I _think_ UK copyright law would matter here, since at the time the story was published (1890) the Ireland was part of the UK (Ireland gained independence in 19

I _think_ UK copyright law would matter here, since at the time the story was published (1890) the Ireland was part of the UK (Ireland gained independence in 1921.) If UK copyright applied, then the story would have entered public domain in 1932. The term of copyright for published works at the time as 7 years after the authors death, or 42 years, whichever was longer.