Walter Macken

Walter Macken (Irish: Uaitéar Ó Maicín; 3 May 1915 – 22 April 1967) was an Irish writer of short stories, novels and plays.

Biography

Macken was born in Galway. He was initially an actor, principally with the Taibhdhearc (where he met his wife, Peggy) in Galway, and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. He played lead roles on Broadway in M. J. Molloy's The King of Friday's Men and his own play Home Is the Hero. He also acted in films, notably in Arthur Dreifuss' adaptation of Brendan Behan's The Quare Fellow.

The success of his third book, Rain on the Wind (winner of the Literary Guild award in the USA), enabled him to focus on writing. He is perhaps best known for his trilogy of Irish historical novels: Seek the Fair Land, The Silent People, and The Scorching Wind.

In September 1966 he moved to the small Gaeltacht village of Menlo, County Galway. Many of Macken's works are rooted in the Galway area of Connemara.

He died suddenly at home on 22 April 1967, survived by his wife and two sons. His son Ultan Macken is a print and broadcast journalist, and wrote a biography of his father, Walter Macken: Dreams on Paper.

List of works

Plays

Novels

Two further novels, 'And then No More' (1946) and 'Cockles and Mustard' (1947) remain unpublished.

Novels for children

Macken wrote some 5 collections of short stories for children, and also:

Short story collections

  1. Gaeglers and the Wild Geese
  2. The Currach Race
  3. The Gauger
  4. The Young Turk
  5. The Proud Man
  6. The Green Hills
  7. Barney's Maggie
  8. The Sailor
  9. The Hurling Match
  10. Duck Soup
  11. The Fair Lady
  12. The Lady and the Tom
  13. The Atheist
  14. The Wasteland
  15. Tuesday's Children
  16. Hallmarked
  17. The Eyes of the Cat
  18. Foreign Fish
  19. The Boy and the Brace
  20. The River
  21. The King
  1. God Made Sunday
  2. Patter O'Rourke
  3. The Big Fish
  4. Solo and the Nine Irons
  5. The Match Maiden
  6. The Conjugator
  7. Solo and the Simpleton
  8. Light in the Valley
  9. This Was My Day
  10. Solo and the Sinner
  11. No Medal for Matt
  12. The Red Rager
  13. The Lion
  1. The Coll Doll
  2. The Currach Race*
  3. Duck Soup*
  4. The Kiss
  5. Characters in Order of Appearance
  6. Gaeglers and the Wild Geese*
  7. The Wasteland*
  8. The Fair Lady*
  9. The Eyes of the Cat*
  10. A Talk in the Dark
  11. My Neighbour
  12. Foreign Fish*
  13. The Hurling Match*
  14. The Green Hills*
  15. Tuesday's Children*
  16. The Lady and the Tom*
  17. Janey is a Girl
  18. Barney's Maggie*
  19. The Dreamer
  20. The River*
  21. Three Witnesses

* Previously published in The Green Hills (MacMillan, 1956)

  1. Ambition
  2. Battle
  3. The Passing of the Black Swan
  4. New Clothes for the Giolla
  5. Dad
  6. Deputy Johnny
  7. Tail of a Kid
  8. Saga
  9. Dovetail and the Turkey
  10. Homecoming
  11. Homing Salmon
  12. Spanish Joe
  13. Colm comes to the Citie
  14. The Citie
  15. An Act of Charity
  16. Pugnug
  17. The New Broom
  18. Gaeglers and the Greyhound
  1. The Grass of the People
  2. What will we do with the Yanks
  3. Solo and the Sailor
  4. This Was My Day**
  5. The Storm is Still
  6. How to Poach a Salmon
  7. Sukos
  8. The Mare with Foal at Foot
  9. The Green Dream
  10. Challenge the River
  11. The Tangler
  12. The Bachelor
  13. The Coll Doll*
  14. The Kiss*
  15. Characters in Order of Appearance*
  16. A Talk in the Dark*
  17. My Neighbour*
  18. Jane is a Girl*
  19. The Dreamer*
  20. Three Witnesses*

* Previously published in The Coll Doll and other Stories (Macmillan, 1969)
** Previously published in God Made Sunday and other Stories (Macmillan, 1962)

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Walter Macken". IMDb. [unreliable source?]
  2. ↑ "Walter Macken Playwright Walter Macken Writer Walter Macken Galway City Ireland". galwaycity.galway-ireland.ie.
  3. ↑ "The King of Friday's Men: Cast (Playbill)".
  4. ↑ De Breffny, Brian (1983). Ireland: A Cultural Encyclopedia. London: Thames and Hudson. pp. 146–147.
  5. ↑ Hourican, Bridget (October 2009). "Macken, Walter". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  6. ↑ Robert Allen (November 2009). "I Am Alone – [Walter Macken:] Dreams on Paper, by Ultan Macken". www.bluegreenearth.com (review).