Brinsley MacNamara: An Inventory of His Collection at the Harry Ransom Center

Brinsley MacNamara:

An Inventory of His Collection at the Harry Ransom Center

	Creator:	MacNamara, Brinsley, 1890-1963
	Title:	Brinsley MacNamara Collection
	Dates:	1868-1968 (bulk 1919-1962), undated
	Extent:	18 document boxes (7.56 linear feet)
	Abstract:	The Brinsley MacNamara Collection contains manuscripts, correspondence, and other papers of the Irish novelist, actor, playwright, and critic John (or A. E.) Weldon, who was best known by his pen- and stage-name Brinsley MacNamara. The manuscripts represent novels, plays, poems, short stories, and criticism, much of the latter presented as radio broadcasts. Other papers include legal agreements, royalty statements, research materials, and writings by others about MacNamara and/or his works.
	Call Number:	Manuscript Collection MS-02630
	Language:	English; one item translated into Gaelic

	Access:	Open for research. Researchers must create an online Research Account and agree to the Materials Use Policy before using archival materials.
	Use Policies:	Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University of Texas at Austin assume no responsibility.
	Restrictions on Use:	Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the owner of the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Ransom Center's Open Access and Use Policies.

Administrative Information

	Preferred Citation:	Brinsley MacNamara Collection (Manuscript Collection MS-02630). Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.
	Acquisition:	Purchases and gift, 1961-1973 (unnumbered purchase, 1961; R2137, R2969, R3643, R4700, R4990, unnumbered gift 1973).
	Processed by:	Simon Marina and Joan Sibley, 2024. Note: This finding aid replicates and replaces information previously available only in a card catalog. Please see the explanatory note at the end of this finding aid for information regarding the arrangement of the manuscripts as well as the abbreviations commonly used in descriptions.

Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

Scope and Contents

	The Brinsley MacNamara Collection contains manuscripts, correspondence, and other papers of the Irish novelist, actor, playwright, and critic John (or A. E.) Weldon, who was best known by his pen- and stage-name Brinsley MacNamara. The manuscripts represent novels, plays, poems, short stories, and criticism, much of the latter presented as radio broadcasts. Other papers include legal agreements, royalty statements, research materials, and writings by others about MacNamara and/or his works.
	This collection was previously accessible only through a card catalog but has now been re-cataloged as part of a retrospective conversion project. The material remains as originally organized into four series: I. Works, 1919-1959 (boxes 1-16); II. Letters (outgoing correspondence), 1920-1959 (box 16); III. Recipients (incoming correspondence), 1926-1962 (box 17); and IV. Miscellaneous, 1868-1968 (boxes 17-18), with materials arranged alphabetically by title or author. See the Indexes for Works, Letters, Recipients, and Miscellaneous in this finding aid to identify additional titles of works and correspondent names present in this collection.
	The great majority of the collection consists of works by MacNamara, mainly dating from his first staged play The Rebellion in Ballycullen at the Abbey Theatre in 1919 through his last published work in 1951, The Whole Story of X. Y. Z., an experimental novella. Two of the works in this series were written using a later pseudonym, Michael Bedannis. MacNamara’s work on radio broadcasts is also represented and includes his book reviews as well as programs on the melodies and songs of the Irish poet and lyricist Thomas Moore (1779-1852).
	Much of the correspondence (both outgoing and incoming) relates to MacNamara’s career and represents actors, authors, broadcasters (Radio Éireann and the BBC) directors (Ria Mooney, artistic director of the Abbey Theatre), literary agents, playwrights, publishers, theaters (the Abbey Theatre and others), and various theater organizations.
	Several of MacNamara’s works are further documented in the Miscellaneous series, which includes royalty statements from the Abbey Theatre, contracts for plays and novels, reader’s reports from the Abbey Theatre Play Competition, and royalty statements from several publishers. Some materials document a legal case arising from the publication of MacNamara’s controversial novel The Valley of the Squinting Windows (1918) and the subsequent boycott of a school run by MacNamara’s father, James Weldon.

Related Material

	Harry Ransom Center: Oliver St. John Gogarty Collection, 1904-1965
	Harry Ransom Center: George Reavey Papers, 1914-1976
	Harry Ransom Center: William Robert Rodgers Collection, 1940-1960
	National Library of Ireland: Catalogue (Fourteen manuscripts by Brinsley Macnamara are listed, for The dark horse, The grand house in the city, The glorious uncertainty, Michael Caravan, The master, The quenching of the flame, and The three thimbles; also four letters; 1920-1959)
	New York Public Library: A. E. Weldon Collection of Papers, 1923-1958
	University College Dublin: RTÉ Radio Drama and Variety Scripts, 1931-2000
	University of Delaware: Brinsley MacNamara manuscripts, 1938-1954
	University of Kansas: Drafts by Brinsley MacNamara, 1917-1930s

Separated Material

Harry Ransom Center: Photography Literary Files Collection (55 items): Negatives of MacNamara, his family and friends, and places in Ireland, 1890s-1960s (P1-P8, P10-P17, P20-P52); portrait of MacNamara by the College Studios (Dublin, Ireland) (P53); nitrate negatives of views of Banimvanem School (P9A-P9B) and Quinn Abbey, County Clare (P18A-P18B, P19).

Sources:

	Murray, Christopher. "Brinsley MacNamara (John Weldon)." The Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. 10, 1982.
	Roche, Anthony. "McNamara, Brinsley (John Weldon)." Dictionary of Irish Biography Online, https://www.dib.ie/biography/mcnamara-brinsley-john-weldon-a5276 (accessed 19 September 2024).

HRC Guide Headings

	Subjects
		Literature: British and Irish
		Performers
		Playwrights

Collections