"Walter Macken - Galway Playwright" - New exhibition and lecture series

Walter Macken - Galway Playwright", an exhibition on the theatrical career of Walter Macken, will take place from 16th July - 26th August, looking at his early life, career in the Taibhdhearc, Abbey and elsewhere, as well as his writing of plays.

The venue is the foyer of the James Hardiman Library at NUI Galway, where the exhibition will run from the 16 July until the 26 August 2012. This period covers the Galway Arts Festival, Galway Races and the final week coincides with Heritage Week. The exhibition will include materials held at the Bergische University Wuppertal, Germany, as well as our own holdings here at the James hardiman Library, including the Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe collection and Siobhan McKenna collection.

In parallel with the exhibition there will be a series of talks on Walter Macken’s life and writings for the theatre. These will take place in the exhibition area on Tuesdays at 19.30. The schedule is:

17 July: 'Dreams on Paper' by Ultan Macken. An account of the life and works of Walter Macken.

24 July: 'The Realistic World of Walter Macken' by Fr. Walter Macken. A view of some of the characters from his plays.

07 August: 'Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe' by Kieran Hoare (NUIG archivist). The Taibhdhearc focused on the Macken years, 1932-1937, 1939-1948.

14 August: 'Macken's Contribution to Irish Theatre' by James Reid. An open discussion ranging through Macken's 35 titles written for the theatre which includes his 21 completed plays.

"How McGahern Did It" - From the Dublin Review

The John McGahern archive consists primarily of drafts of McGahern’s published works, it also includes a small amount of correspondence and other material which relate to publication and John McGahern's writing career in general. The collection includes drafts of all six of John McGahern's published novels as well as drafts of his unpublished novel 'The End or the Beginning of Love'. It also includes drafts of all 37 of his published short stories, and 10 different dramatic pieces, some of which are adaptations of his own work, others of which were never produced.

John McGahern

The collection also includes drafts of most but not all of John McGahern's published non-fiction and several drafts of his autobiographical work Memoir . For the purposes of description drafts are characterized as being either handwritten, typescript or faircopy. 'Faircopy' describes any draft that is almost identical to a published piece and contains few if any handwritten amendments. The vast majority of typescript drafts contain handwritten amendments or additions. In many instances drafts are considered partial in that only part of a longer draft has survived or the original draft was of only part of the complete work. Where drafts consisted of a small number of pages, typically ten or less for novels or three or less for short stories they are described as fragments and grouped together with other fragments of the same format and work for the purposes of description e.g. 'Handwritten fragments of Amongst Women '.

It is clear from the presence of fragments and from the pagination on drafts that not all drafts of every work survive. Indeed this is true for the vast majority of works. The number of drafts of each work in the collection varies considerably, for example while only two drafts and a number of fragments of the short story 'The Recruiting Officer' are included in the collection, in contrast 15 drafts and a number of fragments of the short story 'Parachutes' are included in the collection. This may of course be a reflection of the different writing processes involved in writing the two stories.

In the current issue of the Dublin Review, Anthony Caleshu’s article, “How McGahern Did It” examines the very writing processes that have made McGahern so well recognized as a master of many forms. You can read the article in full here: http://thedublinreview.com/how-mcgahern-did-it/

You can view the catalogue of the John MCGahern archive in full here:  http://archives.library.nuigalway.ie/cgi-bin/FramedList.cgi?P71

New exhibition marking the history of Galway Harbour and Galway Harbour Commissioners

A new exhibition is opening at the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway, to display and share some of the treasures and unique material of the J.H.L. Archives and Special Collections and also of the Galway Harbour Commissioners.

A display of archival material relating to the history of Galway Harbour, takes place in the foyer of the James Hardiman Library, NUI, Galway from the 29th June - 13th July. Containing material from Galway Harbour Commissioners and from  a  varied cross section of the holdings of the James Hardiman Library, the display will chart the growth of Galway's harbour from medieval times to the present day. The exhibition is open 8.30am - 10pm Mon-Thurs, 8.30am - 5.30pm Fri, and 10am - 5pm Sat.

Arthur Shields - Actor and Rebel: A life in pictures

Arthur Shields (T/13/B/6)

This wonderful exhibition of photographs, documents, and publications circulates around the also wonderful figure of Arthur Shields (1896-1970).

Shields was the son of Adolphus Shields, labor organizer, writer for The Freeman’s Journal, and friend of James Connolly and William O’Brien. His mother was of German ancestry, and the parents were by upbringing Protestant—in practice, the family were secular and socialist.

Arthur Shields's oldest brother was Will Shields, best known by his stage-name, ‘Barry Fitzgerald’ (1888-1961).

