Matthias McDonnell Bodkin
Encyclopedia
Matthias McDonnell Bodkin (8 October 1850 – 7 June 1933) was an Irish
nationalist
politician and MP.
in the House of Commons
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
and Anti-Parnellite representative for North Roscommon
, 1892–95, a noted author, journalist
and newspaper editor, and barrister
, King’s Counsel
(K.C.) and County Court Judge for County Clare, 1907-24.
, Co. Galway
(a descendant of Tribes of Galway
). His mother was Maria McDonnell of Westport, Co. Mayo, a cousin of the distinguished Irish administrator Antony (Lord) MacDonnell
(1844–1925). Bodkin was educated at the Christian Brothers’ school, Tuam and at Tullabeg Jesuit College. He wanted to go to Trinity College, Dublin
but his family objected on religious grounds and he attended the Catholic University College Dublin
instead. He was scathing about this experience: ‘It is true I entered the so-called Catholic University, which had neither charter or endowment, and even obtained an exhibition on matriculation, but the business was so wholly futile that I abandoned it before six months was over, sacrificing my exhibition. A smattering of Terence was the only asset derived from that wasted six months.’ Bodkin was called to the Irish Law Bar
in 1877 and entered practice as a barrister on the Connaught circuit. In 1885 he married Arabella, third daughter of Francis Norman of Dublin. They had several children including Matthias Bodkin
junior (b. 1896), who became a Jesuit priest and in his turn a well-known author mainly of religious works, and Thomas Bodkin
, who was the Director of the National Gallery of Ireland
and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts
. Two daughters became nuns.
while he was still a law student. He became politically active at the time of the Coercion Act
of 1887, and defended a number of Irish Nationalists at political trials. He first came to political prominence at the time of the split in the Irish Parliamentary Party
over the leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell
, when Bodkin was a major protagonist on the Anti-Parnellite Irish National Federation
side. As deputy to William O'Brien
, editor of the newspaper United Ireland
, he was in charge of the paper in O'Brien’s absence in the USA at the time of the split in December 1890, and brought it firmly out against Parnell. He was ousted from the editor’s office by force when Parnell and his supporters reclaimed the paper. He then published an alternative Suppressed United Ireland and then The Insuppressible, which appeared up to 24 January 1891. Thereafter Bodkin was a leader writer on the Insuppressible’s Anti-Parnellite successor, the National Press.
’s urging, Bodkin stood for Parliament against the veteran Parnellite J. J. O'Kelly
at North Roscommon in 1892, winning by 3,251 votes to 3,199, a margin of only 52. He later wrote an account of the election campaign (and of his legal experiences) in his novel White Magic (1897). He stood down at the end of his first term in 1895, saying that he could not afford to continue losing earnings from the Bar: ‘my poverty, and not my will, refused’. O’Kelly regained the seat. Thereafter Bodkin was chief leader writer on the Freeman’s Journal. Jointly with Thomas Sexton he founded The Irish Packet in 1903.
, Augustine Birrell
, replied, apparently with complete truth: ‘A pint of porter’. Maume (1999, p. 92) says Bodkin had ‘dubious legal qualifications’, but there is no doubt that he had wide experience as a barrister and on his own account had defended some twenty people on capital charges.
While a judge in 1921, Bodkin published accounts of abuses by the Black and Tans
in Co. Clare which received wide publicity and led to a House of Commons debate.
with a very original yet logical method for detecting crime. Beck first appeared in Paul Beck, the rule of thumb detective in 1899. In the following year Bodkin’s creation Dora Myrl, the lady detective, made her first appearance. In The Capture of Paul Beck (1909), Bodkin had them marry each other and in 1911 their son appeared, in Paul Beck, a chip off the old block. Other titles in this series were The Quests of Paul Beck (1908), Pigeon Blood Rubies (1915) and Paul Beck, detective (1929).
Bodkin’s historical novel Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1896) was dedicated to William Gladstone
with the latter’s permission. It was one of three novels set at the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1798
.
Bodkin’s autobiography Recollections of an Irish Judge is a valuable historical source, particularly on the Parnellite split, although being published when he was only 64 it does not cover the last 20 years of his life. Its title is misleading since it contains little on Bodkin’s life as a judge, but a great deal on his experiences in politics and journalism.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
politician and MP.
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
and Anti-Parnellite representative for North Roscommon
North Roscommon (UK Parliament constituency)
North Roscommon was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the United Kingdom general election, 1885 the area was part of the Roscommon constituency...
, 1892–95, a noted author, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and newspaper editor, and barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, King’s Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(K.C.) and County Court Judge for County Clare, 1907-24.
Early life
Bodkin was the second son of a doctor, Thomas Bodkin, MD FRCSI, of TuamTuam
Tuam is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The name is pronounced choo-um . It is situated west of the midlands of Ireland, and north of Galway city.-History:...
