A very unpleasant book. Only the opening and closing scenes are in Ireland (neighbourhood of Bantry Bay, Skibbereen, and Tralee), the interval being filled by adventures in Portugal (where the Inquisition is held up to obloquy), and in Paris (where Freemasonry is praised and convents vilified). These adventures are, for the most part, more or less scandalous “love” affairs. At the outset there is a good deal about Irish disaffection and lawlessness. The Author seizes every occasion to drag in the confessional, the Pope, &c., and to inveigh against them.
MONTGOMERY, J. W.
⸺ MERVYN GRAY; or, Life in the R.I.C. (Edinburgh: Cameron & Ferguson). 1s. c. 1875.
The Author was a native of Virginia, Co. Cavan. He was a zealous antiquary, and wrote on antiquarian subjects. Published, besides the above, two volumes of verse and one of prose sketches. D. Bangor, Co. Down, 1911.
MOORE, F. Frankfort. B. in Limerick, 1855, but brought up and ed. in Belfast. Began to write at 16. For sixteen years worked on staff of Belfast News-Letter. See his Journalist’s Note Book, 1894. All this time he was turning out at least one book a year. In 1893 he scored a great success with his I Forbid the Banns. Since then his output has been very large. He resides at Lewes.
⸺ THE JESSAMY BRIDE. (Hutchinson). 6s. (N.Y.: Fenno). 50c. 1897.
The story of the last years and death of Goldsmith, told with all the Author’s well-known verve. Full of dialogue, witty and lively, yet not merely flashy, in which Johnson, Burke, Garrick, and other wits and worthies of the day take part. The central theme is Goldsmith’s attachment to the beautiful Mary Horneck, called the Jessamy Bride. There is much true pathos in the story, and not a word that could offend susceptibilities.
⸺ CASTLE OMERAGH. (Constable). 2s. 6d. (N.Y.: Appleton). 1.50. 1903.
Scene: the West of Ireland (Co. Clare) during Cromwell’s invasion. The central figures are the Fawcetts, a Protestant planter family, whose sympathies have become Irish. The eldest son is an officer in the army of O’Neill. The second, the hero, is literary and unwarlike, and inclined to Quakerism. A Jesuit friend of the family figures prominently in the story, and is presented in a very favourable light. The Drogheda massacre and Cromwell’s repulse at Clonmel are included.