Clara Mulholland

Clara Mulholland
Born	1849 Belfast
Died	1934 South Terrace, Littlehampton, Sussex
Occupation	writer
Language	English
Genre	novels children's literature playwright translations
Relatives	Rosa Mulholland (sister) Charles Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen (brother-in-law) Sir John Thomas Gilbert (brother-in-law)
Signature

Clara Mulholland (1849–1934)[a] was a writer who was born in Belfast but moved to England at an early age. In addition to being a prolific novelist since the 1880s, she wrote children's literature, plays, and was a translator from French into English.

Early life and education

Clara Mulholland was born in Belfast in 1849.[3] Her father was Joseph Stevenson Mulholland, a medical doctor. Her siblings included older sisters Rosa, Lady Gilbert (wife of Sir John Thomas Gilbert)[4] and Ellen, Lady Russell (wife of Charles Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, Lord Chief Justice of England),[5][6] as well as a brother, William Mulholland.

The siblings belonged to a County Antrim family which had many representatives in the U.S. bearing the names of Mulholland, Mullholland, Milholland, and Millholland. Members of the most prominent branch of the family were for a century leading cotton spinners of Belfast, the eldest line of which was elevated to the British peerage as Barons of Dunleath.[7]

Clara left Belfast at a very early age. She was educated in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, at a convent of the Sisters of Providence of the Institute of Charity, and afterwards at a convent of the Dames de Marie, Coloma, Belgium.[4][8]

Career

Percy's revenge

The strange adventures of little Snowdrop and other tales

Kathleen Mavourneen

Bunt and Bill

The Senior lieutenant's wager - and other stories

Her first story for young children, was published by Messrs. Marcus, Ward & Co., of Belfast, and by John Murphy, of Baltimore. Then followed - Naughty Miss Bunny, The Strange Adventures of Little Snowdrop, and Little Merry Face and His Crown of Content. Later, Mulholland wrote stories for various London magazines and papers, and for Messrs. Tillotson & Sons, of Bolton, and the National Press Agency, London. Her other books were, A Striking Contrast, Kathleen Mavourneen and Linda's Misfortunes and Little Brian's trip to Dublin.[4]

Her translation of The Little Hunchback, by the Comtesse de Segur, was published in London, 1876, with a new edition in 1883. The translation for Mystical Flora of St. Francis de Sales was published in London, 1880. Another translation included The Power of St. Joseph - A Book of Meditations and Devotions in honour of the Foster-Father of Our Lord, by the Rev. Father Huguet, S.M.; translated from the French by Clara Mulholland (Dublin : McGlashan and Gill, 1876).[9][10]

Bound Together - Six Short Plays for Home and School (Baltimore : John Murphy & Co., 1897) was co-authored by Clara and Rosa.[11]

Other works followed including, The Little Bogtrotters; or, A Few Weeks at Conmore (London, 1878), Little Brian's Trip to Dublin (London, 1885), The Miser of King's Court (London, 1887), Percy's Revenge (Dublin, 1887),[9] In A Roundabout Way (1908), and Sweet Doreen (1915).[3]

Death

Clara Mulholland died at her home in South Terrace, Littlehampton, Sussex, in 1934.[3]

Selected works

Books

• Mystical flora of St. Francis de Sales : or, the Christian life under the emblem of plants , 1877
• The Little Bogtrotters; or, A Few Weeks at Conmore, 1878
• Naughty Miss Bunny : a story for little children, 1882
• Linda's Misfortunes and Little Brian's trip to Dublin, 1885
• The Miser of King's Court, 1887
• Percy's Revenge - a story for boys, 1887
• The Strange Adventures of Little Snowdrop, 1889
• Kathleen Mavourneen, 1890
• Little Merry Face and his crown of content : and other tales, 1891
• Ella's sacrifice, 1891
• Little Larry, 1891
• The O'Briens' Christmas, 1892
• A Striking Contrast, 1895
• Bunt and Bill, 1902
• The Senior lieutenant's wager - and other stories, 1905
• The lost chord, 1905
• In A Roundabout Way, 1908
• Through mist and shadow, 1909
• Sweet Doreen, 1915
• Skenet bedrager : Roman, 1920
• Her last message, 1926
• Little Merry Face and His Crown of Content
• The little house under the hill
• Sheila's Presentiment
• "The Lost Chord" (Collins' Clear-Type Press)

Plays

• Miss Carnduff's Next-of-Kin a Comedietta in Two Acts. Act II, 1884
• Bound Together - Six Short Plays for Home and School (Baltimore : John Murphy & Co., 1897); co-authored by Clara and Rosa Mulholland.

Articles

• "Dave's Repentance"
• "Terence O'Neill's heiress", 1907
• "Mistress Mary", 1912

Translations

• The Little Hunchback, by the Comtesse de Segur, 1876
• The Power of St. Joseph - A Book of Meditations and Devotions in honour of the Foster-Father of Our Lord. (By the Rev. Father Huguet, S.M. Translated from the French by Clara Mulholland. Dublin : McGlashan and Gill, 1876)
• For little children. Advice on Piety. (By Louis-Gaston de Ségur. Translated by Clara Mulholland. 1895)

Notes

1. Atkinson (2016) records Clara's years of birth and death as: ca. 1850-1934.[1] Mitchell & Rentschler (2016) record Clara's years of birth and death as: ca. 1856 - ca. 1934.[2]

References

1. Atkinson, Damian (26 April 2016). The Selected Letters of Katharine Tynan: Poet and Novelist. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-4438-9301-5. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
2. Mitchell, Claudia; Rentschler, Carrie (2016). Girlhood and the Politics of Place. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-78533-017-9. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
3. "Clara Mulholland (1849-1934): Writer". www.newulsterbiography.co.uk. The Dictionary of Ulster Biography. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
4. Dobrée, Louisa Emily; Francis, M. E.; Kerr, Lady Amabel; Hügel), Pauline von; Knowles, Richard Brinsley Sheridan; Maitland, Frances Mary; Maude, Sophie Dora Spicer; Mulholland, Clara (1897). A Round Table of the Representative Irish and English Catholic Novelists: At which is Served a Feast of Excellent Stories; with Portraits, Biographical Sketches, and Bibliography. New York: Benziger Brothers. pp. 223–24. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
5. Burnand, Sir Francis Cowley (1908). The Catholic Who's who and Yearbook. Burns & Oates. p. 347. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
6. Pilz, Anna, and Whitney Standlee, editors. IRISH WOMEN'S WRITING, 1878-1922: Advancing the Cause of Liberty. MANCHESTER UNIV PRESS, 2018.
7. "FAMOUS JUDGE DEAD". The Baltimore Sun. 11 August 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 11 February 2022 – via Newspapers.com. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
8. Murphy, James H. (1997). Catholic Fiction and Social Reality in Ireland, 1873-1922. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-30188-9. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
9. Kirk, John Foster (1899). A Supplement to Allibone's Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors: Containing Over Thirty-seven Thousand Articles (authors), and Enumerating Over Ninety Three Thousand Titles. Vol. 2. J. B. Lippincott Company. p. 1154. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
10. "LITERATURE". The Freeman's Journal. 27 June 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 11 February 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "POETRY, VERSE, AND DRAMA". Glasgow Herald. 19 August 1897. p. 7. Retrieved 11 February 2022 – via Newspapers.com.