Homage to Oscar Wilde -

Oscar Wilde at the Royal Academy, 1881. Following his education at Portora Royal School, Trinity College, Dublin, and Magdalen College, Oxford, Wilde moved to London in 1879 where began to draw the attention of the public as a 'professor of aesthetics'. He added to his reputation with his lecture tour of the USA in 1882. After that, he settled down to the profession of 'a man of letters'. He married Constance Lloyd in 1884 and they had two sons, Cyril who was born in 1885 and Vyvyan who was born in 1886. From 1886 Wilde also had sexual relations with men, beginning with Robert ('Robbie') Ross, a Cambridge undergraduate. Ross became a firm friend of Wilde's and stood by him following the ruin of his reputation in the events of 1895.

Oscar Wilde ag an Acadamh Ríoga, 1881. I ndiaidh dó a chuid oideachais a fháil ag an gColáiste Ríoga ar Inis Ceithleann, ag Coláiste na Tríonóide Bhaile Átha Cliath agus ag Coláiste Magdalen Oxford, bhain Wilde Londain amach i 1879 agus thosaigh sé ag baint clú amach dó féin mar saineolaí na haestéitic. Is mar sin a tharraig sé aire an phobail ar dtús. Chuir sé lena chlú trí na léachta a thug sé sna Stáit Aontaithe i 1882. Ina dhiaidh sin shocraigh sé síos agus chlaoigh sé le gairm an scríbhneora. Phós sé Constance Lloyd i 1884. Bhí beirt mhac acu, Cyril a rughadh i 1885 agus Vyvyan a rugadh i 1886. Ó 1886 bhí caidreamh gnéasúil ag Wilde le fir freisin, ag tosnú le Robert ('Robbie') Ross, fóchéimí de chuid Ollscoile Cambridge agus dlúthchara dá chuid ina dhiaidh sin agus fear a sheas leis go dílis i ndiaidh a thitime.

The picture on the left, dating from 1889, shows Constance and Cyril Wilde. That on the right shows Robert ('Robbie') Ross. The portrait was painted about 1890. Ross was the son of the Canadian Attorney-General and the grandson of a Governor-General of Canada.

Sna pictiúraí seo feictear Constance agus Cyril Wilde (ar chlé) agus Robert ('Robbie') Ross (ar dheis). Glacadh an grianghraf de bhean agus de mhac Wilde i 1889 agus deineadh an portráid de Ross timpeall 1890. Mac le Ard-Aighne Cheanada ba ea Ross agus bhí a shean-athair ina Fhear Ceannais ar an gcríoch chéanna.

In 1891, Wilde met Lord Alfred Douglas, an Oxford undergraduate and son of the Marquis of Queensberry. Wilde fell in love with him. His father objected to their friendship. It was a stormy relationship. Also, it was through Douglas's carelessness that Wilde was blackmailed and that Queensberry's detectives eventually obtained letters which Wilde had written to his son. In 1895 the Marquis left a card at the Albermarle, Wilde's club, with the following written on it: "To Oscar Wilde, posing as a somdomite". Wilde initiated Queensberry's prosecution for libel.

I 1891 bhuail Wilde leis an Tiarna Alfred Douglas, mac léinn de chuid Ollscoil Oxford agus mac leis an leis an Marcais Queensberry. Thit Wilde i ngrá leis. Níor thaitin an caradas leis an Marcais. Ceangal callanach a bhí ann, agus b'é de bharr neamh-aird Douglas gur chuireadh Wilde faoi dhúmháil agus go bhfuair bleachtairí a athar roinnt de na litreacha a scríobh Wilde chuige. Sa deireadh, i 1895, d'fhág an Marcais cárta ag club Wilde, an Albermarle, agus an méid seo scríofa air: "To Oscar Wilde, posing as a somdomite". Chuir Wilde an dlí ar Queensberry.

- EC: Did any of these men who visited you at the Savoy [Hotel] have whiskies and sodas and iced champagne? - OW: I can't say what they had.
- EC: Do you drink champagne yourself? - OW: Yes; iced champagne is a favourite drink of mine - strongly against my doctor's orders.
- EC: Never mind your doctor's orders, sir! - OW: I never do. (Laughter in court.)
[Oscar Wilde's crossexamination by Edward Carson, QC - April 1895]

It was a mistake to initiate the prosecution of Queensberry, since the Marquess employed detectives who uncovered facts damaging to Wilde. They discovered that he had met young male providers of sexual services at the rooms of Alfred Taylor in Little College Street, Westminster. They also identified other young men with whom Wilde had had liaisons. When it became clear that these young men would be produced in court to give evidence against Wilde, his legal team advised him to abandon the prosecution of Queensberry. Wilde's friends advised him to seek refuge in France, but he refused; and was arrested and charged under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act (1885). Wilde was imprisoned in 1895, following his conviction for sexual 'offences' with young men.

