Abbey Theatre history

In 1905 without properly consulting Horniman, Yeats, Lady Gregory and Synge decided to turn the theatre into a limited liability company, the National Theatre Society Ltd.

The Abbey's fortunes worsened in January 1907 when the opening of Synge's The Playboy of the Western World resulted in civil disturbance.

They chose not to stage Synge's next—and last completed—play, The Tinker's Wedding (1908), for fear of further disturbances.

In 1909, Shaw's The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet led to further protests.

As a mark of respect for the death of King Edward VII, an understanding existed that Dublin theatres were to close on the night of 7 May 1910.

When the Abbey players toured the United States for the first time in 1911, similar protests and disorders were provoked when the play opened in New York City and Philadelphia.

Later in 1912, during the first tour of America, the cast of The Playboy of the Western World by J.M. Synge were arrested in Philadelphia for performing “immoral or indecent” plays.

She joined the Liverpool Repertory Company in 1914, later played with other companies at Manchester and Stratford, and appeared in several plays with her younger sister, Maire O’Neill.

Visit our Google Cultural Institute 1916 Exhibition which looks at the influence of the Irish Literary Revival in the lead up to the events of Easter week 1916.

1921 In the general election to the parliament of Northern Ireland, the first in the UK to be held under proportional representation, the Unionist Party won 40 seats, with Sinn Féin and the Irish Parliamentary Party taking six seats each.

1923 The Irish Civil War ended with the order by Frank Aiken, chief of staff of the anti-Treaty IRA, ‘to dump arms’.

Fund-raising had always been a problem, and in 1924 Yeats and Lady Gregory obtained an annual subsidy of £850 from the Irish Free State.

In 1926, during the first run of Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars a riot broke out.

Is this to be an ever recurring celebration of the arrival of Irish genius?” In 1927, the Peacock Theatre opened as an experimental annex to the Abbey Theatre and a home to other amateur companies.

The Gate staged The Old Lady Says 'No' in The Peacock in 1928. (Note: academic critics Joseph Ronsley and Christine St Peter have questioned the veracity of this story.)

The Gate also sought work from new Irish playwrights and moved to its own premises in 1930.

The Abbey School of Ballet was established by Ninette de Valois — who had provided choreography for a number of Yeats' plays – and ran until 1933.

O’Casey later regretted the personal split caused by the rejection of The Silver Tassie—but even Yeats had a play rejected by the Abbey in 1938.

Tragically in 1951, the original buildings of the Abbey Theatre were damaged by fire during the run of The Plough and the Stars.

Reconstruction was completed in 1966 and the Abbey theater continues to celebrate Irish works as well as plays from other countries. (Abbey Theatre)