Savage-Armstrong, George Francis

(1845-1906)

   Irish poet, born at Rathfarnham, Dublin, he graduated B.A. from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1869, having won the vice-chancellor's prize for an English poem for Circassia. In 1870 he was appointed professor of history and English literature in Queen's College, Cork. Trinity College conferred upon him the honorary degree of M.A. in 1872. He was made a fellow of the Royal University (1881) and in 1891 received the honorary degree of doctor of literature from the Queen's University. He continued his duties as professor at Cork and as examiner at the Royal University in Dublin until 1905. His poems have none of the Celtic mysticism of the later Irish school. He died at Strangford, County Down. His poetry publications: Poems, Lyrical and Dramatic, 1869. Tragedy of Israel, 1872-1877. Poetical Works of Edmund J. Armstrong, 1877. Garland from Greece, 1882. Victoria Regina et Imperatrix: A Jubilee Song from Ireland, 1887. Queen-Empress and Empire, 1897. Ballads of Down, 1901. Some of his poems: "The Father," "Autumn Memories," "My Guide," "One in the Infinite," "The Mystery."

   Sources: Bibliography of 19th-c. Irish Literature (http://irish-literature.english.dal.ca/biblio-main.htm). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Extracts from "Ulster-Scots: A Grammar of the Traditional Written and Spoken Language" by Philip Robinson (published for the Ulster-Scots Language Society by the Ullans Press, 1997) (http://www.ulsterscotsagency.com/05-grammerbook.asp). Index to Authors: Christina Georgina Rossetti to William Butler (http://www.bartleby.com/246/index24.html).