Ba bhotún é an dlí a chur ar Queensberry mar rinne bleachtairí a d'fhostaigh an Marcais tocailt. Fuair siad amach gur chleacht Wilde árasán Alfred Taylor i Sráidín an Choláiste, Westminster, áit ar chuireadh fir óga a sholáthraigh seirbhísí gnéis in aithne dó. Tháing na bleachtairí suas le roinnt de na fir óga seo agus le roinnt fear óga eile a mheall Wilde. Nuair ba léir go mbeadh na daoine seo sásta fianise a thabhairt ina choinne, mhol abhcóid Wilde dó tarraingt siar agus cuireadh deireadh le triall Queensberry. Mhol a chaide do Wilde teichedh go dtí an bhFrainc ach níor ghlac sé an chomhairle seo. Gabhadh é agus cúisíodh é faoin Acht Chun Leasú a dhéanamh ar an Dlí Choiriúil, Roinn 11 (1885). Cuireadh príosún ar Wilde i 1895 nuair a fuaireadh ciontach é as 'coireanna gnéis' le fir óga.

A Ticket for an event to commemorate Wilde's freeing from Reading Jail on 19 May 1897, which was held at Hatchards Bookshop, London, on the centenary of the event - when Martin Jarvis read Wilde's poem, 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol'.

Ticéid le haghaidh ócáide chun shaoradh Wilde ó phríosún Reading ar an 19 Bealtaine 1897 a chomóradh. Tionóladh í i siopa leabhair Hatchard i Londain, áit a léigh Martin Jarvis dán Wilde, 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol'.

A commemorative envelope, issued to celebrate the same event and bearing a verse from 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' and an image of that prison, which was issued at the same time. Both events were organised by the Oscar Wilde Society.

Clúdach litreach faoi leith, le véarsa ó dhán Wilde, 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol', agus le íomhá de phríosún Reading greannta air, a heisíodh ag an am céanna chun saoradh Wilde a chomóradh. Cumann Oscar Wilde a d'eagraigh an comóradh seo.

The magnitude of the impact of Wilde's disgrace on his family is clear from Son of Oscar Wilde, the book written by his son Vyvyan Holland (the surname adopted by Wilde's children to protect them at a time when his name was a by-word). Wilde went abroad following his release from prison in 1897 and he spent the rest of his life, until his death in Paris in 1900 wandering in Europe, in France, Italy and Switzerland. He wrote little in this period, apart from 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' and letters. He was dependent on his ex-wife and friends for an income; and his ex-wife (who predeceased him in 1898) was constantly trying to separate him from dubious companions. Here is a picture of Wilde, taken in the Campidoglio at Rome, seven months before he died in 1900 at the age of 47.

Tá sé soiléir ó leabhar a mhic Vyvyan Holland (an sloinne a ghlac na páistí chun iad a chosaint mar go raibh an sloinne Wilde i mbéal na ndaoine), Son of Oscar Wilde, an t-slí uafásach a ndeacha titim an scríbhneora i bhfeidhm ar an gclann. I ndiaidh dó a bheith scaoilte saor ón bpríosún i 1897, d'imigh Wilde thar lear agus chaith sé an chuid eile dá shaol ag taisteal san Eoraip, sa bhFrainc, san Iodáil agus san Eilbhéis, go dtí go bhfuair sé bás i bPáras i 1900. Is beag a scríobh sé i rith an tréimhse seo seachas 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol' agus a chuid litreacha. I rith an ama bhí sé ag brath ar a iar-bhean agus ar a chairde chun airgidh a sholáthar dó; agus bhí a iar-bhean (a fuair bás roimhe i 1898) de shíor ag iarraidh é a scaradh ón droch chomhluadar. Seo pictiúr de Wilde a tógadh i 1900 i gCampidoglio na Róimhe, seacht mí sar a fuair sé bás in aois a 47 dó.

