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1852-1932. Irish writer and playwright, who played an important part in Irish literature during the late 19th century. Moreover, she was the artistic director of the Irish Literary Theatre (1899-1901) and founder and manager-director of the [[Abbey Theatre]], a famous and still existent theatre in Dublin. | |||
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Lady Augusta Gregory was born Isabella Augusta Persse on 15 March 1852 in Roxborough House, near Loughrea, in County Galway, Ireland. She was the youngest daughter of an Anglo-Irish landlord family and was educated at home. The family nurse, Mary Sheridan, who often told her tales of Irish folklore and fairies had an early influence on her. | Lady Augusta Gregory was born Isabella Augusta Persse on 15 March 1852 in Roxborough House, near Loughrea, in County Galway, Ireland. She was the youngest daughter of an Anglo-Irish landlord family and was educated at home. The family nurse, Mary Sheridan, who often told her tales of Irish folklore and fairies had an early influence on her. | ||
In 1880, at the age of 28, she married the 63 year-old widower Sir William Henry Gregory, a former governor of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Trustee of the National Gallery and MP for Galway. As the wife of a knight she was allowed to call herself | In 1880, at the age of 28, she married the 63 year-old widower Sir William Henry Gregory, a former governor of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Trustee of the National Gallery and MP for Galway. As the wife of a knight she was allowed to call herself Lady Gregory from then on.They lived at her husband’s estate Coole Park, County Galway, where Sir William died after twelve years of marriage. He left Lady Gregory alone with their only son, Robert, born in 1881, who died in World War I. After her husband’s death the young widow revived her interest in Irish culture on a trip to Inisheer (Aran Islands, West of Ireland). She learnt Irish and published English language versions of heroic Irish sagas. Her works, mainly comedies, are rich in portrayals of Irish history, especially Irish peasantry, and about mythological themes. She wrote 27 plays in the Hiberno-English dialect of Kiltartan (“Kiltartanese“), spoken around Coole Park, and also produced book versions of Gaelic sagas and folklore in this language. | ||
At Coole Park she received different Irish writers like John Millington Synge, George Bernhard Shaw and Sean O´Casey and it became a centre of Irish literary revival - especially through her friendship with William Butler Yeats whose patron she became. | At Coole Park she received different Irish writers like [[John Millington Synge]], [[George Bernhard Shaw]] and [[Sean O´Casey]] and it became a centre of the Irish literary revival - especially through her friendship with [[W.B. Yeats|William Butler Yeats]] whose patron she became. | ||
In 1899 Lady Gregory founded the Irish Literary Theatre (Project) together with Edward Martyn and W.B.Yeats, which lasted until 1901, and later the Abbey Theatre Company, which she directed with Yeats and Synge from 1904 on. She remained a leading Abbey board member, director and playwright until the late 1920s when ill health led to her retirement. | In 1899 Lady Gregory founded the Irish Literary Theatre (Project) together with [[Edward Martyn]] and W.B. Yeats, which lasted until 1901, and later the Abbey Theatre Company, which she directed with Yeats and Synge from 1904 on. She remained a leading Abbey board member, director and playwright until the late 1920s when ill health led to her retirement. | ||
She died on 22 May 1932 at her home in Coole Park and is buried in the New Cemetery in Bohermore, County Galway. Her unyielding spirit lives on today through the revival of her work and through the continuing success of the Abbey Theatre. | She died on 22 May 1932 at her home in Coole Park and is buried in the New Cemetery in Bohermore, County Galway. Her unyielding spirit lives on today through the revival of her work and through the continuing success of the Abbey Theatre. | ||
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'''Plays''' | '''Plays''' | ||
Spreading the News (1904) | ''Spreading the News'' (1904) | ||
Kincora: A Play in Three Acts [Vol. II of Abbey Ser.; 2nd edn.] (1905) | ''Kincora: A Play in Three Acts'' [Vol. II of Abbey Ser.; 2nd edn.] (1905) | ||
The Rising of the Moon (1907) | ''The Rising of the Moon'' (1907) | ||
