The Lyric Feature on Sunday 15th February at 6 pm on RTÉ lyric fm, presented by Sara Lodge, tells the story of the Victorian Irish writer Rosa Mulholland - listen to Wanted, An Irish Novelist above.
Below, producer Claire Cunningham tells more about the 'vital legacy' of an unsung literary giant.
One summer's day last year I headed to Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin with Sara Lodge, Professor of English at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. After some searching, we found an impressive Celtic cross over a gravestone that listed the virtues and accomplishments of Sir John T Gilbert, mentioning that he had been an Irish historian, Vice President of the Royal Irish Academy, 'honoured', 'beloved', 'devoted to Ireland', that he worked 'in defence of the Catholic Faith', etc.
Buried with John T Gilbert is his wife, Rosa Mulholland, so what does the gravestone tell us about her virtues and accomplishments?
'Rosa Mulholland Gilbert, wife of the above'. Oh dear.
Not a word about the fact that she had been one of Ireland's foremost female writers of fiction, a passionate advocate for women's roles as reforming landlords, entrepreneurs, and cultural leaders of an Irish revival that could heal the rift between social classes, one of Ireland's first town councillors, influential on a raft of younger writers, including W B Yeats and Katherine Tynan. Her work was once widely taught in Irish schools.
In our radio programme, Wanted, an Irish Novelist, Sara Lodge tells the story of the life and work of Rosa Mulholland and explores her vital legacy: her supernatural tales, her novels, and the politics of women’s hunger for power. She speaks with scholars James H Murphy, Kathryn Laing and Susan Cahill, meets Brian Showers, who has in recent years re-published some of Rosa Mulholland's work in Not To Be Taken At Bed-Time (Swan River Press), and visits the Jesuit Archives, where archivist Damien Burke shows her some letters written by Rosa Mulholland and copies of the Irish Monthly, a journal to which Rosa Mulholland was a frequent contributor.
Sara follows in Rosa Mulhollland's footsteps from Dublin to Connemara and uncovers important new information about her famine fiction and her family's role on the island of Inishbofin, a site of wild beauty and terrible hardship. Speaking with Inishbofin guide Tommy Burke and Andrew Murray, owner of the Doonmore Hotel, she discovers the accuracy of Rosa's depiction of the island in her stories.
Throughout the programme, Rosa Mulholland's words are brought to life by actor Cathy Belton.
There is much more to Rosa Mulholland than 'wife of the above'.
Wanted, an Irish Novelist is the Lyric Feature on Sunday 15th February at 6 pm and will be available after broadcast as a Lyric Feature podcast - listen to more from The Lyric Feature here
