaying the book; but it should appear in America in August. The book aims at a new form. Found in O’Hegarty’s copy of Gogarty’s Selected poems, 1933 (O’Hegarty B523).; From the P.S. O’Hegarty collection. This collection uses multiple online catalog records. For a listing, conduct a "Left Anchored-Call number" search for "MS P415" in KU's online catalog.

Portrait of W.B. Yeats. ca. 1907? 1 etching : etchings, ports.; paper size 29 x 22 cm.; print size 18 x 13 cm. Scope/Content: "W.B. Yeats (No. 2)". No. 24 (only state) in Campbell Dodgson’s "A Catalogue of Etchings by Augustus John, 1901-1914". Other versions of this portrait are dated 1907. No.49 of 50 copies; signed in pencil: John. Watermark: fleur-de-lis, GC. "Hand Made". Certificate of authenticity in MS records.

Collection of correspondence of Irish writer, James Joyce (1882-1941), gift of James F. Spoerri. [Note: not originals, photostat only]. Includes letters to Grant Richards, Ezra Pound, Ford Madox Ford, T. S. Eliot, Lucia Joyce (daughter), Eileen Joyce Schaurek (sister), and others.

Collection of drafts, fair copies, and correspondence from and (principally) about/to Irish poet and balladeer Patrick Kelly (1879-1940). Connemara (Connaught, Galway), ca. 1924-1940.

2 letters: Letter from LeFanu to [Seumas O'Sullivan / James Starkey], November 8, 1938, offering thanks for printing 6 poems in The Dublin Magazine. Letter from Alex Thom & Co., printers, to Starkey, July 27, 1939, regarding estimate for printing LeFanu's book. Letters found laid in bound volume, Selected Poems and Translations of Horace, found at Call #: C744

Collection of unbound drafts: novels and plays by Irish dramatist and novelist, Brinsley MacNamara (pseudonym of A. E. Weldon). Includes materials for: The Dark Horse; Return to Ebontheever [or Hester Trimble]; The Valley of the Squinting Windows; Fortunio; The Land for the People; The Rebellion in Ballycullen; Scenario. The Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray; The Various Lives of Marcus Igoe; The Mirror in the Dusk. Approximately 1917-1930s; Extent: 1.25 linear feet (3 document cases)

Letter to P.S. O’Hegarty. Mullinahone, Thurles [Co. Tipperary], 24 Feb. 1951. 1 p. Scope/Content: TLS; bibliographical notes on the local novelist Charles Joseph Kickham, 1828-1882. Found in O’Hegarty’s copy of Kickham’s Sally Cavanaugh, 1869 (Call #: O’Hegarty B1290).

4 Typed Letters Signed; 6 Oct. 1939; 13 Oct. 1939; 4 Dec. 1944; 21 Dec. 1944. About Maxwell’s bibliography of the Dun Emer and Cuala Presses, and other Irish and Scottish bibliographies. Found in Maxwell’s bibliography (Call #: C291).

This is a small collection of the correspondence, writings and sketches of poet Alice Milligan, 1866-1953. It includes 5 letters from her to P.S. (Patrick Sarsfield) O'Hegarty, 1879-1955, about selling literary work and letters. There are 2 letters about Celtic theater, one from Edward Martyn, 1859-1923, and another from Thomas O'Brien Butler, 1861-1915. There are also manuscript, typescript and printed copies of some of Alice Milligan's poems and other writings. The sketchbook, dated 1891, contains landscape and portrait sketches by her. Several letters between other correspondents, found with her material, are also present.

Collection size: 3 and a half manuscript boxes; consists primarily of letters from and to the Anglo-Irish writer George Moore (1854-1933). For more detailed information, please consult Reading Room paper inventory (Catalog IV: Moore, George)

MS B115: The Plough and the Stars: Proofs of printed book, corrected, bound up. Contains 2 versions of prelims; paste-up of 1st production cast; "Second Proof" of text, lightly corrected, stamped "R. & R. Clark, Ltd, Edinburgh, 3-[4] Feb. 1926" (the printers); "First Proof" of 5 pages of advertisements, "20 Feb 1926". MS B115: Two plays: Juno and the Paycock; The Shadow of a Gunman. Proofs of printed book, corrected, bound up. Lightly corrected. Imprint date changed to 1925 in MS. Each gathering initialed "G.G." or "A.M." MS B116: Within the Gates. Printed book, heavily annotated by Norman MacDermott, the London producer of the play, with stage directions and additional dialogue. MS B117: Within the Gates. Printed book, annotated by Richard Hughes, musical advisor to the stage production. With some dialogue changes.

13 Letters by Irish playwright Sean O'Casey, including five to Thomas King Moylan, with a two additional letters by O'Casey's wife Eileen to Douglas M. Jacobs, and one from Arthur Sinclair to Thomas King Moylan. 1925-1959.

