Burrowes Kelly: The Manor of Glenmore

Pdf Burrowes Kelly, Peter. The Manor of Glenmore, London: Edward Bull, 1839.

Peter Burrowess Kelly wrote The Manor of Glenmore in the aftermath of Catholic Emancipation. It weaves together a fictional story with historical facts including the Ballykillcavin evictions and agrarian outrages in the Stradbally area in the 1830s. The heroes of the novel are on the side of the Irish peasants while the villains are the local Protestant aristocratic landowners.

Pdf Burrowes Kelly, Peter. The Manor of Glenmore, London: Edward Bull, 1839.

Pdf Burrowes Kelly, Peter. The Manor of Glenmore, London: Edward Bull, 1839.

Peter Burrowess Kelly wrote The Manor of Glenmore in the aftermath of Catholic Emancipation. It weaves together a fictional story with historical facts including the Ballykillcavin evictions and agrarian outrages in the Stradbally area in the 1830s. The heroes of the novel are on the side of the Irish peasants while the villains are the local Protestant aristocratic landowners.

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Peter Burrowess Kelly wrote The Manor of Glenmore in the aftermath of Catholic Emancipation. It weaves together a fictional story with historical facts including the Ballykillcavin evictions and agrarian outrages in the Stradbally area in the 1830s. The heroes of the novel are on the side of the Irish peasants while the villains are the local Protestant aristocratic landowners.

Since the 12th century Norman invasion, Ireland had experienced repeated rebellions by the Gaelic Irish. Following the English Reformation the conflict became religious as well as ethnic as the Gaelic Irish and the Old English, the descendents of the Norman conquerers, refused to renounce their Catholic faith. After their final defeats in the 17th century the Old English Catholic aristocrats lost their titles and lands to an Anglo-Irish Protestant Ascendancy while the Gaelic clans were reduced to the status of tenant farmers and impoverished peasants.

The themes of the novel reflect the political forces of 19th century Ireland. Penal Laws subjecting Catholics to persecution and oppression would not begin to be repealed until the late 18th century. Daniel O'Connell nicknamed 'The Liberator' finally secured Catholic Emancipation in 1829. O'Connell sought the repeal of the Act of Union 1800 and home rule for Ireland but was unsuccessful. In the latter half of the 19th century the Land League and the Irish Parliamentary Party would successfully secure the rights of tenant farmers who eventually bought out their Protestant landlords by the turn of the 20th century.

Peter Burrowes Kelly was born in 1811 in Stradbally, County Laois and was descendent through his mother of the Barons of Courtown. His mother was the authoress of The Fatalist and The Maiden of Erin. He was educated at Trinity College and the Kings Inn before being called to the Bar. In London he became friends with the poet Thomas Cambell.

He later returned to Ireland where his pursued his legal career, allied himself to Daniel O'Connell and the drive for Catholic Emancipation but failed to be elected to the House of Commons for Queen's County in 1831. He was noted however for his skill in public speaking. He later became the Clerk of the Peace for Queen's County.

His literary career included writing for the Dublin Review and working as a playwright. One of his plays the 'The Polish Mother' was threatrical success. Meanwhile his marriage in 1842 to Elizabeth Garves of Stradbally was a happy one and both died in 1883. They were buried in Oakvale Cemetary in Stradbally.