John Francis O'Donnell
John Francis O'Donnell (c. 1837 – 17 May 1874) was an Irish journalist and poet.
Life
O'Donnell was born in the city of Limerick, the son of a shopkeeper, and was educated by the Christian Brothers. In his seventeenth year, having acquired a knowledge of shorthand, he joined as a reporter the staff of The Munster News, a bi-weekly paper published in Limerick. At the same time he began to contribute verse to The Nation, the organ of the Young Ireland party, and continued to write prose and poetry for it until his death, twenty years later.[1]
After spending two years as reporter on The Munster News, O'Donnell was appointed sub-editor on The Tipperary Examiner, published in
Dublin, and return to London
In 1862 O'Donnell joined in Dublin the editorial staff of The Nation, then edited by
In September 1873 O'Donnell obtained an appointment in the London office of the agent-general of New Zealand. He died, after a brief illness, on 7 May 1874, aged 37, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London.[1]
Publications
Absorbed in journalism, O'Donnell found little time for purely literary work. The Emerald Wreath, a collection of his prose and verse, published in Dublin as a Christmas annual in 1865, and Memories of the Irish Franciscans, a volume of verse (1871), were his only substantial contributions to literature. Under the auspices of the Southwark Irish Literary Society, O'Donnell's poems were published in 1891, and his grave was marked by a Celtic cross.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e MacDonagh, Michael (1895). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 440–441. . In
Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: MacDonagh, Michael (1895). "O'Donnell, John Francis". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 440–441.
External links
- "Who was John Francis O'Donnell?" in Limerick's Life