Rory O’More: A National Romance was the novel which first brought the literary talents of Samuel Lover to the public eye. Based on a historical figure, an Irish leader in the rising of 1641, Rory O’More was first penned by Lover as a ballad, the hero successfully courting Kathleen Bawn, "soft as the dawn." This was developed in 1837 into novel form and immediately made Lover’s name as an author. Part contemporary love tale, part social commentary, Rory O’More is an evocative classic of its time.