The Ulster Literary Theatre was started in 1902 and was formally inaugurated in Decem ber, 1904. Its organ was Uladh, which ran for four quarterly numbers. The first plays per formed were 'The Reformers,> a satire on mu nicipal politics, by Lewis Purcell, and 'Brian of Banba,' a heroic drama, by Bummer Hobson. In 1905, 'The Little Cowherd of Slainge,> by Joseph Campbell, and 'The Enthusiast,' by Lewis Purcell, were staged. The next year, 1906, saw the presentation not only of Lewis Purcell's amusing comedy, (The Pagan,' but also of 'The Turn of the Road,' the first play of the greatest of the northern dramatists, Rutherford Mayne, all of whose important work was associated, in the first instance, with the Ulster Literary Theatre. /Rutherford Mayne' (S. Waddell), an actor by profession, wrote four plays, collected under the title of 'The Drone and other Plays' (1912). The first, as we have just seen, was 'The Turn of the Road,' a faithful portraiture of life in the country districts of Ulster. The second, produced in 1908, was 'The Drone,> a sardonically humor ous comedy in two acts, but later extended into three. 'The Troth' produced in 1908, and Turf,) the setting of which is in Galway, produced in 1911, are tragedies in one act. °Mayne° afterward wrote 'HP (1915), a farcical comedy in three acts. He is also author of The Gomeril' (1909) and of a tragedy of middle class life, entitled 'The Cap tain of the Hosts.' He is rather deficient in plot, but he is very successful in characteriza tion, and his diction is generally beautiful.
The novel, the short-story, and the essay are not quite so fully represented in the Revival as poetry and the drama, but, none the less, all three forms were fairly extensively cultivated; as part of what has been already written in this article shows. Something more under those headings remains now to be noted.
George Moore (b. 1852), though born in Mayo, does not belong by any means exclu sively to Ireland: rather is he cosmopolitan. Yet, had it not been for his interest in the literary movement in his native land. he would not have paid an 11 years' visit to Dublin, and we should probably be without 'Evelyn Innes) (1898), and certainly without its sequel, 'Sister Teresa) (1901), as well as 'The Untilled Field' (1903), 'The Lake) (1905), and the three volumes, 'Ave) (1911), 'Salve' (1912), and 'Vale' (1914) which make up the indiscreet but fascinating book known as 'Hail and Fare In earlier life, he had written poems and criticism, as well as novels so frankly naturalistic as to make the judicious shiver. After his departure from Dublin, he wrote 'The Brook Kerith) (1916), a novel dealing with the supposed later life of Jesus and pre senting a revolutionary interpretation of the founder of Christianity. Moore's plays, in ad dition to those written in collaboration, are 'The Strike at Arlingford' (1893); 'The Apostle' (1911), a scenario on which is based 'The Brook Kerith); a dramatized version of his own novel, 'Esther Waters) (1912) ; and 'Eliza beth Cooper) (1913). A scorner of conven tion, an exponent of realism raised to the nth power, a wayward, many-sided, interesting genius is George Moore. Hon. Emily Lawless (1845-1913), daughter of the third Lord Clon curry, achieved a certain amount of notoriety with 'Hurrish> (1886), a story of the Land League. She also wrote historical novels, 'With Essex in Ireland' (1890) and (Maelcho) (1894), dealing, respectively, with the rising of Hugh O'Neill and the Desmond rebellion. 'Grania> (1892) treats of life on the Aran islands. 'Traits and Confidences) (1898) and 'The Book of Gilly> (1906) are two volumes of sketches and impressions of the west. Her poetry, remarkable alike for narrative strength and lyric beauty, is contained in 'With the Wild Geese' (1902), 'The Point of (1909), and the posthumously published 'The Inalienable Heritage) (1914). E. CF:. Somer ville and "Martin Ross" (Miss Violet Martin) collaborated in the very amusing 'Experiences of an Irish R. M.,) as well as in 'The Real Charlotte,' 'All on the Irish Shore,) and 'Dan Russell the Fox.) 'Irish Fairy Tales) (1890), by Edmund Leamy (1848-1904), was very favorably received. After his death, a volume of his stories, 'By Barrow River, etc.,) was published. William Patrick Ryan (b. 1867), journalist and critic, wrote several novels, the best known of which is perhaps 'The Heart of Tipperary.) Katharine Tynan Hinkson pro duced a great many popular novels, such as 'The Handsome Brandons> and 'July's Lovers,' but her fame will not depend so much on them as on her poetry. Her husband, Henry A. Hinkson, has to his credit a few well known novels, mostly semi-historical, like 'Up for the Green) and 'The King's Deputy.' Shan F. Bullock is a serious novelist, a realist, dealing in the main with the petty country gentry, the small farmers, and the peasants of the Orange counties of the north. Of some
