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Free State Art: Judging Ireland by its Book Covers

virtual exhibit summer 2004 - burns library

Intro | Original Novels | Short Stories/Folklore | British Authors | Irish Writers  | American & European Writers | Conclusion

Translations of Irish Writers

Title: Teacht Chúchulainn (Cúchulainn's Arrival)
Translator: Fr. Tomás Ó Gallchobhair (1894-1982)
Published: 1933
Author: Standish James O'Grady (1846-1928)
Original Title: The Coming of Cuculain (1894)
Artwork: V.P.
Source: John J. Burns Library
Comment: O'Grady's books on Irish mythology had a profound effect on younger writers, particularly William Butler Yeats.




Title: Aodh de Róiste (Hugh Roche)
Translators: Dómhnall Ó Ceocháin (1855-1966) & Dómhnall Ó Céilleachair
Published: 1933
Author: James Murphy (1839-1921)
Original Title: Hugh Roch, The Ribbonman (1887)
Artwork: Unsigned
Source: John J. Burns Library
Comment: James Murphy was a Professor of Mathematics at the Catholic University in Dublin.




Title: Dinní Ó Frighil (Dinny O'Friel)
Translator: Nioclás Tóibín (1890-1966)
Published: 1933
Author: Seumas MacManus (1869 - 1960)
Original Title: A Lad of the O'Friels (1903)
Artwork: Unsigned
Source: John J. Burns Library
Comment: MacManus, a native of Donegal, was a prolific writer who died having fallen from the seventh floor of a New York nursing home.




Title: Síobhraí na mBeann is na nGleann (Fairies of the Peaks and Valleys)
Translator: Brighid Ní Loinsigh (?-1969)
Published: 1939
Author: Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854)
Original Title: Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825)
Artwork: Unsigned
Source: John J. Burns Library
Comment: Brighid Ní Loinsigh is one of the few women who translated for An Gúm. Others include: Máire Ní Shíthe, Máire Ní Shíothcháin, Máiréad Ní Ghráda, Sister Felíme, Áine Ní Fhoghlú, Maighréad Nic Mhaicín, Máire Ní Dhaobhoireann, Sorcha Ní Ghuairim and Eibhlín Ní Churraoin. An Abbey Theatre actress, she translated children's books including several by Eileen O'Faolain.




Title: Iarann an Tuaiscirt (The Northern Iron)
Translator: Muiris Ó Catháin (1890-1960)
Published: 1933
Author: Cannon James Owen Hanney [George A. Birmingham] (1865-1950)
Original Title: The Northern Iron (1907)
Artwork: AÓM
Source: John J. Burns Library
Comment: Born in Kerry, Ó Catháin taught Irish for a brief period at Loyola College, Montreal.




Title: Fear Fíor agus Fealltóir (True Man and Traitor)
Translator: Domhnall Ó Grianna (1894-1962)
Published: 1935
Author: Matthias Mc Donnell Bodkin (1850-1933)
Original Title: True Man and Traitor
Artwork: M.A. Kane '34
Source: John J. Burns Library
Comment: Mc Donnell Bodkin was born in Galway and served as Nationalist Member of Parliament for Roscommon, before later becoming a judge. He wrote detective fiction and two novels of the 1798 rebellion.




Title: A Dúthchas Gaedhealach (Her Irish Heritage)
Translator: Tadhg Ó Rabhartaigh (1909-1982)
Published: 1938
Author: Annie M.P. Smithson (1873-1948)
Original Title: Her Irish Heritage (1917)
Artwork: O.C.
Source: John J. Burns Library
Comment: Annie M.P. Smithson was born in Dublin and converted to Catholicism on learning that her father had been a Fenian supporter. Later, she became Secretary of the Irish Nurses Organization.


Intro | Original Novels | Short Stories/Folklore | British Authors | Irish Writers  | American & European Writers | Conclusion