‘The Old Forces of Mediocrity, Malice and Death’ Kavanagh ...

Hammer

€2,100

‘The Old Forces of Mediocrity, Malice and Death’

Kavanagh (Patrick)  A remarkable manuscript statement, eight lines in green ink, Signed, responding to the failure of his celebrated libel action over a profile published in ‘The Leader’, 1 pp on verso of a torn sheet (no loss) of A-6 headed paper from Four Courts Hotel, Dublin, dated on recto in another hand Feb. 12th 1954 – the day after the verdict was declared.

‘I was not personally shocked by the verdict. I was ashamed of the society in which I live. I was sorry that the vital and gay new Ireland I represented had been repudiated by the old forces of mediocrity, malice and death. I have kept my integrity. It is not I who have lost. This is not the final judgement. Patrick Kavanagh’.  

Fluently written, with no corrections or hesitations, possibly intended as a statement to the press; evidently given to his friend Elinor O’Brien.

Kavanagh sued the Leader magazine over a profile, which he contended was defamatory.  The defendant’s barrister was John A. Costello, later Taoiseach, who subjected Kavanagh to a devastating (though not unfair) cross-examination. The turning point came when Kavanagh denied knowing Brendan Behan, and Costello produced a book warmly inscribed by Kavanagh to Behan. The jury found against Kavanagh. The verdict was appealed, a support fund was set up, and it appears Kavanagh did eventually secure a small settlement.

A unique document, and a fine statement of defiance, although the jury’s verdict meant the collapse of Kavanagh’s hopes of receiving significant damages.