Irish patriot, social activist and suffragist Countess Constance de Markievicz died at the age of 59 on July 15, 1927 in Dublin. Born to a wealthy English family with ties to Ireland, Markievicz became the first ever woman to be elected to the British House of Commons in December 1918. Yet, Markievicz along with her political party Sinn Feinn, chose not to take her seat and … [Read more...] about July 15, 1927
November 18, 1926
Irish writer and playwright George Bernard Shaw refuses to accept the Nobel prize money of £7,000 on this day in 1926. After nomination for the award for literature a year prior, Shaw at first wanted to turn down the Nobel Prize because he had no desire for accolades. However, he accepted on his wife's request, because she believed it was a tribute to Ireland. He still rejected … [Read more...] about November 18, 1926
November 9, 1926
John Keyes Byrne, better known as the Irish playwright Hugh Leonard, was born in Dublin on this day in 1926. He was adopted as a young boy by the Keyes family and took their last name as his middle name. He worked as a civil servant and acted in and wrote plays for community theater on the side. His first professionally produced play was "The Big Birthday Suit" at the Abbey … [Read more...] about November 9, 1926
February 11, 1926
A riot erupted at the Abbey Theater during the fourth performance of Sean O'Casey's play The Plough and the Stars on February 11, 1926. O'Casey, an Irish dramatist best known for his Dublin Trilogy which featured The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), Juno and the Paycock (1924) and The Plough and the Stars (1926). The Plough and the Stars was considered a racy, contentious show by … [Read more...] about February 11, 1926
October 29, 1925
Dominick Dunne, investigative journalist and writer, was born on this day in Hartford, Connecticut in 1925. Dunne was born to a wealthy Irish Catholic family and he often recalled feeling like an outsider in the predominantly wealthy protestant part of West Hartford. On November 1982, Dunne's daughter Dominique was murdered by John Thomas Sweeney. Dunne chronicled the trial of … [Read more...] about October 29, 1925