dozen works, 'The Awkward Squads) (1893), 'The Red Leaguers) (1904), and 'Thomas Andrews) (1912), may be selected as typical. 'Ring O'Rushes> (1896) and 'Irish Pastorals) (1901) consist of short-stories or sketches. William Buckley also deals in a realistic way with life in Ulster. His novels are 'Croppies Lie Down) (1903) and 'Cambia Carty' (1907). Seumas MacManus (b. 1870) wrote some verse, but he gained greater celebrity as a lecturer and story-teller than as a poet. Among many books of his, 'Through the Turf Smoke) (1899) and 'Yourself and the Neighbors' (1914) may be particularized. Jane Barlow began her career as a poet with ' 'Bogland Studies) (1892) and she afterward wrote other books of verse, but it is as the author of short stories and sketches illustrative of certain phases and aspects of peasant life in Ireland that she built up her undoubtedly high reputa tion. Her publications in this class, beginning with 'Irish Idylls' in 1892 and continued to the present date (1918), are alarmingly numerous. Among them may be named 'Kerrigan's Quality) (1893), 'Strangers at Lisconnell> (1895), and 'In Mio's Youth) (1917). James Stephens (b. 1882) rose suddenly into fame as a great novelist in 1912, but he had already made his reputation as a poet. His poetical works are 'Insurrections) (1909), Hill of Vision) (1912), 'Songs from the Clay' (1915), 'The Rocky Road to (1916), 'Green Branches) (1917), and 'Reincarnations' (1918). His novels, which rank in a high class, are 'The Charwoman's Daughter) otherwise known as 'Mary, Mary' (1912), 'The Crock of Gold' (1912), 'Here are Ladies) (1913), 'The Demi-Gods) (1914), and 'The Adventures of Seumas Beg) (1915). His book, 'The Insur rection in Dublin) (1916), is an account by an eye-witness of the Easter week rising in that year. Patrick MacGill (b. 1891) also. won fame in the first instance as a writer of verse with 'Gleanings from a Navvy's Scrap-Book' (1911), from which came his sobriquet of "the navvy poet.° Others of his verses are 'Songs from the Dead End) (1912) and 'Soldier Songs) (1916). He wrote two starkly realistic and much talked-of novels, 'Children of the Dead End) (1914) and its sequel, 'The Rat Pit' (1915). 'The Brown Brethren' (1916) is one of his books concerning the war. It deals with the doings of a section of the London Rifles at the front in France. Other novelists and novels are Purdon, K. F., 'The Folk of Furry Farm) (1914); Joyce, James, 'Dubliners' (1914), and 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Your Man) (1917); also a play, 'Exiles' (1918); O'Byrne' (Arnold Bax), 'Children of the Hills,' realistic short stories (1913); also author of and Firelight) poems (1910), and 'The Sisters and Green Magic' (1911); Lepper, John Heron, 'A Tory in Arms) (1916) and 'The North East Corner) (1917); Doyle, Lynn, 'Mr. Wildridge of the Bank) (1916); Butler, Mary Lambert (Mrs. Thomas O'Nolan), 'The Ring of Day.' Two volumes of beautiful stories for children are 'Celtic Wonder Tales' (1910), by Ella Young, and 'Heroes of the Dawn) (1913), by Violet Russell. Besides his 'History of Ireland' (1878-1880), Standish O'Grady in later life wrote a number of historical romances, dealing with various epochs in his country's chequered story. Some of these are 'Red Hugh's Cap tivity' (1889), 'Finn and his Companions' (1892), 'The Bog of Stars' (1893), 'The Corn ing of Cuculain' (1894), 'In the Wake of King James' (1896), 'The Flight of the (1897). 'In the Gates of the North' (1901). So politically unclassifiable as to be dubbed with the paradoxical titles of "Radical Aristo crat" and "Fenian Unionist," O'Grady yet took his own part in Irish politics with h is essays, 'The Crisis in Ireland' (1882), 'Toryism and the Tory Democracy) (1886), and 'All Ireland' (1898), in all of which he uses a vigorous and beautiful prose far transcending that usually associated with political disputation. He col laborated in 'Ideals in Ireland' (1901). In 1900 he founded The All Ireland Review, and carried it on for six years. He had other journalistic activities, his latest being in con nection with The New Age and its advocacy of National Guilds and the abolition of the wage-system. A special word must here be said of Eleanor Hull's work, 'The Cuchullin Saga in Irish Literature' (1898). The history of the hero is set out in 14 stories of a fine literary type, while the introduction and notes, as well as the careful collating of texts, give it a distinctly scholarly character. In this respect, it is in marked contrast with Lady Gregory's 'Cuchulain of Muirthemne.' The whole story of the epic, 'The Cattle Spoil of Cooley,' in which Cuchulain figures so prominently, was done into English prose from the most ancient manuscripts for the first time in 1913 by Joseph Dunn.