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Brendan, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Brendan, Saint, d. 577?, Irish abbot of Clonfert, Co. Galway. A popular medieval story told how he traveled westward to wonderful islands—an Irish version of a widespread legend. His feast is May 16...

McCarthy, Joseph Raymond

(Encyclopedia)McCarthy, Joseph Raymond, 1908–57, U.S. senator from Wisconsin (1947–57), b. near Appleton, Wis. He practiced law in Wisconsin and became (1940) a circuit judge. He served with the U.S. marines in...

O'Casey, Sean

(Encyclopedia)O'Casey, Sean shôn [key], 1884–1964, Irish dramatist, one of the great figures of the Irish literary renaissance. A Protestant, he grew up in the slum district of Dublin and was active in various s...

Maginn, William

(Encyclopedia)Maginn, William məgĭnˈ [key], 1793–1842, Irish writer. Some of his best stories and essays appeared in Blackwood's Magazine. His short story “Bob Burke's Duel with Ensign Brady” is considered...

O'Grady, Standish

(Encyclopedia)O'Grady, Standish, 1846–1928, Irish author and historian. A leader in the Irish literary renaissance, he followed his History of Ireland (1878–80) with English versions of the heroic legends of Ir...

Yeats, W. B.

(Encyclopedia)Yeats, W. B. (William Butler Yeats), 1865–1939, Irish poet and playwright, b. Dublin. The greatest lyric poet Ireland has produced and one of the major figures of 20th-century literature, Yeats was ...

Schurz, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Schurz, Carl sho͝orts [key], 1829–1906, American political leader, b. Germany. He studied at the Univ. of Bonn and participated in the revolutionary uprisings of 1848–49 in Germany. Compelled to ...

Bruton, John

(Encyclopedia)Bruton, John bro͞oˈtən [key], 1947–, Irish politician, b. Dublin. A lawyer and farm owner, he is a member of the centrist Fine Gael party. Bruton was first elected to the Irish parliament in 1969...

Parnell, Charles Stewart

(Encyclopedia)Parnell, Charles Stewart pärˈnəl, pärnĕlˈ [key], 1846–91, Irish nationalist leader. Haughty and sensitive, Parnell was only a mediocre orator, but he possessed a marked personal fascination an...

Lover, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Lover, Samuel, 1797–1868, Irish painter, novelist, and songwriter. Before turning to literature, Lover was a painter, and in 1828 he became a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy of Art. However, h...