Life
?1800-1853 [var. 1863 in DIW; PI corrects to 1862 Frederick
Boase, Modern English Biography which gives obit as 7 Sept. 1853];
b. Castlebar, Co. Mayo; became schoolteacher and lived in Castlebar, author
of four novels about historical life in Connaught, set predominantly in
the eighteenth-century, and involving the activities of Dublin priesthunters
viz., Legends of Connaught, Tales (1829), Connaught, A Tale
of 1798 (1830), both anonymously; Everard, An Irish Tale
of 19th century (1835), published by subscription, dealing with
Ribbonmen in Connaught during Tithe War; young man of good family come
down in the world, inveigled into the secret movement by Connor Coleman
for the veneer of respectability; Shawn na Soggarth, The Priest-Hunter
(1844), reprinted by Duffy as The Priest Hunter (1844); a sectarian
tragedy enjoining ‘mutual forbearance,’ set in W. Mayo during
Penal Times, highlighting ‘worst aspects of the Penal Code’;
concerns efforts of priesthunter John Mullowney to catch Fr. Bernard Kilger,
returned from Portugal, and his nephew Friar Bourke of Claregalway; schemes
long baffled by pedlar John McCann; tragic fate overtakes Fr. Kilger and
retribution overtakes Shawn; died ‘in destitute circumstances’;
fugitive verse, some of which is preserved in parts of the novels themselves.
IF MKA RAF SUTH OCIL PI DIL
[ top ]
Works
Legends of Connaught, Tales (Dublin: J. Cumming 1829), pp. xv.
406, 8o.; Connaught: A Tale of 1798 (Dublin: J. Taafe for M. Archdeacon
1830), pp.394 .; Everard: An Irish Tale of 19th Century, 3 vols.
(Dublin: J. Taafe for M. Archdeacon 1835), 442pp.; Shawn na Soggarth,
The Priest-Hunter (Dublin: M. Archdeacon 1844), then as The Priest
Hunter (Dublin: James Duffy & Sons 1844; reprinted 1862).
[ top ]
Notes
Stephen Brown, Ireland in Fiction (Dublin: Maunsel 1919),
lists Legends of Connaught, Tales [&c] (Dublin: John
Cumming 1829), Connaught, A Tale of 1798 (1830), pp.394 [printed
for M. Archdeacon], Everard, An Irish Tale of 19th Century, 2 vols.
(1835), 442pp., dealing with Ribbonmen in Connaught during Tithe War;
young man of good family come down in the world, inveigled into the secret
movement by Connor Coleman for the veneer of respectability; Shawn
na Soggarth, The Priest Hunter (Dublin: Duffy 1844), set in W. Mayo
during Penal Times, highlighting ‘worst aspects of the Penal Code’;
concerns efforts of priesthunter John Mullowney to catch Fr. Bernard Kilger,
returned from Portugal, and his nephew Friar Bourke of Claregalway; schemes
long baffled by pedlar John McCann; tragic fate overtakes Fr. Kilger and
retribution overtakes Shawn.
British Library holds [1] Everard: An Irish tale of the nineteenth century. By the author of ‘Connaught in 1798’ [i.e. M. Archdeacon].. Dublin: M. Archdeacon 1835. 2 vol.: iv, 422pp. 8o. [2] The Priest Hunter: an Irish tale of the penal times. vi. 367pp. James Duffy: Dublin, 1862. 16o. [3] Connaught, a tale of 1798. [By Matthew Archdeacon.]. 394pp. M. Archdeacon: Dublin, 1830. 8o. [4] Legends of Connaught, Irish stories, &c. &c. By the author of ‘Connaught in 1798’ [i.e. Matthew Archdeacon].. pp. xv. 406. John Cumming: Dublin, 1839. 8o.
[ top ]
Princess Grace Irish Library (Monaco)