Hon. J. C. Walsh
Sec. + Editor "Ireland"
Compliments of the Author
Capt. Francis O'Neill
June 15 '16Biography:Joseph Cyrillus Walsh was born in Oakville, Ontario, Canada in 1870. He began his career as a managing editor of
The Montreal Herald. Around the start of WWI, he arrived in New York. At the urging of Irish patriots, and with financial aid from well-off Irish-Americans, he published the weekly
Ireland paper from 1916-1917. This paper supported the Irish Parliamentary Party and the cause of Home Rule. In 1919, he traveled to Europe to attend the Paris Peace Conference as a member of the press corps. In 1921, he served as director of organization of the American Association of the Recognition of the Irish Republic. Walsh was active in Irish affairs for most of his life, maintaining relationships with many Irish political figures. In his later years, Walsh was associated with the law offices of Martin Conbey, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Walsh married Frances Kormonn, also born in Ontario. They had two sons, Maurice and Arthur, and three daughters: Mary, Madeleine, and Patricia (who later married Alfred H. Dehle). Frances died on April 3, 1947.
Walsh wrote two books:
The Invincible Ireland; and
The Lament for John MacWalter Walsh with notes on the history of the family Walsh from 1170 to 1690... (NY: Kelmscott Press, 1925).
J. C. Walsh died in his home in Yonkers, New York, in August of 1955.
Source: http://archives.nypl.org/mss/3212
[Biography by Ethan Chilton]
Provenance:Note from Brendan Strasser, bookseller:
"As you can (hopefully) see, the inscription is to J. C. Walsh, Secretary and Editor of 'Ireland.' A quick Google search reveals that Joseph Cyrilus Walsh (1870-1955) was born in Montreal and spent his professional life as a writer and newspaper editor; he was also the Secretary-General of the Irish-American Historical Society. Let me know if you have any questions about this copy, which is from the library of Ken Thigpen, retired professor and dean in the Penn State system, having taken his degree in Folklore studies at the University of Pennsylvania (most likely under Kenny Goldstein) during the golden age of that program. We were very happy to purchase significant portions of his research collection."
Note from James Finnegan, musician and current owner of this book:
"I purchased this book from Brendan Strasser of Saucony Book Shop in February of this year. The book's journey over the decades was relayed to me by Brendan, and I am humbled to now have it in my own hands to further O'Neill's legacy. I purchased this book as an early graduation present for myself – I'll graduate from University College Dublin with a Commerce International degree on September 6th of this year. I studied commerce and Mandarin, but my true passion in life lies in traditional Irish music. I am a multi-instrumentalist, and I grew up in a musical family. During my undergraduate studies, I wrote two music books; you can read more about them
here if you wish.
This volume came from the collection of folklorist Ken Thigpen, who retired a few years ago as the CEO of the Penn State Lehigh Valley campus affiliated with Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania. A former professor, Ken completed his own graduate work in Penn State's highly respected folklore studies program, where his mentor was the pioneering folklore scholar Samuel P. Bayard, who had an astonishing collection of folklore material. When Samuel P. Bayard retired, Ken Thigpen bought many volumes from his library, and when Ken retired, Brendan Strasser bought many volumes from his library. I bought this book from Brendan this year. I've done research on who I believe J.C. Walsh was - the recipient to whom O'Neill dedicated this book. After Googling the name, I stumbled across a report entitled 'Róisín Walsh's report of a visit to American libraries, universities and other institutions, 1939.' This journal chronicles Dublin City Library's first chief librarian Róisín Walsh, and her trip across America in 1939.
Róisín claims that, on Tuesday, July 11th 1939, she visited Princeton University in the company of 'Mr J.C. Walsh' whose 'great love and enthusiasm for Ireland gave [her] courage to take on what would prove to be a prodigious task, by showing how great the results would be for Ireland's reputation in America.'
In Appendix 1 of this journal, Róisín acknowledges J.C. Walsh as 'Secretary-General of the American Irish Historical Society,' which I was delighted to read, as this sentence reinforced the connection with the 'Secretary' and 'Ireland' reference of O'Neill's signature on my book.
Upon further research, I discovered his full name was Joseph Cyrilus Walsh (1870-1955). His professional career was that of a writer and newspaper editor, which aligns with the signature on O'Neill's book. After I shared my research with Brendan Strasser, he expressed his belief that I had the 'O'Neill-Walsh connection nailed down.'
My research always seemed credible to me, and I was thrilled to read last night that your researchers found J.C. Walsh to be the same person I concluded from my research.
Interestingly, the report of Róisín Walsh recommends Francis O'Neill's works in Appendix 3, where she lists 'Suggestions towards a collection of books of Irish interest!' It's interesting to see J.C. Walsh and Francis O'Neill mentioned in the one report, albeit not in the same context."
Thanks to both Brendan Strasser and James Finnegan for their exhaustive research on Walsh, and the provenance of this copy of O'Neill's book.
