Subfonds 21 - 'The Irish Monthly'

Identity area

Reference code

IE IJA ADMN/21

Title

'The Irish Monthly'

Date(s)

  • 1873-1957; 2008 (Creation)

Level of description

Subfonds

Extent and medium

15 items

Context area

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Fr Matthew Russell SJ (1834-1912) intended to found a devotional magazine with the name Catholic Ireland in 1873, but it emerged as a literary journal named 'The Irish Monthly'. Russell, who edited the magazine until his death, had a great talent for friendship, so people of many different backgrounds and beliefs wrote for him. He treated authors as members of a family circle and encouraged many women to write. He published W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde, Hillaire Belloc, Katherine Tynan and Dora Sigerson Shorter, amongst many others. The success of the Irish Monthly was remarkable at a time when the average Irish magazine had a five-year life span.

Fr Lambert McKenna SJ (1870-1956) was the next Editor. He had a great interest in the Irish language, so the journal published many unpublished Irish bardic poems. He changed the emphasis from a literary journal to concentrate on Catholic social and educational thought.

By 1933, the Monthly was in financial trouble, but efforts were made to revive it. With a circulation of about 600, it was in competition with Studies, the quarterly review published by Irish Jesuits since 1912. Given Ireland's small size and, therefore, small subscription base, in 1954 the Irish Monthly ceased.

1873- 1912 Matthew Russell (1834-1912)
Based at Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin, 1913-1933
1913 - Thomas Wheeler (1848-1913)
1914 - 1916 John F.X. O'Brien (1873-1920)
1917 - Lambert McKenna (1870-1956)
1918 - Lambert McKenna (1870-1956)
1919 - John F.X. O'Brien (1873-1920)
1920 - John F.X. O'Brien (1873-1920)
1921 - Joseph Darlington (1850-1939)
1922 - Joseph Darlington (1850-1939)
1923 - 1930 Lambert McKenna (1870-1956)
1931 - 1933 John Joy (1884-1950)
1934 - 1947 Timothy Mulcahy (1898-1962) (Belvedere College)
1948 - 1950 Roland Burke Savage (1912-1998) (35 Lower Leeson Street)
1951 - Edmund Keane (1916-2000) (35 Lower Leeson Street)
1952 - Michael Moloney (1913-1984) (35 Lower Leeson Street)
1953 - Michael Moloney (35 Lower Leeson Street)

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

The Irish Jesuit Archives are open only to bona fide researchers. Access by advance appointment. Further details: [email protected]

Conditions governing reproduction

No material may be reproduced without the written permission of the Archivist. Copyright restrictions apply. Photocopying is not available. Digital photography is at the discretion of the Archivist.

Language of material

Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

1999; 2021

Language(s)

Script(s)

Sources

Accession area

Related people and organizations

Related genres

Related places