Máiréad Ní Ghráda

Life
1899-1971; b. Co. Clare; ed. Convent of Mercy, Ennis, and UCD; joined Cumann na mBan; secretary to Ernest Blythe during First Dáil; Radio Éireann chief announcer, 1927-35; produced Irish language school textbooks; friend of Peig Sayers; for many years editor of Teacher’s Work; An Bheirt Dearbhráthar agus Scéalta Eile (1939); also Mannán (1940), a science-fiction novel; her plays incl. An Uacht (1935); An Grá agus An Garda (1937); Lá Bui Bealtaine (1954); Giolla an tSolais (1954), winner of Abbey award; Ull Glas Oíche Shamhna (1960); Súgán Sneachta (1962); Mac Uí Rudaí (1963); Stailc Ocrais (1966); An Triail (Dublin Theatre Festival 1964; pub. 1974) - which includes brothel scene and was performed in translation (1965); Breithiúnas (1978; rep. An Gúm 1996), and several others for children. DIW ATT OCIL

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Works
Plays
  • Mícheál (Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair 1933).
  • An Uacht (Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair 1935).
  • An Grá agus an Garda (Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair 1937).
  • Giolla an tSolais (Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair 1945).
  • Lá Buí Bealtaine (Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair 1953).
  • Ull Glas Oíche Shamhna (Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair 1955).
  • Mac Uí Rudaí (Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair 1963).
  • Stailc Ocrais (Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair 1966).
  • An Triail [and] Breithiúnas (Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair 1978; An Gúm 1996), 100pp..
  • Síobhán Ní Brádaigh, ed. Máiréad Ní Grádha, Ceannródaí Drámíochta (Cló Iar-honnachta 1996), 103pp.;
Fiction
  • An Bheirt Dearthár agus Scealta Eile (Dublin: Oifig a tSoláthair 1939); Manannan (Dublin: Oifig a tSoláthair 1940), children’s stories;

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Criticism
  • Eámon Ó Cíosáin, ‘Máiréad Ní Ghráda agus a saothar liteartha’, in An Triail [and] Breithiúnthas (Dublin: Oifig an tSoláthair 1978)
  • Philip O’Leary, An Underground Theatre: Major Playwrights in the Irish Language, 1930-80 (UCD Press 2017) [Chap. 1: Máiréad Ní Ghráda; see review].
  • Bríd Ní Ghallchóir, ‘Máiréad Ní Ghráda, Giolla an tsolais (1945) & An Triail (1964)’, in Drámaíocht na Gaeilge : ón Dara Cogadh Domhanda ar aghaidh, ed., Philip O’Leary & Brian Ó Conchubhair (Co. na Gaillimhe: Cló Iar-Chonnacht 2022) [Chap. 3].

See also B. Breathnach and M. Ní Murchú, Beathaisnéis a Aon (Clochomhar 1986).

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Commentary
Éadaoin Ní Mhuircheartaigh, review of An Underground Theatre: Major Playwrights in the Irish Language, 1930–80, by Philip O’Leary, in Irish University Review (May 2020), pp.246-48: ‘The chapter on Máiréad Ní Ghráda, perhaps the most famous of the chosen playwrights, gives an insightful and comprehensive account of her contribution to Irish theatre. An Triail’s importance in the history of Irish plays cannot be in any doubt, and it is still frequently produced (most recently by Fibín and Aisling Ghéar). It was wonderful, however, to see her early one-act-plays and the sharp and witty political drama Breithiúnas receive long over-due recognition.’

Quotes O’Leary on Ní Ghráda: ‘Her interest in blending experimentation with a tested practical approach to crafting effective plays was only confirmed by her work with Tomás Mac Anna, another theatrical innovator willing to try anything he knew or thought would work on stage … It was this commonsensical commitment to putting on a good show that made soulmates of Ní Ghráda and Mac Anna and kept their collaboration so successful for nearly two decades.’. (Available as pdf online at Edinburgh Press; accessed 07.09.2023.)