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Life
1882-?1954; b. Longford, ed. Longford and Paris; Bar, 1908; Prof. of English and Roman Law, UCG, 1917-22; District Justice, 1922; Ireland, Its Myths and Legends (Dublin 1916), and Ireland: Its Saints and Scholars (Dublin 1917); also The Abbé Edgeworth (Dublin 1919); Life of Chevalier Wogan (Dublin 1922); Five Saints of France (Dublin 1937); The Sieges of Limerick (1944); appt. Irish Film Censorship Appeal Board, 1944, resigned 1954. DIW
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Works
A Memoir of the Abbé Edgeworth de Firmont (CTS 1919) [pamph.; copy in Library of Herbert Bell, Belfast]; Ireland: Its Saints and Scholars [edn.] (Dublin: Talbot Press; London: T. Fischer Unwin Ltd. 1922), q.pp.
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Quotations
Ireland: Its Saints and Scholars [edn.] (1922 Edn.) - on The Book of Kells: ‘The art of illumination was the first to be cultivated in ancient Ireland, and it was brought to a higher level of perfection than any of the other arts. The design and ornamentation used is not entirely of native origin, but the Irish school is distinctive from Celtic work elsewhere by a fine judgement displayed in the use of ornamentation, a delicate and refined taste and a knowledge of architectural design.’ (p.107.)
Further: ‘The first art, that of the scribe, was carried to a state of perfection in Christian Ireland that has never been surpassed. [...] The symmetry of their handwriting is remarkable and the shading and tinting of the letters is managed with the greatest skill and taste. [...]. A distinguished German critic, Ferdinand Keller, states that there is not a single letter of the entire alphabet which does not give evidence both in its general form or minuter parts, of the sound judgement and taste of the penman.’ (Ibid., p.109.)
‘It should be remembered that there was a native art in Ireland even before Christianity came to the country, and that the pagan Irish had highly developed the art of working in bronze, silver, gold, and enamel before St. Patrick’s time.’ (Ibid., 105; the foregoing quoted in Jonathan McCreedy, UU Diss. 2012.)
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