Alice Furlong (26 November 1866 – 1946) was an Irish writer,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

and political activist who also worked on Irish publications with

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...

(later President of Ireland).

Life

She was born at Old Bawn, near

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County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

, the daughter of John Furlong, a sporting journalist. She trained as a nurse in

Dr Steevens' Hospital Dr Steevens' Hospital (also called Dr Steevens's Hospital) ( ga, Ospidéal an Dr Steevens), one of Ireland's most distinguished eighteenth-century medical establishments, was located at Kilmainham in Dublin Ireland. It was founded under the terms ...

. In the 1890s her father was injured in a race-course accident and ended up in her ward, where he died shortly afterwards, and her mother died two months later. Her first literary contributions were to the ''

Irish Monthly The ''Irish Monthly'' was an Irish Catholic magazine founded in Dublin, Ireland in July 1873. Until 1920 it had the sub-title ''A Magazine of General Literature''. History The magazine was founded by Matthew Russell, who was its editor for a ...

'' at age 16. In 1899, Furlong published ''Roses and Rue'', favourably reviewed by Stopford Brooke and others, and in 1907 ''Tales of Fairy Folk'' and ''Queens and Heroes''. Her verse appeared in several anthologies. She contributed to several journals, including the ''Irish Monthly'', the ''Weekly Freeman'', '' Chambers's Journal'' and the nationalist ''Shan Van Vocht'', run by Alice Milligan and Anna Johnston (

Ethna Carbery Ethna Carbery, born Anna Bella Johnston, (3 December 1864 – 2 April 1902) was an Irish journalist, writer and poet. She is best known for the ballad ''Roddy McCorley'' and the ''Song of Ciabhán''; the latter was set to music by Ivor Gurney. I ...

). After 1916 she started studying Irish, and in the 1920s published poems in Irish and translated from Irish, and added the

Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' ( Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

to the journals she contributed to. In 1900 she was a founder-member of

Inghinidhe na hÉireann Inghinidhe na hÉireann (; "Daughters of Ireland") was a radical Irish nationalist women's organisation led and founded by Maud Gonne from 1900 to 1914, when it merged with the new Cumann na mBan. Patriotic Children's Treat The Inghinidhe or ...

, the revolutionary women's organisation led by

Maud Gonne Maud Gonne MacBride ( ga, Maud Nic Ghoinn Bean Mhic Giolla Bhríghde; 21 December 1866 – 27 April 1953) was an English-born Irish republican revolutionary, suffragette and actress. Of Anglo-Irish descent, she was won over to Irish nationalism ...

. Furlong was elected a vice-president of the association, along with

Jenny Wyse Power Jane Wyse Power ( ga, Siobhán Bean an Phaoraigh; ; 1 May 1858 – 5 January 1941) was an Irish activist, feminist, politician and businesswoman. She was a founder member of Sinn Féin and also of Inghinidhe na hÉireann. She rose in the ranks t ...

, Annie Egan and Anna Johnston. Two of her sisters, Katherine and Mary, also wrote poetry, but died young, while another sister, Margaret, married the songwriter P. J. McCall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furlong, Alice 1866 births 1946 deaths Irish poets Irish women poets Christian clergy from Dublin (city) 19th-century Irish writers 20th-century Irish writers Victorian women writers 20th-century Irish women writers 19th-century Irish women writers Irish nurses