Kenneth Sarr was the pen name of Kenneth Sheils Reddin (1895â€"17
August 1967), an Irish author and judge.[1][2][3] He was born in
Dublin to John [J. J.] and Annie Reddin.[3] He attended Belvedere
College, Clongowes Wood College, and from 1910 Scoil Éanna,[4] where
Thomas McDonagh and Patrick Pearse were formative influences.[5] His
first pseudonym was Kenneth Esser (from "Kenneth S. R.") later
shortened to Kenneth Sarr.[6] He joined the Irish Volunteers and was
interned after the Easter Rising.[3] Literary figures often met at
J.J. Reddin's house and Kenneth was associated with the Irish Theatre
Company in Hardwicke Street, where his brothers Kerry and Norman
acted.[7] He attended University College Dublin and qualified as a
solicitor.[2] He was a member of the United Arts Club[8] and sometime
President of the Irish PEN Club.[9] He visited James Joyce in Paris
several times, first with a gift of Olhausen's black pudding, later at
a PEN congress.[10][11] Joyce, during his father's final illness,
telegraphed Reddin about his treatment.[12]Reddin supported the
Anglo-Irish Treaty and his father's house in Artane was burned in the
Irish Civil War.[13] In 1922 he was appointed a District Court judge
based in Mullingar,[3] later moving to the Newbridge[14] and then
Dublin districts.[15] In court he wore what Terry De Valera called
"his self-designed headdress like a black biretta".[16] As well as
writing plays and novels, he collected humorous anecdotes from his
judicial work intended for a book to be called Laughter in My
Court.[17] In 1941 he objected to an article in PEN's magazine which
he said was "propaganda, attacking the neutrality of Eire, and that
all we wanted was to be left alone".[18] In 1948, Erina Brady
appointed him President of her short-lived Dublin Dance Theatre
Club.[19] He retired from the bench on 19 March 1965.[15] His papers
are held by the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of
Kansas.[20]
August 1967), an Irish author and judge.[1][2][3] He was born in
Dublin to John [J. J.] and Annie Reddin.[3] He attended Belvedere
College, Clongowes Wood College, and from 1910 Scoil Éanna,[4] where
Thomas McDonagh and Patrick Pearse were formative influences.[5] His
first pseudonym was Kenneth Esser (from "Kenneth S. R.") later
shortened to Kenneth Sarr.[6] He joined the Irish Volunteers and was
interned after the Easter Rising.[3] Literary figures often met at
J.J. Reddin's house and Kenneth was associated with the Irish Theatre
Company in Hardwicke Street, where his brothers Kerry and Norman
acted.[7] He attended University College Dublin and qualified as a
solicitor.[2] He was a member of the United Arts Club[8] and sometime
President of the Irish PEN Club.[9] He visited James Joyce in Paris
several times, first with a gift of Olhausen's black pudding, later at
a PEN congress.[10][11] Joyce, during his father's final illness,
telegraphed Reddin about his treatment.[12]Reddin supported the
Anglo-Irish Treaty and his father's house in Artane was burned in the
Irish Civil War.[13] In 1922 he was appointed a District Court judge
based in Mullingar,[3] later moving to the Newbridge[14] and then
Dublin districts.[15] In court he wore what Terry De Valera called
"his self-designed headdress like a black biretta".[16] As well as
writing plays and novels, he collected humorous anecdotes from his
judicial work intended for a book to be called Laughter in My
Court.[17] In 1941 he objected to an article in PEN's magazine which
he said was "propaganda, attacking the neutrality of Eire, and that
all we wanted was to be left alone".[18] In 1948, Erina Brady
appointed him President of her short-lived Dublin Dance Theatre
Club.[19] He retired from the bench on 19 March 1965.[15] His papers
are held by the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of
Kansas.[20]
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