Lady Gregory is one of the architects of modern Ireland. She was a woman of action, devoting her considerable energy to the founding and the success of the Abbey Theatre, Ireland's national theater. As a translator and cultural visionary, working with flair and dedication, she gave new life to Irish folk tales and sagas. Her house, Coole Park, in the west of Ireland, became a center of the Irish Literary Revival.
She was an idealist, but also resolutely practical. With her gift for friendship, she nurtured the talent of others, from W.B. Yeats to J.M. Synge, from Sean O'Casey to the young James Joyce. Her move from living a life of Anglo-Irish privilege to forging a new and independent country, aware of its ancient culture, required unwavering courage and independence of mind. In her plays, translations, folklore, and works of prose, she was an original and highly successful writer. Her own work and her dream for Ireland, as well as her passionate engagement with art and politics, make her one of the most influential and compelling women of her time.
This exhibition is organized by The New York Public Library and curated by James Pethica and Colm Tóibín.
