Francis MacManus (8 March 1909 – 27 November 1965) was an Irish novelist and broadcaster.
Life and writings
Born in Kilkenny, MacManus was educated in the local Christian Brothers school and later at St. Patrick's College, Dublin and University College Dublin. After teaching for eighteen years at the Synge Street CBS in Dublin, MacManus joined the staff of Radio Éireann (precursor to RTÉ, the Irish national broadcasting entity) in 1948 as Director of Features.
MacManus began writing while still teaching and first published a trilogy set in Penal times and concerning the life of Donnchadh Ruadh Mac Conmara, an author of Irish poetry in the Irish-language. The trilogy comprises the novels Stand and Give Challenge (1934), Candle for the Proud (1936) and Men Withering (1939).
A second trilogy followed which turned its attention to contemporary Ireland: This House Was Mine (1937), Flow On, Lovely River (1941), and Watergate (1942). The location was the fictional "Dombridge", based on Kilkenny, and deal with established themes of Irish rural life: obsessions with land, sexual frustration, and the trials of emigration and return. Other major works include the novel The Greatest of These (1943), concerning religious conflict in nineteenth-century Kilkenny, and the biographies Boccaccio (1947) and Saint Columban (1963). In his last two novels, MacManus descended into the depths of theological debate: The Fire in the Dust (1950) was followed by American Son (1959), a remarkable dialogue between conflicting modes of belief which reveals the strong influence of Roman Catholicism on the author.
MacManus died in Dublin 27 November 1965 at the age of 56, from a heart attack.
The RTÉ Francis MacManus Short Story Award was established in his memory in 1985.
Bibliography
Short story collection
Pedlar's Pack (Dublin: Talbot 1944)
Novels
Stand and Give Challenge (Dublin: Talbot 1934; rep. Mercier 1964) Candle for the Proud (Dublin: Talbot 1936) This House was Mine (Dublin: Talbot 1937) Men Withering (Dublin: Talbot 1939; rep. Mercier 1972) The Wild Garden (Dublin: Talbot 1940) Flow on, Lovely River (Dublin: Talbot 1941) Watergate (Dublin: Talbot 1942; rep. Poolbeg 1979) The Greatest of These (Dublin: Talbot 1943) Statue for a Square (Dublin: Talbot 1945) The Fire in the Dust (London: Cape 1950) American Son (London: Cape 1959)
Non-Fiction
Boccaccio (London: Sheed & Ward 1947), biography. Seal Ag Ródaíocht/On the Road for a Time (Dublin: Sairseal agus Dill 1955), travel essays. St Columban (Dublin: Clonmore & Reynolds 1963), biography. The Years of the Great Test (Cork: Mercier Press 1967), history.