Bits of Blarney by Ballyhooly. London; Sands & Co., 1899. First Edition. Pp 226, [adverts]. Publisher’s buff pictorial boards. Contents pages age-toned, otherwise a very good copy.

Robert J. Martin (often known by his pen name “Ballyhooly“) was an Irish-born journalist, songwriter, and staunch political commentator. He was a humorist known for his “stage-Irish” style of writing, which was heavily criticized for perpetuating negative stereotypes of Irish people. A contemporary review in The Spectator called his work “vulgar and vulgarising.”

He was a committed unionist and political activist who opposed Irish Home Rule. His anti-Home Rule views were openly expressed in his songs and writings. He was denounced by the Irish nationalist Arthur Griffith as “a thing called Robert Martin, which has done more to slander Ireland than any man alive“