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Maurice Walsh
Maurice Walsh (2 May 1879 – 18 February 1964) was an Irish novelist, now best known for his short story "The Quiet Man", later made into the Oscar-winning film The Quiet Man, directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. He was one of Ireland's best-selling authors in the 1930s.
A new musical based on his novel, Castle Gillian, was adapted by Victor Kazan (Book & Lyrics), Kevin Purcell (Music). Castle Gillian: An Irish Tale had its world-premiere in Dublin at the Smock Alley Theatre, 25-26 April 2025 presented by Entr'acte produced in association with Quill & Quaver Associates.
Maurice Walsh was born on or about 21 April 1879, in the townland of Ballydonoghue, near Lisselton, County Kerry, Ireland. He was the third of ten children and the first son born to John Walsh, a local farmer, and his wife, Elizabeth Buckley, who lived in a three-roomed thatched farmhouse.
His father was politically involved in the National Land League but his main interests were books and horses and he employed others to work the farm. One of these farmhands was called Paddy Bawn Enright, whose name was later used in the short story "The Quiet Man", although it was changed for the movie version. John Walsh passed on to his son a love of books, as well as Irish legends and folk tales and the theory of place which features in much of his work.
Walsh produced some 20 novels, plus a large number of short stories, many set in Scotland or the West of Ireland and containing a mix of drama and romance. Much of his work invoked a rural Ireland that was fast disappearing in the 1930s and while little read today, at the time they proved immensely popular, being translated into Italian, Danish, French, German and Flemish.
In 1908, he married Caroline Begg, always referred to by her nickname "Toshon", who came from Dufftown, Banffshire, in Scotland; they had three sons, Ian, Neil and Maurice, and two daughters, Molly and Elizabeth, both of whom died young. One of his grandsons is Irish painter Manus Walsh. Caroline predeceased him in January 1941; Walsh himself died on February 18, 1964, in Blackrock, Dublin, and was buried in the Esker cemetery at Lucan, Dublin. The then President of Ireland, Éamon de Valera, attended his funeral Mass.
Walsh went to school in nearby Lisselton, later attending St Michael's College in Listowel to prepare for the Civil Service examination. He entered the Customs and Excise Service in 1901 as an Assistant Revenue Officer and after an initial posting in Limerick, was sent to Scotland; with the exception of 1909-1913 when he was based in Ireland, he spent much of his British service in the Highlands, where his job involved monitoring whisky distilleries in Speyside. This was where he met Scots novelist Neil Gunn, who also worked in the Excise Service and became a close friend.
In 1908, Walsh sold two stories to the Irish Emerald, a Dublin magazine containing a mix of stories by Irish writers with articles on Irish history and language. In 1912, this combined with The Shamrock to form The Shamrock and Irish Emerald before folding in 1919. One of these stories was "Eudmon Blake; or, The sack of Athenree", which he later used as the basis for his 1932 novel Blackcock's Feather.
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Maurice Walsh
Maurice Walsh (2 May 1879 – 18 February 1964) was an Irish novelist, now best known for his short story "The Quiet Man", later made into the Oscar-winning film The Quiet Man, directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. He was one of Ireland's best-selling authors in the 1930s.
A new musical based on his novel, Castle Gillian, was adapted by Victor Kazan (Book & Lyrics), Kevin Purcell (Music). Castle Gillian: An Irish Tale had its world-premiere in Dublin at the Smock Alley Theatre, 25-26 April 2025 presented by Entr'acte produced in association with Quill & Quaver Associates.
Maurice Walsh was born on or about 21 April 1879, in the townland of Ballydonoghue, near Lisselton, County Kerry, Ireland. He was the third of ten children and the first son born to John Walsh, a local farmer, and his wife, Elizabeth Buckley, who lived in a three-roomed thatched farmhouse.
His father was politically involved in the National Land League but his main interests were books and horses and he employed others to work the farm. One of these farmhands was called Paddy Bawn Enright, whose name was later used in the short story "The Quiet Man", although it was changed for the movie version. John Walsh passed on to his son a love of books, as well as Irish legends and folk tales and the theory of place which features in much of his work.
Walsh produced some 20 novels, plus a large number of short stories, many set in Scotland or the West of Ireland and containing a mix of drama and romance. Much of his work invoked a rural Ireland that was fast disappearing in the 1930s and while little read today, at the time they proved immensely popular, being translated into Italian, Danish, French, German and Flemish.
In 1908, he married Caroline Begg, always referred to by her nickname "Toshon", who came from Dufftown, Banffshire, in Scotland; they had three sons, Ian, Neil and Maurice, and two daughters, Molly and Elizabeth, both of whom died young. One of his grandsons is Irish painter Manus Walsh. Caroline predeceased him in January 1941; Walsh himself died on February 18, 1964, in Blackrock, Dublin, and was buried in the Esker cemetery at Lucan, Dublin. The then President of Ireland, Éamon de Valera, attended his funeral Mass.
Walsh went to school in nearby Lisselton, later attending St Michael's College in Listowel to prepare for the Civil Service examination. He entered the Customs and Excise Service in 1901 as an Assistant Revenue Officer and after an initial posting in Limerick, was sent to Scotland; with the exception of 1909-1913 when he was based in Ireland, he spent much of his British service in the Highlands, where his job involved monitoring whisky distilleries in Speyside. This was where he met Scots novelist Neil Gunn, who also worked in the Excise Service and became a close friend.
In 1908, Walsh sold two stories to the Irish Emerald, a Dublin magazine containing a mix of stories by Irish writers with articles on Irish history and language. In 1912, this combined with The Shamrock to form The Shamrock and Irish Emerald before folding in 1919. One of these stories was "Eudmon Blake; or, The sack of Athenree", which he later used as the basis for his 1932 novel Blackcock's Feather.