Séamus Ó Néill, was a versatile Irish writer from Clarkhill, Castlewellan

Castlewellan

Castlewellan is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is beside Castlewellan Lake and Slievenaslat mountain, southwest of Downpatrick. It lies between the Mourne Mountains and Slieve Croob. It had a population of 2,392 people in the 2001 Census....

, County Down

County Down

-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. Following a primary degree from Queen's University, Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, he did historical research under Eoin MacNeill

Eoin MacNeill

Eoin MacNeill was an Irish scholar, nationalist, revolutionary and politician. MacNeill is regarded as the father of the modern study of early Irish medieval history. He was a co-founder of the Gaelic League, to preserve Irish language and culture, going on to establish the Irish Volunteers...

 at University College, Dublin. He spent periods as editor of the journals An Iris and Comhar.

The endpiece from Dánta do pháistí (Poems for Children), entitled Subh Milis (Sweet Jam), a poignant poem dedicated to his mother (subtitle: Ceann do Mhama), is one of his best-known works:

Original Bhí subh milis Ar bhaschrann an dorais Ach mhúch mé an corraí Ionam d'éirigh, Mar smaoinigh mé ar an lá A bheas an baschrann glan, Agus an láimh bheag Ar iarraidh.

Translation There was jam On the doorhandle But I suppressed the anger That rose up in me, Because I thought of the day That the doorhandle would be clean And the little hand Would be gone.

Two of his novels, Tonn Tuile and Máire Nic Artáin, dealt with marital breakdown - the latter set in the religiously divided communities of Belfast during the First World War.

Works

• An Sean-Saighdiúir agus scéalta eile (The veteran and other stories), 1945.
• An iris/eagarth (An Iris edited), 1945-1946.
• Colm Cille : drama i gceithre radharcanna (Columcill: a drama in four scenes), 1946.
• Tonn tuile (Tidal Wave), Novel, Sáirséal agus Dill, 1947.
• Dánta Poems, pre-1949;
• Iomramh an Ousel (The Voyage of the Ousel), Poems, pre-1949;
• Buaidh an Ultaigh (The Ulsterman will Win), Drama, pre-1949;
• Díolta Faoina Luach (Below-cost Sales), Drama, pre-1949;
• Ní Chuireann siad Síol (They Sow no Seed), Drama, pre-1949;
• Dánta do pháistí (Poems for Children), 1949.
• Súil timpeall (Eye Around), Essay, 1951.
• Up the Rebels, Oifig an tSoláthair, 1954. Trans. Doiminic Ó Ceallaigh.
• Ag baint fraochán : agus scéalta eile (Picking Blaeberries and other stories), 1955.
• Máire Nic Artáin (Maire McCartan), Novel, Cló Morainn, 1959.
• Iníon Rí
  Rí
  Rí, or very commonly ríg , is an ancient Gaelic word meaning "King". It is used in historical texts referring to the Irish and Scottish kings and those of similar rank. While the modern Irish word is exactly the same, in modern Scottish it is Rìgh, apparently derived from the genitive. The word...
  
   Dhún Sobhairce : tragóid trí ghníomh (The King of Dunseverick's Daughter: a tragedy in three acts), 1967.
• Faill ar an bhFeart : dráma trí ghníomh (Opportunity of a Miracle: a drama in three acts), c.1970.
• An tSiúr Pól : dráma trí ghníomh (Sister Paul: a drama in three acts), c.1973.
• Rún an Oileáin (The Secret of the Island), pub. c.1975. Staged in the Damer Hall, Dublin 5–10 June 1961.
• Iníon rí na Spáinne (The King of Spain's Daughter), 1978.

Critical and bibliographic material

• The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature, Welch, R. (ed.), The Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1996.
• A Biographical Dictionary of Irish Writers, Anne Brady & Brian Cleeve
  Brian Cleeve
  Brian Brendon Talbot Cleeve was a prolific writer, whose published works include twenty-one novels and over a hundred short stories. He was also an award-winning broadcaster on RTÉ television. Son of an Irish father and English mother, he was born and raised in England...
  
   (eds.), The Lilliput Press, 1985.
• Dictionary of Ulster Biography, in Newmann, K. (comp.), The Queen's University of Belfast, 1993.
• Séamus Ó Néill bibliography from James Hardiman Library, UCG

See also

• List of Irish writers