2009 Press Releases
UCC’s Boole Library acquires Seán O’Faoláin Collection
16.07.2009
UCC has acquired correspondence papers of Irish writer, Seán O’Faoláin. The letters contain correspondence between Seán O’Faoláin and solicitor, Major Gerald F. Fox, while O’Faoláin was undertaking research for his book, Newman’s Way in 1952.
16.07.2009
UCC has acquired correspondence papers of Irish writer, Seán O’Faoláin. The letters contain correspondence between Seán O’Faoláin and solicitor, Major Gerald F. Fox, while O’Faoláin was undertaking research for his book, Newman’s Way in 1952.
Correspondence continued for several years after the publication of the book. The letters were donated by Eddie Fox, son of Major Fox, following the death of his father.
Born in Cork in 1900, John Whelan was the son of poor, morally conservative but ambitious parents. Influenced by his first mentor, the writer Daniel Corkery, he embraced the Irish political rebellion. Whelan adopted the Irish version of his name in 1918. As Seán O’Faoláin, he joined the Irish Volunteers’ during the War of Independence, and fought on the Anti-Treaty side during the Civil War. Reacting to the staid and narrow-minded country that emerged in the post-independence years, O’Faoláin became one of the Free State’s most vigorous critics. Challenging what he saw as a church-dominated state culture, and the forms of traditional beliefs that he thought were preventing the modernisation of Ireland, O’Faoláin began a lifelong intellectual confrontation with these dominant forces in Irish social and political affairs. His prolific output of short stories, novels, reviews, articles, and biographies of important figures in Irish history were always informed by this critical viewpoint. He also co-founded The Bell with his fellow writers, Frank O’Connor and Denis Johnston; The Bell, which O’Faoláin edited between 1940 and 1946, would go on to became a significant and influential literary journal in mid-twentieth-century Ireland. Remembered now as one of the most important writers in modern Irish fiction, he passed away in 1991.
During the writing of the book, Newman’s Way, a biography of Cardinal John Henry Newman, O’Faoláin contacted Major Gerald F. Fox, a solicitor in the Town Clerk’s Office of Tenby in Wales, seeking information on the Cardinal’s family connections. Thus began a lengthy correspondence, with Major Fox undertaking research on behalf of O’Faoláin for the Newman book as well as for O’Faoláin’s other literary interests.
The letters which crossed the Irish Sea from Dublin where O’Faoláin was based, to Tenby, offer a fascinating insight into the mind of an author at work, and the creative process. Following the death of Major Fox and the distribution of his effects amongst his family, the letters began the next leg of their extraordinary journey, being taken by his son, Eddie Fox, to New Zealand where he had emigrated. Recognising the historical importance of the letters, Mr Fox got in touch with the Munster Literature Centre in Cork. Pat Cotter, Director of the Centre, in turn contacted Hilary Lennon, the Frank O’Connor Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of English, UCC. UCC Library confirmed its delight in accepting this generously donated collection when it was formally offered to them.
Commenting on the donation, UCC Librarian John FitzGerald noted: “It is extremely heartening in these times of cutbacks and shrinking budgets that there are people such as Eddie Fox willing to donate important collections to our institutions for the wider good. We are very grateful indeed to Mr Fox for his care of the collection and his generosity in donating it.”
The O’Faoláin/Fox correspondence joins many other literary collections held in UCC’s Boole Library. Most especially, they complement the Library’s substantial holdings relating to O’Faolain’s friend, Frank O’Connor, their mentor, Daniel Corkery, and the O’Faoláin/John Kelleher correspondence.
Full details of all UCC Library’s archival collections are available on the internet at http://www.booleweb.ie Details of access procedures for non UCC staff and students can also be found there.
Pictured at the announcement of the acquisition were: Mr John FitzGerald, Librarian, UCC, Dr Hilary Lennon, Department of English, UCC, Crónán Ó Doibhlin, Head of Special Collections, Archives and Repository Services and Emer Twomey, Boole Library, UCC.
1175MMcS
Born in Cork in 1900, John Whelan was the son of poor, morally conservative but ambitious parents. Influenced by his first mentor, the writer Daniel Corkery, he embraced the Irish political rebellion. Whelan adopted the Irish version of his name in 1918. As Seán O’Faoláin, he joined the Irish Volunteers’ during the War of Independence, and fought on the Anti-Treaty side during the Civil War. Reacting to the staid and narrow-minded country that emerged in the post-independence years, O’Faoláin became one of the Free State’s most vigorous critics. Challenging what he saw as a church-dominated state culture, and the forms of traditional beliefs that he thought were preventing the modernisation of Ireland, O’Faoláin began a lifelong intellectual confrontation with these dominant forces in Irish social and political affairs. His prolific output of short stories, novels, reviews, articles, and biographies of important figures in Irish history were always informed by this critical viewpoint. He also co-founded The Bell with his fellow writers, Frank O’Connor and Denis Johnston; The Bell, which O’Faoláin edited between 1940 and 1946, would go on to became a significant and influential literary journal in mid-twentieth-century Ireland. Remembered now as one of the most important writers in modern Irish fiction, he passed away in 1991.
During the writing of the book, Newman’s Way, a biography of Cardinal John Henry Newman, O’Faoláin contacted Major Gerald F. Fox, a solicitor in the Town Clerk’s Office of Tenby in Wales, seeking information on the Cardinal’s family connections. Thus began a lengthy correspondence, with Major Fox undertaking research on behalf of O’Faoláin for the Newman book as well as for O’Faoláin’s other literary interests.
The letters which crossed the Irish Sea from Dublin where O’Faoláin was based, to Tenby, offer a fascinating insight into the mind of an author at work, and the creative process. Following the death of Major Fox and the distribution of his effects amongst his family, the letters began the next leg of their extraordinary journey, being taken by his son, Eddie Fox, to New Zealand where he had emigrated. Recognising the historical importance of the letters, Mr Fox got in touch with the Munster Literature Centre in Cork. Pat Cotter, Director of the Centre, in turn contacted Hilary Lennon, the Frank O’Connor Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of English, UCC. UCC Library confirmed its delight in accepting this generously donated collection when it was formally offered to them.
Commenting on the donation, UCC Librarian John FitzGerald noted: “It is extremely heartening in these times of cutbacks and shrinking budgets that there are people such as Eddie Fox willing to donate important collections to our institutions for the wider good. We are very grateful indeed to Mr Fox for his care of the collection and his generosity in donating it.”
The O’Faoláin/Fox correspondence joins many other literary collections held in UCC’s Boole Library. Most especially, they complement the Library’s substantial holdings relating to O’Faolain’s friend, Frank O’Connor, their mentor, Daniel Corkery, and the O’Faoláin/John Kelleher correspondence.
Full details of all UCC Library’s archival collections are available on the internet at http://www.booleweb.ie Details of access procedures for non UCC staff and students can also be found there.
Pictured at the announcement of the acquisition were: Mr John FitzGerald, Librarian, UCC, Dr Hilary Lennon, Department of English, UCC, Crónán Ó Doibhlin, Head of Special Collections, Archives and Repository Services and Emer Twomey, Boole Library, UCC.
1175MMcS