Death of Thomas Moore, Popular Poet and Editor of Irish Melodies

George Moore, novelist, playwright and critic, is born in Ballyglass, Co. Mayo

Lady Isabella Augusta Gregory, playwright, is born in Roxborough, Co. Galway

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Death of Thomas Moore, popular poet and editor of Irish Melodies

Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet and lyricist, popularly regarded in his time as his country’s “national bard”. It was a reputation that rested largely on his ten-volume Irish Melodies (1808-1834).

Laden with themes of dispossession and loss, these set new, English-language, verse to old Irish tunes. With Lalla Rookh (1817), in which some read allusions to the rebellion of 1798, Moore achieved wider international acclaim.

Translated into several languages and set to music by, among others, Robert Schumann, the oriental-themed verse-narrative established Moore as a leading exemplar of European romanticism.