Kenneth Sarr Explained

Kenneth Sarr should not be confused with Kenneth Starr (disambiguation).

Kenneth Sheils Reddin (born John Kenneth Sheils Reddin; 1895 – 17 August 1967[1]) known by the pen name Kenneth Sarr, was an Irish author and judge.[2] [3]

Biography

Reddin was born in Dublin to John [J. J.] and Annie Reddin.[3] He attended Belvedere College, Clongowes Wood College, and from 1910 Scoil Éanna,[4] where Thomas McDonagh and Patrick Pearse were formative influences. His first pseudonym was Kenneth Esser (from "Kenneth S. R.") later shortened to Kenneth Sarr.[5] He joined the Irish Volunteers and was interned after the Easter Rising.[3] Literary figures often met at J.J. Reddin's house and Kenneth was associated with the Irish Theatre Company in Hardwicke Street, where his brothers Kerry and Norman acted.[6] He attended University College Dublin and qualified as a solicitor.[7] He was a member of the United Arts Club[8] and sometime President of the Irish PEN Club.[9] He visited James Joyce in Paris several times, first with a gift of Olhausen's black pudding, later at a PEN congress.[10] [11] Joyce, during his father's final illness, telegraphed Reddin's brother Dr Kerry Reddin about his treatment.[12] [13]

Reddin supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty and his father's house in Artane was burned in the Irish Civil War.[14] In 1922 he was appointed a District Court judge based in Mullingar,[3] later moving to the Newbridge[15] and then Dublin districts. In court he wore what Terry De Valera called "his self-designed headdress like a black biretta".[16] As well as writing plays and novels, he collected humorous anecdotes from his judicial work intended for a book to be called Laughter in My Court.[17] In 1941 he objected to an article in PEN's magazine which he said was "propaganda, attacking the neutrality of Eire, and that all we wanted was to be left alone".[18] In 1948, Erina Brady appointed him President of her short-lived Dublin Dance Theatre Club.[19]

He retired from the bench on 19 March 1965.[20]

His papers are held by the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas.[21]

Works written by Kenneth Sarr / Kenneth Reddin
Work Year Type Notes
The Changeling 1920 Play A two-act allegory produced by the Irish Theatre Company. The premiere was postponed a week from Bloody Sunday and the audience was "meagre" due to the curfew then in force.[22]
"In a Sinn Fein Court" 1922 Article In The Belvederian[23]
The Passing 1924 Play Subtitled "A tragedy in one act". Produced by the Abbey Theatre on 9 December 1924.[24] [25] Won the drama prize at the 1924 Tailteann Games.[26] [27] Its subject matter, a prostitute with an idiot son, was condemned by some viewers.
Old Mag 1924 Play Subtitled "A Christmas play in one act". Produced by the Abbey Theatre on 22 December 1924.
The white bolle-trie 1927 NovelSubtitled "A wonder story". A children's story.[28]
Somewhere To The Sea 1936 Novel A roman a clef set around the truce ending the Irish War of Independence.
Another Shore 1945 Novel adapted in 1948 into an Ealing comedy of the same name. Published in the United States as Young man with a dream.
"A Man called Pearse" 1945 Article In Studies.[29]

References

Sources

Citations

Notes and References

  1. Web site: John Kenneth Sheils Reddin 1895-1967 - Ancestry®.
  2. Encyclopedia: Macmillan Dictionary of Irish Literature . 2016 . Macmillan . 9781349077953 . https://books.google.com/books?id=iDJdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA580 . 580–581 . Sarr, Kenneth . Robert . Hogan . 12 October 2018 . en.
  3. Web site: Half-length portrait of district justice and author Kenneth Reddin in 1962. . Stills Library . RTÉ . 12 October 2018 . en . 5 July 2012.
  4. Web site: Tour of the House . Pearse Museum . 12 October 2018.
  5. Feeney 1984 pp.252–253
  6. Feeney 1984 pp.67, 198, 208, 210 n11, 237
  7. Obituary: Mr. Kenneth S. Reddin . The Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal . 1967 . 101 . 328.
  8. Book: Boylan . Patricia . All Cultivated People: A History of the United Arts Club, Dublin . 1988 . Smythe . 9780861402663 . 106, 165–166 . en.
  9. Book: Matheson . Steve . Maurice Walsh, storyteller . 1985 . Brandon . Dingle . 0863220525 . 100 . registration .
  10. Book: Mikhail . E. H. . James Joyce: Interviews and Recollections . 1990 . Springer . 9781349094226 . 159–160. https://books.google.com/books?id=s9-uCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA159 . en . Worth Half a Dozen Legations.
  11. Book: Joyce . James . The Complete Works Of James Joyce . 2017 . Musaicum Press . 9788027200603 . https://books.google.com/books?id=aGNODwAAQBAJ&pg=PT2704 . 15 October 2018 . en . Letters: To C.P. Curran, 17 August 1937.
  12. Book: Letters Of James Joyce . 1957 . Viking . 309 . 15 October 2018.
  13. James Joyce by Richard Ellman p642
  14. Book: Dillon . Myles . The Correspondence of Myles Dillon, 1922–1925: Irish-German Relations and Celtic Studies . 1999 . Four Courts Press . 9781851824090 . en . 83.
  15. Week to Week . The Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal . 1937 . 71 . 227 . J. Falconer . en.
  16. Book: De Valera . Terry . A Memoir . 2004 . Currach Press . 9781856079112 . 248 . registration .
  17. News: Allen . Gregory . An Irishman's Diary . 12 October 2018 . The Irish Times . 24 February 2001.
  18. Brady . Deirdre . "Writers and the International Spirit": Irish PEN in the Postwar Years . New Hibernia Review . 2017 . 21 . 3 . 116–130 : 122 . 10.1353/nhr.2017.0037 . 148827919 . 10344/6633 . free .
  19. Book: McGrath . Aoife . Dance Theatre in Ireland: Revolutionary Moves . 2012 . Palgrave Macmillan . 9781137035479 . 61 . 12 October 2018 . en.
  20. Retirement of District Justice Reddin . The Irish Law Times and Solicitors' Journal . 1965 . 98 . 137 . J. Falconer . en.
  21. Web site: Writings and correspondence of Kenneth Reddin, 1914–1958 . etext.ku.edu . 12 October 2018 . en.
  22. Feeney 1984 p.274
  23. Book: Bowman . John . O'Donoghue . Ronan . Portraits: Belvedere College, Dublin, 1832–1982 . 1982 . Gill and Macmillan . 62 . en.
  24. Book: Welch . Robert . The Abbey Theatre, 1899–1999: Form and Pressure . 2003 . Oxford University Press . 9780199261352 . 91 . 12 October 2018 . en.
  25. Web site: Kenneth Sarr . PlayographyIreland . Irish Theatre Institute . 12 October 2018.
  26. Book: Hogan . Robert Goode . Burnham . Richard . The Years of O'Casey, 1921–1926: A Documentary History . 1992 . University of Delaware Press . 9780851054285 . 184, 211–213 . 12 October 2018 . en.
  27. Book: Reynolds . Paige . Modernism, Drama, and the Audience for Irish Spectacle . 2007 . Cambridge University Press . 9780521872997 . registration . 186 . 12 October 2018 . en.
  28. Web site: The white bolle-trie; a wonder story . Digital Collections . Trinity College Dublin . 12 October 2018 . en.
  29. Reddin . Kenneth . A Man Called Pearse . 30099573 . Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review . 1945 . 34 . 134 . 241–251.

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