Richard Lalor Sheil (1791 - 1851)
Drumdowny, County Kilkenny, Ireland

Richard Lalor Sheil was born to a successful merchant and received his education with a French priest. At the age of eleven, he was educated at a Catholic school in Kensington, London and then attended Jesuit College. There, he became interested in politics and an active participant in the Catholic Emancipation debate, in which he sided with Protestants. In 1807, he attended Trinity College Dublin with a strong fundamental education in Italian, Spanish, French, and an incredible understanding of literature. Upon gradtuation in 1811, he decided to pursue law and attended the Irish Bar. Having a literary bent, he turned to dramatic composition and produced a number of plays some of which were quite successful, the most popular being "Adelaide", "The Apostate", and "Evadne". Financially they were very successful. His chief fame, however, as a literary man came through his "Sketches at the Irish Bar", a series of articles contributed to the "New Monthly Magazine", which were published in two volumes after his death. They give considerable information of the leading men and events of the times.

Works

The Emigrants (1814)
The Apostate (1817)
Bellamira
The Fall of Tunis (1818)
The Statue (1819)
The Huguenot (1819)
Montoni (1820)

Source:

"Richard Lalor Sheil." Catholic Encyclopedia. Volume XIII. 1999. Catholic Encyclopedia. February 1, 1912. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13754b.htm