James Wills

James Wills (born January 1, 1790 in Willsgrove, County Roscommon , † November 1868 in Attanagh, County Laois ) was an Irish poet, author and biographer. His main work is the compendium of Irish biographies.

Life

James Wills was the younger son of a landowner from County Roscommon, Ireland. He attended Trinity College in Dublin from 1809 and studied law at the Middle Temple in London. On behalf of the Church, but without a pastoral mandate ( sinekure ), Wills was sent to Kilmacow Ward , near Waterford , in 1849 . His literary career began with contributions to Blackwood's Magazine and other periodicals. Wills lived in Dublin from 1822 to 1838 and worked as editor and writer for Dublin University Magazine and the Dublin Penny Journal . He also supported the Reverend Caesar Otway in setting up the Irish Quarterly Review . As a poet, he published The Disembodied and other Poems , a collection of poems, in 1831, and as a theologian, The Philosophy of Unbelief , in 1835 , with which he attracted much attention. He demonstrated his skills in metaphysical analysis with the Spontaneous Association of Ideas , which Wills read at the Royal Irish Academy . His last publication was The Idolatress (1868). All of his work shows a strong personality. His poems are lively and show dramaturgical qualities, a talent that he apparently passed on to his son William Gorman Wills (1828-1891), who became a well-known painter and playwright. Wills died in Attanagh in November 1868 at the age of 78 and was buried in the churchyard there.

Main work

James Will's most important work is the compendium of 513 Irish biographies, Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished Irishmen . It was published in twelve parts and six volumes from 1839 to 1845 and is of fundamental importance to this day. Beginning in the time before the Christianization of Ireland with Ollamh Fodla , this work provides, in chronological order, a picture of the life, deeds or literary work of everyone who can be called Irish based on their birth, their curriculum vitae or other circumstances. The biographies are assigned to categories, depending on whether the people have had a political, ecclesiastical, literary or scientific career. These rubrics are in turn assigned to their historical epochs, with each epoch being preceded by an analytical introduction.

Works

• The Disembodied (1831)
• The Philosophy of Unbelief (1835)
• Moral and Religious Epistles (1848)
• Lives of Illustrious and Distinguished Irishmen (6 volumes, 1839–1845)
• The Idolatress (1868)

Web links

• Library Ireland
• Biography on Wikisource