Editing John Banim (section)

===London===
He then set out for London, where he supported himself and his wife by writing for magazines and for the stage. Their first residence was at No. 7, Amelia Place, [[Brompton, London|Brompton]], the former home of [[John Philpot Curran]]. Towards the end of 1822 his wife fell ill, and in November gave birth to a stillborn child. Her illness required John to do more work to meet the costs of her treatment. In 1823 John's own earlier illness returned. He was sick for several months before recovering, his finances, by that time, greatly diminished.<ref name="Life"/>

Unable to do much work for the weekly papers because of his illness, he began doing more work for monthly periodicals. This allowed him the time to do more carefully written and serious work. He also wrote librettos for [[Thomas Arne]] of the English Opera House.<ref name=Ricorso/> Around this time he was visited by the writer [[Gerald Griffin]], new to London, and in need of guidance. Banim befriended Griffin and did everything he could to assist him, helping to edit his plays and to have them submitted for production.<ref name="Life"/> Griffin said the following of Banim in a letter:"What would I have done if I had not found Banim? I should never be tired of talking about and thinking of Banim. Mark me! he is a man – the only one I have met since I left Ireland, almost."<ref name="Life"/>

Banim published a volume of miscellaneous essays anonymously in 1824, called ''Revelations of the Dead Alive''. He met the American author [[Washington Irving]] the same year, finding him to be a good hearted and genuine man, while other literary celebrities he had met had disappointed him.<ref name="Life"/> The first series of ''Tales of the O'Hara Family'' appeared in April 1825, achieving immediate and decided success.<ref name=Webb/> One of the most powerful of them, ''Crohoore of the Bill Hook'', was by Michael Banim. The two had worked on the ''Tales'' through correspondence during 1823–24, periodically sending each other their completed work to be read and criticised. Banim and Gerald Griffin were still close friends, despite a misunderstanding that had temporarily parted them, and Griffin was often called upon to offer criticism on the ''Tales''.<ref name="Life"/>

[[File:Tales 1826.jpg|thumb|right|180px|''Tales of the O'Hara Family, Second Series'', 1826]]
After the publication of ''Tales of the O'Hara Family'', John began work on his novel ''The Boyne Water'', a story of [[Protestant]] – [[Catholic]] relations during the [[Williamite War in Ireland|Williamite War]]. He travelled back to Ireland, spending time in [[Derry]] and [[Belfast]], to do research on the novel, which was published in 1826.<ref name="Life"/> That same year, a second series of ''Tales of the O'Hara Family'' was published, containing the novel, ''The Nowlans''.

Upon visiting John in London, in the summer of 1826, Michael found that his brother's illness had aged him and made him appear much older than his 28 years.<ref name="Life"/> The next effort of the "O'Hara family" was almost entirely the production of Michael. ''The Croppy, a Tale of 1798'' (1828), a novel of the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]], is hardly equal to the earlier tales, though it contains some wonderfully vigorous passages. ''The Mayor of [[Windgap, County Kilkenny|Windgap]]'', and ''The Ghost Hunter'' (both by Michael Banim), ''The Denounced'' (1830) and ''The Smuggler'' (1831) followed in quick succession, and were received with considerable favour. Most of these deal with the darker and more painful phases of life, but the feeling shown in his last, ''Father Connell'', is brighter and more tender.

In 1827, John became friends with the young writer [[John Sterling (author)|John Sterling]]. He accompanied Sterling on an excursion to [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], which temporarily restored Banim's health. His illness soon returned, along with consequent poverty. He continued to write, and encouraged Michael in his writing of ''The Croppy''. In July 1827 John's second child, a daughter, was born. In 1828 John's novel ''The Anglo-Irish of the Nineteenth Century'' was published anonymously, but wasn't well received by critics or the public.<ref name="Life"/>

After another misunderstanding with Gerald Griffin, the two resumed their friendship through correspondence in the middle of 1828. Their friendship was of high importance to both writers, and brought them much satisfaction. During this time John and his wife lived in [[Eastbourne]], East Sussex, where they had moved for the sake of John's health, and then [[Sevenoaks]] in Kent. In 1829 they moved to [[Blackheath, London]] for business purposes.<ref name="Life"/>

In the Autumn of 1829, he went to France on the recommendation of his doctors. While in France he wrote ''The Smuggler'', which went unpublished until 1831 due to a dispute with the publisher. He also submitted a novel called ''The Dwarf Bride'' for publication, but the manuscript was lost by the publisher. In June 1830 his mother died. John was unable to return to Kilkenny to see her due to his increasingly frail health. The family moved first to Boulogne on medical advice, and then to Paris.<ref name=Ricorso/> He continued to make something of a living contributing to periodicals and writing plays. In 1831 his first son was born. His son's birth improved John's state of mind after the death of his mother, but it also placed him in deeper financial need. In 1832 he suffered an attack of [[cholera]] but survived.<ref name="Life"/>

At the end of 1832, his second son was born. Soon after, in January 1833, a movement to relieve his wants was set on foot by the entreaties of Ellen Banim to John's literary friends, and then by the English press, headed by John Sterling and his father in [[The Times]]. Contributions were also collected in Ireland. A sufficient sum was obtained to remove him from any danger of actual want. Among the contributors were [[Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey]] and [[Sir Robert Peel]] in England and [[Samuel Lover]] in Ireland.<ref name="Life"/>