James Kevin Casey (1824–1909) was an Irish priest in Ballygar and Athleague and principal of St John's seminary in Sligo.[1] He composed many didactic poems which were popular and published in collections.[1] Their subjects included materialism, devotion, the Irish language and, most especially, temperance.[1] An example is a verse of The Toper and his Bottle,[1]

I curse the day I met you, John,
I curse the luckless hour
I tasted first your flavoured cup,
And felt its magic power.

Casey was an inspiration for the "Poet of the Pick", Jem Casey, a character in Flann O'Brien's satirical novel At Swim-Two-Birds.[2] Jem Casey was a labourer who wrote "pomes" such as The Workman's Friend,[3]

When money's tight and is hard to get
And your horse has also ran,
When all you have is a heap of debt –
A PINT OF PLAIN IS YOUR ONLY MAN.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 McTiernan, John C. (1989), "Canon James K. Casey" (PDF), The Corran Herald (17)
  2. ↑ Foley, John (2005), "The Historical Origins of Flann O'Brien's Jem Casey", Notes and Queries, 52 (1): 97–99, doi:10.1093/notesj/gji140, ISSN 0029-3970
  3. ↑ Carson, Niall (2017), "Irish Working-Class Poetry 1900–1960", A History of Irish Working-Class Writing, Cambridge University Press, pp. 253–254, ISBN 9781107149687


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