An Triail During the winter "term", we'll be focusing most of our attention on the play An Triail, by Máiréad Ní Ghráda. This separate section of the site will allow you to quickly see what you have missed on any given night.

Máiréad Ní Ghráda

A brief biography, as Gaeilge, was provided on Feb. 14. We'll look at that a little more on the 7th of March..

Timeline

Year	Events
1896	born in Co. Clare, Cill Mháille (23rd December). Father Séamus Ó Gráda is a fluent speaker, who can recite vast tracts of Cúirt an Mheán Oíche, among other things
1913	entered the Convent of Mercy school at Ennis
1918	receives BA (Irish and French) from UCD
1919	Completes M.A. (Gaeilge) thesis, "Satire in Irish", under Douglas Hyde
1920	Jailed for selling republican flags (Gaelic League)
1921	Becomes secretary to Ernest Bythe (Earnán de Blaghd), minister in the Free State government (till 1923)
1923	Married Richard Kissane (Ristéard Ó Ciosáin) a senior garda. (Two sons) Helps found An Comhar Drámaíochta to promote Irish language theatre
1926	Gets post with 2RN (first national Irish radio service), compiling children’s programs. (according to the 1926 census, 94 percent of married Irish women worked in the home). Very innovative programmer.
1929	Becomes principal announcer of 2RN. (Goes part time in 1935)
1931	Micheál MacLiammóir produces An Uacht at his Gate Theatre in Dublin comedy about someone faking his death to see what his relatives want from him (? Date approximate) Begins working for Brún ‘s Ó Nuallán (Browne and Nolan), turning out teaching and school texts — including Progress in Irish — for the next 30 years
1935	de Valera reinstates formerly barred male civil servants including her husband, she has to resign from 2RN — the issue isn’t women, it is married vs. single
1937	An Grá agus an Gárda produced at the Peacock complex marital situation comedy
1938	Tír na Deo: Peter Pan as Gaeilge
1939	An Bheirt Deartháir agus scéalta eile. An Uacht goes into its fourth reprintStories of independence & civil war
1940	Manannán, science fiction novel for kids
1942	An Comhar Drámaíochta merges with the Abbey, and she starts writing for them. Blythe again. In 50s, short one-acts after English influence her style
1964	An Triail produced in Dublin ( 22 Meán Fómhair) scandalous, in contest review, mixed reactions — Maude a big part, London Times loved it, even if the reviewer knew no Irish: now part of the leaving cert
1968	Breithiúnas, her last play, is produced. After his death, politician’s lies about civil war/uprising accomplishments are exposed
1971	Dies in Dublin (June 13th)

Themes

We talked about some interesting elements of her timeline. As we learn more about Ní Ghráda, look for these characteristics:

• Remarkable adaptability. The "rules of the game" often changed on her, but she just moved ahead and got the next thing done. She often was successful in situations where others might have thought there was no use in trying to do anything.
• Astonishing productivity. The list of works we've seen is just a portion of her output, and doesn't cover a lot of educational work, and her radio work.
• Networking brilliance. She could call many an influential player, in politics or culture, her friend. She tended to end up working for or with people who were bound to be helpful to her later on.
• Administrative/organizational skills. She was an organizer for the Gaelic League, Cumann na mBan, had considerable coordination responsibilities in her radio work, and developed the abilities to work with others and juggle many things at the same time.
• Political views. Besides being political in the sense of developing influential friends and working with in organizations effectively, she was involved in the politics of independence, and wrote several works from that perspective.
• Versatile writer. While her last plays are quite serious, many of her earlier works were lively comedies. Children's books, teaching aids and grammar guides, and the first science-fiction novel in Irish all came from her hand. She resists "either-or" classification -- adult or child, English or Irish, basic grammar books and materials for young people or probing, controversial adult dramas . . .

Finally, she doesn't so much defy expectations of her times as just march right past them. Very much a career woman, who raised two sons. Writing a play about the injustice of the treatment, by her community, of a young unwed mother -- when she herself is in her late 60s. Hired to put together children's programs on the radio, she becomes the first woman in the British Isles to be the lead announcer of a national radio service.

Works

There is a list of works in the front of the script, and it doesn't begin to cover her educational works.

• Lots of work in drama. She'd done a lot of this, by the time this play became a success. Many of her plays are very frequently performed by amateur groups, so that the impact of her writing on young people is probably much larger than you might assume from the amount of , or lack of, fame attached to most of her plays.
• A lot of work for younger audiences. She was very involved in educational publishing, and turned out a wealth of teaching and reading materials for younger readers.
• Note Tír na Deo: a translation/re-telling of Peter Pan in Irish!
• Also note Manannán. This story involves a visit from another planet, and could arguably be called the first work of science fiction written in Irish.

But, there's something missing!

Had you heard of this writer before we started the play? There's one well-known book from her educational works that isn't mentioned in the list of her works.

Any questions or comments, drop me an e-mail.