Gerald O'Donovan (born Jeremiah Donovan; 15 July 1871 – 26 July 1942) was an Irish priest and writer.

Life and work

Jeremiah Donovan was born in Kilkeel, County Down, the son of a pier builder. He attended Ardnaree College in

Killala Killala () is a village in County Mayo in Ireland, north of Ballina. The railway line from Dublin to Ballina once extended to Killala. To the west of Killala is the townland of Townsplots West (known locally as Enagh Beg), which contains a num ...

and

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mou ...

. He left Maynooth after ordination for the Diocese of Clonfert in 1895 and was appointed as 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 ...

priest to Loughrea, County Galway between 1896 and 1904. He was an enthusiastic advocate of the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...

and the Irish Cooperative Association, and promoted his views in articles and lectures. His literary friends included

Lady Gregory Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (; 15 March 1852 – 22 May 1932) was an Anglo-Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, and wrot ...

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

, and George Moore. He was in charge of decorating

St Brendan's Cathedral, Loughrea The Cathedral of St. Brendan, Loughrea, is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clonfert. The cathedral was designed in Neo-Gothic style and houses one of the most extensive collections of arts and crafts and Celtic Revival arte ...

in 1901, the financing provided by O'Donovan's close friend

Edward Martyn Edward Martyn (30 January 1859 – 5 December 1923) was an Irish playwright and early republican political and cultural activist, as the first president of Sinn Féin from 1905–1908. Early life Martyn was the elder son of John Martyn of Tul ...

. He quit Loughrea in 1904 after the arrival of a new bishop, Thomas O'Dea. He moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

but failing to find work as a priest, he left the Catholic priesthood in May 1908. He became a subwarden at

Toynbee Hall Toynbee Hall is a charitable institution that works to address the causes and impacts of poverty in the East End of London and elsewhere. Established in 1884, it is based in Commercial Street, Spitalfields, and was the first university-affili ...

in the East End in March 1910. Later that year, he married Florence Emily Beryl Verschoyle (1886–1968), the daughter of an Irish Protestant colonel fifteen years his junior. They married in

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

in October 1910. They had three children, two daughters and a son. In 1913, O'Donovan published his first and best known novel, '' Father Ralph'', which drew in large part on his own life. He changed his first name from Jeremiah to Gerald. Another novel called ''Waiting'' was published in 1914. He joined the war effort in 1915, and rose to become head of the Italian section at the Ministry of Information in 1918. There he met his secretary and future lover, English novelist

Rose Macaulay Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel ''The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spiri ...

. He published a few more novels after the war: ''How They Did It'' (1920); ''Conquest'' (1920), ''Vocations'' (1921), and ''The Holy Tree'' (1922). The clandestine affair with Macaulay continued for nearly two decades. In 1939, the pair were on holiday in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

when they met with a motoring accident, which damaged O'Donovan's health. He died of cancer in

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

three years later, in July 1942. His letters to Macaulay had been destroyed the previous year when her flat in Central London was bombed during the Blitz. In her novel '' The Towers of Trebizond'' Macaulay featured a woman character (Laurie) torn between her attraction to Christianity and her adulterous love for a married man; this is considered to reflect the author's relationship with O'Donovan.The Towers of Trebizond
at nybooks.com (accessed 14 November 2007)Macaulay, Dame (Emilie) Rose (1881–1958), author
by Constance Babington Smith, revised by Katherine Mullin, in ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' online (accessed 15 November 2007)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ODonovan, Gerald Irish novelists Laicized Roman Catholic priests 1871 births 1942 deaths Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Irish male novelists Deaths from cancer in England People from Kilkeel Christian clergy from County Down