ROSS-LEWIN, R.S.S. Poems by a County Clare West Briton.

Limerick: George McKern & Sons, 1907. Octavo. pp. 94. Green cloth boards, titled in black. Some toning, otherwise a very good copy.

The Ven Richard Sargint Sadler Ross-Lewin (1848-1922) was an Irish Anglican priest and poet. He was Archdeacon of Limerick from 1919 to 1921. Originally from County Clare, Ross-Lewin attended school in Bristol, then served as a clerk in the Royal Navy from 1864 to 1873. He studied at Hatfield Hall, Durham, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1876, and took holy orders the following year. Fond of military history, he spent much of his spare time studying engagements at which Irish regiments took part, particularly if it involved either the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars or the Connaught Rangers.

Ross-Lewin was curate at Kildysart, 1877-1879; Tipperary, 1879-1883; Killoscully, 1883-1886; Rector of Kilmurry, 1886-1921; Rural Dean of Limerick, 1900; Treasurer of Limerick Cathedral, 1912-1919; and finally Archdeacon of Limerick, 1919-1921. He published this collection of poetry in 1907; and, with his brother George, an assortment of war poems, In Britain’s Need, 1917. Though otherwise a committed Anglican, Ross-Lewin was known to take part in devotions with his neighbours. He was apparently supportive of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and was an early member of Limerick Golf Club.

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