John Augustus O'Shea
Born24 June 1839
Nenagh, Ireland
Died13 March 1905
London, England
Other names"the Irish bohemian"
Occupation(s)Soldier, journalist, author
Known forWar correspondent

John Augustus O'Shea (24 June 1839 – 13 March 1905)[1] was an Irish soldier, journalist and novelist.

Biography

Born at Nenagh, Ireland,[2] the son of journalist John O'Shea, in 1856[1] he was sent to study medicine at the Catholic University of Ireland in Dublin.[3] Two of his sisters, Elizabeth and Marion, were also writers. Another sister, Margaret (Mrs Kelly) (1854–1927) was noted as being fluent in a number of languages, and translated French works, and her brother Robert Gabriel (1854?–1882) was the London political correspondent for the Freeman's Journal.[4] Later that year he journeyed to London where he sought work as a journalist.[1] He left to serve in Pope Pius IX's Irish battalion. During the 1860 siege of Ancona, he reported on the conflict for a newspaper in America. Following his military service for the Papacy, he was hired as a correspondent by the New York Herald and reported on the Austro-Prussian War in 1866.[3]

In 1869 he was a special correspondent for the Evening Standard, for whom he went to France to report on the Franco-Prussian War. During the Siege of Metz (1870), he was arrested as a spy and nearly put to death. His life was spared through the intervention of other journalists and the French Emperor Napoleon III.[3] He remained with the Standard for the next 25 years.[2] During his career he reported on the Third Carlist War and the Bengal famine.[5]

Toward the end of his life he became paralysed, followed by his death in London.[2] He is buried at the St. Mary's Cemetery at Kensal Green, London.[6] He was twice married and was survived by his second wife and a daughter.[1]

Bibliography

  • Leaves from the Life of a Special Correspondent[1] (1885), 2 volumes
  • An Iron-bound City; or, Five Months of Peril and Privation[1] (1886), 2 volumes
  • Romantic Spain: A Record of Personal Experiences[7] (1887), 2 volumes
  • Military Mosaics: Set of Tales[1] (1888)
  • Mated from the Morgue: A Tale of the Second Empire[7] (1889)
  • Brave Men in Action[1] (1890), with S. J. McKenna
  • Roundabout Recollections[1] (1892), 2 volumes

Selected articles

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). "O'Shea, John Augustus" . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 3. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 56.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  2. 1 2 3 Sutherland, John (1990), The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction, Stanford University Press, p. 482, ISBN 0804718423.
  3. 1 2 3 Roth, Mitchel P.; Olson, James Stuart (1997), Historical Dictionary of War Journalism, Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 225, ISBN 0313291713.
  4. ↑ Murphy, Nancy (2009). "O'Shea, John Augustus". In McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  5. ↑ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1906), Dictionary of national biography: Index and epitome (2nd ed.), London: Smith, Elder & Co., p. 87.
  6. ↑ Crone, John Smyth; O'Cassidy, Seamus; O'Lochlainn, Colm, eds. (1917), The Irish Book Lover, vol. 9–13, Whyte & Salmond.
  7. 1 2 "Browsing Authors With Title", The Online Books Page, University of Pennsylvania, retrieved 2 March 2013.
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