Shields had three wives, two of whom acted for the Abbey Theatre: Basie McGee, who acted under the name 'Joan Sullavan,' and Una 'Aideen' O'Connor. His third wife Laurie Bailey Shields, an American journalist, was instrumental in collecting additional material for the archive after Arthur's death

His daughter by Aideen O’Connor was Christine Shields. Sara Allgood was her godmother. It was Christine who kept this archive, and ultimately, with other members of the Shields family, gave it—free of charge—to the National University of Ireland in Galway.

When one looks at the spectacular pamphlet of photographs of Sackville (O’Connell) Street before and after Easter 1916, it is helpful to know that Arthur Shields, then just 19 years old, fought with the Citizen Army in the General Post Office, and, having taken refuge in Henry Street, was one of the last rebels to surrender. He was interned thereafter at Frongoch camp, Wales. His military service—by other accounts, marked by bravery under fire—was something about which he never bragged, or hardly, spoke.

The brothers Shields were close friends of Sean O’Casey, and took instrumental roles in the first productions of his ‘Dublin trilogy.’ Arthur Shields was through the 1920s and 30s, the Abbey’s chief ‘handsome lead’; his brother Barry Fitzgerald was the company’s most popular comic actor. Arthur Shields frequently directed plays for the Abbey, and more particularly for George Yeats's 'Dublin Drama Leagure'. In the 1930s, when the Abbey undertook a succession of half-year tours of North America, it was Arthur Shields who handled their management on the road.

These tours won the Abbey a fond welcome in towns and cities across the continent. Broadway producers and Hollywood directors also expressed their interest. John Ford, the great Irish American film director, met with the company in Hollywood, and decided to use some members in The Informer(1935) and all the main players in The Plough and the Stars (1936). Thereafter, Barry Fitzgerald remained in the USA as a film star. Arthur Shields was cast in subsequent movies by Ford. He also was invited to direct plays by Paul Vincent Carroll on Broadway in the late 1930s. By the end of the decade, he and his partner Aideen Shields had left the Abbey for the USA.

The Shields brothers played in well over 100 movies before they returned together to make The Quiet Man, directed by Ford, in County Galway in 1951.

After the death in Dublin of Barry Fitzgerald in 1961, Arthur Shields—suffering from emphysema—spent more and more of his last decade with his stamp collection and his library of Irish and world literature. Joyce and Tolstoy were favorites, but his lodestar was Yeats. Precious volumes from that library are also part of the Shields Family Papers.

You can view the online exhibition of 150 images from the Shields Archives here: http://archives.library.nuigalway.ie:8080/digi/exbos/T13

The full catalogue of the Shields archive is available here:
http://archives.library.nuigalway.ie/cgi-bin/FramedList.cgi?T13

Prof. Adrian Frazier, Director of the MA in Drama and Theatre Studies, National University of Ireland Galway

Further Reading:
Frazier, A."Hollywood and the Abbey," Dublin Review (Summer 2004): 68-86.
Frazier, A. "Barry Fitzgerald: From Abbey Tours to Hollywood Films," in Irish Theatre on Tour, ed. Nicholas Grene and Chris Morash (Carysfort Press: Dublin, 2005), pp. 89-100.
Frazier, A. Hollywood Irish: John Ford, Abbey Actors and the Irish Revival in Hollywood, Lilliput Press, Dublin 2011.

Remembering the Eucharistic Congress of 1932

Catholic Eucharistic Congresses are gatherings of ecclesiastics and laymen for the purpose of celebrating the Holy Eucharist. The 31st International Eucharistic Congress was held in Dublin, 21-26 June, 1932. It was the premier international Catholic event. The 1932 Congress was hugely significant in terms of asserting the identity of the Irish Free State as a leading Catholic nation. It was the largest public spectacle in twentieth-century Ireland. There was even an act passed by the Government specifically for the event. It was called the Eucharistic Congress (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1932. It was timed to mark the 1500^th anniversary of St. Patrick.

Each celebrant was issued with a handbook. (See cover below)

This handbook contained a programme of events throughout the city of Dublin.

Also among our holdings of Archives and Special Collections here at the James Hardiman Library are photographs taken by an unidentified photographer at the Congress, including scenes from religious events, parades and informal photographs of clerics from around the world in Dublin:

Thomas Kilroy's "The O'Neill" staged this week in 1969

Forty-three years ago this week saw the first production of Tom Kilroy’s play “The O’Neil” on the Peacock Stage of the Abbey Theatre.

