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y separately published work icon The Hibernian Father : A Tragedy in Five Acts single work   drama   - Five acts
Issue Details: First known date: 1844... 1844 The Hibernian Father : A Tragedy in Five Acts
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

First performed in 1844, this tragedy was one of Edward Geoghegan's most famous works, along with The Currency Lass.

Notes

  • Further Reference :

        • Pelosi, Janette. 'Colonial Drama Revealed ; Or, Plays Submitted for Approval.' Margin 60 (2003), pp21-34.

  • Described by the Weekly Register as the 'first original tragedy composed for the Sydney stage'. (2.42 (11 May 1844): 584)

Production Details

  • First produced at the Royal Victoria Theatre, Sydney, on Monday, 6 May 1844. Produced at the Victoria for a second time on 9 February 1846.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1844
      .
      (Manuscript) assertion
      Note/s:
      • Submitted to the Colonial Secretary for approval by William Knight
      • The New South Wales State Records catalogue incorrectly identifies the play as The Hibernian Farce.

      Holdings

      Held at: State Records, NSW
      Local Id: SZ58
      Note:
      Holding details : Colonial Secretary Correspondence ; play enclosure (44/3673 ) ; covering letter (44/3673 with 52/4057 in 4/3078) ; play at (SZ55) ; microfilm copy of play (SR Reel 2558).
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Works about this Work

Lost and Found – Reinstating Playwright Edward Geoghegan (1813-1869) and His Most Controversial Play, The Hibernian Father (1844). Gay Lynch , Janette Pelosi , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Language and Power in the Celtic World: Papers from the Seventh Australian Conference of Celtic Studies, 2010 2011;
Fiction Writing: Theft or Weft? Gay Lynch , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: TEXT : The Journal of the Australian Association of Writing Programs , April vol. 9 no. 1 2005; 'What can a writer of fiction steal: a voice, a landscape, some history, a story, a name? Is barefaced best, ficto-critical more honest, slight of hand more deft? Good relationships and elaborate permissions have failed to protect the best of writers. Preparing for hostilities can warp a narrative. ... This paper sets the rights and privacies of others, against the quirks of imagination, and the trust writers invest in themselves in order to create their work.' (Author's abstract)

The author discusses the background to her work in progress, a novel about Irish settlers linked to family history and a play by Edward Geoghegan, The Hibernian Father which itself is linked to an Irish play The Warden of Galway based on a 15th century story.
Colonial Drama Revealed, or Plays Submitted for Approval Janette Pelosi , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Margin , July - August no. 60 2003; (p. 21-34)
Australia's 'First' Dramatists Eric Irvin , 1969 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 4 no. 1 1969; (p. 18-30) Discusses early Australian theatre and drama in examining the question: Who wrote the first Australian play?
'The Hibernian Father' : Mysteries Solved and Unsolved Helen Oppenheim , 1967 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , June vol. 3 no. 1 1967; (p. 66-67)
Theatrical Register 1844 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekly Register of Politics, Facts and General Literature , 11 May vol. 2 no. 42 1844; (p. 584)
— Review of The Hibernian Father : A Tragedy in Five Acts Edward Geoghegan , 1844 single work drama
Colonial Drama Revealed, or Plays Submitted for Approval Janette Pelosi , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Margin , July - August no. 60 2003; (p. 21-34)
Fiction Writing: Theft or Weft? Gay Lynch , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: TEXT : The Journal of the Australian Association of Writing Programs , April vol. 9 no. 1 2005; 'What can a writer of fiction steal: a voice, a landscape, some history, a story, a name? Is barefaced best, ficto-critical more honest, slight of hand more deft? Good relationships and elaborate permissions have failed to protect the best of writers. Preparing for hostilities can warp a narrative. ... This paper sets the rights and privacies of others, against the quirks of imagination, and the trust writers invest in themselves in order to create their work.' (Author's abstract)

The author discusses the background to her work in progress, a novel about Irish settlers linked to family history and a play by Edward Geoghegan, The Hibernian Father which itself is linked to an Irish play The Warden of Galway based on a 15th century story.
The Hibernian Father Edward Geoghegan , 1844 single work correspondence
— Appears in: The Weekly Register of Politics, Facts and General Literature , 18 May vol. 2 no. 43 1844; (p. 589) The Sydney Morning Herald , 20 May 1844; (p. 3)

Geoghegan refutes a letter, published in the Sydney Morning Herald, that questioned the originality of 'The Hibernian Father'. The SMH letter writer, 'Tisias', had drawn parallels between 'The Hibernian Father' and the 1831 play 'Warden of Galway'.

Geoghegan lays out his limited knowledge of the 'Warden of Galway' and provides an account of how and when he came to write 'The Hibernian Father'.

At the foot of Geoghegan's correspondence, an SMH editor's note declares that 'the author's positive assertion [as to originality] must outweigh mere opinions'.

Note: The letter by 'Tisias' probably appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday, 15 May 1844. That issue of the SMH is missing from the National Library of Australia's newspaper digitisation project website.
Untitled Joseph Simmons , 1844 single work correspondence
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 17 May 1844; (p. 2)
Theatrical Register 1844 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekly Register of Politics, Facts and General Literature , 18 May vol. 2 no. 43 1844; (p. 595-596) On the basis of the limited evidence before them regarding possible plagiarism on the part of Edward Geoghegan, the editors of the Weekly Register conclude that the accuser 'appears to us to be strongly impelled by some other feeling than a zeal for the interests of the republic of letters'.
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Last amended 13 Jan 2010 15:34:53
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