Stephen James Meridith Brown (born 24 September 1881 in Holywood,

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 ...

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, died on the 8th of May 1962, in Kilcrony,

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; ) is the county town of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had ...

, Ireland) was an Irish

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priest, writer, bibliographer and librarian. He founded the Central Catholic Library () in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Life

Although he was born in County Down, Stephen Brown spent his early years in

Naas Naas ( ; or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2022, it had a population of 26,180, making it the largest town in County Kildare (ahead of Newbridge, County Kildare, Newbridge) and the List of urban ar ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

, where his father was a solicitor and Chairman of Kildare County Council (1899–1911). He was educated at

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a Catholic voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814. It features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel '' A Portrait of the Artist ...

and entered the Jesuit noviceship in 1897. He studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

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, and was ordained in 1914. He initially taught at

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland. The college and national seminary on its grounds are often referred to as Maynooth College. The college was of ...

, and afterwards established the post-graduate school in librarianship 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 ...

, an interest he maintained for some 24 years. In 1922 he set up the Central Catholic Library, where he later served as director. He served on the Hospital Library Council and as Director of the Academy of Christian Art. In 1953 he received a certificate of Honorary Fellowship from the Library Association of Ireland, for his contribution to the development of the library profession in Ireland. While involved with the Central Catholic Library and other, mainly library-based, activities, he was also a prolific writer of books, bibliographies and articles of all kinds up to the end of his life. In September 1960, Fr Brown became incapacitated as the result of a serious road accident in London. A fractured skull and rib injuries forced him to spend four months in the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in Grove End Road in London. He returned to Dublin but never recovered from his injuries. He died in

Milltown, Dublin Milltown () is a suburb and townland on the southside of Dublin, Ireland. Milltown was the site of several working mills on the River Dodder and is also the location of the meeting of the River Slang with the Dodder. It is located adjacent to ...

Works by Stephen Brown

The following is a small selection of the many works by Stephen Brown, S.J.: *''A Reader's Guide to Irish Fiction'' (1910) *''A Guide to Books on Ireland'' (Dublin: Talbot 1912) *''The Question of Irish Nationality'' (Dublin: Sealy, Bryers & Walker 1913) *''The Realm of Poetry: An Introduction'' (London: George G. Harrap & Company Ltd 1921) * ** Reprinted Shannon: IUP 1969 ** The first edition of Fr. Brown's ''Ireland in Fiction'' (1916) was printed by Maunsel but was destroyed by fire in the 1916 Rising. * *''The Central Catholic Library. The first ten years of an Irish enterprise.'' 1932. *''Poetry of Irish History, being a new and enlarged edition of Historical Ballad Poetry of Ireland'', ed. M. J. Brown (Dublin: Talbot Press 1927) *''Novels and Tales by Catholic Writers'' (Dublin, 1930) *''Catholic Juvenile Literature: A Classified List'' (London: Burns, Oates & Co. 1935) *''The Press in Ireland: A Survey and a Guide''. (Dublin: Browne & Nolan 1937). *''The Crusade for a Better World (on Riccardo Lombardi)'' (Dublin: Irish Messenger, 1956)

References

Other sources

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External links

Website of the Central Catholic Library, Dublin
Includes a biography and pictures of Father Brown. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Stephen 1881 births 1962 deaths 20th-century Irish Jesuits Irish religious writers Irish librarians Irish bibliographers People from Holywood, County Down People educated at Clongowes Wood College