Ella Young facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ella Young
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Photo portrait, 1930
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| Born | 26 December 1867 Fenagh, County Antrim, Ireland |
| Died | 23 July 1956 (aged 88) Oceano, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Poet, folklorist, teacher |
| Nationality | Irish American |
| Alma mater | Royal University of Ireland Trinity College Dublin |
| Period | Modernist |
| Subject | Celtic mythology |
| Literary movement | Irish Literary Revival |
| Notable works |
Celtic Wonder-Tales
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Ella Young (born December 26, 1867 – died July 23, 1956) was an Irish poet and expert in Celtic mythology. She was an important part of the Gaelic and Celtic Revival literary movements in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Ella Young wrote many poems and children's books.
In 1925, she moved from Ireland to the United States. She lived in California and spent five years giving talks about Celtic mythology at American universities. In 1931, she faced some challenges when she tried to become a U.S. citizen.
Young later taught Irish Myth and Lore at the University of California, Berkeley for seven years. She was known for her lively personality. She often gave lectures wearing purple robes, like those worn by an ancient Druid (a priest or magician in ancient Celtic cultures). She would talk about magical creatures like fairies and elves. She even spoke about the benefits of talking to trees!
Her deep knowledge and passion for Celtic mythology inspired many people. She influenced writers and artists in California. These included poets Robinson Jeffers and Elsa Gidlow, philosopher Alan Watts, photographer Ansel Adams, and composer Harry Partch. Partch even used some of her poems in his music.
Later in her life, she became a mentor and inspiration for the Dunites. This was a group of artists who lived in the sand dunes of San Luis Obispo County, California. Ella Young retired to the town of Oceano, California, where she passed away at 88 years old.
Contents
Growing Up in Ireland & Early Work
Ella Young was born in Fenagh, County Antrim, Ireland. She grew up in Dublin in a Protestant family. She went to the Royal University of Ireland and later earned her master's degree at Trinity College Dublin.
Young was interested in Theosophy, a spiritual philosophy. She joined the Hermetic Society, a group connected to Theosophy in Dublin. There, she met writer Kenneth Morris. She also became friends with "Æ" (George William Russell), who was a famous writer. She was one of his special students, sometimes called his "singing birds."
Ella Young felt strongly about Irish independence. She was friends with Patrick Pearse, a leader in the movement. She supported the Easter Rising, a rebellion for Irish freedom. As a member of Cumann na mBan, a women's organization, she helped transport supplies for Irish forces.
Her first book of poems, Poems, came out in 1906. In 1909, she published The Coming of Lugh, which was about Irish folklore. She became friends with William Butler Yeats' friend Maud Gonne. Gonne illustrated Lugh and Young's first story collection, Celtic Wonder-Tales (1910). Even though she kept writing poetry, she became best known for her versions of old Irish legends.
Moving to the United States
Ella Young first visited the United States in the 1920s. She went to Connecticut to see her friends, Mary Colum and her husband, poet Padraic Colum. In 1924, she was hired to teach at the University of California, Berkeley.
She officially moved to the U.S. in 1925. When she arrived at Ellis Island, she was briefly held by authorities. This happened because she openly believed in the existence of fairies, elves, and pixies. At that time, people with unusual beliefs were sometimes questioned before being allowed into the country.
Once in California, Young began giving talks at different universities in 1925. She lectured at Columbia University, Smith College, Vassar College, and Mills College. People loved listening to her.
Norm Hammond, a writer, described her talks: "Wherever she went, she was received enthusiastically, especially by the young people of America. They loved this white-haired lady with the eyes of a seer that appeared to be lighted from within. She spoke with a melodious voice; when she spoke everyone listened. She had a thin, wispy quality that made her appear as the apparition of the very spirits she described. Indeed, her skin had an almost translucent quality."
Young lived in Sausalito, California in the mid-1920s. For about ten years, she was a special lecturer on Irish Myth and Lore at the University of California, Berkeley.
In 1931, she had not yet become a legal U.S. resident. Her friend, Charles Erskine Scott Wood, told her to go to Victoria, British Columbia, to restart her citizenship application. Her request to re-enter the U.S. was delayed for months. This was because officials worried she might become a "public charge," meaning she might need financial help from the government.
In 1926, Ella Young gave a lecture in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. She stayed with the artist John O’Shea and met poet Robinson Jeffers. Young believed that Point Lobos near Carmel was a special, powerful place. She felt it was the "psychic center of the Pacific Coast."
Later Life and Legacy
In 1928, Ella Young's book The Wonder-Smith and His Son was recognized as a Newbery Honor Book. This means it was a runner-up for a very important children's literature award. The book had beautiful illustrations by Boris Artzybasheff.
During the 1920s, she sometimes visited Halcyon, California. This was a Theosophical community near San Luis Obispo, California. While living in a small cabin there, Young finished writing The Tangle-Coated Horse and Other Tales. This book also became a Newbery Honor Book in 1930.
In Halcyon, she met many interesting friends. These included Ansel Adams, the famous photographer. She traveled with Adams and his wife to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1929. They visited artists and stayed with Mabel Dodge Luhan. In Taos, New Mexico, Young also spent time with artist Georgia O'Keeffe. A photo of Young and Virginia Adams is in Ansel Adams's autobiography.
In 1932, her book The Unicorn with Silver Shoes was released. It was illustrated by Robert Lawson. Young published her autobiography, Flowering Dusk: Things Remembered Accurately and Inaccurately, in 1945. Later, she felt a special connection to the giant California Redwoods.
After being ill, Ella Young passed away in her Oceano home on July 23, 1956. She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered in a redwood grove. There is a grave marker for her in the Santa Maria Cemetery District, Santa Maria, California. Young left most of her money to the Save the Redwoods League. This organization works to protect redwood forests.
Ella Young's Lasting Impact
Ella Young's work continues to be studied and enjoyed. Writers John Matthews and Denise Sallee published a collection of her writings in 2012. It was called At the Gates of Dawn: A Collection of Writings by Ella Young. Rose Murphy wrote a biography about Young in 2008.
The South County Historical Society in California actively researches the history of the Dunites and Ella Young. Her papers and writings are kept at the Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Selected Publications
Poetry Books
- Poems (1906)
- The Rose of Heaven: Poems (1920)
- The Weird of Fionavar (1922)
- To the Little Princess: An Epistle (1930)
- Marzilian, and Other Poems (1938)
- Seed of the Pomegranate, and Other Poems (1949)
- Smoke of Myrrh, and Other Poems (1950)
Fiction Books
- The Coming of Lugh: A Celtic Wonder-Tale, illustrated by Maud Gonne (1909)
- Celtic Wonder-Tales, illustrated by Gonne (1910)
- The Wonder-Smith and His Son: A Tale from the Golden Childhood of the World, illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff (1927)
- The Tangle-Coated Horse and Other Tales: Episodes from the Fionn Saga, illustrated by Vera Bock (1929)
- The Unicorn with Silver Shoes, illustrated by Robert Lawson (1932)
- Celtic Wonder Tales and Other Stories, illustrated by Artzybasheff and Gonne (1988) – a selection from her earlier collections
The stories in her books are often based on old Irish myths. The Unicorn with Silver Shoes is an original fantasy story. It tells the journey of an Irish hero to the Afterlife. Many of her classic Celtic story collections have been republished, so new readers can enjoy them.
Nonfiction Books
- Flowering Dusk: Things Remembered Accurately and Inaccurately (1945)
