Dublin University Magazine
Encyclopedia
The Dublin University Magazine was an independent literary cultural and political magazine published in Dublin from 1833 to 1882. It started out as a magazine of political commentary but increasingly became devoted to literature.
of that year, the Tithe War
was raging in Ireland and the new Whig
government was gaining influential supporters in Trinity College, Dublin
. A number of young men associated with the College, including Isaac Butt
, John Anster (translator of Goethe's Faust) and John Francis Waller
decided to found a magazine with the objective of discussing the new developments and defending the Tories
. Although all the founders were Trinity educated, there was no official connection with the College. The first issue appeared in January 1833.
The magazine was modeled on British magazines such as Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine and Fraser's Magazine
of London, and was Protestant
and Unionist
in outlook. However, this did not preclude a keen interest in Irish life and letters. The publishers were William Curry Jun. and Company. Their agent for the magazine was a Scotsman, James McGlashan, who became the publisher himself in 1846. Its first editor was Charles Stanford
.
Part of the cultural programme of the magazine was to counter the Catholic claim to possession of a Gaelic past by showing how Protestant minds and hearts could respond to Irish literature and history.
Through the 1830s and 1840s the chief ideologist of the magazine was Mortimer O'Sullivan
, a Grand Chaplain of the Orange Order in Ireland, a role he shared with his brother Samuel. Editors during the 1840s and 1850s were James Wills
, Charles Lever
and John Francis Waller
, all of whom also contributed articles.
At its best the magazine gave encouragement, relatively generous payment and an audience ranging beyond Ireland itself to emerging writers. It shared readers and sometimes writers with British magazines and even with the Nationalist The Nation
(for example, the Young Irelander Michael Joseph Barry, a friend of Sheridan Le Fanu's brother William, who was arrested in 1848 on a charge of treason).
In 1861 Le Fanu purchased the magazine from Cheyne Brady and assumed the editorship. From then until the end of the decade he wrote a number of stories, usually under his own name, serialised in the magazine and then appearing in book form.
When Le Fanu bought the magazine the main contributors were Percy Fitzgerald and L. J. Trotter, both of whom were versatile writers. The content was fiction, verse, geographical articles, folklore, literature - very little attention to politics, if any at all. Seven years later there are some new contributors: Patrick Kennedy, a Catholic bookseller who became a good friend of Fanu's, Fanu's daughter, Eleanor Frances, and Nina Cole, but the content remained much the same. His daughter joined Nina Cole, Annie Robertson and Rhoda Broughton
(a niece) in having articles and then books published with his help.
Other authors whose works were published in the magazine included William Carleton
, Mortimer Collins
, Elliot Warburton, Thomas Meredith
, David Masson
, William Archer Butler
, James Clarence Mangan
and Samuel Ferguson
.
Early days
The year 1832 had been one of political and ecumenical upheaval: disturbances in Britain led to the Reform ActReform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...
of that year, the Tithe War
Tithe War
The Tithe War was a campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience, punctuated by sporadic violent episodes, in Ireland between 1830-36 in reaction to the enforcement of Tithes on subsistence farmers and others for the upkeep of the established state church - the Church of Ireland...
was raging in Ireland and the new Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
government was gaining influential supporters in Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
. A number of young men associated with the College, including Isaac Butt
Isaac Butt
Isaac Butt Q.C. M.P. was an Irish barrister, politician, Member of Parliament , and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist parties and organisations, including the Irish Metropolitan Conservative Society in 1836, the Home Government Association in 1870 and in 1873 the Home...
, John Anster (translator of Goethe's Faust) and John Francis Waller
John Francis Waller
John Francis Waller was an Irish poet and editor.He was born at Limerick, educated at Trinity College, Dublin and was called to the Irish Bar in 1833...
decided to found a magazine with the objective of discussing the new developments and defending the Tories
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. Although all the founders were Trinity educated, there was no official connection with the College. The first issue appeared in January 1833.
The magazine was modeled on British magazines such as Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine and Fraser's Magazine
Fraser's Magazine
Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country was a general and literary journal published in London from 1830 to 1882, which initially took a strong Tory line in politics. It was founded by Hugh Fraser and William Maginn in 1830 and loosely directed by Maginn under the name Oliver Yorke until about 1840...
of London, and was Protestant
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
and Unionist
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
in outlook. However, this did not preclude a keen interest in Irish life and letters. The publishers were William Curry Jun. and Company. Their agent for the magazine was a Scotsman, James McGlashan, who became the publisher himself in 1846. Its first editor was Charles Stanford
Charles Stanford
Charles Stanford may refer to:*Charles Villiers Stanford , Irish composer* Charles Stanford , Baptist minister...
.
Part of the cultural programme of the magazine was to counter the Catholic claim to possession of a Gaelic past by showing how Protestant minds and hearts could respond to Irish literature and history.
Through the 1830s and 1840s the chief ideologist of the magazine was Mortimer O'Sullivan
Mortimer O'Sullivan
Mortimer O'Sullivan was a Church of Ireland clergyman and member of the Orange Order.He was born a Catholic in Clonmel, County Tipperary, the son of a Catholic schoolmaster. He converted to Protestantism in boyhood and was educated as a Protestant...
