MacManus, Anna Johnston (1866–1902)
MacManus, Anna Johnston (1866–1902)
Irish writer of poetry and short stories . Name variations: Mrs. Anna Johnston; Mrs. Seamus MacManus; (pseudonym) Ethna Carbery. Born Anna Johnston in Ballymena, County Antrim, in 1866; died in 1902 (some sources cite 1911); married Séamus or Seumas MacManus (a poet).
Selected writings:
(poetry) The Four Winds of Eirinn (1902); (short stories) The Passionate Hearts (1903); (short stories) In the Celtic Past (1904); (contributor) We Sang for Ireland (includes works of Séamus MacManus and Alice Milligan).
Credited with influencing the early Sinn Fein movement, Anna MacManus wrote poetry that was first published in the journals Nation and United Ireland, then in a collection called The Four Winds of Eirinn (1902). In conjunction with a Belfast workingmen's club, MacManus and Alice Milligan founded the monthly newspaper Northern Patriot, and in 1896, following a dispute with the club, founded Shan Van Vocht, which MacManus edited until 1899. MacManus was also active in Inghinidhe na hÉireann, which offered free classes in music, dance, and drama, and purportedly motivated William Butler Yeats to start the Irish National Theater. The writer, who was married to poet Seumas MacManus, died in 1902 or 1911.