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Thomas Crofton Croker

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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THOMAS CROFTON CROKER (1798-1854), Irish antiquary and humorist, was born in Cork on the 1 5 th of January 1798. He was apprenticed to a merchant, but in 1819, through the interest of John Wilson Croker, who was, however, no relation of his, he became a clerk in the Admiralty. Moore was indebted to him in the production of his Irish Melodies for "many curious fragments of ancient poetry." In 1825 he produced his most popular book, the Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, which he followed up by the publication of his Legends of the Lakes (1829), his Adventures of Barney Mahoney (1852), and an edition of the Popular Songs of Ireland (1839). In 1827 he was made a member of the Irish Academy; in 1839 and 1840 he helped to found the Camden and Percy Societies, and in 1843 the British Archaeological Association. He wrote Narratives Illustrative of the Contests in Ireland in 1641 and 1688 (1841), for the Camden Society, Historical Songs of Ireland, &c. (184x), for the Percy Society, and several other works. He was also a member of the Hakluyt and the Antiquarian Society. He died in London on the 8th of August 1854.