17th April - Jane Barlow

#OnThisDay, 17th April 1917 Jane Barlow died.

Jane Barlow was born in Clontarf but lived most of her life in Raheny.  She was the eldest daughter of the Rev. James William Barlow, Professor of Modern History, Senior Fellow and later Vice – Provost of Trinity College Dublin.  The family moved to Raheny in 1865 and lived at The Cottage, formerly known as Ballyhoy House. It is now known as Raheny House and has been incorporated into the Garda Síochána retirement home.

Jane became a popular writer of poetry and prose fiction mainly on the subject of Irish peasant life. Her best known work is Irish Idylls.

She was friends with the writer Katherine Tynan and the artist Sarah Purser.  Tynan frequently visited The Cottage in Raheny and Purser painted her portrait in 1894, which is now part of The Hugh Lane private collection.

In 1904, Jane was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate in Literature by Trinity College Dublin – the first woman to be so honoured by the college.

You can read more about Jane Barlow in the Raheny Heritage Society’s publication ‘Raheny Footprints’.

Look at our photo gallery to see some photos.