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Life
1841-1916 [John Henry Edge;] land commissioner; author of An Irish Utopia (1906, 1910, 1915); The Quicksands of Life (1908); ‘Irish conservative without religious bias.’ IF.
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Works
An Irish Utopia: A Story of a Phase of the Land Problem [rep.] (Dublin: Combridge 1911) (iv), xxxvi, 1-301pp. [[1st edn. 1906?]
Bibliographical details
Irish Utopia: A Story of a Phase of the Land Problem (4th edn. 1915) - Preface contains material arguing for a pre-Christian origin of the Round Towers as phallic; a defence of the petty gentry, or ‘middlemen’; and an encomium of “JKL” [Bishop Doyle]: ‘the large hearted and broadminded Bishop Doyle [who] strove earnestly, as I have explained in my book, to unite all Christians in his native land. He died without having accomplished his purpose [...]’ The setting is the valley of Avonmore.
Online Index of Publications available at Internet Archive - Supplied by Clare County Library An Irish utopia, A Story of a Phase of the Land Problem:
New [i.e. 2nd] edn. with a special
introd. (now first published) dealing with the subject of the Irish round towers,
by John Henry Edge
Published in 1910, Combridge (Dublin)
Edition: New edn.
Pagination: 301pp.
Available at Internet Archive
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References
Stephen Brown, Ireland in Fiction (Dublin: Maunsel 1919), lists An Irish Utopia, A Story of a Phase of the Land Problem (1906, 1907, and 1915, 4th ed.) (1915), Wicklow and Shropshire, attempt to oust rightful heir, law suit; well-known lawyers, and Dr Doyle, JKL, are characters; conservative, but sympathising with certain Irish grievances. Quicksands (1908) contains ‘dishonest love intrigues’ against Land War background, not discussed, set in England and S. Ireland; Aristocracy shown in bad light, and some tributes to virtues of Irish peasantry.
Belfast Public Library holds Genealogical Memoirs of the Echlin family (n.d.); also Irish Utopia (4th ed. 1915 [1st 1906])
Namesake: Dictionary of National Biography [ODNB] lists on John Henry Edge (1841-1926), an Indian Judge and member of the Judicial Council of India, 1899-1908; ed. TCD. Note the identical dates of birth but different dates of death.
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