Bryan MacMahon Letters to Jack O'Reilly 1949-1980 MS.2003.018 https://hdl.handle.net/2345.2/MS2003-018

Archives and Manuscripts Department John J. Burns Library Boston College 140 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill 02467 library.bc.edu/burns/contact URL: http://www.bc.edu/burns Table of Contents

Summary Information ...... 3 Administrative Information ...... 4 Biographical Note: Bryan MacMahon ...... 5 Scope and Contents ...... 5 Arrangement ...... 6 Collection Inventory ...... 7

Bryan MacMahon Letters to Jack O'Reilly MS.2003.018

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Creator: MacMahon, Bryan, 1909-1998 Title: Bryan MacMahon letters to Jack O'Reilly Collection Identifier: MS.2003.018 Date [inclusive]: 1949-1980 Physical Description .25 Linear Feet (1 box) Language of the English Material: Abstract: Composed of letters from twentieth-century Irish author Bryan MacMahon to Jack O'Reilly, a collector in San Francisco. The correspondence discusses MacMahon's work, as well as political and literary topics relating to Ireland. Preferred Citation

Identification of item, Box number, Folder number, Bryan MacMahon letters to Jack O'Reilly, MS.2003.018, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Bryan MacMahon Letters to Jack O'Reilly MS.2003.018

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Publication Information Processed by Rachael Young in 2020. This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace.

Restrictions on access Collection is open for research.

Provenance Because the current accessioning system was not used until January 1986, it is not possible to know exactly the dates of acquisition of materials received before that time. However, information on file indicates that these materials were a purchase from Serendipity Books.

Restrictions on use These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.

Bryan MacMahon Letters to Jack O'Reilly MS.2003.018

- Page 4 - Biographical Note: Bryan MacMahon

Bryan MacMahon was born in , , Ireland on September 29, 1909 to Patrick and Joanna (CAughlin) MacMahon. He was educated locally at the national school and then went to St. Michael's College in Listowel. He trained as a teacher at St. Patrick's Teacher Training College in . He taught briefly in Dublin but returned to live in Listowel for the remainder of his life. In 1936 he married Kitty Ryan and they had five sons. MacMahon taught for 44 years at Scoil Réalta na Maidine (a parochial school), ran a bookstore, and during World War II worked in factories in .

MacMahon was a novelist, short-story writer, dramatist, folklorist, and collector of traditional Irish music and song. He began publishing short stories in The Bell magazine, which were collected into his first book, The Lion Tamer, in 1948. Over his career he authored ballads, children's books, fiction, poetry, travel books, and scripts for radio and television, but he was best known for his novels and short stories. His first stories "The Good Dead in the Green Hills" and "Exile's Return" were published in The Bell in 1945. Some of his other works include his autobiography The Master (1992), The Red Petticoat and Other Stories (1955), and Children of the Rainbow (1952). His novel The Honey Spike was adapted for the stage and performed at the Abbey Theater in 1961. He also helped to co-found Listowel Writers' Week in 1970. He was made a member of the Irish Academy of Letters.

He died in on February 13, 1998 at the age of 88.

Sources:

Battersby, Eileen. "Writing of Bryan MacMahon put social irony in sharp focus." The Irish Times. February 16, 1998. Accessed on May 26, 2020 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/writing-of-bryan- macmahon-put-social-irony-in-sharp-focus-1.135931

"Bryan Mac Mahon – Man of Listowel." Listowel Writers' Week. April 4, 2018. Accessed on May 26, 2020 https://writersweek.ie/bryan-mac-mahon-man-of-listowel/

Hourican, Bridget. "Macmahon, Brian Michael." Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: Royal Irish Academy, 2009.

Stringer, Jenny, and John Sutherland. "Macmahon, Bryan." The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Literature in English. Oxford University Press, 1996.

Scope and Contents

Letters from MacMahon to collector Jack O'Reilly regarding MacMahon's writing, literature in Ireland, and politics. MacMahon reflects on the conflicting time demands of his short stories, novels, and theatrical productions, as well as his work teaching. The two men share news of their families,

Bryan MacMahon Letters to Jack O'Reilly MS.2003.018

- Page 5 - remininscences of O'Reilly's forebears in Ireland, and thoughts on the perceptions of Irish politics at home and abroad.

Arrangement

Chronological.

Bryan MacMahon Letters to Jack O'Reilly MS.2003.018

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1949 March 22 Shared box folder 1 1012

1949 June 25 Shared box folder 1 1012

1950 March 10 Shared box folder 1 1012

1950 April 26 Shared box folder 1 1012

1950 December 14 Shared box folder 1 1012

1950 December 15 Shared box folder 1 1012

1951 May 5 Shared box folder 1 1012

1951 September 15 Shared box folder 1 1012

1951 December 13 Shared box folder 1 1012

(2 letters), 1951 December 17 Shared box folder 1 1012

1952 March 10 Shared box folder 1 1012

1952 March 29 Shared box folder 1 1012

1952 April 12 Shared box folder 1 1012

1952 December 16 Shared box folder 1 1012

1953 March 10 Shared box folder 1 1012

1954 March 2 Shared box folder 1 1012

1954 November 1 Shared box folder 1 1012

1955 June 9 Shared box folder 1 1012

(2 letters), 1955 July 14

Bryan MacMahon Letters to Jack O'Reilly MS.2003.018

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1955 October 15 Shared box folder 1 1012

(2 letters), 1956 March 10 Shared box folder 1 1012

(2 letters), 1956 December 15 Shared box folder 1 1012

1957 February 9 Shared box folder 1 1012

1957 February 18 Shared box folder 1 1012

1957 March 8 Shared box folder 1 1012

1957 March 9 Shared box folder 1 1012

1957 December 14 Shared box folder 1 1012

1958 March 10 Shared box folder 1 1012

1959 March 12 Shared box folder 1 1012

1959 December 17 Shared box folder 1 1012

1961 February 2 Shared box folder 2 1012

1961 October 3 Shared box folder 2 1012

1962 March 12 Shared box folder 2 1012

1964 December 17 Shared box folder 2 1012

1965 Shared box folder 2 1012

1966 December 13 Shared box folder 2 1012

1967 December 13 Shared box folder 2 1012

1970 December 20 Shared box folder 2 1012

1972 January 6

Bryan MacMahon Letters to Jack O'Reilly MS.2003.018

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1972 June 20 Shared box folder 2 1012

1972 August 18 Shared box folder 2 1012

1973 February 10 Shared box folder 2 1012

1973 February 12 Shared box folder 2 1012

1976 August 5 Shared box folder 2 1012

1978 March 3 Shared box folder 2 1012

1980 December 17 Shared box folder 2 1012

(11 letters), undated Shared box folder 2 1012

Bryan MacMahon Letters to Jack O'Reilly MS.2003.018

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