A Critical Edition of James Shirley's St. Patrick for Ireland

by James Shirley, John P. Turner Jr.

Originally presented as J. P. Turner's thesis, Indiana University, 1972.

Genres: Irish Literature

278 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit that I am partial to this play. It not only unites two of my enthusiasms--English Renaissance drama and Celtic lore--but it also connects both of them to an obscure episode in Irish history, and--you guessed it--the collection of obscure episodes in Irish history is one of my enthusiasms too. What pleases me even more is that, before encountering this particular play, I was completely ignorant of the Werburgh Theater, and I am delighted to finally learn about its existence and its history.

In 1632, Thomas Wentworth, first earl of Strafford, having been appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland, wished to transform Dublin into a cosmopolitan city, a fitting seat for a resident lord deputy who had hopes of establishing a regional court. He wished not only to increase his own good opinion but also to civilize the Old Irish Catholic noblity (who according to English sources, needed some serious civilizing). Strafford was fond of the theatre, and consequently enlisted the help of John Ogilby--best known for his later work as the Father of the English Road Atlas--who was his children's tutor at the time. Olgiby soon took the title of Master of Revels, and began to oversee the building of a theater on Werburgh street near Dublin Castle, the first playhouse in Ireland actually constructed as a playhouse (as opposed to a temporarily converted inn yard or bear pit).

Strafford also enlisted the help of James Shirley, one of London's best known dramatists, to fill the Werburgh with professional actors and acquire plays in which they could perform. Luckily--at least for Irish theatre--an outbreak of plague in London made it relatively easy to put an acting company together, and by 1638 the Werburgh--the only permanent English Renaissance theater ever to operate outside of the London metropolitan area---was in business. The company performed works by Fletcher, Jonson, and Middleton, but the largest share of the plays were Shirley's own. In fact Shirley wrote four or five dramas specifically for debut at the Werburgh. Of these, "St. Patrick for Ireland" was the last, and the only one with a specifically Irish theme.

"St. Patrick for Ireland"--which should perhaps be called "St. Patrick for Ireland, Part 1"--is a strange amalgam of old-fashioned styles--part medieval miracle play, part loosely unified chronicle play like "Tamerlane" or "King John"--held together by sophisticated verse and a complex interplay of plot and subplot. Occasionally it seems to approach a pagan parody of the incarnation, but this near parody only reveals the Druids for the frauds they are. Soon the snakes are expelled, and the saint utters a prophetic paean to all the cultural gifts that Christian Ireland will one day bring to the world. (Praise for the Irish monks of course, but also for Lord Stafford and his theater.) The play concludes with an uneasy peace between Christian and Druid, preparing its audience for conflict in a promised Part II.

But--alas!--the Irish Rebellion of 1641 soon ended this short cultural renaissance. The Werburgh theater was turned into a cow shed, then torn down. Part II was never written.