{"id":6187,"date":"2021-03-15T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/?p=6187"},"modified":"2021-04-01T16:21:01","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T20:21:01","slug":"competing-with-finians-rainbow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/competing-with-finians-rainbow\/","title":{"rendered":"Competing with Finian’s Rainbow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Aed\u00edn N\u00ed Bhr\u00f3ithe Clements, Irish Studies Librarian<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This immigrant librarian was delighted to see Ireland’s national holiday celebrated in American elementary schools. It was dismaying, however, to walk down a school corridor in March of 1996, and see the walls bedecked with rainbows, crocks of gold, and leprechauns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did a film about a leprechaun and a crock of gold so captivate American audiences that no other stories could compete? Have books of Irish stories been available for children who grew up in America in the last century?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Padraic Colum, The King of Ireland’s Son,<\/em> illustrated by Willy Pogany. NY: Macmillan, 1921.
Rare Books Medium PR 6005 .O38 K54 1921<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Padraic Colum (1881-1972) and Ella Young (1867-1956) are the only Irish authors whose books have been recognized with a Newbery honor<\/a>. The Newbery medal was founded in 1922 and is awarded annually by the ALA for an American-published children’s book. In addition to the medalist, a few books are named honor books each year. Colum and Young are also among the few Irish authors mentioned in American reviews of children’s books in the first half of the twentieth century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colum’s The King of Ireland’s Son<\/em>, illustrated by Willy Pog\u00e1ny, has many stories woven into a framing narrative. Between the time when Connal, the King of Ireland’s son, is sent on a quest by the Enchanter and the end where he and Fedelma, the Enchanter’s daughter are finally married, there are many stories and adventures, some concerning Connal and Fedelma, and some being stories told by our characters — stories within stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As in all Colum’s books for children, the art of the storyteller is always close to the surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Padraic Colum, The King of Ireland’s Son.<\/em> Illustrations by Willy Pogany.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And then a flock of ravens came from the rocks, and flying straight at them attacked Fedelma and the King of Ireland’s Son. The King’s Son sprang from the steed and taking his sword in his hand he fought the ravens until he drove them away. They rode on again. But now the ravens flew back and attacked them again and the King of Ireland’s Son fought them until his hands were wearied. He mounted the steed again, and they rode swiftly on. and the ravens came the third time and attacked them more fiercely than before. The King’s Son fought them until he had killed all but three and until he was covered with their blood and feathers.<\/p>Colum, 51<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Padraic Colum, The Girl who Sat by the Ashes.<\/em> Illustrated by Dugald Stewart Walker. NY: Macmillan, 1919.
Rare Books Medium PR 6005 .O38 G57 1919<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Colum’s children’s books, published by Macmillan, are drawn from the literature of a number of countries and cultures. His The Golden Fleece<\/em> and The Children’s Homer<\/em> were much-read and constantly recommended for youth, and his Hawaiian stories were written at the request of the Hawaiian legislature. His Irish stories include The Girl who Sat by the Ashes<\/em>, and The White Sparrow<\/em>, and The Forge in the Forest<\/em> is a collection of stories of different cultures all told in a forge, a traditional setting for storytelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, Colum’s books have stories within a story, so that the narrator and context of the storytelling is part of the story. In The Big Tree of Bunlahy<\/em>, for example, the narrator sets the scene by claiming that the big elm tree in his small native village is world-famous. The narrator proceeds to tell of many instances where he sat under the tree as a boy, often in the context of an errand such as a visit to the shoemaker, and he tells of a colorful series of people who gathered under the tree, and the stories that they told on different occasions. Stories vary from early Irish literature such as the story of Ois\u00edn (Usheen) and T\u00edr na n\u00d3g, to stories about animals and birds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colum’s children’s books are just one aspect of the literature for which he was known. He was already well-known in Ireland as a playwright and a poet when he left for America in 1914. In fact, he is mentioned in Joyce’s Ulysses<\/em> as one of Ireland’s most promising young writers in 1904. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his long career in America he taught literature at Columbia University in New York, sometimes co-teaching along with Mary Colum, his wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another Irish emigrant, Ella Young, who made her home in California in the 1920s, was involved, as Colum was, in the Irish Literary Revival. She, too, taught in a university. She taught Irish myth and lore at the University of Berkeley in California. And Irish myth and lore is at the center of her books of stories for children. Shown above is her 1932 book, The Unicorn with Silver Shoes<\/a><\/em>, illustrated by Robert Lawson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ella Young, The Wonder Smith and his Son: A Tale from the Golden Childhood of the World. <\/em>Illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff. NY: Longmans, Green, 1927.
Rare Books Medium PS 3547 .O4745 W66 1927<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Wonder Smith and His Son<\/em> was a Newbery Honor book in 1928, and The Tangle-Coated Horse and Other Tales<\/em> was a Newbery Honor book in 1930. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wonder Smith is Young’s name for An Gob\u00e1n Saor<\/em>, a mythical builder, stonemason and trickster, who figures in many Irish folktales. The title page by Boris Artzybasheff, with its decorations inspired by the designs on Irish illuminated manuscripts, enhances the idea of these tales orginating in ‘the golden childhood of the world’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ella Young. The Wonder Smith and his Son.<\/em> Illustration by Boris Artzybasheff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

It is interesting that the works of these two writers of the Irish Revival, settled in America, were selected by American publishers and reviewers alike. They represent a new image of Ireland for American readers, one of a nation with its own folklore and literary traditions. Earlier books such as Only an Irish Boy <\/em>by Horatio Alger, told stories of Irish immigrant children who ‘made good’ in America, and so the insistence of these writers on the existence and richness of Ireland’s culture was probably very welcome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Fall 2013 exhibit was on Irish children’s literature, and we hope to have a selection from that exhibit online in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Happy St Patrick’s Day to you and yours
from all of us in Notre Dame\u2019s Special Collections!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

St Patrick’s Day\u00a02018 post:\u00a0St. Patrick\u2019s Day in America (1872)<\/a>
<\/em>St Patrick’s Day\u00a02019\u00a0post:\u00a0St.\u00a0Patrick and the Nun of Kenmare<\/a>
<\/em>St Patrick’s Day\u00a02020\u00a0post:\u00a0St. Patrick\u2019s Day Postcards<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, you can\u00a0browse all our Irish Studies related posts<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This immigrant librarian was delighted to see Ireland’s national holiday celebrated in American elementary schools. It was dismaying, however, to walk down a school corridor in March of 1996, and see the walls bedecked with rainbows, crocks of gold, and leprechauns. Did a film about a leprechaun and a crock of gold so captivate American … Continue reading Competing with Finian’s Rainbow<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1936,"featured_media":6252,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75059,75053],"tags":[77938,77948],"class_list":["post-6187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fine-printing-book-arts","category-irish-studies","tag-book","tag-otd-holidays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1936"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6187"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6261,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6187\/revisions\/6261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/rbsc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}