Denis Donoghue (1 December 1928 – 6 April 2021) was an Irish literary critic. He was the

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

Chair of English and American Letters at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Life and career

Donoghue was born at

Tullow Tullow (; ), formerly Tullowphelim (), is a market town in County Carlow, Ireland. It is located on the River Slaney where the N81 road intersects with the R725. , the population was 5,138. Tullowphelim is the name of both a townland and civ ...

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county located in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region of Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Carlow is the List of Irish counties by area, second smallest and t ...

, into a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family, the youngest of four surviving children. He was brought up in

Warrenpoint Warrenpoint () is a small port town and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits at the head of Carlingford Lough, south of Newry, and is separated from the Republic of Ireland by a narrow strait. The town is beside the village ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, where his father, Denis, was sergeant-in-charge of the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

. His mother was Johanna (O'Neill) Donoghue. He was educated by the Irish Christian Brothers at the Abbey Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Newry. He stood 6'7". He studied

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and English at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

, earning a bachelor of arts degree in 1949, an M.A. in 1952, a Ph.D. in 1957, and a D.Litt. (honoris causa) in 1989. He then studied

Lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

er singing at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He earned an M.A. at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1964, and returned to Dublin, becoming a professor at UCD. In 1980, he was appointed to the

chair of English and American letters at NYU, his final teaching post. He married Frances Rutledge, formerly a teacher and flight attendant, on 1 December 1951. The couple had eight children. One, Emma Donoghue (born 1969), is an Irish-Canadian novelist, literary historian, teacher, playwright, and radio/film scriptwriter. On 7 December 2018, aged 90, Donoghue married his longtime partner of more than twenty years, Melissa Malouf, in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, USA. Melissa Malouf (born 1951) was previously married to literary critic Frank Lentriccia. Malouf is a writer and retired

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

professor of English. They resided together in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, until Denis Donoghue's death at age 92 on 6 April 2021 from natural causes. His first wife, Frances, predeceased him in 2018. He is survived by his second wife Melissa, his children (David, Helen, Hugh, Celia, Mark, Barbara, Stella and Emma), and a large extended family.

Works

*''The Third Voice: Modern British and American Verse Drama'' (1959) *''The Integrity of Yeats'' (1964) editor *''An Honoured Guest - New Essays on W.B. Yeats'' (1965) editor with J.R. Mulryne *''Connoisseurs of Chaos: Ideas of Order in Modern American Poetry'' (1965) *''The Ordinary Universe: Soundings in Modern Literature'' (1968) criticism *''Swift Revisited'' (1968) editor, Thomas Davis Lectures, with Roger McHugh, Matthew Hodgart, Mark Kinkead-Weekes, and John Holloway *''Emily Dickinson'' (1969) *''Jonathan Swift: A Critical Introduction'' (1969) editor *''Jonathan Swift, Penguin Critical Anthologies'' (1971) editor *''Yeats'' (

Fontana Modern Masters The Fontana Modern Masters was a series of pocket guides on writers, philosophers, and other thinkers and theorists who shaped the intellectual landscape of the twentieth century. The first five titles were published on 12 January 1970 by Fontana ...

, 1971) *''W. B. Yeats, Memoirs'' (1972) editor *''Thieves of Fire'' (1973) T.S. Eliot Memorial Lectures. *''Seven American Poets from MacLeish to Nemerov'' (1975) essays on

John Berryman John Allyn McAlpin Berryman (born John Allyn Smith, Jr.; October 25, 1914 – January 7, 1972) was an American poet and scholar. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and is considered a key figure in th ...

, Richard Eberhart,

Randall Jarrell Randall Jarrell (May 6, 1914 – October 14, 1965) was an American poet, literary critic, children's author, essayist, and novelist. He was the 11th Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—a position that now bears the title Poet ...

Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects ...

Archibald MacLeish Archibald MacLeish (May 7, 1892 – April 20, 1982) was an American poet and writer, who was associated with the modernist school of poetry. MacLeish studied English at Yale University and law at Harvard University. He enlisted in and saw action ...

Howard Nemerov Howard Nemerov (February 29, 1920 – July 5, 1991) was an American poet. Nemerov was the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor of English and Distinguished Poet in Residence at Washington University in St. Louis. He was twice ...

and Theodore Roethke *''The Sovereign Ghost: Studies in Imagination'' (1976) *''Ferocious Alphabets'' (1981) criticism *''The Politics of Modern Criticism'' (1981) *''The Arts Without Mystery'' (1983) 1982

Reith Lectures The Reith Lectures is a series of annual BBC radio lectures given by leading figures of the day. They are commissioned by the BBC and broadcast on Radio 4 and the World Service. The lectures were inaugurated in 1948 to mark the historic contrib ...

*''Creation and Interpretation'' (1984) with William Barrett,

Richard Wollheim Richard Arthur Wollheim (5 May 1923 − 4 November 2003) was a British philosopher noted for original work on mind and emotions, especially as related to the visual arts, specifically, painting. Wollheim served as the president of the Britis ...

*''R. P. Blackmur, Selected Essays'' (1986) editor *''We Irish : Essays on Irish Literature & Society'' (1986) *''Reading America: Essays on American Literature'' (1987) *''America in Theory'' (1988) editor with

Leslie Berlowitz Leslie Cohen Berlowitz ( Leslie Ruth Cohen, formerly Tuttleton; March 1944 – June 13, 2020) was president and chief executive officer of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Berlowitz became the academy's executive officer in 1996 and w ...

and

Louis Menand Louis Menand (; born January 21, 1952) is an American critic, essayist, and professor who wrote the Pulitzer-winning book '' The Metaphysical Club'' (2001), an intellectual and cultural history of late 19th- and early 20th-century America. Life ...

*''England Their England: Commentaries on English Language and Literature'' (1988) *''Warrenpoint'' (1990) memoirs *''The Pure Good Of Theory'' (1992) Bucknell Lectures in Literary Theory *''Who Says What and The Question of Voice'' (1992) Princess Grace Irish Library Lectures *''The Old Moderns,: Essays on Literature and Theory'' (1994) *''

Walter Pater Walter Horatio Pater (4 August 1839 – 30 July 1894) was an English essayist, Art critic, art and literary critic, and fiction writer, regarded as one of the great stylists. His first and most often reprinted book, ''Studies in the History of t ...

: Lover of Strange Souls'' (1995) biography *''Henry James Complete Stories, 1898-1910'' (1997) editor *''Practice Of Reading'' (1998) *''Words Alone : The Poet T. S. Eliot'' (2000) *''Adam's Curse: Reflections on Religion and Literature'' (2001) *''Speaking of Beauty'' (2003) *''The American Classics'' (2005) *''On Eloquence'' (2008) *''Warrenpoint ''(2013) *''Metaphor'' (2014)

Broadcasting

In 1982 the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

invited Donoghue to present its annual

. Across six lectures, called ''The Arts Without Mystery'', he discussed how society's rationalisation of art was destroying its mystery.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donoghue, Denis 1928 births 2021 deaths Scholars and academics from County Carlow Irish literary critics New York University faculty Musicians from County Down Alumni of the Royal Irish Academy of Music Alumni of University College Dublin People educated at Abbey Christian Brothers' Grammar School Musicians from County Carlow Irish expatriates in the United States Date of birth missing People from Tullow