Special Collections
Justin McCarthy Papers

Politician and writer Justin McCarthy (1830-1912) was an Irish Nationalist born in Cork, Ireland to Michael Francis, Esq. and Ellen Fitzgerald-Canty. McCarthy began his writing career as a reporter for a local newspaper at age 16. Although he is known more today for his political career with Parliament, McCarthy would continue to write throughout his life, publishing primarily through the publishing house of Chatto and Windus. McCarthy joined Parliament in 1879 as a representative for Longford County in central Ireland. He was a Home Rule supporter and a strong follower of Gladstone. McCarthy led the majority faction after the Parnellite divorce case of 1890 and continued to be reelected to Parliament until his retirement before the general election of 1900. Although McCarthy lost much of his eyesight in his later years, he continued to publish by dictation to a secretary and occasionally through his daughter, Charlotte. Justin McCarthy died in Kent, England in 1912.

The Papers span the years 1877 to 1899 and consist almost solely of correspondence. The majority of the letters are handwritten by either Justin McCarthy or his daughter, Charlotte and are primarily addressed to McCarthy's publisher, Chatto and Windus. Matters addressed included royalty payments, book requests, donations, and publishing ideas and deadlines. There is a small amount of correspondence between McCarthy's son, Huntley, and Chatto and Windus discussing Huntley's own writing career. The Papers do not provide any information about his political career as a member of Parliament from 1879 to 1896.

Special Collections is a non-circulating and non-browsing resource center. The Special Collections Reading Room is open to researchers Monday through Friday during the academic year. Public service hours for the current semester are listed at http://library.umkc.edu/spec-col/index.html#hours but researchers are encouraged to call ahead for verification of hours due to University intersessions and other events. Special Collections is located on the fourth floor of the Miller Nichols Library at 5100 Rockhill Road in Kansas City, Missouri. All inquiries concerning access to the collections should be addressed to Special Collections Library Information Specialists Teresa Gipson or Kelly McEniry.