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Introduction & Early Life
Victor O’Donovan Power (1860-1933) was an Irish novelist, playwright and creative storyteller. He is described as being “almost completely forgotten”. He was born in 1860 in Rosbercon, County Kilkenny. He was an early figure in modern day Irish writing with some of his most famous work being ‘A Secret of the Past’, ‘Some Strange Experiences of Kitty the Hare’ and ‘Bonnie Dunraven’.

O’Donovan Power’s family were nationalists that cared deeply about the Republic of Ireland and its independence from the United Kingdom. His mother was a poet. His mother’s passion for writing and literature inspired him from a young age to start writing himself. When he still a teenager, in school at Carlow College, he began writing and contributing his own stories to local magazines.

Family Life
Victor O’Donovan Power came from a family of passionate nationalists who thoroughly believed in Irish independence from the United Kingdom. His father, Michael Power was the driving nationalist force in the family. His mother was an O’Donovan from West Cork. His uncle, Thomas John Power, was the first President of Clonliffe Colleg e in Dublin before being ordained Bishop in Rome on June 12th 1870 and appointed to the Diocese of St John’s in Newfoundland later that year.

Career
O’Donovan Power wrote a number of fictional short stories in numerous publications to Ireland’s Own and later on Our Boys. O’Donovan Power’s best-known character was “Kitty the Hare: The Famous Travelling Woman of Ireland”. Kitty the Hare was introduced in 1914. Our Boys was a publication that was run by the Christian Brothers as an Irish Catholic alternative to English Boys’ Own publication. The mission of Our Boys in the beginning was to provide acceptable role models for Irish boys to counterbalance the influence of metropolitan and the glamorisation of the British Empire. Our Boys encapsulated the spirit of pastoral romanticism which permeated the early years of the Republic of Ireland. O’Donovan Power’s series of Kitty the Hare went on to become the highlight of the magazine for the next 65 years.

Later Life & Death
In his later years, it is said that O’Donovan Power found great joy in calling to various houses in Jamestown to visit and sit with families at their fireplace where lots of stories, particularly ghost stories, were shared. It is also said that he became very interested in ghosts and spirits. People from Jamestown recall times where he would ask the locals to accompany him to graveyards and raths and ask them to play musical instruments as he would stretch out on the ground and encourage ghosts or supernatural beings such as pookahs, fairies and banshees to speak to his imagination.

Although there is confusion about when O’Donovan Power died, he is buried in Shanborough graveyard and his marker records his death as occurring on the 30th of December 1933.

Legacy
Victor O’Donovan Power created a legacy of 50 year’s worth of frequent contributions of magazines, periodicals and weekly presses. He also was author to numerous books and plays. He was a prolific contributor to Irish Lamp, Irish Emerald, Irish Fireside, Shamrock, Weekly Freeman, Catholic Times, Donohoe’s Magazine, Ireland’s Own and Our Boys. The last two are were constantly reprinted and his most famous work ‘Kitty the Hare’ series still reprinted in the early 1980s. His plays were produced by travelling companies in the 1920s by his own company.

= References =


 * 1) https://www.independent.ie/regionals/newrossstandard/localnotes/tullogher-rosbercon-27495527.html
 * 2) https://rosberconparish.ie/our-parish/
 * 3) https://glenmore-history.com/tag/kitty-the-hare/
 * 4) https://www.independent.ie/regionals/newrossstandard/localnotes/warmhearted-agnes-was-a-friendly-person-27511507.html
 * 5) https://www.dib.ie/biography/dalton-louis-a2359
 * 6) https://irishmediahistory.com/2017/08/16/the-long-life-and-after-life-of-mick-mcquaid/
 * 7) https://irishmediahistory.com/2017/08/16/the-long-life-and-after-life-of-mick-mcquaid/