Robert Anthony Welch
Encyclopedia
Biography
Robert Anthony Welch is Emeritus Professor of English in the Faculty of Arts BABachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
FEA
FEA
Fea was the smallest unit of land a fief could own under the feudal system.-Acronyms and abbreviations:FEA is an acronym or abbreviation for:...
MRIA
MRIA
MRIA may refer to:* Members of the Royal Irish Academy are permitted to use the letters MRIA after their names to indicate their election to the Academy.* Antonov An-225...
and former Dean of the Faculty at the University of Ulster
University of Ulster
The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...
. He joined the University in 1984 as Professor of English and head of the School of English, Media, and Theatre Studies having previously taught at the School of English, University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
, and the University of Ife in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
.
He was born in Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, part of the Province of Munster in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, and was educated at University College Cork and later the University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
. He was a scholarship student at Cork, where he studied English, Irish, and Music. At Cork he was taught by Sean Lucy, Seán Ó Tuama
Seán Ó Tuama
Seán Ó Tuama was an Irish poet, playwright and academic.-Life:Raised in Cork city and educated at the North Monastery school and University College Cork, Ó Tuama first came to prominence in 1950 with his anthology of modern Irish language poetry titled Nuabhéarsaíocht 1939-1949.Notable academic...
and Sean O Riada. He took his Master's at Cork University under Sean Lucy and then went to study for PhD under the noted Yeats
Yeats
W. B. Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright.Yeats may also refer to:* Yeats ,* Yeats , an impact crater on Mercury* Yeats , an Irish thoroughbred racehorse-See also:...
scholar A N Jeffares at Leeds University where he also held a Lectureship in English. His research was on the interaction between Gaelic tradition and Irish poetry in English, a field in which he has achieved wide recognition and this specialism was singled out in the citation that led to his election to membership of the Royal Irish Academy
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy , based in Dublin, is an all-Ireland, independent, academic body that promotes study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions and currently has around 420 Members, elected in...
in 2008.
He is married to Angela O'Riordan and they have four children. A novelist and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
as well as a critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
and editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
, he published The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature
The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature
The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature is edited by Robert Welch and was completed in 1996.In over 2,000 entries, the Companion to Irish Literature surveys the Irish literary landscape across some sixteen centuries, describing its features and landmarks...
in 1996
Poetry
His first published volume of poetry was Muskerry (1991, Dedalus Press) followed by Secret Societies (1997, Dedalus Press) and The Blue Formica Table (1999, Dedalus Press), and The Evergreen Road (2004, Lagan Press). A new collection titled Constanza was released in July 2010. In 2009 he was the recipient of the O'Connor Literary Award in MonasterevinMonasterevin
Situated 63 km from Dublin on the R445 road, Monasterevin has been relieved of much through traffic by the opening in 2004 of a new section of the M7 motorway bypassing the town on the N7 Dublin to Limerick route...
, County Kildare
County Kildare
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county...
at the Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. was an English poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous 20th-century fame established him among the leading Victorian poets...
summer school.
Fiction
His fiction includes The Kilcolman Notebook (1994, Brandon Press) followed by Tearmann (in Irish, Coisceim, 1997) and Groundwork (1997, Blackstaff Press) which was recently translated and serialised for Slovakian national radio. He is currently at work on a new collection of stories provisionally titled The Trap of Their Hexes, a story from the collection entitled 'Meeting Bruchmann' was published in The Dublin ReviewThe Dublin Review
The Dublin Review is a quarterly magazine that publishes essays, reportage, autobiography, travel writing, criticism and fiction. It was launched in December 2000 by Brendan Barrington, who remains the editor and publisher, assisted by Nora Mahony. An anthology of non-fiction pieces from the...
in May 2010. He has written a memoir of his son, Egan, who died in 2007, titled Kicking the Black Mamba which is due for release in February 2012 through Darton,Longman & Todd.
Criticism
His critical work began in 1980 with Irish Poetry from Moore to Yeats (Colin Smythe Ltd), which charted for the first time the achievements of the major poets of the Irish nineteenth century leading to the work of W B Yeats. This was followed by work, which includes A History of Verse Translation from the Irish: 1789–1897 (1988, Colin Smythe Ltd), Changing States: Transformations in Modern Irish Writing (1993, RoutledgeRoutledge
Routledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...
). His history of the Abbey Theatre
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...
, Dublin, was published in 1999 to mark the centenary of the first productions of what became the Irish National Theatre. This was titled A History of the Abbey Theatre
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre , also known as the National Theatre of Ireland , is a theatre located in Dublin, Ireland. The Abbey first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its original building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day...
1899–1999: Form and Pressure (1999, Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
). He edited for Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
W B Yeats: Writings on Irish Folklore, Legend, and Myth (1993). The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature
The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature
The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature is edited by Robert Welch and was completed in 1996.In over 2,000 entries, the Companion to Irish Literature surveys the Irish literary landscape across some sixteen centuries, describing its features and landmarks...
appeared in 1996 followed by a Concise version in 2000. Other editorial work included Patrick Galvin
Patrick Galvin
Patrick Galvin was an Irish poet, singer, playwright, and prose and screen writer born in Cork's inner city.-Biography:Galvin was born in Cork in 1927 at a time of great political transition in Ireland...
: New and Selected Poems (with Greg Delanty
Greg Delanty
Greg Delanty is an Irish poet. He is artist-in-residence at St. Michael's College, and current President of the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers....