“The O'Neill”, Thomas Kilroy's first stage play, was written in 1966. It dramatizes the fate of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone (c.1540-1616), whose defeat by the English at the Battle of Kinsale in 1601 led to the final dissolution of the ancient Irish order of government and the Plantation of Ulster. The Thomas Kilroy Archive is one of our featured collections here at the James Hardiman Library. The archive of Thomas Kilroy, held here at the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway, features numerous drafts and version of the play, a French translation of the play, correspondence between Tom Kilroy and numerous individuals concerning the play including Ernest Blythe, Tomas McAnna, Cyril Cusack, Hilton Edwards and Kilroy’s agent Margaret Ramsay.

“The O’Neill”, Kilroy’s first play and still considered by many to be one of his best and also one of the most important in Irish theatre with its themes of Anglo-Irish relations under the main focus of Kilroy’s attention. 'What call had you coming here thinking to change us? We have our ways, our laws, and our language, the same as the English have, and we're proud of them . . .' 

 

A review of the original production, published in the Irish Independent, 31 May 1969, from Desmond Ryan is included below.

A feature interview with Tom Kilroy marking the occasion of the completing of the cataloguing of his archive is available on the James Hardiman Library website here

The full descriptive list of the Kilroy archive is available here

The Many Lives of Albert Nobbs

Based on the story, The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs, written by Irish novelist, playwright George Moore, it tells of the life of a woman in 19^th century Dublin passing as a male servant in order to survive, not just economically but socially. The story has often been retold on screen and stage owing to the enduring nature of the themes and life of ‘Albert’ in his many guises.

 Most recently the film has been given the ‘big-screen’ film treatment starring Glen Close in the starring role. It was thirty years ago, however, when Close first played this role in an off-Broadway production in a stage version written and directed by Simone Benmussa.

The play was performed at the Manhattan Theater Club, in New York in 1982. The review from the New York Times of that production, dated 18 Jun 1982, makes special mention of the performance of the role of Nobbs by none other than a young actress called Glen Close:

“Miss Close, so lovely in ''Barnum'' and as Elena in ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Yale Repertory Theater, is almost unrecognizable as Albert. It is not simply a matter of her boyish hairdo -darkened and cut short - but of her manner, movement and sensibility. She is a timid youth who is efficient at work but without grace, eager to please but afraid to be expressive. The play is a curio, but the performance is transforming.”

Moving forward to 1996, Druid Theatre Company brought the Benmussa directed production to Druid Lane Theatre in July of that year. Jane Brennan would star in the role of Albert alongside cast members Dawn Bradfield, Aoife Kavannagh, Clara Simpson and others. The play would receive great critical and audience reception, with the Irish Times calling it “a rare harmony, a complete unity of execution”. The Druid archive, here in the James Hardiman Library, hold many files relating to this production. The catalogue can be accessed in full here . The files relating specifically to this production are as follows:

T2/233 Scope and Content: The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs - From a story by George Moore and directed by Simone Benmussa. Produced at Druid Lane Theatre, Galway. Includes original printed playbill from the production, featuring an article on the play and the works of George Moore by Elizabeth McConnell, Trinity College Dublin, biographical details with images on the cast members and Simone Benmussa and other details. 4 copies. 88 pp Printed flyer from the production featuring play information and booking details. 4 copies. 8 pp Printed invitation to the opening night performance of The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs. 1p. Date:9 Jul 1996 Extent:97 pp

T2/234 Scope and Content: The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs - Black and white photographs taken during rehearsal and production of the Singular Life of Albert Nobbs, devised by Simone Benmussa. Images measure 203mm X 254mm, with a white border of 25mm. Cast members are in costume and on set. Those pictured include director Simone Benmussa , a group shot of cast members outside Druid Theatre, also Clara Simpson, Jayne snow, Jane Brennan, Aoife Kavannagh, Dawn Bradfield and others on stage. Contact sheets contain twelve images per sheet. (11 sheets) Photographer is named as Angus McMahon.   Date: Jul 1996 Extent:28 pp

T2/235 Scope and Content: The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs - Typescript press release from Druid Theatre Company regarding details and promotion of The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs. Also includes biographical details on Simone Benmussa and excerpts of press commentary on the production of this work by Druid. Also includes a photocopy of typescript chronology of the life of George Moore, author of the story on which this play is based.   Date: Jul 1996 Extent:14 pp

 

T2/236 Scope and Content: The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs - Photocopy of typescript story, Albert Nobbs, written by George Moore. 22 pp Photocopy of typed script of the Singular Life of Albert Nobbs, devised by Simone Benmussa. Note on cover states the story is translated from French by Barbara Wright. 22 pp Copy of typed script for The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs, adopted for the stage and directed by Simone Benmussa from Albert Nobbs by George Moore, translated by Barbara Wright. 47 pp, Date: Undated Extent:91 pp

 T2/237 Scope and Content: The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs - Printed poster from the production, featuring cast and production crew information and booking details.   Date: Jul 1996 Extent: 1 item