Alice Furlong
Alice Furlong (26 November 1866 – 1946) was an Irish writer, poet and political activist who also worked on Irish publications with Douglas Hyde (later President of Ireland).
Alice Furlong | |
---|---|
Born | Old Bawn, County Dublin | November 26, 1866
Died | 1946 |
Occupation | Writer, poet, Political activist |
Language | Irish, English |
Nationality | Irish |
Education | Dr Steevens' Hospital |
Literary movement | Inghinidhe na hÉireann |
Life
She was born at Old Bawn, near Tallaght, County Dublin, the daughter of John Furlong, a sporting journalist. She trained as a nurse in Dr Steevens' Hospital. In the 1890s her father was injured in a race-course accident and ended up in her ward, where he died shortly afterwards, and her mother died two months later.[1] Her first literary contributions were to the Irish Monthly at age 16.[2]
In 1899 she published Roses and Rue, favourably reviewed by Stopford Brooke and others, and in 1907 Tales of Fairy Folk and Queens and Heroes. Her verse appeared in several anthologies.[2] She contributed to several journals, including the Irish Monthly, the Weekly Freeman, Chambers's Journal and the nationalist Shan Van Vocht, run by Alice Milligan and Anna Johnston (Ethna Carbery).[3] After 1916 she started studying Irish, and in the 1920s published poems in Irish and translated from Irish, and added the Irish Press to the journals she contributed to.[4]
In 1900 she was a founder-member of Inghinidhe na hÉireann, the revolutionary women's organisation led by Maud Gonne. She was elected a vice-president of the association, along with Jenny Wyse Power, Annie Egan and Anna Johnston.[5]
Two of her sisters, Katherine and Mary, also wrote poetry, but died young, while another sister, Margaret, married the songwriter P. J. McCall.
References
- Matthew Russell, Poets I have Known: VIII: Alice Furlong, The Irish Monthly, Vol. 36, No. 421 (July 1908), pp. 389-398
- Ricorso
- Karen Margaret Steele, Women, press, and politics during the Irish revival. Syracuse University Press, 2007. p. 30
- Little, Arthur (April 1947). "Lest We Forget Alice Furlong". The Irish Monthly. Irish Province of the Society of Jesus. 75 (886). JSTOR 20515632.
- Coxhead: Daughters of Erin, Five Women of the Irish Renaissance. p. 44