ent added in 1836 a pension of L150. He returned to
Ireland in 1835, and settled in Windgap Cottage, a short distance from
Kilkenny; and there, a complete invalid, he passed the remainder of his
life, dying on the 13th of August 1842. Michael Banim had acquired a
considerable fortune which he lost in 1840 through the bankruptcy of a firm
with which he had business relations. After this disaster he wrote _Father
Connell_ (1842), _Clough Fionn_ (1852), _The Town of the Cascades_ (1862).
Michael Banim died at Booterstown on the 30th of August 1874.
The true place of the Banims in literature is to be estimated from the
merits of the _O'Hara Tales_; their later works, though of considerable
ability, are sometimes prolix and are marked by too evident an imitation of
the Waverley Novels. The _Tales_, however, are masterpieces of faithful
delineation. The strong passions, the lights and shadows of Irish peasant
character, have rarely been so ably and truly depicted. The incidents are
striking, sometimes even horrible, and the authors have been accused of
straining after melodramatic effect. The lighter, more joyous side of Irish
character, which appears so strongly in Samuel Lover, receives little
attention from the Banims.
See P. J. Murray, _Life of John Banim_ (1857).
BANJALUKA (sometimes written BANIALUKA, or BAINALUKA), the capital of a
district bearing the same name, in Bosnia. Pop. (1895) 13,666, of whom
about 7000 were Moslems. Banjaluka lies on the river Vrbas, and at the
terminus of a military railway which meets the Hungarian state line at
Jasenovac, 30 m. N.N.W. Banjaluka is the seat of Roman Catholic and
Orthodox bishops, a district court, and an Austrian garrison. It is at the
head of a narrow defile, shut in by steep hills on the east and west but
expanding on the north to meet the valley of the Save. A small stream
called the Crkvina enters the Vrbas from the north-east and in the angle
thus formed stand the citadel and barracks, with the 16th-century Ferhadiya
Jamia, largest and most beautiful of more than 40 mosques in the city. The
celebrated Roman baths are all in ruins, except one massive, domed
building, dating from the 6th century and still in use, although modern
baths are also open, for the development of the hot springs. Other
noteworthy buildings are the Franciscan and Trappist monasteries, a girls'
school, belonging to the Sisterhood of the Sacred Blood of Nazareth, a
real-school and a Turkish baz
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