, 1996, Cork University Press
Cork University Press
Cork University Press is a publisher located in Cork, Ireland that was founded in 1925. They publish under their own imprint and two others: Attic and Atrium....
). This volume includes notes and an introduction jointly authored. He wrote the introduction to Rogha Danta/Death in the Land of Youth: New and Selected Poems of Seán Ó Tuama
Seán Ó Tuama
Seán Ó Tuama was an Irish poet, playwright and academic.-Life:Raised in Cork city and educated at the North Monastery school and University College Cork, Ó Tuama first came to prominence in 1950 with his anthology of modern Irish language poetry titled Nuabhéarsaíocht 1939-1949.Notable academic...
(1997, Cork University Press
Cork University Press
Cork University Press is a publisher located in Cork, Ireland that was founded in 1925. They publish under their own imprint and two others: Attic and Atrium....
).
Editor
He is general editor of a series published by Colin Smythe titled Ulster Editions and Monographs, which now runs to 16 volumes. With Professor Brian Walker of Queen's UniversityQueen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
Belfast, he is general editor of the five-volume series The Oxford History of the Irish Book from Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
. Volume three, The Irish Book in English 1550–1800 appeared in 2006, edited by Raymond Gillespie and Andrew Hadfield. Volume five, The Irish Book in English 1890–2000 edited by Clare Hutton and Patrick Walsh will appear in 2010. The other volumes will follow in due course.
Playwright
His play Protestants was commissioned by Ransom Productions in 2004 and premiered at The Old Museum Arts Centre in Belfast and toured to Northern Ireland, the West End (Soho TheatreSoho Theatre
Soho Theatre is a theatre in the eponymous Soho district of the City of Westminster. It presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret....
), and Edinburgh (Traverse Theatre
Traverse Theatre
The Traverse Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded in 1963.The Traverse Theatre commissions and develops new plays or adaptations from contemporary playwrights. It also presents a large number of productions from visiting companies from across the UK. These include new plays,...
).
Accolades
In 1992 he was awarded the OireachtasOireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...
Prize for criticism and in 2003 he was made Senior Distinguished Research Fellow of the University of Ulster
University of Ulster
The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...
. In 2008 he was awarded membership to the Royal Irish Academy
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy , based in Dublin, is an all-Ireland, independent, academic body that promotes study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions and currently has around 420 Members, elected in...
. In 2009 he was awarded the prestigious O'Connor Award at the Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. was an English poet, Roman Catholic convert, and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous 20th-century fame established him among the leading Victorian poets...
Literature Festival in Kildare
Kildare
-External links:*******...
, Éire.
Published works
- Irish Poetry from Moore to Yeats (Colin Smythe and Barnes & Noble, Gerrards Cross and New York, 1988),
- The Way Back: George Moore's The Untilled Field and The Lake (Wolfhound Press and Barnes & Noble, Dublin and New York, 1988)
- A History of Verse Translation from the Irish, 1789–1897 (Colin Smythe and Barnes & Noble, Gerrards Cross and New York, 1988)
- Literature and the Art of Creation: Essays in Honour of A.N. Jeffares (Colin Smythe and Barnes & Noble, Gerrards Cross and New York, 1988), ed., with Suheil Badi Bushrui, 350pp.
- General editor, Vols I–XII, Ulster Editions and Monographs (Colin Smythe and Barnes & Noble, Gerrards Cross and New York, 1988).
- Muskerry (poems) (Dedalus Press, 1991), Dublin
- Editor and author of introduction, Irish Writers and Religion (Colin Smythe and Barnes & Noble, Gerrards Cross and New York, 1991)
- W.B. Yeats: Irish Folklore, Legend and Myth (PenguinPenguin BooksPenguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
, 1993), editor, author of introduction and notes - Changing States: Transformations in Modern Irish Writing (RoutledgeRoutledgeRoutledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...
, 1993) - Kilcolman Notebook (novel), (Brandon Press, 1993)
- The Oxford Companion to Irish LiteratureThe Oxford Companion to Irish LiteratureThe Oxford Companion to Irish Literature is edited by Robert Welch and was completed in 1996.In over 2,000 entries, the Companion to Irish Literature surveys the Irish literary landscape across some sixteen centuries, describing its features and landmarks...
(Clarendon Press, 1996) - Irish Myths (Appletree Press, Belfast, 1996)
- Patrick Galvin: New and Selected Poems (Cork University PressCork University PressCork University Press is a publisher located in Cork, Ireland that was founded in 1925. They publish under their own imprint and two others: Attic and Atrium....
, 1996), editor (with Greg Delanty), co-author of introduction and notes - Secret Societies (poems) (Dedalus Press, Dublin and Dufour, New York, 1996)
- Tearmann (novel, in Irish) (Coiscéim, Dublin, 1997)
- Groundwork (novel), (Blackstaff Press, 1997)
- The Blue Formica Table (poems), (Dedalus Press, Dublin and Dufour, New York, 1999)
- The Abbey Theatre 1899–1999: Form and Pressure (Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 1998) - The Oxford Companion to Irish LiteratureThe Oxford Companion to Irish LiteratureThe Oxford Companion to Irish Literature is edited by Robert Welch and was completed in 1996.In over 2,000 entries, the Companion to Irish Literature surveys the Irish literary landscape across some sixteen centuries, describing its features and landmarks...
(Concise) (ed.), Oxford University Press - The Evergreen Road (poems), (Lagan Press, 2006)
- Protestants (drama), (Lagan Press, 2006)
- The Oxford History of the Irish Book, Vol III (of 5 volumes), (General Editor with Brian Walker, 2006)