William Allingham was an Irish poet, diarist and editor. He wrote several volumes of lyric verse, and his poem 'The Faeries' was much anthologised; but he is better known for his posthumously published Diary, in which he records his lively encounters with Tennyson, Carlyle and other writers and artists.
His wife, Helen Allingham, was a well-known watercolourist and illustrator. William Allingham was born on 19 March 1824 in the small town of Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland, and was the son of the manager of a local bank who was of English descent. Working on an un-ostentatious scale, Allingham produced much lyrical and descriptive poetry, and the best of his pieces are thoroughly national in spirit and local colouring. His verse is clear, fresh, and graceful.
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