Edward Martyn

Edward Martyn (30 January 1859 – 5 December 1923) was an Irish playwright and early republican political and cultural activist, as the first president of Sinn Féin from 1905 to 1908.

Early life

Martyn was the elder son of John Martyn of Tullira Castle, Ardrahan and Annie Mary Josephine (née Smyth) of Masonbrook, Loughrea, both of County Galway. He succeeded his father upon John's death in 1860. He was educated at Belvedere College, Dublin, and Wimbledon College, London, both Jesuit schools, after which he entered Christ Church, Oxford in 1877, but left without taking a degree in 1879. His only sibling, John, died in 1883.

Patron of the Arts

Martyn began writing fiction and plays in the 1880s. While his own output was undistinguished, he acquired a well-earned reputation as a noted connoisseur of music, both European classical and Irish traditional. He was a fine musician in his own right, giving memorable performances for guests on an organ he had installed at Tullira. Martyn used his wealth to benefit Irish culture. His activities and sponsorships included:

The Irish Literary Theatre

Martyn was reportedly pivotal in introducing William Butler Yeats and Lady Gregory to each other in 1896. The three founded the Irish Literary Theatre, for whom Martyn wrote his best and most popular plays The Heather Field and A Tale of a Town. He covered the costs of the company's first three seasons, which proved crucial to establishing the company and the future of the Abbey Theatre. He later parted ways with Yeats and Gregory, something he later regretted, but remained on warm terms with Lady Gregory till the end of his life.

George Moore

Martyn was a cousin and friend to George Moore (1852–1933). The two made frequent trips all over Europe, where Moore influenced Martyn's views on modern art, which resulted in the latter purchasing several works by Degas, Monet, Corot and Utamaro (all later donated to the National Gallery of Ireland). The two attended performances at Bayreuth, as Martyn was a devotee of Wagner. Their relationship was often antagonistic. The Moores were old literary family from the west of Ireland, who had whiggish tendencies and Anglo-Irish ancestry. Moore wrote an insightful account of Martyn in his monumental Hail and Farewell. He did not share Martyn's fenian ideas nor espousal of violent means to achieve national sovereignty. Their different political opinions eventually drove their friendship apart. In later years they were no longer on speaking terms.[2]

Republicanism

Martyn was descended from Richard Óge Martyn (c.1604 - 1648), a leading Irish Confederate, and Oliver Óge Martyn (c.1630 - c.1709), a Jacobite who fought in the Williamite War in Ireland. Yet by his lifetime, the family were unionists. Martyn's outlook began to change in the 1880s after studying Irish history, as well as living through the events of the Irish Land War. He came out as an Irish republican when he famously refused to allow "God Save The Queen" to be sung after a dinner party at Tullira. By this stage he was involved with the political work of Maude Gonne and Arthur Griffith, and was a vocal opponent of the visit of Queen Victoria to Ireland in 1897. He also protested the visit by Edward VII in 1903, this time as chairman of the People's Protection Committee. He was the first president of Sinn Féin from 1905 to 1908 (the party only taking that name in the latter year). In 1908 he resigned from the party and politics in general to concentrate on writing and his other activities. He became close friends with Griffith, funding the publication of the latter's The Resurrection of Hungary in 1904.

In 1906 he was at the centre of a well-publicised court case over an off-the-cuff remark that any Irishman who joined the British Army should be flogged. This led to his suspension by the Kildare Street Gentleman's Club, of which he was a member. The court case was resolved in his favour. Martyn stated that he only pursued the case to continue membership as it served the best caviar in Dublin.

He was on close personal terms with Thomas MacDonagh, Joseph Mary Plunkett and Patrick Pearse, and deeply mourned their executions in the aftermath of the Easter Rising. A parish hall and church that he founded at Labane, near Tullira, were burned by the Black and Tans. He supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921.

Death

Martyn died at Tullira on 5 December 1923, aged 64, after years of ill health. Friends and family were shocked at a provision in his will that directed that his body be donated for the use of medical science and, after dissection, be buried in an unmarked pauper's grave. The Palestrina Choir sang at his graveside. His papers he bequeathed to the Carmelites of Clarendon Street in Dublin, who subsequently misplaced and lost them. Portraits of Martyn exist by, among others, John Butler Yeats and Sarah Purser. On his death the senior line of the Martyn family died out. His property was inherited by his cousins, the Smyths of Masonbrook and Lord Hemphill. Tullira was sold by the latter forty years later changing ownership several times since.

Extracts from Lady Gregory's Journals

See also

References

  1. ↑ Drama in Hardwicke Street by William J Feeney, published 1984 by Associated University Presses
  2. ↑ Lady Gregory's Journal, pp.364-5

Bibliography

Party political offices
Preceded by
New Position		 Leader of Sinn Féin
1905–1908 		Succeeded by
John Sweetman
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