Fergus O'Connor (publisher)
{{Short description|Irish publisher and nationalist}}
{{About|the Irish publisher born {{Circa|1876}}|the Chartist leader born 1796|Feargus O'Connor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use Irish English|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Fergus O'Connor
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{circa|1876}}
| birth_place = Cork, Ireland
| death_date = 12 August 1952
| death_place = Dublin, Ireland
| other_names =
| occupation = Publisher
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works = Fergus O'Connor Collection at the National Library of Ireland
}}
Fergus O'Connor ({{Circa|1876}}–12 August 1952) was an Irish publisher and supporter of Irish Independence. Born in Cork, but working mostly in Dublin, he was imprisoned for his role in support of the 1916 Easter Rising. He later printed several early works of Seán O'Casey. The National Library of Ireland holds a collection of his photographic images.
Life
O'Connor was born in Cork {{Circa}} 1876,{{Sfn|Malone|2013}} later moving to Dublin where he operated a publishing business from Eccles Street.{{sfn|Horgan|2017}}
According to his military pension record, O'Connor was a member of the 1st Dublin Battalion of the Irish Volunteers,{{sfn|OPW}} and he is described in some sources as a "1916 veteran".{{sfn|Horgan|2017}}{{sfn|de Róiste|1957}} He printed and published nationalist postcards and other materials,{{sfn|NLI O'Connor Collection}} a number of which were seized when O'Connor's premises were raided by the Dublin Castle authorities in the aftermath of the 1916 Rising.{{sfn|Horgan|2017}}{{sfn|TCD}}{{sfn|Novick|2001|loc=p. 204 "O'Connor's establishment on Eccles Street was raided in December 1917, and sixteen seditions publications were seized, including songs by Sean O'Casey"}} Arrested for his role in the Rising, O'Connor was interned in England, first in Dartmoor Prison in 1916,{{Sfn|Malone|2013}} and subsequently in Lewes Prison in 1917.{{sfn|NLI O'Connor Collection}} Upon his release from prison, he returned to Cork in June 1917 where he (along with fellow prisoners Thomas Hunter, David Kent, Diarmuid Lynch, Liam Tobin and J. J. Walsh) were met by an "enthusiastic" crowd.{{sfn|McCarthy|2017}}
Following his release, O'Connor returned to publishing,{{Sfn|Malone|2013}} and he printed several early works of Seán O'Casey.{{sfn|NLI O'Connor Collection}}{{sfn|Ayling|1969|loc=p. 52: "[O'Casey] was engaged by Fergus O'Connor, a Dublin publisher [..who..] occasionally published serious patriotic material [and] this connection, which marked the beginning of O'Casey's career as a professional writer, eventually led to more interesting opportunities"}} These included two editions of Casey's Songs of the Wren, published in 1918.{{sfn|Ayling|1969|loc=p. 262: "Songs of the Wren, 1st and 2nd series (Fergus O'Connor, Dublin, 1918)"}} O'Connor also published A Call to the Women of Ireland, from a lecture by Constance Markievicz, in 1918.{{sfn|O'Ceallaigh Ritschel|2021|loc=p. 100: "Fergus O'Connor published Constance Markievicz's "A Call to the Women of Ireland" in 1918"}} He also printed documents associated with the First Dáil of the revolutionary Irish Republic.{{sfn|Comerford|1969|loc=p. 78: "The great documents of Dáil Éireann were generally available - particularly the fine printing to which Fergus O'Connor defiantly attached his name as publisher"}}
O'Connor died in August 1952, and is buried in Kinsale, County Cork.{{sfn|BillionGraves 23339035}} His wife, Maude, inherited a number of his papers. Several of O'Connor's publications, including photographs and ephemera, are held in the National Library of Ireland's "Fergus O'Connor collection".{{sfn|Rouse|1998|p=68}}
References
=Footnotes=
{{reflist|30em}}
=Sources=
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book | editor-last = Ayling | editor-first = R. | title = Sean O'Casey: Modern Judgements | date = 1969 |isbn = 9781349153015 | publisher = Springer }}
- {{cite book | last = O'Ceallaigh Ritschel | first = Nelson | title = Bernard Shaw, Sean O'Casey, and the Dead James Connolly | date = 2021 | isbn = 9783030742744 | publisher = Springer International Publishing }}
