Letters give fascinating insight into writer
The letters contain correspondence between O’Faoláin and solicitor Gerald Fox while the writer was undertaking research for his book, Newman’s Way, a biography of Cardinal John Henry Newman, which was published in 1952.
Correspondence continued for several years after the publication of the book.
The letters were donated by Eddie Fox, son of Mr Fox, following the death of his father.
During the writing of Newman’s Way, O’Faoláin contacted Mr Gerald F Fox, a solicitor in the town clerk’s office of Tenby in Wales, seeking information on the cardinal’s family connections. Thus began a lengthy correspondence, with Mr Fox undertaking research on behalf of O’Faoláin for the Newman book as well as for O’Faoláin’s other literary interests.
The letters, which crossed the Irish Sea from Dublin – where O’Faoláin was based – to Tenby, offer a fascinating insight into the mind and creative process of anauthor at work.
Following the death of Mr Fox and the distribution of his effects among his family, the letters began the next leg of their extraordinary journey, being taken by his son, Eddie Fox, to New Zealand where he had emigrated.
Recognising the historical importance of the letters, Mr Fox got in touch with the Munster Literature Centre in Cork. Pat Cotter, director of the centre, in turn contacted Hilary Lennon, the Frank O’Connor Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of English at UCC.
UCC Library confirmed its delight in accepting the collection when it was formally offered to them.
“It is extremely heartening in these times of cutbacks and shrinking budgets that there are people such as Eddie Fox willing to donate important collections to our institutions for the wider good,” said UCC librarian John FitzGerald.
“We are very grateful indeed to Mr Fox for his care of the collection and his generosity in donating it.”
Born John Whelan in Cork in 1900, to morally conservative but ambitious parents, O’Faoláin was influenced by his first mentor, the writer Daniel Corkery, embracing the Irish political rebellion and adopting the Irish version of his name in 1918.
As Seán O Faoláin he joined the Irish Volunteers during the War of Independence and fought on the Anti-Treaty side during the Civil War. Reacting to the staid and narrow-minded country that emerged in the post-independence years, O’Faoláin became one of the Free State’s most vigorous critics.
Challenging what he saw as a church-dominated state culture, and the forms of traditional beliefs that he thought were preventing the modernisation of Ireland, O’Faoláin began a lifelong intellectual confrontation with these dominant forces in social and political affairs.
His prolific output of short stories, novels, reviews, articles, and biographies were always informed by this critical viewpoint. He also co-founded The Bell with his fellow writers, Frank O’Connor and Denis Johnston.
Remembered as one of the most important writers in modern Irish fiction, he died in 1991.
* Details of all UCC Library’s archival collections, as well as information on access procedures for non-UCC staff and students are available on the internet at www.booleweb.ie
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