Edward Plunkett , 18th Baron of Dunsany Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett , 18th Baron of Dunsany ( 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957 ) was an Irish writer and dramatist , notable for his work , mostly in fantasy , published under the name Lord Dunsany . More than eighty books of his work were published , and his oeuvre includes many hundreds of published short stories , as well as successful plays , novels and essays . Born to the second - oldest title ( created 1439 ) in the Irish peerage , Dunsany lived much of his life at perhaps Ireland ' s longest - inhabited home , Dunsany Castle near Tara , worked with W . B . Yeats and Lady Gregory , received an honorary doctorate from Trinity College , was chess and pistol - shooting champion of Ireland , and travelled and hunted extensively . He died in Dublin after an attack of appendicitis . Biography . Edward Plunkett ( " Dunsany " ) was the first son of John William Plunkett , 17th Baron of Dunsany ( 1853 – 1899 ) and his wife , Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Ernle - Erle - Drax , née Ernle Elizabeth Louisa Maria Grosvenor Burton ( 1855 – 1916 ) . From an historically wealthy and famous family , Dunsany was related to many other well - known Irish figures . He was a kinsman of the Catholic Saint Oliver Plunkett , the martyred Archbishop of Armagh . He was also related to the prominent Anglo - Irish unionist and later nationalist , Home Rule politician the Hon . Sir Horace Curzon Plunkett PC , KCVO , FRS , DL , JP ( 24 October 1854 – 26 March 1932 ) and Count George Noble Plunkett , Papal Count and Republican politician , father of Joseph Mary Plunkett , executed for his part in the 1916 Rising . His mother was a cousin of Sir Richard Burton , and he inherited from her considerable height , being 6 ' 4 " . The Countess of Fingall , wife of Dunsany ' s cousin , the Earl of Fingall , wrote a best - selling account of the life of the aristocracy in Ireland in the late 19th century and early 20th century , called " Seventy Years Young " . Plunkett ' s only sibling , a younger brother , from whom he was later estranged , was the noted British naval officer , Admiral The Honourable Sir Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett - Ernle - Erle - Drax . Early life . Edward Plunkett grew up at the family properties , most notably Dunstall Priory in Shoreham , Kent and Dunsany Castle in County Meath but also family homes such as in London . His schooling was at Cheam , Eton and finally Sandhurst , which he entered in 1896 . The title passed to him at his father ' s death at a fairly young age , in 1899 , and Dunsany returned to Dunsany Castle after war duty , in 1901 . In 1903 , he met Lady Beatrice Child Villiers ( 1880 – 1970 ) , youngest daughter of the 7th Earl of Jersey ( head of the Jersey banking family ) , living at Osterley Park , and they were married in 1904 . Their only child , Randal , was born in 1906 . Beatrice was supportive , and assisted Dunsany in his writing , typing his manuscripts , selecting work for his 1950s retrospective short story collection , and overseeing his literary heritage after his death . The Dunsanys were socially active in both Dublin and London , and travelled between their homes in Meath , London and Kent , other than during World Wars I and II , and the Irish War of Independence . Dunsany himself circulated with the literary figures of the time , to many of whom he was first introduced by his uncle , the co - operative pioneer Horace Plunkett , who also helped to manage his estate and investments for a time . He was friendly with , for example , George William Russell , Oliver St . John Gogarty and , for a time , W . B . Yeats . Interests . Dunsany was a keen hunter ( for many years hosting the hounds of a local hunt , as well as hunting in parts of Africa ) and sportsman , and was at one time the pistol - shooting champion of Ireland . He enjoyed cricket , provided the local cricket ground situated near Dunsany Crossroads , and later played for and presided at Shoreham Cricket Club . Dunsany was a keen chess player , set chess puzzles for journals including " The Times " ( of London ) , played José Raúl Capablanca to a draw ( in a simultaneous exhibition ) , and also invented Dunsany ' s chess , an asymmetric chess variant that is notable for not involving any fairy pieces , unlike many variants that require the player to learn unconventional piece movements . He was president of both the Irish Chess Union and the Kent County Chess Association for some years , and of Sevenoaks Chess Club for 54 years . Dunsany campaigned for animal rights , being known especially for his opposition to the " docking " of dogs ' tails , and was president of the West Kent branch of the RSPCA in his later years . He was a supporter of scouting over many years , serving as President of the Sevenoaks district Boy Scouts Association . He also supported the amateur drama group , the Shoreham Players . Dunsany provided support for the British Legion in both Ireland and Kent , including grounds in Trim and poetry for the Irish branch ' s annual memorial service on a number of occasions . Military experience . Dunsany served as a Second Lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards during the Second Boer War and as a Captain in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in World War I , when he was wounded . Having been refused forward positioning in 1916 , being listed as valuable as a trainer , in the latter stages of the war he spent time in the trenches , and in the very last period wrote propaganda material for the War Office with MI 7b ( 1 ) . Dunsany signed up for the local defence forces of both Ireland and the United Kingdom during World War II , and was especially active in Shoreham in Kent , the