⸺ THE CHANGELING. Three Vols. Pp. 315 + 350 + 414. (London). 1848.
Published anonymously. Preface tells us it was written some few years before date of publication. Scene: City of Galway and Connemara (including Aran). The main plot is concerned with the mystery surrounding the heir of Ballymagawley, got out of the way in early childhood by the present owner, Mr. Whaley, but returning in disguise to claim his rights. The interest is threefold:—First, Mr. Whaley’s awful secret unknown to the daughter, whom he loves with his whole soul, and who returns his love, and the desperate efforts he makes to avert the revelation; 2nd, the study of character: Clara Whaley, high-souled, intellectual, unworldly, scorning fashion and flirtation, the astute worldly intellectual Hon. Augustus Foster, the empty-headed Miss Fosters and so on; 3rd, a series of quite admirable and amusing vignettes of the petite bourgeoisie of Galway—the vulgar and showy Mrs. Heffernan with her absurd accent, the match-making Mrs. Flanagan (an inimitable portrait), the mischief-making Peter Harry Joe, Considine the Butler, the consequential Captain O’Connor, and the endless flirtations of the marriageable young ladies. The peasantry are well drawn, but it is quite an outside view of their life. The conversations are clever, but sometimes tediously long, as are also the Author’s reflections.
BANIM, Michael.
⸺ CROHOORE OF THE BILLHOOK. (Duffy). [1825].
Has been a very popular book. The action lies in one of the darkest periods of Irish history, when the peasantry, crushed under tithe-proctor, middleman, and Penal laws, retorted by the savage outrages of the secret societies. One of these latter was the “Whiteboys,” with the doings of which this book largely deals. The Author does not justify outrage, but explains it by a picture of the conditions of which it was an outcome. A dark and terrible story. The scene is Kilkenny and neighbourhood. It must be added that most of the characters savour strongly of what is now known as the “stage Irishman.”
⸺ THE CROPPY. Pp. 420. (Duffy). 2s. Still reprinted. [1828].
Opens with a long and serious historical introduction. There follow many pages of a love story of the better classes which is, perhaps, not very convincing. Samples of the outrages by which the people were driven to revolt are given. Then there are many scenes from the heart of the rebellion itself, some of them acquired from conversation with eye-witnesses. The attitude is that of a mild Nationalist, or rather Liberal, contemplating with sorrow not unmixed with contempt the savage excesses of his misguided countrymen. The rebellion is shown in its vulgarest and least romantic aspect, and there are harrowing descriptions of rebel outrages on Vinegar Hill and elsewhere. The one noble or even respectable character in the book, Sir Thomas Hartley, is represented as in sympathy with constitutional agitation, but utterly abhorring rebellion. The other chief actors in the story are unattractive. They have no sympathy with the insurgents, and the parts they play are connected merely accidentally with the rebellion. There is much movement and spirit in the descriptive portions.
⸺ THE MAYOR OF WINDGAP. Pp. 190. (Duffy). [1834].
Romantic and sensational—attempted murders, abductions, &c. Not suitable for the young. Interest and mystery well sustained. Scene: Kilkenny in 1779. There was a Paris edition, 1835.