09.07.2012
Bram Stoker’s Great Grandson Addresses Centenary Service in St Ann’s
A special service to mark the centenary of the death of Dublin born writer, Bram Stoker, took place in St Ann’s Church, Dawson Street. The well attended service was part of a weekend of events which took place at a number of venues throughout Dublin to mark the centenary.
Bram Stoker’s great grandson, Robin MacCaw, addressed the congregation (the full text of his address is reproduced below). The very first copy of Stoker’s famous ‘Dracula’ was on display in the church. The book, which is in private ownership, would have been handled by Stoker himself and was personally inscribed by him to ‘his dear friend, Hommy–Beg’ and signed and dated 25th May 1897. It is valued at €250,000.
Also at the service, a bust of Stoker by sculptor Beatrice Stewart, a former parishioner of St Ann’s, was unveiled. It is to form the centre–piece of a permanent exhibition detailing the history of St Ann’s Parish which will be opened in October during the first ever Stoker Festival, organised by Dublin City Council. The church and its choir are to take a leading role in the festival.
Stoker married Florence Balcombe in St Ann’s Church in 1878.
Address by Robin MacCaw at the Service of Thanksgiving for the life of Bram Stoker (his great grandfather) in St Ann’s Church, Dawson Street, on Sunday July 9:
I am very honoured to have been asked by Reverend Gillespie to speak at this service marking the centenary of Bram Stoker’s death.
I am a great–grandson of Bram. Together with my two half brothers we are now his closest living direct descendants. So far there are a further 12 in the next two generations below us, so continuity of the line is assured for so time to come.
Of course, it was in this very church that Bram married Florence Balcombe nearly 134 years ago, on 4th December 1878
Five days after the wedding, Bram then aged 32 and his bride set out for London, having left his job as a Petty Sessions clerk at Dublin Castle where he had worked for 12 years, to follow Henry Irving the great Shakespearean actor, as his actor manager at The Lyceum Theatre where the two worked together for the next 27 years.
So Bram had spent almost half of his life in Dublin. Up to the time of his leaving he had finished writing Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions as well as numerous stage reviews.
Born, christened and brought up in Clontarf, Bram – then still known as Abraham– suffered from an extended undiagnosed childhood illness and was told stories by his mother Charlotte – a descendant of Manus “the Magnificent” O’Donnell who died in 1563 – who had witnessed the plague and its terrible effects. We believe some of these stories influenced his most famous work, Dracula.
After making a full recovery, he eventually excelled at sport and extra–curricular activities during his time at Trinity College, including winning the Athletic Sports Champion Cup in 1867, which is now in my possession.
While he may have appeared to be a serious young man, extracts from The Journal which he kept between 1871 and 1882, recently published, show he did get involved in some riotous behaviour with his friends and colleagues
Sadly, none of his direct descendants has followed his successful career either in the theatre or as a novelist.
In contrast to the life led by Bram, his son Noel, born soon after the family arrived in London, was a very unassuming man and worked all his life as a Chartered Accountant, also the profession of his 3 grandsons
I first read Dracula at the age of 12, but following the death of our grandfather in 1961 and the expiry of the copyright on Dracula the following year for me, the importance of Bram to literature became less noteworthy. The plethora of subsequent horror films based on Dracula always seemed to be on a different and less serious plane
Happily this trend was eventually reversed, starting with interest from academia and from here in Dublin, in particular the “One city, One book” promotion in 2009, in which this church took part with the re–enactment of the wedding. When I was here in Dublin for that in April, my cousin Dacre Stoker and I were disappointed that we could find no permanent memorial to Bram.
Since then we are delighted that in Dublin, this UNESCO City of Literature the toll bridge is to be renamed after Bram and the Lord Mayor has announced there will be a Bram Stoker festival weekend running for the next 5 years in October.
This week there are several events taking place at Trinity College and elsewhere with many experts –all of whom have more knowledge than me in the life and writings of Bram.
So maybe life goes full circle, with my return, as a direct descendant, to the very church where my great–grandparents were married 134 years ago.