When and where was Padraic Colum born?
Padraic Colum entered the world on the 8th of December 1881 inside a County Longford workhouse. His father worked there as an employee while his mother Susan Columb waited for their first child to arrive.
Padraic Colum entered the world on the 8th of December 1881 inside a County Longford workhouse. His father worked there as an employee while his mother Susan Columb waited for their first child to arrive.
The couple traveled to the United States in 1914 expecting only a few months abroad but that short visit stretched into most of the rest of their lives together. Padraic took up children's writing after arriving in America and secured financial security through a contract with Macmillan Publishers.
Three of his books received Newbery Honor citations years later including The King of Ireland's Son which appeared in 1916. Other titles included The Adventure of Odysseus and The Children of Odin which brought classical literature to American children during the early twentieth century.
His death occurred in Enfield Connecticut on the 11th of January 1972 at age ninety. He was buried in St. Fintan's Cemetery located in Sutton nearby.
Colum sold notebooks manuscripts galley proofs and letters to Binghamton University Libraries in 1965 for scholars of Irish literature and history to access freely. Additional archives exist at Dublin City University and the Harry Ransom Center while the Padraic and Mary Colum Collection resides at the University of Delaware as well.