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JOHN BANIM (1798-1842)

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 318 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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JOHN See also:BANIM (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 See also: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 . See also: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: JOHN BANIM (1798-1842)
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