An Irish dramatist and a committed socialist, born in the northern inner-city area of Dublin (though he was a member of the Church of Ireland). His father died when Sean was just six years of age, leaving a family of thirteen. O’Casey taught himself to read and write by the age of thirteen and left school a year later. As a young man he became involved in the Dublin Lock-out became General Secretary of Larkin’s Irish Citizen Army.
In 1917, he started writing is and spent the next five years writing plays, one of which he submitted to the Abbey Theatre but it was rejected. His first accepted play, The Shadow of a Gunman, was performed at the Abbey in 1923, followed by Juno and the Paycock and The Plough and the Stars.
The latter was not well received by the audience and resulted in near riots. O’Casey moved to London, fell in love and remained there continuing to write but facing rejection once again by the Abbey for The Silver Tassie.
O’Casey remained abroad for the rest of his long life until his death in 1964.
Hotels near to the settings for many of O’Caseys works include The Merrion, The Shelbourne and Clontarf Castle.
