| The Colleen Bawn, or The Brides of Garryowen | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Dion Boucicault |
| Characters | Hardress Cregan Myles na Coppaleen Danny Mann Mr Corrigan Father Tom Kyrle Daly Eily O'Connor Anne Chute Mrs Cregan |
| Date premiered | March 27, 1860 |
| Place premiered | Miss Laura Keene's Theatre, New York, United States |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Melodrama |
| Setting | Garrowen, rural Ireland |
The Colleen Bawn, or The Brides of Garryowen is a melodramatic play written by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault. It was first performed at Miss Laura Keene's Theatre, New York, on 27 March 1860[1] with Laura Keene playing Anne Chute and Boucicault playing Myles na Coppaleen. It was most recently performed in Dublin at the Project Arts Centre in July and August 2010.[2][3] Several film versions have also been made.
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The play was based on Gerald Griffin's novel, The Collegians. In the novel, Eily O'Connor actually was murdered by Danny Mann, who was hanged while Hardress Cregan was exiled.
The novel was based on the true story of Ellen Scanlan (née Hanley), a fifteen-year-old girl who was murdered on 14 July 1819. She was recently married to John Scanlan, but when he saw that she would not be accepted into his family he persuaded his servant, Stephen Sullivan, to kill her. Sullivan took her out on the River Shannon near Kilrush, County Clare where he killed her with a musket, stripped her and dumped her body in the river, tied to a stone. Her body was washed ashore six weeks later at Moneypoint. Both men had fled but Scanlan was found first and arrested for murder. At his trial he was defended by the famous barrister Daniel O'Connell. He was found guilty and hanged at Gallows Green, the place of execution at the Clare side of the Shannon. Sullivan was apprehended shortly afterwards, confessed and was also hanged. The Colleen Bawn (1803 - 1819)
The play is set in rural County Kerry in the 1790s. Hardress Cregan and his mother have fallen on hard times. His mother tries to persuade Hardress to marry the wealthy Anne Chute. He agrees, although he is already secretly married to Eily O'Connor, a beautiful fair-haired girl who has many admirers including the roguish Myles na Coppaleen. Anne, seeing Hardress with Eily one night, mistakes him for Eily's lover, Kyrle Daly, and, angry at Kyrle, she agrees to marry Hardress. Hardress's servant, the hunchback Danny Mann, offers to murder Eily so that Hardress will be free to marry Anne. Thinking that Hardress has agreed, he takes Eily to the lake where he attempts to drown her, but he is discovered and shot by Myles-na-Coppaleen. At the wedding of Hardress and Anne the police come to arrest Hardress for the murder of Eily, but before he is taken away Eily appears. Hardress is released, Eily is accepted by Mrs Cregan, Anne and Kyrle are reconciled and Anne offers to pay off the Cregans' debt.
Sir Julius Benedict composed his opera The Lily of Killarney from a text provided by Boucicault and John Oxenford based on The Colleen Bawn. It opened at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 8 February 1862 and remained a highly regarded and popular opera throughout the Victorian era. In Kobbé's Complete Opera Book, first published in 1922, it still merited a full summary of the plot, which remains in the current edition.[4]
In 1911 the play was adapted into two films: an American version directed by Sidney Olcott, and an Australian one directed by Gaston Mervale.
In 1924, a British edition was made, directed by W.P. Kellino.
In 1929 the play was made into a film, Lily of Killarney directed by George Ridgwell.