Sean O'Casey

Sean O'Casey (March 30, 1880 - September 18, 1964) was a major Irish dramatist and memorist. A committed nationalist and socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes. His plays are particularly noted for his sympathetic treatment of his female characters.

Early Life

O'Casey was born John Casey in the north inner city area of Dublin, Ireland. It is commonly assumed that he grew up in the tenement world in which many of his plays are set. In fact, his family belonged to that social class that was known as "shabby genteel".

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O'Casey's father died when he was sick and the family lived a peripatetic life thereafter, moving from house to house around north Dublin. As a child, he suffered from poor eyesight, which interfered somewhat with his early education. He left school at the age of fourteen and worked at a variety of jobs, including a nine-year stint as a railwayman. From the early 1890s, Sean and his older brother Archie put on performances of plays by Dion Boucicault and William Shakespeare in the family home. Sean also got a small part in Boucicault's The Shaughraun in the Mechanics' Theatre, which stood on what was to be the site of the Abbey Theatre.

Related Topics:
Dion Boucicault - William Shakespeare - Mechanics' Theatre - Abbey Theatre

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