MacCarthy, DENIS FLORENCE

MacCarthy, DENIS FLORENCE, an Irish poet, was born in Dublin, 26th May 1817. He became known as one of the young poets of that famous newspaper, the Nation, founded by Charles Duffy in 1842, and his collected Ballads, Poems, and Lyrics appeared in 1850. His 'Bell-Founder,' 'Voyage of St Brendan,' 'Foray of Con O'Donnell,' and the 'Pillar Towers of Ireland,' quickly carried his fame over the land as well as to Irishmen beyond the sea. Shelley's translations from Calderon attracted him to Spanish, and in 1853 he published six of Calderon's dramas translated in the metres of the original, and further instalments followed in 1861, 1867, 1870, and 1873, earning the praises of Ticknor and Longfellow, and in 1881 a medal from the Royal Academy of Spain. In 1872 appeared Shelley's Early Life, and in 1879 he wrote the ode for the Moore centenary. For some years MacCarthy suffered from heart disease, and he died at Blackrock, near Dublin, April 7, 1882. A collected edition of his poems appeared in 1884.