- {{cite book | last = Comerford | first = Maire | authorlink = Maire Comerford | title = The First Dáil, January 21st 1919 | isbn = 9780950116303 | date = 1969 | publisher = J. Clarke }}
- {{cite web| last = Horgan | first = John | url = https://www.dcu.ie/sites/default/files/history_geography/docs/john_horgan-wars_and_rumours_of_wars.pdf | publisher = Dublin City University | work = 1917 – Aftermath of Rebellion | title = The Press in 1917: Wars and Rumours of Wars | date = 28 January 2017 }}
- {{Cite web| last = Malone | first = Brenda |date=1 April 2013|title=Republican Easter Card, Fergus O'Connor, 1918 |website=The Cricket Bat that Died for Ireland|access-date=4 January 2022|url=https://thecricketbatthatdiedforireland.com/2013/04/01/republican-easter-card-fergus-oconnor-1918-3/}}
- {{cite web | last = McCarthy | first = Kieran | url = http://kieranmccarthy.ie/?p=13171 | via = kieranmccarthy.ie | title = Our City, Our Town - The Wheels of 1917: Amnesty Celebrations| publisher = Cork Independent | date = 29 June 2017 | accessdate = 24 September 2022 }}
- {{cite book | last = Novick | first = Ben | title = Conceiving Revolution: Irish Nationalist Propaganda During the First World War | publisher = Four Courts Press | date = 2001 | isbn = 9781851826209}}
- {{cite web| last = O'Connor | first = Fergus | url = https://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000314125 | publisher = National Library of Ireland | title = Fergus O'Connor Collection | website = catalogue.nli.ie | ref = {{harvid|NLI O'Connor Collection}} | quote = Fergus O'Connor was a Dublin publisher, who published Sean O'Casey's early writings and produced nationalist postcards and related material. Following the Easter Rising he was imprisoned in Lewes prison }}
- {{cite web | last = de Róiste | first = Liam | authorlink = Liam de Róiste | url = https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1698%20PART%201.pdf | website = militaryarchives.ie | publisher = Bureau of Military History | title = Bureau of Military History, 1913-21. Statement By Witness. Document No WS1698. Witness: Liam De Róiste. Member, Coiste Gnotha, Gaelic League. Member, Dáil Éireann, 1918-1923 | date = 1957 | quote = David O'Connor was a subscriber to the "Celtic" having been introduced by his brother, Fergus [..] David [..] was a journalist on the staff of a Trade Journal in Stuttgart; Fergus, later, resided in Dublin and took part in the Rising of 1916 }}
- {{cite book | last = Rouse | first = Sarah | title = Into the Light: An Illustrated Guide to the Photograph Collections in the National Library of Ireland | publisher = National Library of Ireland | date = 1998 | isbn = 9780907328292}}
- {{cite web|url = https://billiongraves.com/grave/FERGUS-OCONNOR/23339035| publisher = Billiongraves.com| work = Record 23339035 | title = Fergus O'Connor / Died: 12 Aug 1952 | ref = {{harvid|BillionGraves 23339035}} }}
- {{cite web|url = http://www.kilmainhamgaolautographbooks.ie/people/fergus-oconnor/ | work = Kilmainham Gaol Autograph Book Collection | publisher = Office of Public Works | title = People - Fergus O'Connor | accessdate = 8 July 2022 | ref = {{harvid|OPW}} }}
- {{cite journal|url = https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/parent/0v8382097/works/6969z216t | publisher = Trinity College Dublin | website = digitalcollections.tcd.ie | title = List of copies of seditious documents seized at Fergus O'Connor's, 44, Eccles St., on 15th December, 1917 | date = 2020 | ref = {{harvid|TCD}} | doi = 10.48495/6969z216t | author1 = Unattributed }}
{{refend}}
External links
{{commonscat|Fergus O’Connor}}
- [https://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000314125 National Library of Ireland - Fergus O'Connor Collection]
- [https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/catalog?f%5Bcontributor_sim%5D%5B%5D=O%27Connor%2C+Fergus%2C+Publisher Trinity College Dublin - Digital Collections - Works published by Fergus O'Connor]
- [http://mspcsearch.militaryarchives.ie/docs/files/PDF_Pensions/R1/MSP34REF60987FergusoConnor/W34E9507FERGUSOCONNOR.pdf Bureau of Military History - Archives - O'Connor's military pension application and related correspondence]
{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Connor, Fergus}}