Una Troy

Una Troy Walsh (21 May 1910 – 27 September 1993) was an Irish novelist and playwright who wrote under the names Elizabeth Connor and Una Troy.

Una Troy
Born21 May 1910 (some sources give 1913)
Fermoy, County Cork, Ireland
Died27 September 1993
Bonmahon, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Occupation(s)Novelist and playwright
RelativesSeán Keating (brother-in-law)

Early life

Troy was born in Fermoy, County Cork,[1] the daughter of John S. Troy and Brigid Agnes Hayes. Her father was a lawyer and a judge. Her sister Gráinne (or Grania, 1913–1970) was a musician, and her sister Shevaun (1923–1993) was a poet.[2] She was educated at the Loreto Convent in Rathfarnham, Dublin.[3]

Career

Before and during World War II

Writing under the pen name of "Elizabeth Connor",[4][5] she began her career in 1936 with the publication of the novel Mount Prospect, which was banned in the Irish Free State.[6] Adapted as a play, it garnered the Shaw Prize for new playwrights and was performed on the Abbey stage in 1940. Two subsequent plays by Troy Swans and Geese and An Apple a Day, were also performed at the Abbey in the early 1940s.[7][8]

In 1938, Dead Star's Light was published. The protagonist, John Davern, was based on the character of IRA revolutionary idealist George Lennon of West Waterford. While not banned, it did elicit censure from Troy's parish priest in Clonmel.[5] Dead Star's Light was performed on the Abbey stage in 1947 as The Dark Road.[4]

After World War II

In the post-World War II period Troy wrote more fifteen novels, under her own name. Miss Maggie and the Doctor (1958) was considered "as Irish as the shamrock" with "a unique exuberance and charm".[9] Kirkus Reviews described her 1959 novel The Other End of the Bridge as "Funny in its presentation but not in its intent," adding that Troy "points up universal problems in microcosm, and stirs its Irish stew with a sturdy ladle."[10]

Troy's 1955 novel, We Are Seven, was adapted as a film, She Didn't Say No! (1958), for which she was the co-writer.[11] Because of its portrayal of illegitimacy, the film was not released in Ireland until a film copy was retrieved in 2001 at the Irish Film Archive. It was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2005, as part of an international film preservation festival.[12] Thanks to the European initiative 'A Season of Classic Films'[13][14] of the Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE), the film has been digitised in early 2021 and made possible to release online with an introduction on the film’s preservation and history.[15]

Selected publications
  • Mount Prospect (also known as No House of Peace, 1936)
  • Dead Star's Light (1938)
  • We Are Seven (1955)[16]
  • Miss Maggie and the Doctor (also known as Maggie, 1958)[17][18]
  • The Workhouse Graces (also known as The Graces of Ballykeen, 1959)[19]
  • The Other End of the Bridge (1960)[20][21]
  • Esmond (1962)[22]
  • The Brimstone Halo (also known as The Prodigal Father, 1965)[23]
  • The Benefactors (1969)
  • The Castle Nobody Wanted (1970)
  • Tiger Puss (1970)
  • Doctor Go Home (1973)
  • Out of Everywhere (1976)
  • Caught in the Furze (1977)
  • A Sack of Gold (1979)
  • So True a Fool (1981)

Personal life

In 1931, Una Troy married Joseph C. Walsh of Bonmahon, who served as physician to the Irish Republican Army (IRA),[24] and later as a coroner. Her sister-in-law May Walsh was married to Irish artist Seán Keating. The couple lived in Clonmel for most of their lives together, and had a daughter, Janet (1932–2002). Una Troy was widowed when Dr. Walsh died in 1969, and she died in 1993 in Bonmahon, County Waterford.[4] Many of her papers are in the collection of the National Library of Ireland.[2]

References
  1. Owen, Emma Mae (24 March 1957). "Both Tears and Laughter Found in 'We Are Seven'". The Jackson Sun. p. 29. Retrieved 30 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Butler, Ann M. Collection List for Una Troy Papers, National Library of Ireland.
  3. "Una Troy". The Concise Oxford Companion to Irish Literature. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  4. Walsh, I. (13 March 2012). Experimental Irish Theatre: After W.B. Yeats. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-00136-8.
  5. O'Reilly, Terence (2009). Rebel Heart: George Lennon : Flying Column Commander. Mercier Press Ltd. pp. 220–224. ISBN 978-1-85635-649-7.
  6. Connolly, Claire (Spring 2010). "Four Nations Feminism: Una Troy and Menna Gallie" (PDF). UCDscholarcast. p. 3. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  7. Leland, Mary (1999). The lie of the land: journeys through literary Cork. Cork University Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-85918-231-4. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  8. "People: Elizabeth Connor" Irish Playography.
  9. Owen, Emma Mae (17 August 1958). "Una Troy's Gay Novels Continue to Charm Readers". The Jackson Sun. p. 11. Retrieved 30 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "The Other End of the Bridge". Kirkus Reviews. 4 January 1960. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  11. "She Didn't Say No". Irish Film Institute. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  12. "MOMA To Screen Restored 'She Didn't Say No!'". The Irish Film & Television Network. 1 April 2005. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  13. Reizi, Paulina, ed. (2020). A Season of Classic Films: Programme Catalogue (PDF). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: ACE – Association des Cinémathèques Européennes.
  14. "A Season of Classic Films". Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE). Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  15. Reizi, Paulina. "A Season of Classic Films: She Didn't Say No!". ACE – Association des Cinémathèques Européennes. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  16. Troy, Una (1990). We are Seven. Chivers. ISBN 978-0-86220-607-9.
  17. Troy, Una (1958). Miss Maggie and the Doctor. Dutton.
  18. Cobb, Jane (29 June 1958). "Dr. Bill's Housekeeper". New York Times. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  19. Minick, Elaine I. (10 January 1960). "Sisters in Paupers' Home Find Riches in Friendship". Chattanooga Daily Times. p. 16. Retrieved 30 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. Troy, Una (1960). The Other End of the Bridge. Heinemann.
  21. Johnson, C. W. (8 January 1961). "Irish Feuding Becomes Frolic". Springfield Leader and Press. p. 27. Retrieved 30 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. Burns, G. Frank (22 July 1962). "Trigamy". The Tennessean. p. 32. Retrieved 30 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. B. H. H. (21 March 1965). "'Prodigal Father' Returns to Family He Left Behind". The Anniston Star. p. 16. Retrieved 30 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. O'Reilly, Terence (2009). Rebel Heart: George Lennon: Flying Column Commander. Mercier Press Ltd. p. 220. ISBN 978-1-85635-649-7. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
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