My great-grandfather, Philip Fogarty (1828-1873), was a clerk in the Four Courts of Dublin at the same time Bram Stoker was working there. My great-great-grandfather was also a clerk there, prior to Philip and dating to the early 1800's. I do not know if my great-grandfather Philip knew or even met Bram Stoker but it is interesting that Stoker's first published book was a 247-page work of non-fiction entitled "THE DUTIES OF CLERKS OF PETTY SESSIONS IN IRELAND". (For more info about the book, see www.irishfamilyhistorycentre.com/store/366). Although Bram Stoker only worked in the Office of the Registrar of Petty Session Courts for ten years as a young man, directly after graduating from Trinity College, for decades thereafter his book was a well-known reference and guide book for those working in or with the Irish courts. Eventually it became and was accepted as the handbook in legal administration in Ireland. It was over 20 years after he had published this work of non-fiction that he wrote and published "Dracula". I would like to think my great-grandfather Philip was one of the many clerks that Stoker dealt with during his legal career years. In the book, he acknowledges that he greatly relied on a number of them in compiling the book. Unfortunately, I have never been able to find any evidence of Philip knowing or interacting with Stoker. My great-grandfather is buried in Goldenbridge Cemetery in Dublin. He was only 45 years old when he died. My grandmother, Mary Fogarty, youngest of his 13 children, was actually born several months after his death. (Ten years later, his widow, my great-grandmother Cecilia Fogarty, for economic reasons was forced to leave Ireland with her surviving children, accepting her sister's invitation to come settle with her in the US, in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts.)
References
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The Bram Stoker Estate | Ireland | VIEW SOURCE |
Abraham 'Bram' Stoker was born on 8 November 1847 in Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland. His parents were Abraham C. Stoker and Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley. Ill as a child, Stoker was bedridden until starting school at 7 years of age. He was educated in a private school and later attended Trinity College, from which he graduated with honours in Mathematics in 1870.
In 1878, he married Florence Balcombe at St. Ann's Church, Dawson Street in Dublin.
He started working as a civil servant at Dublin Castle (where his father had worked before him) and in the evenings had an unpaid role writing reviews for theatrical productions in Dublin for the Dublin Evening Mail. Stoker became friends with English Actor Sir Henry Irving having been introduced after Stoker had written a review of Hamlet, in which Irving was cast. Irving offered Stoker a management position at his production company, Lyceum Theatre, in London’s west end which he accepted.
Bram Stoker's Dracula Novel
Inspired now he wrote his first horror “The Primrose Path” and would continue to publish writings while working at the theatre. In 1897 he published one of the best-known books ever written – "Dracula".
Stoker's primary inspiration for his Count Dracula was the real-life prince of Wallachia who ruled during the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans (whose father was a member of the Order of the Dragon, or Dracul. "Dracula" means son of the Dragon). The prince of Wallachia aka "Vlad the Impaler" was notorious in Germany and tales spread across Europe of a man-monster who lived off the blood of his enemies.
Stoker died in London on 20 April 1912, before his "Dracula" rose to international fame. The novel was adapted by a German film studio in 1922 without any acknowledgment of the original novel. Bram Stoker's widow sued them for infringement of copyright and the original book became famous as a result.
Bram Stoker's descendants survive to this day.
The Legend of the Mummy
"Legend of the Mummy" is another best seller book written by stoker in 1903. In 1998 Director and Producer Jeffrey Obrow reconstructed the story of this book into a fantasy horror genre movie, starring Louis Gossett Jr.
[Sources: biograpy.com, Wikipedia, thefamouspeople.com] RECOMMENDED
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 8th Nov 1847 | |
| Date of Death | 20th Apr 1912 | |
| Associated Building (s) | Long Room Library, Trinity College Dublin 15 Marino Crescent CLONTARF St Annes Parish Church DAWSON ST St Michan's Church Dublin | |
| Father (First Name/s and Surname) | Abraham Stoker of Coleraine | VIEW SOURCE |
| Mother (First Name/s and Maiden) | Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley of Sligo | VIEW SOURCE |
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Bill Dalton
Monday 17th May 2021 06:42PM
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