Highly praised by the Times, the Standard, the Morning Post, the Scotsman, &c., &c. The Irish Monthly says: “It is an excellent Irish tale, full of truth and sympathy, without any harsh caricaturing on the one hand, or any patronizing sentimentality on the other. The heroine, Oonagh M’Dermott, the Dillons, Pat Flanagan, and Father Rafferty are the principal personages, all excellent portraits in their way; and some of the minor characters are very happily drawn. The conversation of the humbler people is full of wit and common sense; and the changes of the story give room for pathos sometimes as a contrast to the humour which predominates. Miss Brew understands well the Irish heart and language; and altogether her “Pictures of Munster Life” (for this is the second title of the tale) is one of the most satisfactory additions to the store of Irish fiction from Castle Rackrent to Marcella Grace.”
[BRITTAINE, Rev. George]. Was Rector of Kilcormack, Diocese of Ardagh. Died in Dublin, 1847. The Athenæum of December 14, 1839, said of the first three works mentioned below: “The sad trash which is here put forward as a portraiture of the social condition of the Irish peasantry needs no refutation; in his ardour to calumniate, the Author has forgotten that there are limits to possibility, and that when they are overstepped the intended effect of the libel is lost in its absurdity.” All this writer’s books seem to have appeared anonymously.
⸺ CONFESSIONS OF HONOR DELANY. Pp. 86. (Dublin: Tims). 1s. 6d. [1830]. Third ed., 1839.
She admits getting a pension as a reward for “turning.”
⸺ IRISH PRIESTS AND ENGLISH LANDLORDS. Pp. 249. (Dublin: Tims). [1830]. Second ed., 1839; others 1871, 1879.
“By the author of Hyacinth O’Gara.” A priest has authority from a bishop to marry a girl to a man against her will. She refuses, and subsequently dies—a martyr for the Protestant faith.
⸺ RECOLLECTIONS OF HYACINTH O’GARA. Pp. 64. (Dublin: Tims). 6d. Fifth ed., 1839.
The above three books were originally written by Rev. Geo. Brittaine, Rector of Kilcormack, Co. Limerick. They were “re-written and completely revised” by Rev. H. Seddall, Vicar of Dunany, Co. Louth, and published by Hunt, London, 1871. They are frankly proselytising tales designed “to give a true picture of the Irish peasantry, and how priestcraft has wound itself into all their concerns.” (Pref.) The peasantry are represented as exceedingly debased, the priesthood as conscienceless and selfish tyrants. Religion is practically the sole theme throughout. There is practically no reference to contemporary questions. One reviewer says: “There is nothing more graphic in all the pages of The Absentee, or Castle Rackrent than the account of Kit M’Royster’s disclosures to his brother, the Popish Bishop, about the heretical purity of their niece; or the description of Priest Moloney’s oratory about the offerings at the funeral of old Mrs. O’Brien.”—Christian Examiner.
⸺ IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN. Pp. 219. (Dublin: Tims). 1831.