Seán O'Casey

Seán O’Casey was a major Irish playwright known for his unflinching portrayals of working-class Dublin life during times of political upheaval. Born in Dublin, he was the youngest of 13 children in a Protestant family. His father died when Seán was six, plunging the family into poverty. Poor eyesight prevented him from completing formal schooling, so he educated himself, becoming a voracious reader and later teaching himself Irish and Shakespeare. O’Casey became active in Irish nationalism, joining the Gaelic League and serving as General Secretary of the Irish Citizen Army, but he resigned before the 1916 Easter Rising. He began writing plays in his forties and found success when The Shadow of a Gunman was staged by the Abbey Theatre in 1923. This launched his Dublin Trilogy: The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), Juno and the Paycock (1924), and The Plough and the Stars (1926). The last play provoked riots for its criticism of nationalism and the Easter Rising. After disputes with the Abbey, O’Casey moved to England in 1926, where he continued writing plays and autobiographies. He died in Devon at the age of 84.