Rome
Saturday
My dear Robbie,
A thousand thanks for all your trouble. The cheque arrived safely this morning...
I have not seen the Holy Father since Thursday, but am bearing up wonderfully well. I am sorry to say that he has approved of a dreadful handkerchief, with a portrait of himself in the middle, and basilicas at the corners. It is very curious the connection between Faith and bad art...
I have given up Armando, a very smart elegant young Sporus. He was beautiful, but his requests for raiment and neckties were incessant; he really bayed for boots... I now like Arnaldo: he was Armando's greatest friend, but the friendship is over. Armando is un invidioso apparently, and is suspected of having stolen a lovely covertcoat in which he patrols the Corso. The coat is so delightful, and he looks so handsome in it, that, although the coat wasn't mine, I have forgiven him the theft.
Omero has never received your letter. I need not say I have not given him your London address - at least not your real one: he now believes that your real name is Edmondo Gosse, and that your address is the Savile [Club]. I also added that some of your more intimate friends prefer to write to you as Reginaldo Turner, Avvocato, The Reform Club: but that I, from old associations, prefer to address you as Sir Wemyss Reid, so I fancy there will be many interesting letters arriving in London.
Rome is burning with heat: really terrible: but at 4.30 I am going to the Borghese, to look at daisies and drink milk: the Borghese milk is as wonderful as the Borghese daisies. I also intend to photograph Arnaldo. By the way, can you photograph cows well? ...Cows are very fond of being photographed, and, unlike architecture, don't move...
Write always to Cooks's. Love to More [Adey] and Reggie [Turner]. Ever yours Oscar

When Wilde died in Paris he was buried in Bagneux, but in 1909 he was reburied in Père Lachaise in the striking and famous tomb designed by Jacob Epstein. When Robert ('Robbie') Ross died in 1918, his ashes were interred there also. It was Ross who secured the publication of the first English collected edition of Wilde's works by Methen in 1908. Below are two other memorials to Wilde, both erected in the late 1990s. On the left Danny Osborne's statue of Oscar Wilde in Merrion Square, Dublin. Here Wilde looks out across the street towards the house of his parents. On the right, Maggie Hambling's sculpture to commemorate Wilde in London. It is situated behind a church, opposite Charing Cross railway terminus, in a grubby street, close to a number of gay pubs and a police station.

Nuair a fauir sé bás i bPáras cuireadh Wilde i reilig Bagneux ach in a dhiaidh sin i 1909 athchuireadh i reilig Père Lachaise é sa tuama clúiteach galánta le Jacob Epstein; agus nuair a fuair Robert ('Robbie') Ross bás i 1918 cuireadh a luaithreach ann freisin. B'é Ross a bhí freagarthach as foilsiú saothar bailithe Wilde ag Methuen i 1908. Thíos tá dhá chuimhneachán eile de Wilde. Ar chlé dealbh d'Oscar Wilde i gCearnóg Mhuirfean, Baile Átha Cliath, áit a mbreathnaíonn Wilde amach uaidh treasna na sráide i d'treo tí mhóir a thuismitheoraí. Ar dheis dealbh le Maggie Hambling a tógadh i Londain chun Oscar Wilde a chomóradh: ar chúl eaglaise, os comhair stáisiún traenach Charing Cross amach, i sráid shuarach gar do roinnt pubanna aeracha agus do bhearaic na bpóilíní.

Shortly before he died in his Paris lodging, Wilde, who was ill and confined to bed, turned to his friends Reggie Turner and Robert ('Robbie') Ross, who were constantly by his bedside, and said: "I dreamt I was supping with the dead." Reggie Turner replied, "My dear Oscar, you were probably the life and soul of the party."

Tamaillín sar a fuair sé bás ina lóistín i bPáras agus é go tinn, dúirt sé lena chairde Reggie Turner agus Robert ('Robbie') Ross a bhí ag faire ar an othar: "I dreamt I was supping with the dead." Arsa Reggie Turner leis, "My dear Oscar, you were probably the life and soul of the party."

Poems
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Intentions
The Soul of Man Under Socialism
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories
A House of Pomegranates
The Happy Prince
Lady Windermere's Fan
Salomé
A Woman of No Importance
An Ideal Husband
The Importance of Being Ernest
The Ballad of Reading Gaol
De Profundis

Click on any of the links above to read an example of Wilde's work.
Brú ar cheann de na ceangail thuas chun sampla de shaothar Wilde a léamh.