Very soon after leaving college, and just when
he was called to the Bar, about the year 1838,
he bought the 'Warder,' a Dublin newspaper,
of which he was editor, and took what many
of his best friends and admirers, looking to
his high prospects as a barrister, regarded at
the time as a fatal step in his career to
fame.

Just before this period, Le Fanu had taken
to writing humorous Irish stories, afterwards
published in the 'Dublin University Magazine,'
such as the 'Quare Gander,' 'Jim Sulivan's
Adventure,' 'The Ghost and the Bone-setter,' etc.

These stories his brother William Le Fanu
was in the habit of repeating for his friends'
amusement, and about the year 1837, when he
was about twenty-three years of age, Joseph
Le Fanu said to him that he thought an
Irish story in verse would tell well, and
that if he would choose him a subject suitable
for recitation, he would write him one.
'Write me an Irish "Young Lochinvar," '
said his brother; and in a few days he
handed him 'Phaudrig Croohore'--Anglice,
'Patrick Crohore.'

Of course this poem has the disadvantage not
only of being written after 'Young Lochinvar,'