DE CELTIS [M. Louise O’Byrne] The Pale and the Septs, or, The Baron of Belgard and The Chiefs of Glenmalure. A Romance of the Sixteenth Century. By Emelobie De Celtis.

Dublin: M.H. Gill & Son, 1876. First edition. Crown octavo. pp. 906. Green blind-stamped cloth, title in gilt within an armorial shield on spine. A fine copy.

Loeber O51. Allibone Suppl., ii, p.1186; Brown, p. 234.
M. Louise O’BYRNE, (known as M.L. O’Byrne), pseud. ‘Emilobie de Celtis’, fl. 1876. Historical novelist. She was a Catholic and a resident of Dublin died some years before 1919. She published six historical novels. The Dublin 1876 edn was published double-decker format, which was rare for Irish publishing at this time. Historical fiction, which aims to illustrate the advance of the English settlement in sixteenth-century Ireland, and gives an account of intrigues within the government. It describes such individuals as Archbishop Loftus of Armagh and Gerald Fitzgerald, 11th earl of Kildare. Events such as the battle of Glenmalure, Hungerford’s massacre at Baltinglass, and the capture and recapture of Glenchree (now known as Glencree), all Co. Wicklow are recounted. She was also the author of Leixlip Castle: A Romance of the Penal Days of 1690

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