Robert Lynd - Windsor Avenue - Belfast
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N 54° 34.831 W 005° 56.806
30U E 309565 N 6052105
Robert Wilson Lynd (Irish: Roibéard Ó Floinn, 20 April 1879 – 6 October 1949) was an Irish writer, an urbane literary essayist and strong Irish nationalist.
Waymark Code: WMV100
Location: Ulster, Ireland
Date Posted: 02/05/2017
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Blue plaque on a house in Windsor Avenue, Belfast, indicating that Robert Wilson Lynd lived here.
"Robert Lynd was born in Belfast to Robert John Lynd, a Presbyterian minister, and Sarah Rentoul Lynd, the second of seven children. Lynd's paternal great-grandfather emigrated from Scotland to Ireland. Lynd was educated at Royal Belfast Academical Institution, studying at Queen's University. His background was Protestant. His father was a Presbyterian Church Moderator. Male ancestors in his mother's family were also ministers.
He married the writer Sylvia Dryhurst on 21 April 1909. They met at Gaelic League meetings in London. Their daughters Máire and Sigle became close friends of Isaiah Berlin. Sigle's son, born in 1941, is the artist Tim Wheeler .He settled in Hampstead, in Keats Grove near the John Keats house.
Lynd died in 1949 and is buried in Belfast City Cemetery.
He began as a journalist on The Northern Whig in Belfast. He moved to London in 1901, via Manchester, sharing accommodation with his friend the artist Paul Henry. Firstly he wrote drama criticism, for Today, edited by Jerome K. Jerome. He also wrote for the Daily News (later the News Chronicle), being its literary editor 1912 to 1947.
The Lynds were well known as literary hosts, in the group including J. B. Priestley. They were on good terms also with Hugh Walpole; Priestley, Walpole and Sylvia Lynd were founding committee members of the Book Society. Irish guests included James Joyce and James Stephens. On one occasion reported by Victor Gollancz, Joyce intoned Anna Livia Plurabelle to his own piano accompaniment.
He used the pseudonym Y.Y. (Ys, or wise) in writing for the New Statesman. According to C. H. Rolph's Kingsley (1973), Lynd's weekly essay, which ran from 1913 to 1945, was 'irreplaceable'. In 1941, editor Kingsley Martin decided to alternate it with pieces by James Bridie on Ireland, but the experiment was not at all a success.
He became a fluent Irish speaker, and Gaelic League member. As a Sinn Féin activist, he used the name Robiard Ó Flionn/Roibeard Ua Flionn.
He wrote for The Republic in its early days. He spoke at the funeral in 1916 of Irish Republican and Marxist James Connolly, whose works Labour in Ireland, Labour in Irish History and The Re-Conquest of Ireland he subsequently edited. He was also a loyal friend of Roger Casement."
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