- The Workhouse Ward (1908) | - ''The Workhouse Ward'' (1908) | ||
- Hyacinth Halvey (1910) | - ''Hyacinth Halvey'' (1910) | ||
- The Image: A Play in Three Acts (1910) | - ''The Image: A Play in Three Acts'' (1910) | ||
- Irish Folk History Plays [First Series] (1912) | - ''Irish Folk History Plays'' [First Series] (1912) | ||
- Irish Folk History Plays [Second Series] (1912) | - ''Irish Folk History Plays'' [Second Series] (1912) | ||
- McDonough’s Wife [first pub.] in New Irish Comedies (1913) | - ''McDonough’s Wife'' [first pub.] in ''New Irish Comedies'' (1913) | ||
- The Image and Other Plays (1922) | - ''The Image and Other Plays'' (1922) | ||
- The Dragon: A Play in Three Acts (1920) | - ''The Dragon: A Play in Three Acts'' (1920) | ||
- The Story Brought by Brigit: A Passion Play in Three Acts (1924) | - ''The Story Brought by Brigit: A Passion Play in Three Acts'' (1924) | ||
- ''Seven Short Plays'' (1909) | |||
'''Prose''' | '''Prose''' | ||
- Arabi and His Household (priv. 1882) | - ''Arabi and His Household'' (priv. 1882) | ||
- Over the River (priv. 1887) | - ''Over the River'' (priv. 1887) | ||
- A Phantom’s Pilgrimage, or Home Ruin (1893) | - ''A Phantom’s Pilgrimage, or Home Ruin'' (1893) | ||
- Sir William Gregory, KCMG: An Autobiography (1894) | - ''Sir William Gregory, KCMG: An Autobiography'' (1894) [she probably edited this???] | ||
- Mr Gregory’s Letter-Box 1813-30 [cover 1835] (1898) | - ''Mr Gregory’s Letter-Box 1813-30'' [cover 1835] (1898)[ditto??] | ||
- Ideals in Ireland: A Collection of Essays written by AE and Others (1901) | - ''Ideals in Ireland: A Collection of Essays written by AE and Others'' (1901) [ditto??] | ||
- Cuchulain of Muirthemne: The Story of the Men of the Red Branch of Ulster arranged and put into English by Lady Gregory (1902) | - ''Cuchulain of Muirthemne: The Story of the Men of the Red Branch of Ulster arranged and put into English by Lady Gregory'' (1902) | ||
- Ulster (1902) | - ''Ulster'' (1902) | ||
- Poets and Dreamers: Studies and Translations from the Irish (1903) | - ''Poets and Dreamers: Studies and Translations from the Irish'' (1903) | ||
- Gods and Fighting Men, Preface by W. B. Yeats (1904) | - ''Gods and Fighting Men, Preface by W. B. Yeats'' (1904) | ||
- A Book of Saints and Wonders, put down here by Lady Gregory, according to the Old Writings and the Memory of the People of Ireland (1906) | - ''A Book of Saints and Wonders, put down here by Lady Gregory, according to the Old Writings and the Memory of the People of Ireland'' (1906) | ||
- The Kiltartan History Book (1909) | - ''The Kiltartan History Book'' (1909) | ||
- Kiltartan Poetry Book, Translations from the Irish (1919) | - ''Kiltartan Poetry Book, Translations from the Irish'' (1919) | ||
- A Book of Saints and Wonders (1907) | - ''A Book of Saints and Wonders'' (1907) | ||
- Our Irish Theatre: A Chapter of Autobiography (1914) | - ''Our Irish Theatre: A Chapter of Autobiography'' (1914) | ||
- Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland (1920) | - ''Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland'' (1920) | ||
- Hugh Lane’s Life and Achievement, with some account of the Dublin Galleries (1921) | - ''Hugh Lane’s Life and Achievement, with some account of the Dublin Galleries'' (1921) | ||
- Case for the Return of Sir Hugh Lane’s Pictures to Dublin (1926) | - ''Case for the Return of Sir Hugh Lane’s Pictures to Dublin'' (1926) | ||
- | - "Ireland, Real and Ideal", ''Nineteenth Century'' 44 (Nov. 1898), 70-75. | ||
- "The Felons on Our Land", ''Cornhill Magazine'' 47 (1900), 633-34. | |||
'''Sources''' | '''Sources:''' | ||
Gonzalez, Alexander G. | Gonzalez, Alexander G. ''Modern Irish Writers – a Bio-Critical Sourcebook''. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1997. | ||
Igoe, Vivien. | Igoe, Vivien. ''A Literary Guide to Dublin - Writers in Dublin: Literary Associations and Anecdotes''." London: Methuen, 1994. | ||
"Lady Augusta Gregory." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 17 Nov. 2010 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. | "Lady Augusta Gregory." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 17 Nov. 2010 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. | ||
Latest revision as of 10:51, 30 October 2015
1852-1932. Irish writer and playwright, who played an important part in Irish literature during the late 19th century. Moreover, she was the artistic director of the Irish Literary Theatre (1899-1901) and founder and manager-director of the Abbey Theatre, a famous and still existent theatre in Dublin.
