Seumas MacManus

Seumas MacManus (1869–1960) was an Irish author, dramatist, and poet known for his ability to reinterpret Irish folktales for modern audiences.^[1] Born into a poor farming family in Mountcharles, County Donegal, he became a teacher, and in the 1890s began contributing articles and stories to newspapers in the US.

In 1901 he married the Antrim poet, balladeer and publisher Ethna Carbery, daughter of a Fenian and one of the founders of feminist nationalist organisation Inghinidhe na hÉireann, and they moved in together in Revlin House in Donegal. Carbery died the following year of gastritis, aged 35. MacManus published her hugely successful work for many years after her death. In 1911 in Manhattan, New York, he married Catalina Violante Paez (granddaughter of General Jose Antonio Paez, President of Venezuela).

Seamus MacManus is considered by many to be the last great seanchaí, or storyteller of the ancient oral tradition. He wrote down and interpreted traditional stories so that they would not be lost to future generations. In one book he encourages the reader to read the stories aloud and to others. "These tales were made not for reading, but for telling. They were made and told for the passing of long nights, for the shortening of weary journeys, for entertaining of traveler-guests, for brightening of cabin hearths. Be not content with reading them… And grateful be to the shanachies who passed these tales to me, for you - Sean O'Hegarty, Mairghid Burns, Eoghain O'Cuinn, and the Bacach Ruadh. May God grant their souls rest." Archived recordings of MacManus reading his stories exist in Notre Dame and Seton Hall, and some of his books are available for download on the Internet Archive.

Quotes

• Many a man's tongue broke his nose.
  • [https://books.google.com/books?id=JQzgAAAAMAAJ&q="Many+a+man's+tongue+broke+his+nose" Heavy Hangs the Golden Grain] (1950)

Works

• In Chimney Corners: Merry Tales of Irish Folk‐lore (1899)
• The Bewitched Fiddle and Other Irish Tales (1900)
• Donegal Fairy Stories (1900)
• Lo, and Behold Ye (1905)
• Tales that Were Told (1920)
• The Story of the Irish Race: A Popular History of Ireland (1921) (4th revised edition came out in 1944)
• The Donegal Wonder Book (1926)
• Lad of the O'Friels (1945)
• The Rocky Road to Dublin (1947)
• Tales from Ireland (1949)
• Heavy Hangs the Golden Grain (1950)
• The Bold Heroes of Hungry Hill, and Other Irish Folk Tales (1951)
• The Little Mistress of the Eskar Mor (1960)
• Doctor Kilgannon
• Yourself and the Neighbors
• Dark Patrick
• The Red Poocher
• Ballads of a Country Boy
• Top O' the Mornin'
• The Well O' the World's End
• We Sang for Ireland
• Sinn Fein - an article in the North American Review' vol. 185, no.621 on August 16th 1907'^[2]

Short Stories

• The Curse of the Heretic (1910)
• 5 Minutes a Millionaire (1911)

Notes