, Co. Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
(a descendant of Tribes of Galway
Tribes of Galway
The Tribes of Galway were fourteen merchant families who dominated the political, commercial, and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late-19th centuries. They were the families of Athy, Blake, Bodkin, Browne, D'Arcy, Deane, Font, Ffrench, Joyce, Kirwan,...
). His mother was Maria McDonnell of Westport, Co. Mayo, a cousin of the distinguished Irish administrator Antony (Lord) MacDonnell
Antony MacDonnell, 1st Baron MacDonnell of Swinford
thumb|Lord MacDonnell.Antony Patrick MacDonnell, 1st Baron MacDonnell GCSI, KCVO, PC , known as Sir Antony MacDonnell between 1893 and 1908, was an Irish-born British civil servant, much involved in the administration of India...
(1844–1925). Bodkin was educated at the Christian Brothers’ school, Tuam and at Tullabeg Jesuit College. He wanted to go to Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
but his family objected on religious grounds and he attended the Catholic University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
instead. He was scathing about this experience: ‘It is true I entered the so-called Catholic University, which had neither charter or endowment, and even obtained an exhibition on matriculation, but the business was so wholly futile that I abandoned it before six months was over, sacrificing my exhibition. A smattering of Terence was the only asset derived from that wasted six months.’ Bodkin was called to the Irish Law Bar
King's Inns
The Honorable Society of King's Inns , is the institution which controls the entry of barristers-at-law into the justice system of Ireland...
in 1877 and entered practice as a barrister on the Connaught circuit. In 1885 he married Arabella, third daughter of Francis Norman of Dublin. They had several children including Matthias Bodkin
Matthias Bodkin
Matthias Bodkin aka Matthias McDonnell Bodkin, Jesuit priest and author, 26 June 1896 – 2 November 1973.Bodkin was a son of Matthias McDonnell Bodkin but never used his middle name, to differentiate himself from his father...
junior (b. 1896), who became a Jesuit priest and in his turn a well-known author mainly of religious works, and Thomas Bodkin
Thomas Bodkin
Professor Thomas Patrick Bodkin was an Irish lawyer, art historian, art collector and curator.Bodkin was Director of the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin from 1927 to 1935 and founding Director of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham from 1935 until 1952, where he acquired the...
, who was the Director of the National Gallery of Ireland
National Gallery of Ireland
The National Gallery of Ireland houses the Irish national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street. It was founded in 1854 and opened its doors ten years later...
and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Barber Institute of Fine Arts
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is an art gallery and concert hall in Birmingham, England. It is situated in purpose-built premises on the campus of the University of Birmingham....
. Two daughters became nuns.
Journalistic career
Bodkin’s journalistic career began with reporting work for the Freeman's JournalFreeman's Journal
The Freeman's Journal was the oldest nationalist newspaper in Ireland. It was founded in 1763 by Charles Lucas and was identified with radical 18th century Protestant patriot politicians Henry Grattan and Henry Flood...
while he was still a law student. He became politically active at the time of the Coercion Act
Irish Coercion Act
The Protection of Person and Property Act 1881 was one of more than 100 Coercion Acts passed by the Parliament of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland between 1801 and 1922, in an attempt to establish law and order in Ireland. The 1881 Act was passed by parliament and introduced by...
of 1887, and defended a number of Irish Nationalists at political trials. He first came to political prominence at the time of the split in the Irish Parliamentary Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
over the leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
, when Bodkin was a major protagonist on the Anti-Parnellite Irish National Federation
Irish National Federation
The Irish National Federation was a nationalist political party in Ireland. It was founded in March 1891 by former members of the Irish National League who had left the Irish Parliamentary Party in protest when Charles Stewart Parnell refused to resign the party leadership as a result of his...
side. As deputy to William O'Brien
William O'Brien
William O'Brien was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, editor of the newspaper United Ireland
United Ireland
A united Ireland is the term used to refer to the idea of a sovereign state which covers all of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. The island of Ireland includes the territory of two independent sovereign states: the Republic of Ireland, which covers 26 counties of the island, and the...
, he was in charge of the paper in O'Brien’s absence in the USA at the time of the split in December 1890, and brought it firmly out against Parnell. He was ousted from the editor’s office by force when Parnell and his supporters reclaimed the paper. He then published an alternative Suppressed United Ireland and then The Insuppressible, which appeared up to 24 January 1891. Thereafter Bodkin was a leader writer on the Insuppressible’s Anti-Parnellite successor, the National Press.
Political career
At Timothy HealyTimothy Michael Healy
Timothy Michael Healy, KC , also known as Tim Healy, was an Irish nationalist politician, journalist, author, barrister and one of the most controversial Irish Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
’s urging, Bodkin stood for Parliament against the veteran Parnellite J. J. O'Kelly
James Joseph O'Kelly
James Joseph O'Kelly was an Irish nationalist journalist, politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and as member of the Irish Parliamentary Party represented the Roscommon constituency between 1880 and 1916.-Background:His...
at North Roscommon in 1892, winning by 3,251 votes to 3,199, a margin of only 52. He later wrote an account of the election campaign (and of his legal experiences) in his novel White Magic (1897). He stood down at the end of his first term in 1895, saying that he could not afford to continue losing earnings from the Bar: ‘my poverty, and not my will, refused’. O’Kelly regained the seat. Thereafter Bodkin was chief leader writer on the Freeman’s Journal. Jointly with Thomas Sexton he founded The Irish Packet in 1903.
