{"id":2467,"date":"2021-09-03T14:16:18","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T13:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/?p=2467"},"modified":"2024-09-23T15:24:18","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T14:24:18","slug":"ula%e1%b8%8bs-new-dawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/ula%e1%b8%8bs-new-dawn\/","title":{"rendered":"Ula\u1e0b\u2019s new dawn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our latest blog entry comes courtesy of Charles Lang, PhD researcher at the Seamus Heaney centre at Queen’s and student assistant at Special Collections. All materials referred to here are held at Special Collections & Archives, Queen\u2019s University Belfast. <\/em>Ula\u1e0b is available for consultation in the Reading Room and each issue can read online via<\/em> Digital Special Collections & Archives<\/em><\/a><\/strong>.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Ula\u1e0b: A Literary and Critical Magazine <\/em>heralded itself with a certain force. Introducing its inaugural issue, its editor W.B. Reynolds states: \u201cUla\u1e0b means Ulster. It is still often necessary to state as much; [\u2026] This Ulster has its own way of things. [\u2026] We wish to locate this, and to afford it an outlet in literary expression.\u201d[1]<\/a> In spite of its grand objectives, the magazine was relatively short-lived, publishing only four issues from November 1904 to September 1905. Nonetheless, its impact was greater than its brevity might suggest. In his study The Ulster Literary Theatre and the Northern Revival<\/em>, Eugene McNulty writes that Ula\u1e0b <\/em>made \u201ca major contribution to the task of giving a voice to (nationalist) Ulster, a voice that spoke to the rest of Ireland but also spoke to Ulster itself.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The magazine was borne out of the Ulster Literary Theatre (ULT), which was founded in Belfast in 1904 with the aim to reimagine the northern cultural focus and form a conscious movement away from what was seen to be the dominance of Leinster. Rooted in Ulster, founding members Bulmer Hobson and David Parkhill sought to establish something of similar bearing to the Irish National Theatre in Dublin, set up by W.B. Yeats and Douglas Hyde.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Building upon existing cultural developments, Ula\u1e0b<\/em> endeavoured to provide an outlet for the province\u2019s artistic talent; to create a literary and critical environment where artists could flourish. In this was a belief that the nourishment of literary art would lead to increased involvement, which in turn would foster a certain quality of work: \u201cwhen our genius arrives, as he must sooner or later, there is no accounting for what extraordinary tendency he may display.\u201d[4]<\/a> Without a space for artists to showcase their work locally, members of the Ulster Literary Theatre were concerned that Ulster would lose its cultural footing to institutions elsewhere on the island, and indeed across Europe.  Though its focus was theatre (\u201cthe most essential of all art activities\u201d[5]<\/a>), the magazine maintained an open forum and published various genres of writing in addition \u2013 essays, poems, prose, reviews \u2013 and each issue devoted space to work in Irish. Its diverse range could even appear somewhat erratic: \u201c[t]he magazine featured intense articles on national revival beside light pieces on house-painting.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A poem printed under the introductory editorial, titled \u2018Ula\u1e0b\u2019 (Irish for Ulster and the journal\u2019s masthead) is penned by ULT founder Bulmer Hobson, a leading Irish nationalist and sometime member of Cumann na nGaedheal and the Irish Republican Brotherhood.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The poem presents an \u201cinsistent image of the North\u201d[8]<\/a> (or Ulster) as the dominant part of the island \u2013 as \u201cthe strength\u201d, \u201cyour master.\u201d[9]<\/a> It is forceful in its assurance that Ulster will lead in such regard, and that the artistic output of the province will do so on its own terms. Perhaps self-aggrandising, it was this emphasis on revival, on myth and landscape, that the journal carried forth across each issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ula\u1e0b<\/em>\u2019s obvious links with the nationalist movement problematises its desire to be \u201cnon-political\u201d, yet the range of material within each issue demonstrates a willingness to be open to varying degrees of persuasion.[10]<\/a> An article titled \u2018Literature and Politics\u2019 (under the pseudonym \u2018Connla\u2019, thought to be the pen-name of James Cousins) takes the ballads of William Rooney as its example in noting how the political repurposing of literature has thus far led to a depreciation of the work itself. In the case of Rooney\u2019s ballads, \u201c[t]he political bias of the respective reviewers was sufficient to disturb the critical calm so necessary to a proper valuation of his work as literature, pure and simple.