most - bombed village in the Battle of Britain . Literary life . Dunsany ' s fame arose chiefly from his prolific writings , and he was involved with the Irish Literary Revival . Supporting the Revival , Dunsany was a major donor to the Abbey Theatre , and he moved in Irish literary circles . He was well - acquainted with W . B . Yeats ( who rarely acted as editor , but gathered and published a Dunsany selection ) , Lady Gregory , Percy French , " AE " Russell , Oliver St John Gogarty , Padraic Colum ( with whom he jointly wrote a play ) and others . He befriended and supported Francis Ledwidge to whom he gave the use of his library . Dunsany made his first literary tour to the USA in 1919 , and made further such visits right up to the 1950s , notably to California . Dunsany ' s own work , and contribution to the Irish literary heritage , was recognised through an honorary degree from Trinity College , Dublin . Later life . In the 1930s , Dunsany transferred his Meath estate to his son and heir under a trust , and settled in Shoreham , Kent , at his Kent property , not far from the home of Rudyard Kipling , a friend , and visiting Ireland only occasionally thereafter . In 1940 , Dunsany was appointed Byron Professor of English in Athens University , Greece but had to be evacuated due to wartime disruptions , returning home by a circuitous route , his travels forming a basis for a long poem published in book form . Olivia Manning ' s character , " Lord Pinkrose " , in her novel sequence , the " Fortunes of War " , was a mocking portrait of Dunsany during this period . Death . In 1957 , Lord Dunsany took ill while eating with the Earl and Countess of Fingall , in what proved to be an attack of appendicitis , and died in hospital in Dublin at the age of 79 . He had directed that he be buried in the churchyard of the ancient church of St . Peter and St . Paul , Shoreham , Kent , in memory of shared war times . His funeral was attended by a wide range of family ( including Pakenham , Jersey and Fingal ) and Shoreham figures , and representatives of his old regiment and various bodies in which he had taken an interest . A memorial service was held at Kilmessan , Meath , with a reading of " Crossing the Bar " which was noted as coinciding with a passing flock of geese . Lady Beatrice survived Lord Dunsany , living on primarily at Shoreham , overseeing his literary legacy until her death in 1970 , while their son , Randal , succeeded him to the Barony , and was in turn succeeded by his grandson , to whom literary rights passed directly . Writings . Dunsany was a prolific writer , penning short stories , novels , plays , poetry , essays and autobiography , and publishing over sixty books , not including individual plays . He began his authorial career in the late 1890s , with a few published verses , such as " Rhymes from a Suburb " and " The Spirit of the Bog " , but he made a lasting impression in 1905 when he burst onto the publishing scene with the well - received collection " The Gods of Pegāna . " Dunsany ' s most notable fantasy short stories were published in collections from 1905 to 1919 . He paid for the publication of the first such collection , " The Gods of Pegāna , " earning a commission on sales . This he never again had to do , the vast majority of his extensive writings selling . The stories in his first two books , and perhaps the beginning of his third , were set within an invented world , Pegāna , with its own gods , history and geography . Starting with this book , Dunsany ' s name is linked to that of Sidney Sime , his chosen artist , who illustrated much of his work , notably until 1922 . Dunsany ' s style varied significantly throughout his writing career . Prominent Dunsany scholar S . T . Joshi has described these shifts as Dunsany moving on after he felt he had exhausted the potential of a style or medium . From the naïve fantasy of his earliest writings , through his early short story work in 1904 – 1908 , he turned to the self - conscious fantasy of " The Book of Wonder " in 1912 , in which he almost seems to be parodying his lofty early style . Each of his collections varies in mood ; " A Dreamer ' s Tales " varies from the wistfulness of " Blagdaross " to the horrors of " Poor Old Bill " and " Where the Tides Ebb and Flow " to the social satire of " The Day of the Poll . " The opening paragraph of " The Hoard of the Gibbelins " from " The Book of Wonder , " ( 1912 ) gives a good indication of both the tone and tenor of Dunsany ' s style at the time : After " The Book of Wonder , " Dunsany began to write plays — many of which were even more successful , at the time , than his early story collections — while also continuing to write short stories . He continued to write plays for the theatre into the 1930s , including the famous " If " , and a number for radio production . Although many of Dunsany ' s stage plays were successfully produced within his lifetime , he also wrote a number of " chamber plays " which were only intended to be read privately ( as if they were stories ) or performed on the radio , rather than staged . Some of Dunsany ' s chamber or radio plays contain supernatural events — such as a character spontaneously appearing out of thin air , or vanishing in full view of the audience — without any explanation of how the effect is to be staged — a matter of no importance , since Dunsany did not intend these works actually to be performed live and visible . Following a successful lecture touring in the USA in 1919 – 1920 , and with his reputation now principally related to his plays , Dunsany temporarily reduced his output of short stories , concentrating on plays , novels , and poetry for a time . His poetry , now little seen , was for a time so popular that it is recited by the lead character of F . Scott Fitzgerald ' s " This Side of Paradise " . Dunsany ' s first novel , " Don Rodriguez : Chronicles of Shadow Valley " , was published in 1922 . It is set in " a Romantic Spain that never was , " and follows the adventures of a young nobleman , Don Rodriguez , and his servant in their search for a castle for Rodriguez . It has been argued that Dunsany ' s inexperience with the novel form shows in the episodic nature of " Don Rodriguez . " In 1924 , Dunsany published his second novel , " The King of Elfland ' s Daughter , " a return to his early style of writing , which is considered by many to be Dunsany ' s finest novel and a classic in the realm of the fantasy writing . In his next novel , " The Charwoman ' s Shadow , " Dunsany returned to the Spanish milieu and to the light style of " Don Rodriguez , " to which it is related . Though his style and medium shifted frequently , Dunsany ' s thematic concerns remained essentially the same . Many of Dunsany ' s later novels had an explicitly Irish theme , from the semi - autobiographical " The Curse of the Wise Woman " to " His Fellow Men . " One of Dunsany ' s best - known characters was Joseph Jorkens , an obese middle - aged raconteur who frequented the fictional Billiards Club in London , and who would tell fantastic stories if someone would buy him a large whiskey and soda . From his tales , it was obvious that Mr Jorkens had travelled to all seven continents , was extremely resourceful , and well - versed in world cultures , but always came up short on becoming rich and famous . The " Jorkens " books , which sold well , were among the first of a type which was to become popular in fantasy and science fiction writing : extremely improbable " club tales " told at a gentleman ' s club or bar . Dunsany ' s writing habits were considered peculiar by some . Lady Beatrice said that " He always sat on a crumpled old hat while composing his tales . " ( The hat was eventually stolen by a visitor to Dunsany Castle . ) Dunsany almost never rewrote anything ; everything he ever published was a first draft . Much of his work was penned with quill pens , which he made himself ; Lady Beatrice was usually the first to see the writings , and would help type them . It has been said that Lord Dunsany would sometimes conceive stories while hunting , and would return to the Castle and draw in his family and servants to re - enact his visions before he set them on paper . Memberships , awards and honours . Lord Dunsany was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Royal Geographical Society , and an honorary member of the Institut Historique et Heraldique de France . Lord Dunsany played left half back for the 1938 championship winning team for Drumree . Dunsany was initially an Associate Member of the Irish Academy of Letters , founded by Yeats and others , and later a full member . At one of their banquets , he asked Sean O ' Faolain , who was presiding , " Do we not toast the King ? " O ' Faolain replied that there was only one toast : to the Nation ; but after it was given and he ' d called for coffee , Dunsany stood quietly among the bustle , raised his glass discreetly , and whispered " God bless him . " " The Curse of the Wise Woman " received the Harmsworth Literary Award in Ireland . Dunsany also received an honorary doctorate from Trinity College Dublin . authors to sample him . Scholars and archivists . S . T . Joshi and Darrell Schweitzer were early workers on the Dunsany oeuvre , gathering stories and essays and reference material , and producing both an initial bibliography ( together ) and scholarly studies of Dunsany ' s work ( separate works ) . Both are well - known figures in the fields of speculative fiction . In recent years , a PhD researcher , Tania Scott , from Glasgow University , has been working on Dunsany for some time , and has spoken at literary and other conventions . In the late 1990s a curator , J . W . Doyle , was appointed at Dunsany Castle , locating and organising the author ' s manuscripts , typescripts and other materials . He discovered both known ( but " lost " ) works , such as the plays " The Ginger Cat " and " The Murderers , " some Jorkens stories and the novel " The Pleasures of a Futuroscope " ( subsequently published by Hippocampus Press ) and unknown , unpublished works , notably including The Last Book of Jorkens , to the first edition of which he wrote an introduction , and an unnamed 1956 short story collection , not yet published . Notes . Dunsany ' s literary rights passed from the author to a Trust , which still owns them . These rights were first managed by Beatrice , Lady Dunsany , and are currently administered by Curtis Brown of London and partner companies worldwide ( some past US deals , for example , have been listed by Locus Magazine as by SCG ) . All of Dunsany ' s work is in copyright in most of the world , the main exception being the early work ( published before 1 January 1923 ) , which is in the public domain in the United States . Dunsany ' s primary home , over 820 years old , can be visited at certain times of year , and tours usually include the Library , but not the tower room he often liked to work in . His other home , Dunstall Priory , was sold to a fan , Grey Gowrie , later head of the Arts Council of the UK , and thence passed on to other owners ; the family still own farm - and down - land in the area , and a Tudor cottage in Shoreham village . The grave of Lord Dunsany and his wife can be seen in the Church of England graveyard in the village ( most of the previous barons are buried in the grounds of Dunsany Castle ) . Dunsany ' s original manuscripts are collected in the family archive , including some specially bound volumes of some of his works . As noted , there has been a curator since the late 1990s and scholarly access is possible by application .