Rosa Mulholland

Rosa Mulholland (1841-1921), from Poetry and Song of Ireland, 1887. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Rosa Mulholland, Lady Gilbert, (1841 - 1921) was an Irish poet, novelist, and playwright.

Life

Mulholland was born in Belfast, the daughter of Dr. Joseph Stevenson Mulholland of Newry. She spent some years in a remote mountainous part of the West of Ireland after the death of her father. She originally wished to become a painter, but in her early literary life she received much help and encouragement from Charles Dickens, who highly valued her work as a writer and persuaded her to continue. Her first novel was Dumana (1864), written under the pen-name Ruth Murray.

Among her female friends with whom she shared many interests were Sarah Atkinson and Charlotte O'Conor Eccles.

In 1891 she married Sir John Thomas Gilbert, the Dublin antiquary and historian. They lived at Villa Nova, Blackrock, co. Dublin. She became Lady Gilbert on his knighthood in 1897.

She produced a great number of novels, and wrote a biography of her husband in 1905. She died in Dublin in 1921.

Publications

Poetry

• Dreams and Realities. London & Edinburgh: Sands, 1916.

Novels

• Dunmara (as “Ruth Murray”). London: Smith Elder 1864
  • also published as The Story of Ellen. London: Burns & Oates, 1907; New York: Benziger, 1907.
• Hester’s History (anonymous). (2 volumes),.(London: Chapman & Hall, 1869.r
• The Wicked Woods of Toobereevil. (2 volumes), London: Chapman & Hall, 1872; London: Burnes & Oates, 1897.
• The Wild Birds of Killeevy. London: Burns & Oates, 1883.
• Marcella Grace: An Irish novel. London: Kegan Paul, 1886; New York: Harper, 1886; London: Elkin Mathews, 1899.
• A Fair Emigrant. London: Kegan Paul, 1888.
• Nanno: A daughter of the state. London: Grant Richards 1899.
• Onora. London: Grant Richards, 1900
  • also published as Norah of Waterford. London & Edinburgh: Sands, 1915.
• Cynthia’s Bonnet Shop (illustrated by G. Demain Hammond). London: Blackie, 1900.
• The Squire’s Grand-Daughter[s]. London: Burns & Oates / New York: Benziger, 1903.
• A Girl’s Ideal. London: Blackie, 1905.
• The Tragedy of Chris: The story of a Dublin flower-girl. London & Edinburgh: Sands, 1902, 1925.
• Our Sister Maisie (illustrated by G. Demain Hammond). London: Blackie, 1907.
• The Return of Mary O’Murrough. Edinburgh & London: Sands, 1908, 1910.
• Spirit and Dust. London: Elkin Mathews, 1908.
• Father Tim. London & Edinburgh: Sands, 1910.
• The O’Shaughnessy Girls. London: Blackie, 1911, 1933.
• Fair Noreen: The story of a girl of character. London: Blackie, 1912; ,1925, 1945.
• Twin Sisters: An Irish tale. London: Blackie, 1913.
• Old School Friends: A tale of modern life. London: Blackie, 1914, 1925, 1940. wr
• The Daughter in Possession: The story of a great temptation. London: Blackie, 1915.
• Narcissa’s Ring. London: Blackie, 1916, 1926.
• O’Loughlin of Clare. London & Edinburgh: Sands, 1916.

Play

• Our Boycotting: A miniature comedy. Dublin: Gill, 1907. [called a play by Hogan];

Short fiction

• Our Own Story, and other tales. London: CTS, 1896. .
• The Haunted Organist of Hurly Burly, and other stories. [The Idle Hours Series], 1891.
• Marigold, and other stories. Dublin: Eason, 1894)
  • also published as The Marigold Series of Tales. Dublin: Catholic Truth Society, [1911?]

Non-fiction

• ‘Wanted an Irish Novelist’, in Irish Monthly, 19 (July 1891), pp.368-73*.
• Life of Sir John Gilbert. London: Longman, 1905.

Juvenile

• Eldergowan; or, Twelve months of my life, and other tales. London: Marcus Ward, 1874.
• Five Little Farmers. London: Marcus Ward, 1875.
• Puck and Blossom: A fairy tale. London: Marcus Ward / Belfast: Royal Ulster Works, 1879.
• Four Little Mischiefs. London: Blackie, 1883.
• Hetty Gray; or, Nobody’s bairn. London: Blackie, 1884.
• Prince and Saviour: The story of Jesus. Dublin: Gill, 1885.
• The Walking Trees, and other tales. Dublin: Gill, 1885.
• The Late Miss Hollingford. London: Blackie, 1886; NY: G. Munro (Seaside Library No.921), 1887.
• Giannetta: A girl’s story of herself. London: Blackie, 1889, 1901, 1925.
• The Mystery of Hall-in-the-Wood. London: Sunday School Union, 1893.
• Banshee Castle. London: Blackie, 1895
  • also published as The Girls of Banshee Castle. London: Blackie & Son, 1925.
• Terry; or, She ought to have been a boy (illustrated by E.A. Cabitt). London: Blackie 1902.
• Cousin Sara: A story of arts and crafts. London: Blackie, 1909.
• The Cranberry Claimants. London: Sands, 1913.

Edited

• Gems for the Young from Favourite Poets. Dublin: Gill, 1884.
• The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. 1886
• Fifty-Two Stories of Girl-Life at Home and Abroad. 1894.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Ricorso..

See also

• List of Irish poets

External links

Poems

• "The Wild Geese"
• Mulholland in A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895: "Love and Death," "Sister Mary of the Love of God"

Books

• Works by Rosa Mulholland at Project Gutenberg

Audio / video

• File:Speaker Icon.svg Rosa Mulholland public domain audiobooks from LibriVox

About

• Rosa Mulholland (1841-1921) at Ricorso