Dr James McHenry - Blue Plaque
Larne’s second Ulster History Circle Blue Plaque unveiled at Larne Museum & Arts Centre
The Ulster History Circle commemorated Dr James McHenry (I785-I845), Ulster-Scots Writer, American Consul, Londonderry 1842-1845, by unveiling a blue plaque at Larne Museum & Arts Centre on Friday 24th November 2023.
The plaque was unveiled by Jane Allen DL, representing the Lord Lieutenant of County Antrim, in the presence of the Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Borough, Alderman Gerardine Mulvenna.
Dr James McHenry
Dr. McHenry was born at Livingstone’s Court in Larne (which now no longer exists) in 1785 and died in the town at Stewart’s Hotel on Main Street in 1845. He is buried in St. Cedma’s Cemetery. He lived for a time in Philadelphia and was a relative of the Smiley family of Drumalis.
Dr. McHenry was also a playwright in the United States and a poet who included verse about his native town in his writings. While editor of an American journal, he was one of the first to publish the poet ‘Longfellow’ and was friendly with Edgar Allan Poe.
Dr. McHenry returned to Ireland in 1842 and served as US Consul in Londonderry, 1842-1845.
Dr. McHenry was responsible for introducing the first Ulster family, the Fraziers, into American literature. Regarded as an early exponent of the genre of American Frontier Gothic, Dr. McHenry was responsible for a number of historical novels including ‘Hearts of Steel’ and ‘O’Halloran’ which surrounded events in rural County Antrim in the 1770s and 1790s. ‘O’Halloran’, or, ‘The Insurgent Chief,’ was reprinted by Larne publisher Ian Hooper in 2023, having been first published in 1824 and based on memories and recollections of the 1798 Rising in Larne.
A portrait of Dr. McHenry presented by Sir Hugh Houston Smiley was donated by his daughter to Larne Borough Council in 1908.
Blue Plaque at Larne Museum
