Author Description

Donn Byrne, born Brian Oswald Patrick Donn-Byrne, (1889-1928) was an Irish novelist. He was born in New York City where his Irish parents were on a business trip but soon after returned to Ireland, growing up in Camlough, Co Antrim, where he became equally fluent in Irish and English, acquiring a keen interest in Irish history and nationalism from an early age. He attended the University of Dublin where he studied Romance languages and had some pieces published in The National Student magazine, continuing his studies in Europe after graduation. In 1911 he returned to New York where he initially worked in publishing before selling his own stories to various magazines, some of which were anthologised in his first book Stories Without Women (1915). His first novel The Stranger's Banquet was published in 1919 and from that time on he became a prolific novelist and short story writer, his later work in particular capturing the mythical and pastoral beauty of Ireland and her history. Despite his increasing popularity and his wife's success as a playwright, financial concerns forced the family to sell their house in Riverside, Connecticut, and return to Ireland where they later purchased Coolmain Castle near Bandon in Co Cork. Byrne died in a car accident in 1928 and his headstone reads in Irish and English "I am in my sleeping and don't waken me." This second collection of stories was first published in 1923.