=MULHOLLAND, Rosa; Lady Gilbert.= Born in Belfast, about 1855. She spent some years in a remote mountainous part of the West of Ireland. Of the rest of her life most has been passed in Ireland, where she still lives. In her early literary life she received much help and encouragement from Dickens, who highly valued her work. She has written much poetry of high literary quality and “marked by a thought and diction peculiar to herself.”—(IRISH LIT.). Her novels are intensely Catholic, though without anti-Protestant feeling, and intensely national. But their most striking quality is a literary style of singular purity and grace, and a quiet beauty very different from the flash and rattle of much recent writing. She has publ. several vols. of verse. Among her non-Irish novels may be mentioned _The Late Miss Hollingford_, _The Squire’s Granddaughter_, _The Haunted Organist_. Lady Gilbert has also written many children’s stories full of originality and playful fancy. ⸺ DUNMARA. By “Ruth Murray.” Three Vols. (_Smith, Elder_). 1864. Wrecked on the coast Ellen, of mysterious antecedents, is taken into the family of Mr. Aungier, or Dunmara Castle, in the West. Strange household—the half-witted Miss Rowena, the dark, vindictive Miss Elswitha, with unpleasant family history in the background. A will is discovered making Ellen heiress of Dunmara, but revealing to her that she is the daughter of a man formerly slain by Mr. Aungier, who had asked her in marriage. This long keeps the two apart, but they are married in the end. Little Irish colour. Written in somewhat strained style and at times over-emotional. ⸺ HESTER’S HISTORY. Pp. 237. (_Chapman & Hall_). 1869. Pastoral life in the Glens of Antrim at the time of the Union, the main theme being a love story. Humour and tragedy alternate. Incidents of the rebellion of ’98, including an attack on a castle in the Glens by the English soldiery. Some historical characters are introduced. During part of the action the scene shifts to London. The story was written at the request of Charles Dickens, and he thought highly of it. ⸺ ELDERGOWAN; and Other Tales (three). (_Marcus Ward_). Illustr. 1874. “Eldergowan” is a very careful and clever study of a girl’s varying moods. “It is an excellent example of artistic work and perfect in its way.” “Mrs. Archie” is a comedy in which the chief actors are the antiquated family of the MacArthurs, dwelling in the glens of Antrim. The third story, “Little Peg O’Shaughnessy” is written in a lively style, with plenty of interest of a healthy “real” kind.—(I.M.). ⸺ THE WILD BIRDS OF KILLEEVY. Pp. 311. (_Burns & Oates_). (N.Y.: _Benziger_). 1.10. [1883].