Legal career
Bodkin’s appointment as a County Court judge in 1907 was controversial among Nationalists who thought that offices should not be accepted from the British regime. The appointment was subjected to an unsuccessful legal challenge on the ground that Bodkin had retired from the Bar at the time; when asked in Parliament what had induced the (illiterate) complainant to lodge his affidavit against Bodkin, the then Chief Secretary for IrelandChief Secretary for Ireland
The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, from the late 18th century until the end of British rule he was effectively the government minister with responsibility for governing Ireland; usually...
, Augustine Birrell
Augustine Birrell
Augustine Birrell PC, KC was an English politician, barrister, academic and author. He was Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1907 to 1916, resigning in the immediate aftermath of the Easter Rising.-Early life:...
, replied, apparently with complete truth: ‘A pint of porter’. Maume (1999, p. 92) says Bodkin had ‘dubious legal qualifications’, but there is no doubt that he had wide experience as a barrister and on his own account had defended some twenty people on capital charges.
While a judge in 1921, Bodkin published accounts of abuses by the Black and Tans
Black and Tans
The Black and Tans was one of two newly recruited bodies, composed largely of British World War I veterans, employed by the Royal Irish Constabulary as Temporary Constables from 1920 to 1921 to suppress revolution in Ireland...
in Co. Clare which received wide publicity and led to a House of Commons debate.
Writings
Bodkin was a prolific author, in a wide range of genres, including history, novels (contemporary and historical), plays, and political campaigning texts. The catalogues of the British Library and National Library of Ireland list some 39 publications between them. Some books were published under the pseudonym ‘Crom a Boo’. Bodkin earned a place in the history of the detective novel by virtue of his invention of the first detective family. His character Paul Beck, a private detective with comfortable lodgings in Chester, was an Irish Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
with a very original yet logical method for detecting crime. Beck first appeared in Paul Beck, the rule of thumb detective in 1899. In the following year Bodkin’s creation Dora Myrl, the lady detective, made her first appearance. In The Capture of Paul Beck (1909), Bodkin had them marry each other and in 1911 their son appeared, in Paul Beck, a chip off the old block. Other titles in this series were The Quests of Paul Beck (1908), Pigeon Blood Rubies (1915) and Paul Beck, detective (1929).
Bodkin’s historical novel Lord Edward Fitzgerald (1896) was dedicated to William Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
with the latter’s permission. It was one of three novels set at the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
.
Bodkin’s autobiography Recollections of an Irish Judge is a valuable historical source, particularly on the Parnellite split, although being published when he was only 64 it does not cover the last 20 years of his life. Its title is misleading since it contains little on Bodkin’s life as a judge, but a great deal on his experiences in politics and journalism.
Selected publications
- “The Devil’s Work” on the Clanricarde Estate, London, Irish Press Agency, 1890
- Poteen Punch (Irish after-dinner stories, some reprinted from United Ireland), Dublin, M. H. Gill & Son, 1890
- Lord Edward Fitzgerald, An historical romance, Dublin, Talbot Press, 1896
- White Magic: a novel, London, Chapman & Hall, 1897
- Grattan’s Parliament, before and after, London, T. F. Unwin, 1912
- Recollections of an Irish Judge: Press, Bar and Parliament, London, Hurst & Blackett, 1914
- Ulster’s Opportunity: a united Ireland, by an Irish K.C., Dublin, Duffy, 1917
- Famous Irish Trials, Dublin & London, Maunsel, 1918
- When Youth Meets Youth, Dublin, Talbot Press; London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1920
- A Judicial Report on the devastation of County Clare, Dublin, Talbot Press, 1921
- Guilty or Not Guilty?, Dublin, Talbot Press, 1929
Sources
- Irish IndependentIrish IndependentThe Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...
, 8 June 1933 - F. S. L. LyonsF. S. L. LyonsFrancis Stewart Leland Lyons was one of Ireland's premier historians.-Biography:Lyons was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1923, but soon moved to Boyle in County Roscommon where his father was a bank official...
, The Fall of Parnell 1890-91, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1960 - Patrick Maume, The Long Gestation: Irish Nationalist Life 1891-1918, Dublin, Gill & MacMillan, 1999
- Brian M. Walker (ed.), Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922, Dublin, Royal Irish Academy, 1978
- Who Was Who, 1929-1940
External links
- Catalogue of the Bodkin papers, National Archives of Ireland
- Full text and facsimile of Lord Edward Fitzgerald
- Full text and facsimile of Grattan’s Parliament, before and after
- Full text and facsimile of Recollections of an Irish Judge
- Full text and facsimile of Famous Irish Trials
- Full text of "The Capture of Paul Beck" at manybooks.net