A Critical Reappraisal of the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony

Fergus Dunne received his Ph.D. in Anglo-Irish literature at the University of Sussex. His dissertation presented a critical reappraisal of the texts and contexts of Francis Sylvester Mahony. He has published several articles on various aspects of Mahony’s literary and journalistic careers in international peer-reviewed journals.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Biographical Overview

Section 1.

1. Centrally Peripheral, Peripherally Central: The "Prout Papers" of Francis Sylvester Mahony

William Maginn, Cork, and Fraser’s Magazine

The "Prout Papers"

Mahony and O’Connell

Classicism and Cultural Continuity

Peripheral Considerations?

Conclusion

2. "Oppression Makes a Wise Man Mad": Representations of Jonathan Swift in the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony

Economic Patriot?

Fictional Considerations: Sincerity and Irony

Conclusion

3. "Attaining Majority" in the Celtic Peripheries: Francis Sylvester Mahony, Walter Scott, and "The Groves of Blarney"

"A Plea for Pilgrimages"

Antiquarianism and Narrative History

"The Groves of Blarney"

Conclusion

4. The Politics of Translation in "The Rogueries of Thomas Moore"

Moore as Nationalist Commentator

(Mis)representing the Irish Past

The Politicization of Historical Discourse

Equivalence and Politicized Translation

Conclusion

5. "Custom Doth Make Dotards of Us All": Peripheral Perspectives on the Center in the "Prout Papers" and Sartor Resartus

Mahony, Carlyle, and Sartor Resartus

Intercultural Dialogue: Scottish and Irish Correlations

Translating the Center and Periphery

Cultural Translation

Conclusion

Section 2.

6. "From Cork […] to St. Peter’s Cupola": The Idea of Italy in the Writings of Francis Sylvester Mahony

Mahony and The Daily News

Allegorizing Italian History

"The Fag End of an Old Reign"

"Unfurling the Banner of Reform"

Mahony, Young Ireland, and Roman Republicanism

Conclusion

7. "The Independent Expression of Public Opinion": The Paris Correspondence of Francis Sylvester Mahony

The Globe Correspondence in Context

Parisian Letters

Ultramontanism in France

Mahony and Archbishop Cullen

Progressive Liberalism and Fenian Republicanism

Conclusion

Section 3.

8. Fragments, Politics, and "The Bells of Shandon"

Literary and Local Contexts

"The Bells of Shandon"

Critical Reception

Conclusion

9. "Shameful Literary Traditions": Daniel Corkery and the Literary Reputation of Francis Sylvester Mahony

Nineteenth-Century Perspectives

Irish-Ireland, Daniel Corkery, and Literary Expatriation

Interpreting Mahony after Synge and Anglo-Irish Literature

Conclusion

10. Cosmopolitanism in the Margins: Francis Sylvester Mahony, James Clarence Mangan, and the Author-Translator in Nineteenth-Century Irish Literature

Mahony and Mangan as Irish Catholic Magazinists

Indirection and Pseudonymous Authorship

Parodic Translation and Literary Paternity

Conclusion