Background
Thomas Crofton Croker was born on January 15, 1798 in Cork, Ireland.
Thomas Crofton Croker was born on January 15, 1798 in Cork, Ireland.
Thomas had little formal education and at the age of sixteen, he was apprenticed to a merchant.
Tramping through Ireland Croker collected ancient songs and legends, sending some of them to Thomas Moore, who included them in his Irish Melodies in 1818. In 1819 he moved to London, where he was offered a clerkship in the Admiralty, a position which he held until 1850.
He edited a short-lived paper, The Talisman, or Literary Observer in 1820, and in 1824 published Researches in the South of Ireland, a description of an Irish tour of 1821.
His most noted works are The Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825), which was praised by Sir Walter Scott, and Legends of the Lakes (1829), in addition to the former work. In 1832 he published two popular humorous stories, The Adventures of Barney Mahoney and My Village versus Our Village, and in 1839 compiled another collection of the popular songs of Ireland.
From 1837 to 1854 he was the registrar for the Royal Literary Fund and was intimate with many of the literary and artistic figures of his day, particularly Daniel Maclise, the Irish painter.
He was active in the Society of Antiquarians and helped found the Camden Society (1839), the Percy Society (1840), the British Archaeological Association (1843), and the Noviomagians Club.
He wrote Narratives Illustrative of the Contests in Ireland in 1641 and 1688 (1841), for the Camden Society, Historical Songs of Ireland, etc. (1841), for the Percy Society, and several other works.
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
(This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)
(Excerpt from Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of...)
(Excerpt from The Adventures of Barney Mahoney Do not tro...)