John Luddy Notebooks

JohnLuddyMS1_p53.pdf

Tales and poems in the Irish language nourished a unique Irish national identity. Written in Irish, this hand-written notebook is one of three containing Fenian era prose tales and poetry completed by John Luddy while living in the parish of Ballylanders, Co. Limerick, Ireland. John Luddy was the grandfather of Michael G. Luddy (1893-1967), a Catholic University of America alumnus who willed these manuscripts to the Department of Celtic Languages, which later transferred them to the University Archives. The volume is open to the Irish love song “Eibhlín a Rún.” Translated as “Eileen, My Darling” or “Eileen, My Secret Love,” this song dates back to the 1380s and is told from the perspective of a lover singing of his sweetheart.