Susan Langstaff Mitchell


Susan Langstaff Mitchell was an Irish writer and poet, known for her satirical verse.

Biography

Susan Langstaff Mitchell was born in Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim, the fifth of seven children of Michael Thomas Mitchell and Kate, a collection edited by Russell which also contained pieces by Padraic Colum and Alice Milligan.
A ballad which she wrote in 1905, "The Ballad of Shawe-Taylor and Hugh Lane", dealing with a controversy involving Hugh Lane, was described by Thomas Bodkin as "a delicious comic ballad, which she sang herself, in a pleasant throaty voice, at many gatherings in Dublin drawing-rooms and studios." She became acquainted with William Butler Yeats, Padraic Colum, George Moore and others. She also contributed verse for several cards produced by the Cuala Press between 1909 and 1946, some of which are held at the National Library of Ireland. Although she always had a touch of humour in her writing, she wrote a book-length study of Moore and his work that was not a little acerbic.
She lived with her sister Jane, an actress, and mother in Rathgar. Her mother dictated her memoirs to her, which were later published. She published her first book of poems, Aids to the Immortality of Certain Persons in Ireland, in 1908. Its most successful piece was a parody of Rudyard Kipling's Recessional, entitled "Ode to the British Empire". This book was re-issued in an enlarged edition in 1913, followed by The Living Chalice.
From 1923, she was sub-editor at the Irish Statesman, again under George Russell. In the last two and a half years of her life, she wrote over two hundred pieces for this publication. She died 4 March 1926 age 60 from cancer. She was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery.

Legacy

  • In 2016, a monument was erected in Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim to commemorate the 150th anniversary of her birth, and the 90th anniversary of her death.

    Selected works

  • 1907, The Abbey Row
  • 1908, Aids to the immortality of certain persons in Ireland charitably administered
  • 1908, The living chalice and other poems
  • 1912, Frankinscense and myrrh
  • 1916, George Moore
  • 1918, ''Secret springs of Dublin song''