Theodore Roosevelt study of Irish Celtic history

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Attached a review by the Irish Times.

Letters reveal Roosevelt's fascination with Celtic mythology
A US president’s interest in Cúchulain, Queen Maeve and other figures from Irish mythology has come to light following the sale in Dublin of papers relating to Theodore Roosevelt.
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An archive, including letters sent from the White House, Washington signed by President Roosevelt, has been acquired for the State by the National Library of Ireland, which paid €1,800 for the lot at Mealy’s auction of rare books on Tuesday.

The documents show the Republican president, who served from 1901-1909, had a keen interest in Irish history and literature and was remarkably aware of developments in pre-Independence Ireland. Roosevelt corresponded with TP Gill who was secretary of the Irish Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction (1900-1923), a former MP for the Irish Parliamentary Party at Westminster (1885-1892) and editor of the Dublin Daily Express (1898-1899). He was an uncle of Tomás Mac Giolla, former president of the Workers Party and TD for Dublin West, who died last year.

In a letter dated 1903, sent from his New York home in Oyster Bay which was known as “the summer White House”, Roosevelt revealed his reading list included Lady Gregory’s Cuchulain of Muirthemne and Douglas Hyde’s Literary History of Ireland.

Theodore Roosevelt study of Irish Celtic history
Reading List
Cuchulain of Muirthemne [Illustrated]
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A Literary History of Ireland from Earliest Times to the Present Day

His interest delighted the artistic establishment in Dublin. Lady Gregory subsequently wrote to the president thanking him for reading her book and welcoming his support. She deplored the “discredit cast on the old Irish literature by the English professor of ancient literature in Trinity College Dublin” who had described her book as “so very low” and “his fellows who called it ‘all either silly or indecent or religious’.”

Her letter had the desired effect and resulted in a publicity coup and major boost for the “Celtic Twilight” movement in Ireland. In a development almost unthinkable today, an incumbent American president wrote a major essay titled “The Ancient Irish Sagas” in which he demonstrated a detailed knowledge of the legends of “Finn and the Fianna” the “Dun Bull of Cooley”, the “Children of Lir” and other mythical figures. The essay, accompanied by striking colour illustrations of Cúchulain and Queen Maeve by the renowned illustrator JC Leyendecker, was published in The Century magazine in New York in 1907. The National Library of Ireland has an original copy.

Roosevelt was enthralled and declared: “It is much to be desired that, wherever possible, chairs of Celtic [studies] should be established in our leading universities.”
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Theodore Roosevelt, who had Dutch and Irish roots, was born in 1858 and died in 1919. He served as the 26th US president and famously gave his name to toy “Teddy Bears” following a much-publicised hunting incident in 1902. His distant cousin Franklin D Roosevelt (FDR) served as the 32nd US president from 1933-1945.
Letters reveal Roosevelt's fascination with Celtic mythology
irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0722/1224301126143.html
The Ancient Irish Sagas by Theodore Roosevelt

More on this discovery of Theodore Roosevelt interest and study of Irish Celtic history.
One of my favorite documents that I came across was a letter from Lady Gregory to Theodore Roosevelt in 1903. Lady Gregory was a well known Irish author, famous for her comedic plays and works involving Irish mythological figures. In 1907 Roosevelt himself published an article in The Century Magazine titled, “The Ancient Irish Sagas,” in which he praises Lady Gregory’s work, while more extensively lamenting America’s lack of original study and research in early Celtic literature. In her letter to Roosevelt, Gregory seems thrilled that the American president has read the tales of Cúchulainn, a popular Irish mythological hero. It’s evident after reading her letter that she has a deep love for her country and its rich folklore, and she hopes that one day Americans with Irish roots will return to Ireland if only to visit the places in which these magical stories played out.

In her autobiography, published in 1913, the revered Irish author recollects visiting Roosevelt and his family at their Oyster Bay residence during one of her trips to America. This sneak peek into Gregory’s life is interesting because it reveals that years after their initial interaction with each other, she and Roosevelt remained in contact and obviously on good terms if a personal visit to his private home followed.

In the same letter, Lady Gregory hoped Roosevelt would one day visit Ireland himself.
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Cataloging this letter from Gregory to Roosevelt really caught my attention for a few reasons. One because I could really feel Gregory’s passion for Irish literature, the pride she had in her country, and the strong desire she had to catch the interest of Irish-Americans living in the United States. Probably the biggest part of this letter that caught my eye was the mention of the Irish mythological character, Cúchulainn. I remember a few years back reading Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, in which the main character recalls his father telling him the tales of Cúchulainn. Coming across this letter inspired me to do a little research on this Irish idol that I’ve been hearing so much about. Now I’ve found myself reading Lady Gregory’s own work, Cuchulain of Muirthemne!
blogtrc.org/history/a-letter-from-lady-gregory/
Theodore Roosevelt study of Irish Celtic history
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Theodore Roosevelt study of Irish Celtic history