Padraic Colum typescripts and letter

Collection — Shared box: 1012

Identifier: MS-2000-013

Dates

Creation: 1927 - 1966

Scope and Contents

The collection includes two typescripts and a single letter by Padraic Colum. The letter was written in 1927 to M.J. Fitzsimons, SJ, of Boston College. The typescripts are of Colum's plays: Timbuktu (1953) and Kilmore (1966). Timbuktu includes additions and deletions in Colum's own hand. It is a three-act comedy about the fabled African city of Timbuktu; also adapted by Colum under the titles: The Desert; The Vizier; and Mogu the Wanderer. Kilmore is a first draft of an unpublished, one-act play about the burial of Bishop William Bedell. It is in Japanese Noh theater form, but in an Irish cultural setting.

Creator

Colum, Padraic, 1881-1972 (Person)

Language of Materials

In English.

Restrictions on access

Collection is open for research.

Restrictions on use

These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.

Biographical / Historical

Irish dramatist, poet, and author, Padraic Colum was born in 1881 in Longford, Ireland. He attended the Glasthule National School in Sandycove and University College, Dublin. Colum clerked at the Irish Railway Clearing House (1898-1904) before focusing exclusively on writing. He published poetry, but was best known as a dramatist. Colum was a member of the Irish National Theatre Society and an original Abbey Theater charter signer, writing three of the Abbey Theatre's first plays. He and his wife migrated to the United States in 1914, where he became known for children's literature. Colum's poetry described a rural Ireland forgotten by the modern audience; both of his novels were set in rural Ireland as well. Colum died in 1972.