Irish literary/political letters written by Michael O'Donovan (alias Frank O'Connor) to P.S. O'Hegarty. Found in P.S. O'Hegarty's copy of O'Connor's The Road to Stratford (Call # O'Hegarty B2638). 1959.

O'Duffy's roman-a-clef The Wasted Island was first published in 1919. This composite manuscript draft is for the revised 1929 edition.

This collection uses multiple online catalog records. For a listing, conduct a "Left Anchored-Call number" search for "MS P430" in KU's online catalog. MS P430:1: Letter to "My dear P.S." [O’Hegarty]. The Irish Academy of Letters, Abbey Theatre, Dublin, 24 Aug. 1939. ALS; will you serve on our Financial Committee? Other candidates: Higgins, MacNamara, MacCartain, O’Neill, the Earl of Rosse. Stephen Gwynn. Found in O’Hegarty’s copy of O’Faoláin’s Come back to Erin, 1940 (O’Hegarty B1812). MS P430:2: Letter to "Dear P.S." [O’Hegarty]. Knockaderry, Killiney Village, Co. Dublin, 193-? 1 p. Scope/Content: ALS; standing invitation to "at home". Found in O’Hegarty’s copy of O’Faoláin’s Come Back to Erin, 1940 (O’Hegarty B1812)MS P430:3: Letter to "P." [P.S. O’Hegarty?] Killing, 83222, after 1929? 1 p. Scope/Content: ALS; light-hearted letter: have tea with me in Brown Thomas (through the ladies’ corsets) and tell me about Belton who sounds like a cheater I could use. Dated from mention of "the ’20’s". Found in O’Hegarty’s copy of O’Faoláin’s Teresa and Other Poems, 1947 (O’Hegarty B1814).

Materials by Irish writer Liam O'Flaherty (1896-1984), including a partial typescript of his first novel, Thy Neighbour's Wife (1923)

Letters to James Starkey, addressed to him as Seumas O'Sullivan, editor of The Dublin Magazine. Includes letters from Samuel Beckett, James Connolly (not the socialist leader executed following the Easter Rising), F. R. Higgins, W.K. Magee, Susan Mitchell, Frank O'Connor, Liam O'Flaherty, Joseph O'Neill, James Stephens, L. A. G. Strong, Katherine Tynan Hinkson, and others.

Kenneth Reddin (1895-1967) was an Irish novelist and district justice in the first half of the 20th century, sometimes writing under the pseudonym of Kenneth Sarr. This collection contains versions of two of his works, personal correspondence with well-known figures of the Irish literary revival and political figures, and printed materials created by Irish poets and writers.

Collection consists of letters, a questionnaire with Shaw's responses on Irish Politics, and a copy of The Fonetic Advocat annotated by Shaw.

Stephens, James, 1882-1950. The Storyteller. National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, ca. 1920. Typed and handwritten, heavily revised. Essays on emotions displayed by the technique of the writer. Macmillan’s had a later MS version entitled "Emotion and the Novelist" in 1952: see MS Records. From the P. S. O'Hegarty collection.

"Hallam, Lord Tennyson, Aldworth and Farringford Revisited." 1907. Original autograph manuscript of an article published in the Melbourne Argus. Dated 6/7/07. **See also MS D18 listed under Stoker's name under 19th Century heading**

4 letters (three by Synge, one about Synge), with Corrected Proofs of "A National Dramatist" (about Synge) by George Roberts.

Treasurer's records and correspondence. Kept by James H. Cousins. Dublin, Ireland, 1905-1912. Financial records and some correspondence of a theatrical organization, Theatre of Ireland.

L. H. Tragelles (possibly Trazelles or Inazelle), writes from the Gaity Theatre in Dublin on January 29th to an unknown recipient. The writer, currently a pantomime performer, thanks the recipient for kind remembrances and wishes and encloses a program (not included) as an example of the work which the writer has done while traveling around the world 3 times.

Letter to P.S. O’Hegarty. Ard-na-Glaise, Stillorgan Park, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, 2 Nov. 1939. 1 p. Scope/Content: ALS; I enclose Sean O’Faolain’s postal packet "with the hope that its passage might be made easy" ... "you may see that it contains nothing that a damn’d Irishman should not say." Found in O’Hegarty’s copy of Green Rushes (Call #: O’Hegarty B1817). From the P.S. O’Hegarty collection.

Collection of papers, ephemera, and manuscripts. Principally correspondence by and to and from Elizabeth Corbet Yeats ("Lolly"), 1868-1940; Jack Butler Yeats, 1871-1957; John Butler Yeats, 1839-1922; Susan Yeats ("Lily"), 1866-1949; William Butler Yeats, 1865-1939; George Hyde-Lees Yeats (wife of W. B. Yeats), 1892-1968.