\u201d[11]<\/a> Much of the writing included in the first issue is critical of the contemporary literary environment and attempts to inspire a new era and Connla\u2019s article is upfront in its optimism: \u201ca brighter day is dawning for Ulster and Belfast; [\u2026] Without fear of compromising their political opinions, nationalist and unionist are preparing to co-operate in many things, and not least in literature.\u201d[12]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This sentiment is at the heart of another of Bulmer Hobson\u2019s poems, \u2018Song of the Dreamers\u2019, published in Ula\u1e0b<\/em>\u2019s second number, in which the speaker declares: \u201cDreamer of dreams,\/Fashion the world ye would have instead[.]\u201d[13]<\/a> Its romanticised imagery, much like wind behind \u2018Ula\u1e0b\u2019, relies on a self-assured hyperbole that attempts to illustrate a natural undercurrent or growth. Replacing a literary scene that is \u201cold and weary and dead\u201d, Hobson appeals to \u201cGivers of light\u201d, \u201cDreams of dreams\u201d, \u201cSingers of songs\u201d to capture the imagination of the province.[14]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Having set out its prospectus, the magazine\u2019s sense of achievement is clear in issue four: \u201cThis number of Ula\u1e0b <\/em>ends our first year of publication. We can now stand on the four-cornered tower of our year\u2019s building and note the outlook, retrospective and future.\u201d[15]<\/a> With further work to do, the editors were satisfied in their creation of an \u201cindependent critical organ in Ulster.\u201d[16]<\/a> Despite this, and despite future intentions being outlined, the fourth issue of Ula\u1e0b<\/em> was to be the last, its publication having been cut short due to lack of financial support.[17]<\/a> The Ulster Literary Theatre lived on. McNulty contends that it was the creative and critical environment developed by Ula\u1e0b <\/em>that allowed the work of the ULT to thrive in subsequent years.[18]<\/a> Perhaps the lasting legacy of the journal is informed by its contributors: many of which, for better or worse, went on to the stake their claim in the history of Irish politics and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> Ula\u1e0b: A Literary and Critical Magazine<\/em>, no.1 (1904): 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> Eugene McNulty, The Ulster Literary Theatre and the Northern Revival<\/em> (Cork: Cork University Press, 2008), 78.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/a> Ula\u1e0b<\/em>, no.1, 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/a> Ula\u1e0b<\/em>, no.1, 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/a> Ula\u1e0b<\/em>, no.1, 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/a> Hugh Odling-Smee, ed. \u201cIts Own Way of Things\u201d: A Celebration of the Ulster Literary Theatre <\/em>(Belfast: Lagan Press, 2004), 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/a> McNulty, 63.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8]<\/a> McNulty, 79.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9]<\/a> Ula\u1e0b<\/em>, no.1, 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[10]<\/a> Ula\u1e0b<\/em>, no.1, 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[11]<\/a> Ula\u1e0b<\/em>, no. 1, 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[12]<\/a> Ula\u1e0b<\/em>, no.1, 17. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[13]<\/a> Ula\u1e0b: A Literary and Critical Magazine<\/em>, no. 2 (1905): 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[14]<\/a> Ula\u1e0b<\/em>, no. 2, 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[15]<\/a> Ula\u1e0b: A Literary and Critical Magazine<\/em>, no. 4 (1905): 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[16]<\/a> Ula\u1e0b<\/em>, no. 4, 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[17]<\/a> Margaret McHendry, \u201cThe Ulster Theatre in Ireland\u201d (Ph.D. thesis, University of Philadelphia, 1931), 7. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[18]<\/a> McNulty, 93.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our latest blog entry comes courtesy of Charles Lang, PhD researcher at the Seamus Heaney centre at Queen’s and student<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":2473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21,54],"tags":[23,47,217,45],"class_list":["post-2467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-resources","category-rare-books","tag-irish-studies","tag-literature","tag-little-magazines","tag-poetry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/09\/Artwork-final-issue-ULAD.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8s7J-DN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/298"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2467"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2485,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2467\/revisions\/2485"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.qub.ac.uk\/specialcollections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}