Life
Lady Augusta Gregory was born Isabella Augusta Persse on 15 March 1852 in Roxborough House, near Loughrea, in County Galway, Ireland. She was the youngest daughter of an Anglo-Irish landlord family and was educated at home. The family nurse, Mary Sheridan, who often told her tales of Irish folklore and fairies had an early influence on her. In 1880, at the age of 28, she married the 63 year-old widower Sir William Henry Gregory, a former governor of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Trustee of the National Gallery and MP for Galway. As the wife of a knight she was allowed to call herself Lady Gregory from then on.They lived at her husband’s estate Coole Park, County Galway, where Sir William died after twelve years of marriage. He left Lady Gregory alone with their only son, Robert, born in 1881, who died in World War I. After her husband’s death the young widow revived her interest in Irish culture on a trip to Inisheer (Aran Islands, West of Ireland). She learnt Irish and published English language versions of heroic Irish sagas. Her works, mainly comedies, are rich in portrayals of Irish history, especially Irish peasantry, and about mythological themes. She wrote 27 plays in the Hiberno-English dialect of Kiltartan (“Kiltartanese“), spoken around Coole Park, and also produced book versions of Gaelic sagas and folklore in this language. At Coole Park she received different Irish writers like John Millington Synge, George Bernhard Shaw and Sean O´Casey and it became a centre of the Irish literary revival - especially through her friendship with William Butler Yeats whose patron she became. In 1899 Lady Gregory founded the Irish Literary Theatre (Project) together with Edward Martyn and W.B. Yeats, which lasted until 1901, and later the Abbey Theatre Company, which she directed with Yeats and Synge from 1904 on. She remained a leading Abbey board member, director and playwright until the late 1920s when ill health led to her retirement. She died on 22 May 1932 at her home in Coole Park and is buried in the New Cemetery in Bohermore, County Galway. Her unyielding spirit lives on today through the revival of her work and through the continuing success of the Abbey Theatre.
Works
The following list of works is an overview of her major works.
Plays
Spreading the News (1904) Kincora: A Play in Three Acts [Vol. II of Abbey Ser.; 2nd edn.] (1905) The Rising of the Moon (1907) - The Workhouse Ward (1908) - Hyacinth Halvey (1910) - The Image: A Play in Three Acts (1910) - Irish Folk History Plays [First Series] (1912) - Irish Folk History Plays [Second Series] (1912) - McDonough’s Wife [first pub.] in New Irish Comedies (1913) - The Image and Other Plays (1922) - The Dragon: A Play in Three Acts (1920) - The Story Brought by Brigit: A Passion Play in Three Acts (1924) - Seven Short Plays (1909)
Prose
- Arabi and His Household (priv. 1882) - Over the River (priv. 1887) - A Phantom’s Pilgrimage, or Home Ruin (1893) - Sir William Gregory, KCMG: An Autobiography (1894) [she probably edited this???] - Mr Gregory’s Letter-Box 1813-30 [cover 1835] (1898)[ditto??] - Ideals in Ireland: A Collection of Essays written by AE and Others (1901) [ditto??] - Cuchulain of Muirthemne: The Story of the Men of the Red Branch of Ulster arranged and put into English by Lady Gregory (1902) - Ulster (1902) - Poets and Dreamers: Studies and Translations from the Irish (1903) - Gods and Fighting Men, Preface by W. B. Yeats (1904) - A Book of Saints and Wonders, put down here by Lady Gregory, according to the Old Writings and the Memory of the People of Ireland (1906)
- The Kiltartan History Book (1909) - Kiltartan Poetry Book, Translations from the Irish (1919) - A Book of Saints and Wonders (1907) - Our Irish Theatre: A Chapter of Autobiography (1914) - Visions and Beliefs in the West of Ireland (1920) - Hugh Lane’s Life and Achievement, with some account of the Dublin Galleries (1921) - Case for the Return of Sir Hugh Lane’s Pictures to Dublin (1926) - "Ireland, Real and Ideal", Nineteenth Century 44 (Nov. 1898), 70-75. - "The Felons on Our Land", Cornhill Magazine 47 (1900), 633-34.
Sources:
Gonzalez, Alexander G. Modern Irish Writers – a Bio-Critical Sourcebook. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1997.
Igoe, Vivien. A Literary Guide to Dublin - Writers in Dublin: Literary Associations and Anecdotes." London: Methuen, 1994.
"Lady Augusta Gregory." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 17 Nov. 2010 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.
"Gregory, Lady Augusta." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 17 Nov. 2010 < http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-GregoryLadyAugusta.html>.
Joyce, Carmel. "Inspirational Figures from Irish History.(Lady Isabella Augusta Gregory, Samuel Beckett, playwrights)." World of Hibernia. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 17 Nov. 2010 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.
http://www.irishwriters-online.com/ladygregory.html (18 Nov. 2010)
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/245523/Augusta-Lady-Gregory (18 Nov. 2010)