Hester Varian
Hester Varian | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1828 |
| Died | (aged 69) Dublin, Ireland |
| Other names | Hester Varian Sigerson; Hester Sigerson |
| Spouse | George Sigerson |
| Children | 4, including Dora Sigerson Shorter and Hester Sigerson Piatt |
| Relatives | Clement Shorter (son-in-law) Elizabeth Willoughby Varian (sister-in-law) |
Hester Varian Sigerson (1828 – 15 April 1898) was an Irish poet and novelist based in Cork and Dublin.
Biography
[edit]Hester Varian was born in Cork in 1828, the daughter of Amos Varian and Dora Walpole. Varian came from a republican and nationalist family. In 1861 she married physician, professor, historian and translator George Sigerson.[1] They had two daughters and two sons; both sons died young.[2][3] Varian died in Dublin in 1898, at the age of 69. Her grave is in Glasnevin Cemetery.[4]
Literary career
[edit]Varian wrote for Harp, Cork Examiner, Irish Monthly, Young Ireland, and others.[5][6] Her only novel, published in 1889, was A Ruined Race; or, The Last MacManus of Drumroosk,[1][7] about an Irish farmer and the Great Famine.[5] She and her husband hosted gatherings of Irish writers, revolutionaries, and artists, including "Yeats, Casement, MacDonagh, and Pearse".[4] Katherine Tynan and Frances Wynne were some of her female literary guests.[6][8]
Varian's literary connections included familial relationships. Her older brother Ralph Varian was a ballad collector.[9] Her daughter Hester became a noted writer, and her daughter Dora became a noted poet and sculptor.[10] Poet Elizabeth Willoughby Varian was her sister-in-law,[11] and English critic Clement Shorter was her son-in-law.[10] Her grandson Donn Piatt (1905–1970) was an essayist.[12]
Sources
[edit]- ^ a b Cox, C.; Luddy, M. (24 November 2010). Cultures of Care in Irish Medical History, 1750-1970. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-30462-8.
- ^ "Hester Varian". ricorso.net.
- ^ "Shorter [née Sigerson], Dora Mary (1866–1918), poet and journalist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/51239. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ a b Farrell, Warren (2 May 2024). So Once Was I: Forgotten Tales from Glasnevin Cemetery. Merrion Press. ISBN 978-1-78537-513-2.
- ^ a b Janssen, Lindsay (4 February 2025). Periodical Famines: Irish Memories in Transatlantic News Media, 1845–1919. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-07192-7.
- ^ a b Barr, Rebecca; Buckley, Sarah-Anne; Kelly, Laura (18 September 2015). Engendering Ireland: New Reflections on Modern History and Literature. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 168, 174. ISBN 978-1-4438-8307-8.
- ^ Review. The Centre. 1992. ISBN 978-0-9519466-0-2.
- ^ Kirkland, Richard (12 August 2021). Irish London: A Cultural History 1850-1916. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-350-13319-8.
- ^ Varian, Ralph (1869). The harp of Erin; a book of ballad-poetry and of native song. Dublin: M'Glashan & Gill.
- ^ a b Deane, Seamus; Carpenter, Andrew; Bourke, Angela; Williams, Jonathan (1991). The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing. NYU Press. p. 895. ISBN 978-0-8147-9906-2.
- ^ Reilly, Catherine (1 January 2000). Mid-Victorian Poetry, 1860-1879. A&C Black. p. 474. ISBN 978-0-7201-2318-0.
- ^ Glaisne, Ristéard Ó (12 October 1985). "In praise of Dublin of yesterday". Irish Independent. p. 9. Retrieved 24 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