, a Grand Chaplain of the Orange Order in Ireland, a role he shared with his brother Samuel. Editors during the 1840s and 1850s were James Wills
James Wills
James Wills, , was an Irish writer and poet.Wills was born in County Roscommon, the younger son of a landowner. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and studied law in the Middle Temple, London...
, Charles Lever
Charles Lever
Charles James Lever was an Irish novelist.-Biography:Lever was born in Dublin, the second son of James Lever, an architect and builder, and was educated in private schools. His escapades at Trinity College, Dublin , where he took the degree in medicine in 1831, are drawn on for the plots of some...
and John Francis Waller
John Francis Waller
John Francis Waller was an Irish poet and editor.He was born at Limerick, educated at Trinity College, Dublin and was called to the Irish Bar in 1833...
, all of whom also contributed articles.
At its best the magazine gave encouragement, relatively generous payment and an audience ranging beyond Ireland itself to emerging writers. It shared readers and sometimes writers with British magazines and even with the Nationalist The Nation
The Nation (Irish newspaper)
The Nation was an Irish nationalist weekly newspaper, published in the 19th century. The Nation was printed first at 12 Trinity Street, Dublin, on 15 October 1842, until 6 January 1844...
(for example, the Young Irelander Michael Joseph Barry, a friend of Sheridan Le Fanu's brother William, who was arrested in 1848 on a charge of treason).
Sheridan Le Fanu
Sheridan Le Fanu's first story appeared in the magazine in January 1835, the first of twelve instalments of the Purcell Papers, called The Ghost and the Bonesetter. His sister Catherine, who was sickly, also had articles published in the magazine a few years later (she died in 1841). In March and April 1843 he contributed Spalatro, the tale of an Italian bandit, probably influenced by the death of his sister. Next to appear in the magazine were The Mysterious Lodger, anonymously, in 1850 and Ghost Stories of Chapelizod the following year.In 1861 Le Fanu purchased the magazine from Cheyne Brady and assumed the editorship. From then until the end of the decade he wrote a number of stories, usually under his own name, serialised in the magazine and then appearing in book form.
When Le Fanu bought the magazine the main contributors were Percy Fitzgerald and L. J. Trotter, both of whom were versatile writers. The content was fiction, verse, geographical articles, folklore, literature - very little attention to politics, if any at all. Seven years later there are some new contributors: Patrick Kennedy, a Catholic bookseller who became a good friend of Fanu's, Fanu's daughter, Eleanor Frances, and Nina Cole, but the content remained much the same. His daughter joined Nina Cole, Annie Robertson and Rhoda Broughton
Rhoda Broughton
Rhoda Broughton was a novelist.-Life:Rhoda Broughton was born in Denbigh in North Wales on 29 November 1840. She was the daughter of the Rev. Delves Broughton youngest son of the Rev. Sir Henry Delves-Broughton, 8th baronet. She developed a taste for literature, especially poetry, as a young girl...
(a niece) in having articles and then books published with his help.
Other authors whose works were published in the magazine included William Carleton
William Carleton
William Carleton was an Irish novelist.Carleton's father was a Roman Catholic tenant farmer, who supported fourteen children on as many acres, and young Carleton passed his early life among scenes similar to those he later described in his books...
, Mortimer Collins
Mortimer Collins
Mortimer Collins was an English writer and novelist. He was born at Plymouth, where his father, Francis Collins, was a solicitor. He was educated at a private school, and after some years spent as mathematical master at Elizabeth College, Guernsey, he relocated to London...
, Elliot Warburton, Thomas Meredith
Thomas Meredith
The Rev. Dr Thomas Meredith D.D., F.T.C.D. was an Anglo-Irish clergyman and mathematician, best remembered for his association with the poet Charles Wolfe, and as the subject of a ghost story related in True Irish Ghost Stories and Memorials to the Dead-Background:Born at Templerany House, Co...
, David Masson
David Masson
David Masson , was a Scottish writer.He was born in Aberdeen, and educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and at Marischal College, University of Aberdeen. Intending to enter the Church, he proceeded to Edinburgh University, where he studied theology under Dr Thomas Chalmers, with whom he remained...
, William Archer Butler
William Archer Butler
William Archer Butler was an Irish historian of philosophy.-Life:He was born at Annerville, near Clonmel in Ireland. His father was a Protestant, his mother a Roman Catholic, and he was brought up as a Catholic. As a boy he was imaginative and poetical, and some of his early verses were...
, James Clarence Mangan
James Clarence Mangan
James Clarence Mangan, born James Mangan was an Irish poet.-Early life:Mangan was the son of a former hedge school teacher who took over a grocery business and eventually became bankrupt....
and Samuel Ferguson
Samuel Ferguson
Sir Samuel Ferguson was an Irish poet, barrister, antiquarian, artist and public servant. Perhaps the most important Ulster-Scot poet of the 19th century, because of his interest in Irish mythology and early Irish history he can be seen as a forerunner of William Butler Yeats and the other poets...
.