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BANIM, JOHN (1798-1842)

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 318 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BANIM, See also:JOHN (1798-1842) , Irish novelist, sometimes called the " See also:Scott of See also:Ireland," was See also:born at See also:Kilkenny on the 3rd of See also:April 1798. In his thirteenth See also:year he entered Kilkenny See also:College and devoted himself specially to See also:drawing and See also:painting. He pursued his See also:artistic See also:education for two years in the See also:schools connected with the Royal Society at See also:Dublin, and afterwards taught drawing in Kilkenny, where he See also:fell in love with one of his pupils. His See also:affection was returned, but the parents of the See also:young See also:lady interfered and removed her from Kilkenny. She pined away and died in two months. Her See also:death made a deep impression on Banim, whose See also:health suffered severely and permanently. In 1820 he went to Dublin and settled finally to the See also:work of literature. He published a poem, The Celts' See also:Paradise, and his See also:Damon and Pythias was performed at Covent See also:Garden in 1821. During a See also:short visit to Kilkenny he married, and in 1822 planned in See also:conjunction with his See also:elder See also:brother See also:MICHAEL (1796-1874), a See also:series of tales illustrative of Irish See also:life, which should be for Ireland what the Waverley Novels were for See also:Scotland. He then set out for See also:London, and supported himself by See also:writing for magazines and for the See also:stage. A See also:volume of See also:miscellaneous essays was published anonymously in 1824, called See also:Revelation's of the Dead Alive. In April 1825 appeared the first series of Tales of the O'Hara See also:Family, which achieved immediate and decided success..

One of the most powerful of them, Crohoore of the See also:

Bill See also:Hook, was by Michael Banim. In 1826 a second series was published, containing that excellent Irish novel, The Nowlans. John's health had given way, and the next effort of the " O'Hara family " was almost entirely the See also:production of his brother Michael. The Croppy, a See also:Tale of 7798 (1828) is hardly equal to the earlier tales, though it contains some wonderfully vigorous passages. The Denounced, The See also:Mayor of Windgap, The See also:Ghost See also:Hunter (by Michael Banim), and The Smuggler followed in See also:quick See also:succession, and were received with considerable favour. John Banim, meanwhile, had become much straitened in circumstances. In 1829 he went to See also:France, and while he was abroad a See also:movement to relieve his wants was set on See also:foot by the See also:English See also:press, headed by John See also:Sterling in The Times. A sufficient sum was obtained to remove him from any danger of actual want, and to this See also:government added in 1836 a See also:pension of £150. He returned to Ireland in 1835i and settled in Windgap Cottage, a short distance from Kilkenny; and there, a See also:complete invalid, he passed the See also:remainder of his life, dying on the 13th of See also:August 1842. Michael Banim had acquired a considerable See also:fortune which he lost in 184o through the See also:bankruptcy of a See also:firm with which he had business relations. After this disaster he wrote See also:Father Connell (1842), See also:Clough Fionn (1852), The See also:Town of the Cascades (1862). Michael Banim died at Booterstown on the 3oth of August 1874.

The true See also:

place of the Banims in literature is to be estimated from the merits of the O'Hara Tales; their later See also:works, though of considerable ability, are sometimes prolix and are marked by too evident an See also:imitation of the Waverley Novels, The Tales, how-ever, are masterpieces of faithful delineation. The strong passions, the See also:lights and shadows of Irish See also:peasant See also:character, have rarely been so ably and truly depicted. The incidents are striking, sometimes even horrible, and the authors have been accused of straining after melodramatic effect. The lighter, more joyous See also:side of Irish character, which appears so strongly in See also:Samuel See also:Lover, receives little See also:attention from the Banims. See P. J. See also:Murray, Life of John Banim (1857).

End of Article: BANIM, JOHN (1798-1842)

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