W. J. Fitzpatrick


Life
1830-1895 [William John Fitzpatrick; commonly Fitz-Patrick]; b. 31 Aug., Thomas St., Dublin; ed. Clongowes; son of successful merchant and associate of O’Connell (Patrick Vincent, 1792-1865); wrote historical biographies, depending on his private income; achieved controversial fame with Who Wrote the Waverley Novels (1856), suggesting Sir Walter’s brother Thomas; devoted to Lord Edward Fitzgerald;
 
Authored titles: The Sham Squire (1866; 1872; 1895) which relates the betrayal of Lord Edward and exposes the Castle crew; sold 16,000 [var. 10,000] copies and is a source for much lore of 1798; also Life, Times and Contemporaries of Lord Cloncurry (1855); Lady Morgan (1860); Ireland before the Union (1870) [vars. 1863, 1867]; The Life, Times, and Correspondence of The Rt. Rev. Dr. Doyle [JKL] Bishop of Kildare, 2 vols. (Dublin: Duffy 1861), Do., enl. edn. (Duffy 1880); Memoirs of Richard Whateley [Archbishop of Dublin] (2 vols., 1864); Ireland Before the Union (1867); Irish Wits and Worthies, including Dr. [James] Lanigan (1873); Friends, Foes, and Adventures ofCharles Lever (2 vols., 1879); ed., The Liberator: Correspondence of Daniel O’Connell (2 vols., 1888), leading to papal recognition with the Order of St Gregory the Great, bestowed by Leo XVIII; The Secret Service Under Pitt (1892); The Life of Very Rev. Thomas N. Burke, O.P. (1894); Memories of Father Healy (1899); posthumously, ed., by his son, History of Dublin Cath. Cemeteries (1900);
 
d. 48 Fitzwilliam Sq., Dublin, 24 Dec. 1895. CAB ODNB JMC DIB DIW DIH DIL OCIL

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Works
The Sham Squire, and the Informers of 1798, with jottings about Ireland Seventy Years Ago , with Mr. Dickson’s Narrative, the Cullen Papers, &c. [enl. edn.] (Dublin: Kelly 1872), and rep. (Dublin: Gill 1892); [W. J. Fitz-Patrick], Secret Service Under Pitt (London: Longmans, Green 1892); Curious Family History, or Ireland Before the Union (Dubln: James Duffy 1880); Fitzpatrick, ‘The Sham Squire’ (Dublin: M.H. Gill 1895) [all cited D. Torchiana, Backgrounds to Joyce’s Dubliners, 1986].

 

Commentary
Cheryl Herr, For the Land They Loved (Syracuse UP 1991), gives extensive details from Secret Service Under Pitt (1892), viz., the author’s admonition about the lesson to be learned from his book, ‘The organisers of illegal societies will see that, in spite of the apparent security and ingenuity of their system, informers sit with them at the same council-board and dinner-table, ready at any moment to sell their blood.’ (v-vi); see also under Samuel Neilson.

References
British Museum holds The life, times, and correspondence of Dr. Doyle, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin [enl. edn.] 2 vol. Dublin: 1861); Do., another edn., 2 vols. (Dublin: J. Duffy & Son 1880)

Belfast Public Library holds Curious Family Histor[y] Ireland before the Union (1870); History of Dublin Catholic Cemeteries (1900); Irish Wits and Worthies, including Dr. [James] Lanigan (1873); [Friends, Foes, and Adventures of] Lady Morgan (1860); Charles Lever, 2 vols. (1879); The Life of Very Rev. Thomas Burke (1894); Life, times and co[n]temporaries of Lord Cloncurry (1855); Life of Rev. Dr. Doyle, 2 vols. (1861); Memoirs of Richard Whateley, 2 vols. (1864); Memories of Father Healy (1899); Secret Service Under Pitt [cited in Hangman’s Hill, Donn Byrne]; Sham Squire, and the informers of 1798 (1872).

Belfast Linen Hall holds Narrative of the career of Francis Higgins, who received the reward for the betrayal of Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1859); The Sham Squire (1866); Secret Service Under Pitt (1892) [Cornwallis Papers].

Ulster Univ. Library (Morris Collection) holds The Sham Squire and the Informers of 1798, with Jottings about Ireland a Century Ago (Gill 1895); Irish Wits and Worthies, including Dr. Lanigan, his life and times, with glimpses of stirring scenes since 1700 (1873).

Library of Herbert Bell, Belfast holds W. J. Fitz-Patrick, Irish Wit and Workers (Dublin 1873); The Sham Squire (Dublin n.d.); Secret Service Under Pitt (London 1892); The Life of Very Revd. Thos. N. Burke OP (London 1894).

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