Denis Gwynn was born on 6 March 1893, the third son of
Stephen Gwynn, the Irish patriot, writer and
Irish Parliamentary Party Member of Parliament. His mother was Mary ('May') Louisa Osborn Gwynn; his parents were first cousins. The middle name Rolleston was derived from Denis Gwynn's great-grandmother Catherine Rolleston, who married his great grandfather John Gwynne. Along with his mother and siblings, but not his father, Denis Gwynn was received into the
Roman Catholic Church in 1902. He was educated at
St. Enda's School Rathfarnham,
Clongowes Wood College and at
University College Dublin where he graduated
BA (1914),
MA (1915) and D.Litt. (1932). After the war, Gwynn worked as a journalist. He became assistant editor of the periodical
Everyman in London, joined the National Press Agency, and worked for a while as a reporter in Brittany and Paris, then in 1922 returned to London where he was active for many years as a journalist specialising in Irish Catholic issues. He was on the editorial staff of the
Westminster Gazette and edited the
Dublin Review from 1933 to 1939. Denis Gwynn died at his home in
Malahide, County Dublin, on 10 April 1971 and was buried at
Stamullen Cemetery,
County Meath. ==Literary Connection==