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Lorna Reynolds - Introduction

Lorna Reynolds was a well-known Irish writer, editor and professor. She was born on December 17th 1911 in Jamaica and died at the age of 91 years old on July 4th 2003. By 1912, Lorna and her four siblings had returned home from the Caribbean to live in Birr, County Offaly and after a further three years they moved to Dublin where she completed her secondary education at the Dominican College, Eccles street. Lorna Reynolds was Professor Emeritus of Modern English at the National University of Ireland, Galway, having previously taught for 30 years at University College Dublin. She wrote poetry and was the author of a critical biography of Kate O’Brien, an Irish novelist and playwright. (Irish Times article, 2003). Although Lorna Reynolds was a talented writer with an obvious gift for literacy, publishing widely in magazines, her poems were never collected and so she is remembered not for her publications or writings but for her contribution in the shaping of young minds during her work as a teacher as well as being editor of the Irish University Review. (Mills 2013). She also co-edited several volumes of Yeats Studies with Robert O’Driscoll of the University of Toronto. Typical of her dynamism, in the 1970s she mobilised a campaign to try to restore the derelict Georgian theatre in Eyrecourt, County Galway. Through her work with different groups such as, UCD Women Graduate’s Association and the Anti-Censorship board, Lorna Reynolds contributed to the advance of women’s rights in Irish society and academic life. Lorna Reynolds is a key figure in Irish history and is remembered for her contributions to the development of young people academically during her time as a professor in UCD, as well as her important role in being an advocate and a voice for women’s rights in Ireland. Lorna Reynolds had a major impact on Irish society, her progressive views on the rights for women paved the way for women in Ireland to demand more opportunities and to be treated with respect when it came to education in particular, providing them with a chance to flourish in an environment where they can reach their full potential, regardless of gender.

Lorna Reynolds – Early Life

Lorna Reynolds was born in Jamaica and was the daughter of staff sergeant Michael Reynolds in the Royal Engineers. Her father died at the age of 10 and her family returned to their home county of Offaly where they resided for 3 years before moving on to Dublin where she studied and lived for over 30 years, becoming a highly regarded editor, literary scholar and public speaker. Lorna Reynolds began her esteemed academical career at the Dominican College in Dublin and then went on to study English at University College Dublin where she attained three degrees, graduating with a BA in 1933, her MA in 1935, followed by her PhD thesis on the Bible in 1940. Shortly after graduating, deciding that she wanted to pursue a career dedicated to inspiring a new generation and sharing her knowledge and wisdom through teaching, Reynolds joined the University College Dublin teaching staff where she remained an employee for 30 years. Not only did Reynolds make a name for herself through her years of teaching at UCD, she was also an activist and mobilised a campaign to try to restore the Georgian theatre in County Galway. She was also a member of the Women’s Social and Progressive League in the 1940s and was very involved in the UCD Women Graduate’s Association, providing a voice for those who, at the time, would have been voiceless. Lorna Reynolds championed progressive causes and contributed to the advancement of women in Irish society and academic life. (Reilly, 2003). She joined in on debates on the issues of the day at the Contemporary Club and she was consistently invited to address women’s groups. Lorna Reynolds had an undoubtedly special gift for literature and it was her students that benefitted the most from it, her ability to communicate combined with her readiness to listen provided her students with a platform to challenge themselves academically and give them the confidence to push themselves to their limit to succeed. She was particularly effective in sharing her abiding love of English literature with generations of UCD, with one student recalling that ‘Shakespeare had came alive.’ (Irish Times, 2003).

Bibliography

Mills, B. (2013, July 10th). Lorna Reynolds: Irish Woman Poet [Web log post]. Retrieved November 23rd, 2018 from https://ellipticalmovements.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/lorna-reynolds-irish-woman-poet/

Reilly, N. (2003). Path Breaking women. Retrieved November 23rd, 2018 from: https://www.nuigalway.ie/media/nuigalwayie/content/files/aboutus/Path-Breaking-Women---Brochure.pdf

Irish Times (2003). A life whose theme was freedom of women. Retrieved November 23rd, 2018 from: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/a-life-whose-theme-was-freedom-of-women-1.367604

All information verified by second source: Lorna Reynolds. (8th August 2018). In Wikipedia. Retrieved November 25th, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorna_Reynolds#Bibliography

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UCD_water_tower.JPG