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Author: Martin, James

Biography:

MARTIN, James (1783-1860: DIB)

He was the youngest son of James Martin, a farmer at Millbrook, near Oldcastle in County Meath. The name of his mother is not known. His eldest brother was educated for the priesthood but was dismissed just before ordination and ran away to join the British army; angered by this, Martin’s father decided his younger son should have no education and he remained illiterate until he was about fifteen. He worked as a ploughboy and his employer taught him to read and write. When Martin worked in the flour mill at Loughcrew, he was educated by the Rev. George Leonard (who later paid to have the memorial erected on his grave). He began contributing to the Dublin almanacs using a variety of pseudonyms. When he was evicted from his home after a quarrel with James Naper of Loughcrew House, he determined to make his living by writing. He wrote and sold pamphlets and songs; some of these were in support of Daniel O’Connell and Catholic emancipation. Although always poor, he was regarded as learned and well-educated. He died on 25 Jan. 1860 at home in Millbrook and was buried at Moylough. National Poems is attributed to him by HL; Philip O’Connell is a pseudonym Martin used for a poem published in 1841. (DIB 27 Sept. 2021)

 

Books written (4):

London: Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, C. Chapple, and J. Blacklock, 1811
Cavan: Printed by W. Ireland, 1813
2nd edn. Cavan: Printed by James O'Brien, 1816
Monaghan: printed by Bernard McKenna, 1829