Fergus O'Connor (publisher) explained
| Fergus O'Connor |
| Birth Place: | Cork, Ireland |
| Death Date: | 12 August 1952 |
| Death Place: | Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation: | Publisher |
| Notable Works: | Fergus O'Connor Collection at the National Library of Ireland |
Fergus O'Connor (–12 August 1952) was an Irish publisher and supporter of Irish Independence. Born in Cork, but working mostly in Dublin, he was imprisoned for his role in support of the 1916 Easter Rising. He later printed several early works of Seán O'Casey. The National Library of Ireland holds a collection of his photographic images.
Life
O'Connor was born in Cork 1876, later moving to Dublin where he operated a publishing business from Eccles Street.
According to his military pension record, O'Connor was a member of the 1st Dublin Battalion of the Irish Volunteers, and he is described in some sources as a "1916 veteran". He printed and published nationalist postcards and other materials, a number of which were seized when O'Connor's premises were raided by the Dublin Castle authorities in the aftermath of the 1916 Rising. Arrested for his role in the Rising, O'Connor was interned in England, first in Dartmoor Prison in 1916, and subsequently in Lewes Prison in 1917. Upon his release from prison, he returned to Cork in June 1917 where he (along with fellow prisoners Thomas Hunter, David Kent, Diarmuid Lynch, Liam Tobin and J. J. Walsh) were met by an "enthusiastic" crowd.
Following his release, O'Connor returned to publishing, and he printed several early works of Seán O'Casey. These included two editions of Casey's Songs of the Wren, published in 1918. O'Connor also published A Call to the Women of Ireland, from a lecture by Constance Markievicz, in 1918. He also printed documents associated with the First Dáil of the revolutionary Irish Republic.
O'Connor died in August 1952, and is buried in Kinsale, County Cork. His wife, Maude, inherited a number of his papers. Several of O'Connor's publications, including photographs and ephemera, are held in the National Library of Ireland's "Fergus O'Connor collection".
References
Sources
- Book: Ayling . R. . Sean O'Casey: Modern Judgements . 1969 . 9781349153015 . Springer .
- Book: O'Ceallaigh Ritschel, Nelson . Bernard Shaw, Sean O'Casey, and the Dead James Connolly . 2021 . 9783030742744 . Springer International Publishing .
- Book: Comerford, Maire . Maire Comerford
. Maire Comerford . The First Dáil, January 21st 1919 . 9780950116303 . 1969 . J. Clarke .
- Web site: Horgan . John . The Press in 1917: Wars and Rumours of Wars . Dublin City University . 1917 – Aftermath of Rebellion . 28 January 2017 .
- Web site: Malone . Brenda . 1 April 2013. Republican Easter Card, Fergus O'Connor, 1918 . The Cricket Bat that Died for Ireland. 4 January 2022.
- Web site: McCarthy . Kieran . Our City, Our Town - The Wheels of 1917: Amnesty Celebrations. kieranmccarthy.ie . . 29 June 2017 . 24 September 2022 .
- Book: Novick, Ben . Conceiving Revolution: Irish Nationalist Propaganda During the First World War . Four Courts Press . 2001 . 9781851826209.
- Web site: O'Connor . Fergus . Fergus O'Connor Collection . National Library of Ireland . catalogue.nli.ie . . Fergus O'Connor was a Dublin publisher, who published Sean O'Casey's early writings and produced nationalist postcards and related material. Following the Easter Rising he was imprisoned in Lewes prison .
- Web site: de Róiste . Liam . Liam de Róiste . Bureau of Military History, 1913-21. Statement By Witness. Document No WS1698. Witness: Liam De Róiste. Member, Coiste Gnotha, Gaelic League. Member, Dáil Éireann, 1918-1923 . militaryarchives.ie . Bureau of Military History . 1957 . David O'Connor was a subscriber to the "Celtic" having been introduced by his brother, Fergus [..] David [..] was a journalist on the staff of a Trade Journal in Stuttgart; Fergus, later, resided in Dublin and took part in the Rising of 1916 .
- Book: Rouse, Sarah . Into the Light: An Illustrated Guide to the Photograph Collections in the National Library of Ireland . National Library of Ireland . 1998 . 9780907328292.
- Web site: Fergus O'Connor / Died: 12 Aug 1952 . Billiongraves.com. Record 23339035 . .
- Web site: People - Fergus O'Connor . Kilmainham Gaol Autograph Book Collection . . 8 July 2022 . .
- List of copies of seditious documents seized at Fergus O'Connor's, 44, Eccles St., on 15th December, 1917 . Trinity College Dublin . digitalcollections.tcd.ie . 2020 . . 10.48495/6969z216t . Unattributed .
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