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Death of Donagh MacDonagh
Originally posted to Facebook on Dec 31,2017: Today is the 50th anniversary of the death of Donagh MacDonagh. He was a noted poet, playwright, folklorist, radio presenter. In between times he was a district justice. He was the son of Thomas and Muriel MacDonagh. He was three when his father was executed following the Easter Rising and a year later his mother drowned off Skerries. He and his sister Bairbre were initially taken care of by their aunts Kate Gifford Wilson and Grace Gifford Plunkett, their mother’s sisters but there was a law suit and custody was granted to the other side of the family. He result was a very unhappy childhood for both. Don’s first writing was done as…
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The Abbey Theatre production The Irish Invincibles
In the 60s The Abbey Theatre in Dublin put on a production about the Invincibles, an Irish revolutionary group. In conjunction with that they published a collection of songs about them from the ballad collection of my Dad, Donagh MacDonagh. I have not been able to find a copy of that so I have made a new one. Click the image for the pdf.
RTÉ’s adaptations of Donagh’s work
Curious if they had done adaptations, turns out they have. In 1968 they did “All the Sweet Buttermilk” which is amazing to me since I wrote an adaption screen play for this when I was in school for one of my film courses. Always thought it would be a great short to produce. Would love to see what RTÉ did with it. One particular production still from “All the Sweet Buttermilk” is here but search for “Happy as Larry” and the still show up from the 1967 production and “God’s Gentry” was in 1974, http://www.rte.ie/archives/
Happy as Larry performed by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company
Randomly found a bunch of images from the production of Happy as Larry by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company. Check them out here.
The PLAYBILL has “Happy As Larry”
Playbill Cover for Happy as Larry at the Coronet Theatre is in their archive! Click here to check it out. It didn’t do well on Broadway, but they they tried to make a comedy into a musical.
Colin Farrell ‘Dublin Made Me’ by Donagh MacDonagh
Colin Farrell recites ‘Dublin Made Me’ by Donagh MacDonagh on youtube here or just click on the post to see the youtube embed.
The Ballad Of James Larkin (Donagh MacDonagh)
The Ballad Of James Larkin (Written by Donagh MacDonagh) just click on the post to see the youtube embed.
The Day Set for Our Wedding by Donagh MacDonagh recited by Dylan Thomas
Recited by Dylan Thomas, written by Donagh MacDonagh. Just click on the post to watch it.