[M’GOVERN, Rev. J. B.]; “J. B. S.” Of St. Stephen’s Rectory, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester. An enthusiast for Irish archæology and a frequent contributor on his favourite subject to N. & Q., Cork Archaeol. Journal, the Antiquary, &c.
⸺ IMELDA, or Retribution: a Romance of Kilkee. (Tinsley). 7s. 6d. 1883.
Scene: varies between Kilkee and Meenahela on the one hand and Italy on the other. The story is concerned with the faithlessness of Imelda Lestrange, an Irish girl, to her affianced Florentine lover, Gasper Bicchieri, whom she had met at Kilkee, and the Nemesis that befalls her in the faithlessness of her new lover—and husband—Monckton, who deserts her for his cousin, Teresa Dempsey. Most of this happens at Kilkee. The end is tragedy. Forty years later Gasper returns to Kilkee to brood in the scene of the catastrophe of his life. There is little or no characterisation or study of motive. The story opens in 1829.
M’HENRY, James, M.D. B. Larne, Co. Antrim, 1785. Ed. Dublin and Glasgow. Lived 1817-1842 in U.S.A. From 1842 till his death in 1845 he was U.S. consul at Derry. Publ. several volumes of verse (Mr. O’Donoghue enumerates nine) and several novels besides those mentioned below.
⸺ THE INSURGENT CHIEF. Pp. 128, very close print. (Gill). Bound up with HEARTS OF STEEL. n.d.
Adventures of a young loyalist during the rebellion in the North, pleasantly told, but with improbabilities and a good deal of the deus ex machina. Gives the very best description of the scenes in Belfast and Larne leading up to the Battle of Antrim and the consequent defeat of the “United men,” many of whom were personally known to the Author. The leaders are referred to by name, and the heroic death of Willy Neilson pathetically described. The famous rebel ballad of “Blaris Moor” is put into the mouth of a ballad singer in Belfast, and the northern dialect is excellently rendered.
The original title of this was O’Halloran; or, The Insurgent Chief, [1824], Philadelphia, three vols., and in same year London, one vol. Republ. frequently in Glasgow (Cameron & Ferguson) and Belfast (Henderson).
⸺ THE HEARTS OF STEEL. (Gill). 6d. [1825]. Still in print.
A story full of sensational adventure. There is a good deal about the Oak Boys and Steel Boys, Ulster Protestant secret societies which indulged in agrarian outrages as a protest against various abuses. The writer praises the Presbyterian religion somewhat at the expense of the Catholic. Some of the incidents related are rather coarse. Includes legends of Carrickfergus, also a good deal of verse.
MACHRAY, Robert. B. 1857. Formerly Prof. of Ecclesiastical History in St. John’s University College, Manitoba. War editor, Daily Mail, 1904-05. Between 1898 and 1914 has publ. a dozen novels, besides other works.