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The History Sale 2015
www.adams.ieTHE MACMANUS-CARBERY COLLECTION
The following lots are from the personal collections of the Donegal-born writer Seumas
MacManus [1868-1960], who lived mostly in the United States as an adult, his first
wife Anna Johnston, who wrote under the pen-name ‘Ethna Carbery’ (1866-1902),
and his brother Padraic (1864-1929), a successful agri-businessman in Argentina and
a supporter of Irish Republican causes. The collections have been preserved by
family members in Donegal.
They include important original correspondence from Padraic Pearse, Arthur Griffith,
Major John MacBride and others associated with the Irish Revival; the subscription
lists of the rare separatist periodical ‘The Shan Van Vocht’, which ‘Ethna Carbery’
edited with Alice Milligan, along with a near-complete bound set of this periodical.
The Pearse correspondence includes important new information about the funding
of Pearse’s school St. Enda’s. It confirms that Pearse’s principal sponsors initially
were the MacManus brothers, with one other major supporter; but while Seumas
subscribed some €350 from his earnings, a large amount at the time, it appears that
Padraic MacManus lost confidence in Pearse’s venture and may not have delivered
the €500 he is said to have offered. This left a major shortfall, but Pearse went ahead
anyway. The details of Padraic MacManus’ involvement are not recorded elsewhere.
The collection also includes a printed letter in French from Maud Gonne and W.B.
Yeats, seeking support for events organised by the ’98 Centenary Association, a group
of letters from William Bulfin (another Irishman with Latin American connections), and
others from Douglas Hyde, Alice Milligan, Tomás Ó Concheanainn and Margaret
Pearse (sister of Padraic).